National scared of becoming too PC
Legend has it that Rob Muldoon required signed and undated resignation letters from all his Cabinet ministers as the price of entry to the club. These days, letters would be out of character. Texts are how this Government communicates. Even Maurice Williamson’s protestations of innocence over claims he tried to defect to ACT were delivered to the prime minister by text, no further explanation required apparently.
The details around the supposed Williamson defection are as bizarre as they are mysterious. An intermediary, a former National and ACT leader, Don Brash, approached party president John Thompson and placed Williamson’s possible defection on the table, garnished with enough detail to convince Thompson the approach was genuine.
There then followed a series of attempts by Thompson to discuss this with Williamson, but the first phonecall was a fizzer when theMP told him he was on his way to Pauanui with a carload of passengers and couldn’t talk. According to Thompson, texts were exchanged in an attempt to pin down a time to discuss the approach, but nothing ever came of it.
It was all a moot point anyway since ACT didn’t want a bar of yet another Jurassic-era NationalMP riding in to ‘‘save’’ ACT and the centre-Right vote. Been there, done that, thanks to Brash and John Banks, and no good came of it.
Williamson insists he has no desire to be an ACT MP and Brash is remaining silent. After Williamson’s sacking from Cabinet this year it might have been seen as a way to preserve his political career.
But arguing against that, Williamson’s incredible staying power in National suggests he would back himself to survive the traditional third-term purge, even from his uncomfortable position on the back bench.
Williamson was dumped for intervening in a police investigation into a wealthy donor. In choosing to stay he is something of a rarity in the Key Government – he is one of the few ministers to remain rather than quit Parliament altogether after coming in for the infamous ‘‘Key’’ treatment. The other is Judith Collins, of course. And between them they are disproving the theory that Williamson might have seen entry to ACT as a way to wield more influence over Cabinet. As Key’s health and safety backdown demonstrated this week, Collins’ and Williamson’ are wielding plenty enough influence from the back bench, where their power base is on the rise.
Amid the various claims circulating this week was the suggestion that Collins and Williamson were leading a back bench revolt over the legislation, which imposes stiff rules and punitive penalties for health and safety breaches. Collins’ arch denials left more than enough room to read between the lines.
Key’s announcement after Tuesday’s caucus that the health and safety legislation was on hold for another two months revealed the extent of disquiet in National’s ranks.
The row has been rumbling along quietly for months, but the bill’s imminent return to Parliament brought matters to a head.
The debate pits groups like farmers – National’s grassroots base whose record for workplace safety also happens to be among the worst – against the Council of Trade Unions, led by Helen Kelly.
A concerted – and confrontational – campaign by the CTU has forced a dramatic improvement in the accident rate.
The appalling catalogue of health and safety failures in the Pike River mine disaster, where 29 men died, was the catalyst for the legislation, which follows other efforts to beef up the workplace safety regime, including a new body, WorkSafe, which has a mandate to be zealous in its pursuit of health and safety breaches.
But the prosecution of Marlborough sharemilker Maria Carlson and her partner Phil Jones for not wearing helmets and carrying passengers has become the lightning rod for disquiet in the rural sector. Carlson and Jones were fined $40,000.
The health and safety law being considered by Parliament carries much stiffer penalties – up to five years in jail or a fine of up to $600,000 for being reckless in exposing someone ‘‘owed a duty of care’’ to a risk of death or serious injury.
Small businesses, and organisations staffed by volunteers, are also warning the new rules are too onerous and will swallow them up in red tape.
From their positions on the back bench, Collins and Williamson are closer to the ear of the back bench MPs, who are wearing the backlash from their constituents and local board members.
For recent MPs, this will be a new new experience.
For older ones, they will remember the last time they had to wear the backlash for a Cabinet decision – that was over class sizes.
Cabinet was forced to execute a hasty u-turn.
For anyMP whose future rests on the goodwill of voters, any backlash is a cause for panic.
Pike River exposed the extent to which complacency and a ‘‘she’ll be right’’ attitude had contributed to New Zealand’s dismal workplace safety record – twice as bad as Australia’s and six times worse than Britain.
But jitters on National’s back bench over its loss to Winston Peters in Northland have raised the political stakes over any measure that gets them off-side with provincial New Zealand.
Peters has adroitly used Northland to reposition himself as the voice of the regions, backed by some shrewd operators among his crop of new MPs.
The fear of the back benches is that measures like the health and safety bill will open up a new anti-PC or ‘‘political correctness’’ front in the battle for hearts and minds in rural New Zealand.
National knows how devastating the PC label can become in the hands of an opponent.
It won the 2008 election thanks to the PC-backlash against Labour.
Key’s comments have already paved the way for a watered down bill to be returned to Parliament. Likely changes include excluding smaller businesses and volunteers.
But there is a push to go further including a less punitive approach that will pit National against the likes of the CTU in what will likely be a hugely emotive debate.
The debate behind the closed doors of the National caucus will likely be just as emotive.
How far the backdown goes will reveal the extent to which the influence of Collins in particular is on the rise.