Tuesday’s Roy Morgan poll was fairly accurate in reflecting the current political mood of the country. It showed the coalition parties on a sound footing with a combined 58 per cent support of voters. National was virtually unchanged at 37.5% (down 0.6%), ACT increased 3.9% to 12.5% and NZ First rose 1.9% to 8%. The alternative ‘coalition of chaos’ on the other side could only manage 36%, down 5.6% from the election. Labour’s support has morphed to a disastrous 21%, the lowest ever recorded in a Roy Morgan poll. As a result the objectionable Greens received a minor boost. The Maori Party also lost support.
The poll shows the left have an Everest-like mountain to climb to get back into the game. This is a Sir Edmund Hillary-type task. It will require energy, resilience, fortitude, competence and an aptitude for the job ahead of them. In government, Labuur failed to show any of these qualities. This is the reason they turned a stunning success at the ballot box into a stunning loss just three years later. That is all the proof you need that they are not up to the task.
If I were the leader of the Labour Party I would be working out the weak points in National’s major policy planks and using Question Time to get in some big hits. It seems their leader is not even capable of that. On Tuesday in the House at Question Time Chris Hipkins used most of his time to question Christopher Luxon on using tax money for his learning of te reo and accepting the tax rebate on his wife’s electric car. Why would you waste time on trivia like that?
If you are on the left you would, because that’s where their mental capacity takes them. It’s the minutiae that are attractive to them. It’s a sandpit mentality. Ignore matters of real importance and spend your time trying to score cheap political points. This is the reason they were such an incompetent government. It’s easy to revel in minutiae but not so easy to sort out the issues that matter. For these you appoint a commissioner, a working group or hire a myriad of consultants.
They were incapable of doing anything meaningful themselves because they lacked the people with the relevant expertise and background to carry out the tasks. A prime example was Grant Robertson, who would likely fail as a checkout person as he’d probably give the wrong change even though the correct amount was shown on the screen. The man was, and is, eminently unqualified for the role of Minister of Finance. What we heard on Wednesday in the economic update was proof enough of that.
Labour in particular have to now work out whom they represent and for what they stand. Do they represent the blue-collar working people or those sitting in their ivory towers in academia? If it is the former then looking at Labour’s record over the last six years they were duped. So were the unions, who collected hard-earned money from their members to throw at the Labour Party while at the same time emphasising political neutrality.
The Greens also have to work out their direction of travel. They are out of step with the public both on environmental matters and their communist-aligned social policies. They also stand accused of asking stupid questions at Question Time. Chloe Swarbrick is making an art out of it. The majority of the population are not taken in by the Greens’ policies of fear and nonsense. Neither do they identify with a bunch of people who dress up to represent those who prefer to be ruled by a terrorist organisation.
The Maori Party are now at under 3% in the poll. Again that is not surprising. If you put on a clown show that is how you will be judged. Like the Labour Party, they are ignoring the real problems of their people while focusing on the supposed destruction of their mana. If that is their main concern they’re wasting their time, and everyone else’s, in Parliament. Mr Waititi in his cowboy hat does nothing to enhance his reputation or image as a serious politician.
All in all the poll was a disaster for the left. The Greens have little to crow about as eventually some of their support will drift back to Labour. People changing deck chairs on the Titanic will not win an election. Those deck chairs will have Opposition written on them for some years to come. It’s a titanic struggle the left have in front of them. If they can’t up their performance then, in spite of climate change, they will keep colliding with National, ACT and NZ First icebergs.
