The AM Show was good on Friday. Judith Collins used to be a regular on the programme, of course, but suddenly she is otherwise engaged. To great amusement, as much to himself as anyone, Simon Bridges was brought back in her place. I have always been a bit of a fan of Bridges. I will freely admit he wasn’t a great leader because he obviously struggled at times with the responsibility, the media and how he expressed himself as well as the number of people telling him what to do. He is a smart and successful Maori man with a lovely family and is a great role model for many other Maori men. According to Willy Jackson, for some reason, he is either ‘not Maori enough’, or the ‘wrong sort of Maori’. You can make of that what you will, but my interpretation is that he is too much of a New Zealander, and according to the gospel of Jackson (and many others), that is not good enough.
Whatever.
Today, however, he look relaxed and happy – better than I had seen him in ages. He is right behind his leader and he seemed to be loving it.
On the other side of the fence was David Parker, who is not one of my favourite MPs, but I am prepared to admit that he is competent, and can get things done, unlike just about all of the rest of the Labour crew. I don’t like him much though, because he can be arrogant and impatient, often inappropriately. If a National MP had told farmers to behave themselves in 2017, otherwise he would double the water levy he was planning to impose, there would have been hell to pay, but as it happens, it is not only Jacinda that gets cut a lot of slack. All left wing politicians do.
But I digress.
“I don’t think it’ll work,” Labour’s David Parker told The AM Show on Friday, saying Collins’ in-your-face style wasn’t his “cup of tea”.
“She was third-choice for the National Party – they’ve gone through three [leaders] in two months. I think it’s time for people to come together, rather than be divided, and that’s the contrast between the two leaders we’re now facing as a country.”
Well, you are not my cup of tea either, David Parker, although I give you credit for making the temporary changes to the RMA to make smaller projects more feasible. We will be building a carport very soon, which we were planning anyway, but the process, the permits, the engineers reports and the unnecessary cost had put us off. No more. Thank you David Parker, this is something you are good at.
But I digress again.
Judith Collins is National’s third choice? After Phil Goff, David Shearer, David Cunliffe and Andrew Little came our current prime minister, but it turns out that fifth choice is okay, whereas third choice is not?
Whatever, again.
Asked for specifics about how she’s divided people, Parker said it was “her pedigree for her two decades in politics”.
“I’ve been there during those two decades. You can’t throw that off. ‘Crusher’ Collins – she wore it as a badge of honour.”
And yet, he had the evidence of her ability to unite the party sitting right opposite him. Simon Bridges, deposed in May by Todd Muller, was full of vibrance and vigour, supporting his new leader enthusiastically. Parker seems to have forgotten how the Labour party all united behind a hopeless lightweight in 2017 because it gave them the possibility of avoiding another election defeat. But National is not allowed the same opportunity?
Whatever. Again.
“I don’t think it changes the game at all. It’s actually about New Zealanders. We had a plan to stamp out COVID, cushion the blow and help the economy recover. That’s what we’re on about.”
His boss Jacinda Ardern had similar thoughts, on Wednesday saying her “mind hasn’t been particularly focused” on the National Party’s woes.
Jacinda is not focused on the election, when she has been electioneering since March, with her ‘Team of 5 Million’ and her scare tactics, meaning, if we don’t all behave and vote for her, we might be locked down again?
Whatever. Yet again.
Former National leader Simon Bridges told Parker Labour is underestimating Collins.
“Look, we’ve had a bruising time – there’s no doubt about that, we are the underdog. But I’ll tell you what – we’re on the comeback. I think what we can all say about Judith is that she’s strong, she’s tough, she’s very experienced and she knows what she’s about. You would underestimate us, Davo, at your peril.”
Oh no, Davo. Parker is not underestimating Collins. He is ‘dismissing’ her, in the same way that Jacinda said that they could just ‘dismiss’ any questions from the media or the public. They may think it is a good strategy, and it might have been so if National didn’t suddenly have a strong leader. Anyone who thinks that they can ‘just dismiss’ Collins does so at their peril. It will not end well for them.
If Labour think they can just swat away Judith Collins, like an annoying insect, they are dreaming. Todd Muller sadly fell into that description, but not Collins. They will try to pretend she is nothing of importance, but they will find that they are wrong. Actually, they already know that they are wrong. David Parker clearly knows it, Jacinda obviously knows it, and as for the rest of them, they really don’t know much at all, which will make life very easy for Collins as she tears them apart, one by one. Or maybe she will leave it to her team who are backing National’s ‘third choice’. Either way, as Simon says, don’t underestimate Judith Collins. She is smart, she is experienced, and she can make mincemeat out of just about any Labour politician… Jacinda in particular.
Bring it on. Magic.
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