By John
I have a sense, and I could be wrong, that the winds of change could be starting to blow. There are three reasons that give me cause for optimism –
- The just-announced National reshuffle.
- The possible rise in fortunes of the ACT Party.
- The AM Show online poll.
It could be argued that these are somewhat flimsy reasons, but change has to start somewhere.
To give Simon Bridges some kudos, I think he has made some good decisions regarding his reshuffle. Giving the Finance role to Paul Goldsmith and combining it with Infrastructure is an excellent move. As xbolt has pointed out, Cardigan man will now have his work cut out and his usual bombast won’t cut it.
Goldsmith’s forensic line of questioning will now show Robertson up for the financial dunce that he is. I also like the idea of splitting up Economic and Regional Development into Economic Development and Regional Development and Transport. The MPs given these responsibilities, Todd McClay and Chris Bishop, will no doubt carry on the good work of Paul Goldsmith in highlighting the nonsense spouted by the buffoon Shane Jones. Todd McClay has already proved himself and Chris Bishop, with his handling of the Police spokesperson role, showed he is capable of a larger area of responsibility.
Other appointments to catch the eye were Gerry Brownlee picking up Foreign Affairs and Jo Hayes being given Maori Development and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. Whatever we may think of National there is no arguing their depth of talent is like a waterfall compared to Labour’s bird bath. Having said that we have every right to be critical of their propensity to have some policy which could best be described as Labour lite.
The ACT Party, primarily with their emphasis on free speech, has at last caught the attention of the media. I think David Seymour’s views on this reflect those held by a large slice, if not the majority, of the voting population. Others of their policies that should have broad appeal are eliminating red tape and their opposition to ‘zero carbon’.
An interesting fact that emerged from their recent conference was that a quarter of those attending were under 25. There are, of course, some of their policies, eg immigration, that I am not happy with, but neither am I happy with all of National’s. I think the time has come to take a little more interest in ACT, as I see them as a far more reliable party to hold National to account than NZ First.
The poll on the AM Show this week asking whether people thought the government had done a mostly good or mostly poor job finished up with 78% thinking they had done a mostly poor job. Apart from anything else this showed up their fake Newshub poll and gave more credence to Colmar Brunton. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
If the National spokespersons perform well in their new roles, the government will be shown up even more for the incompetent bunch of miserable nincompoops they are. Added to that, if ACT can gain some traction from their recent media exposure, then I feel all may not be lost on the right of New Zealand politics.
I agree with Winston Churchill, who said, “I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.”
