This should have been the front page headline in the Herald. They were keen to let their readers know they were on TOP of things last weekend, at least when they came to the Opportunity Party. I picked up the paper and there staring me in the face was another face, that of the by now all too familiar Qiulae Wong. At the bottom of the A1 half-page spread readers were invited to go to A10 to continue the fascinating read. They didn’t mention the furthering of the epic on A11. Suspect bias is one thing but blatant bias is quite another. This was completely ‘over the top’.
The media have their back. On 30 July, Audrey Young, in an article, accused the National Party of trying to bully the media over the amount of coverage given to the Opportunity Party. To see if her accusation stacks up, a glance at her own paper’s coverage might give a clue. During August the Herald published articles on the Opportunity party on the following dates – 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13 (3), 14 (2), 15, 16 (3), 17, 20 (2), 23, 25, 26 and 29 (2). A number of these articles are to do with polls but the Herald has published 22 articles in August relating to the Opportunity Party. On the other hand National was referred to in 56 articles. On a purely numbers basis, Audrey could have a beef with National.
My beef is coverage should be proportional to the party being spoken about. National is the lead party in a coalition government, while Opportunity is, despite the poll numbers, a fringe party who, on November 7, will most likely find themselves back where they started. Realistically, their chances of being part of any government are pretty slim as they have yet to release their major policies, but, from what we have seen so far, there is a definite lean to the left. Christopher Luxon has ruled out working with them but there’s an old phrase ‘if needs must’ that means his phone on election day or shortly thereafter will not be far away.
The media continually refer to Opportunity’s chances of replacing NZ First as the kingmaker. This is nonsense as Winston is not interested in playing that game this election. While he wouldn’t admit it, he learnt a big lesson in 2020 when his party was thrown out after having cozied up to Labour in 2017. This election he, like everyone else, knows on which side his bread is buttered. The left treated him like the useful enemy they saw him as. He might have been foreign minister but achieved nothing in terms of policy gains.
Opportunity are already trying to wield the big stick. Qiulae Wong says she will talk to National but will only agree to coalesce if bottom lines are met. This shows the political naivety of the lady. Agreeing to bottom lines is easy. The likelihood of them being enacted is another story entirely. My pick is she’ll get the same treatment as Winston got, without the ministerial hat to wear. Even before their major policies have been released their cost assessments are being ridiculed. Like most parties on the left, mathematics is not their strong point. One plus three often only make two. In other words, most of their costings fall short of reality.
To get back to my point, the media coverage for a party not even in parliament is patently ridiculous. The Weekend Herald’s virtual perambulation covered the party’s backers, the boss, your budget and Qiulae Wong eyeing the balance of power role. I don’t need to read the Herald to find out what will happen to my budget. The two-and-a-half page spread told us everything we needed to know, bar the last time Wong visited the bathroom.
The media have hitched their wagon to this horse as they see it as the best chance of a win for the left. I think, as in 2023, they will be disappointed as their ‘charger’ will more than likely pull up lame. The media will have shown once again how their intended bias puts them at serious odds with public opinion.
