Your Daily Ten@10 - 2025/142

This is edition 2025/142 of the Ten@10 newsletter.

Hi all,

This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.

Enjoy!

• 🏛️ National's biggest obstacle: It's not Hipkins, the Greens, or coalition breakdowns—it's National itself. Its inability to effectively communicate with Kiwis is harming its chances for a second term.
• 🗣️ Communication gap: National lacks the narrative control and storytelling skills to foster trust, hope, and confidence. They need to own their story rather than letting others define it.
• 🔥 Winston Peters' skill: Peters knows how to create news, not just react to it. He sets the agenda, controls the narrative, and communicates in a way that emotionally resonates with Kiwis.
• 💬 Good political storytelling: Unlike propaganda, good storytelling links policy with human values, resonating emotionally with voters. Ardern’s communications team excelled at this.
• 🎤 Ardern's communication mastery: Her team framed every message to evoke emotion and empathy, ensuring consistent narrative control, even when the news was bad.
• 👥 Luxon’s communications struggle: Luxon’s team is inexperienced, and his messaging is inconsistent, leaving National reactive rather than proactive in shaping the narrative.
• 📉 National’s economy narrative: Despite positive economic signs, National hasn’t claimed the narrative. The economy’s recovery is overshadowed by headlines of "cost of living pain."
• 🏆 National’s missed opportunity: National fails to frame its economic progress with human stories—about real people like small business owners and families—who benefit from recovery.
• 🔥 The “adults in the room” narrative: National’s fiscal discipline is undercut by the public perception of cuts, even though they’re not really cutting. They’ve allowed this narrative to take root.
• 🎯 Own the wins: National has policy successes, but they aren’t communicated well. Every win should be tied to a clear, consistent message that connects with voters.
• 🚨 Law and order wins: National has made strong strides in crime and safety but fails to frame these victories consistently. The opposition and media fill the vacuum.
• 🚂 City Rail Link: National missed a prime opportunity to showcase the City Rail Link completion as a victory for competent governance, allowing unrelated headlines to overshadow it.
• 📢 Cutting through the noise: In an information-overload age, National must control its message and set the agenda to avoid being overshadowed by the opposition.
• 📝 Luxon’s challenge: Communication is a core part of leadership. National needs to embrace this reality, or risk losing the next election to Hipkins' narrative control.
• 💰 Advice for National: Bring in top-tier communications experts who can create a compelling, populist, centre-right message. This could be the key to securing a second term.