This is edition 2025/146 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!
1. Hipkins’ COVID inquiry snub: Why it’s a PR disaster waiting to happen
Centrist
- 📜 Missed Opportunity: Hipkins missed a chance to reframe his legacy and show accountability, instead opting for a safer path that could prove costlier later.
- ❌ Avoiding Accountability: By refusing to testify publicly at the Royal Commission into New Zealand's COVID response, Hipkins risks losing trust and invites suspicion about political maneuvering.
- 💼 Consistency in Messaging: The refusal to testify, alongside other Labour leaders, has led to perceptions of controlled messaging over unscripted accountability.
- 🎭 Backfiring Strategy: The strategy to keep COVID off the campaign trail backfired, making it a recurring issue in the lead-up to elections, with opponents seizing on Hipkins’ absence.
- 💬 Opposition's Attack: National’s Judith Collins and ACT’s David Seymour quickly branded the refusal as “gutless” and “hypocritical,” with the issue dominating political discourse.
- 📊 Polling: Polls showed the majority, including Labour voters, opposed Hipkins’ decision to avoid public testimony, fueling the narrative against him.
- 🩸 Political Theatre?: Supporters argue that public testimony could devolve into political theatre, but Labour’s own history of 1pm briefings undermines this defense.
- ⚖️ Shared Responsibility: Despite the criticism, most parties had backed the government’s COVID actions, making the defense of “bloodletting” less compelling.
