Peters steps up to the plate at Rātana
And they’re off. The political year officially began yesterday as politicians in their droves made the pilgrimage to Ra¯ tana Pa in Rangitikei.
The week-long celebrations for the prophet T W Ra¯ tana’s birthday usually feature a day of promises for the year ahead, with the prime minister and leader of the Opposition each laying out how they will help Ma¯ ori in the year ahead.
But this year the prime minister is about as far as you can get from Ra¯ tana – both physically and fiscally – at the ritzy talkfest World Economic Forum in a luxury ski town in Switzerland.
That leaves Winston Peters as acting prime minister – and responsible for the whole Government.
That responsibility became apparent as soon as he arrived in Ra¯ tana late yesterday morning.
First the media surrounded him, peppering him with questions not about NZ First or foreign affairs but about the dismal KiwiBuild news yesterday – that the Government expects only 300 of the 1000 affordable homes promised to be built by July 1.
Peters, seemingly missing the memo about Twyford starting to make his promises more realistic, confidently said he thought the 1000 homes was still achievable with a bit of elbow grease.
He soon tired of questions about Jacinda Ardern’s absence, saying the Mo¯ rehu community at Ra¯ tana would totally understand the scheduling clash.
He became particularly bitter when reminded just how much he criticised former prime minister John Key for missing the same commemoration for the exact same reason in 2015.
Peters never likes to leave journalists with the last word, so had to be hurried along by Ra¯ tana authorities, who assured him they had done the same thing to Key in his time.
And it wasn’t just the media on the offensive.
As Peters and his contingent of two other NZ First MPs, four Green MPs, and two dozen Labour MPs were welcomed in a po¯ whiri, Ra¯ tana’s Joe Everett launched a broadside against the Government – notably in English, ‘‘so everyone can understand’’.
The issue was not one of the ones James Shaw mentioned in his speech – housing, education or water. It wasn’t poverty, criminal justice policy or medical marijuana.
It was the fee that marriage celebrants have to pay the Government to practise – the kind of issue that is a very big deal for a small group of people, and a very small deal for everyone else.
Shane Jones, speaking with a wide grin a few minutes later, suggested Everett may have ‘‘gotten his governments mixed up’’.
National leader Simon Bridges began his political year at Ra¯ tana with a joke and some aspiration.
That ‘‘aspiration’’ was to settle every
historic Treaty of Waitangi claim by 2024 if he gets back into government – an echo of a similar promise made by Key that never eventuated.
The joke came after Bridges said his party felt like ‘‘we’ve done the mahi – Labour gets the votes’’.
He noted there was some support for National in the small Ma¯ ori community, however: last election one person voted for National MP Ian McElvie at the counting station here – although that was ‘‘someone who got lost’’, he quipped.
It’s a joke, but it’s also the truth. While not wanting to sound whiny, Bridges made it clear in his first big speech of the year that he wanted to increase his party’s share of the Ma¯ ori vote.