Three weeks into the job, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern gives her take on the highs and lows of the campaign so far and the role of ‘personality politics’ in modern electioneering.
I learnt an election can be a good, clean contest of ideas — with the exception of a few holes. - Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paid humorous tribute to Andrew Little, warning MPs if they were ever his deputy "run for the hills".
Tipping her hat to theman she replaced in the run up to the general election, Ardern said Little was "one of a kind", as Parliament finished up for the year.
Chest-beating, political insults, and accusations of neglect from all parties coloured the final debate.
Ardern went through what she had learned over the year — starting with not to plumb her own toilet. She referred to National's finance spokesman Steven Joyce's claims of a "hole" in Labour's books during the campaign.
"I learnt an election can be a good, clean contest of ideas — with the exception of a few holes." She then listed what the Government had done in the 56 days since winning power, while also poking fun at herself and her "annoying dose of relentless positivity".
She finished by wishing her team a "restful" break because "there's a lot more to come in the New Year".
PM Jacinda Ardern final speech in Parliament for 2017 thanks Andrew Little for stepping aside. Photo / Rod Emmerson
Opposition leader Bill English started by making fun of the numerous Government commissions, saying how refreshing it was to head to the summer break "without a Christmas Commission".
Among those he thanked were Diplomatic Protection Squad staff, who used to protect him when he was Prime Minister. He said he once came to the debating chamber and, forgetting he was no longer Prime Minister, waited for a DPS member to swipe open the door for him.
He then said it was "a bit rich" to listen to the Government trumpet its "moral awesomeness and self-congratulations ... when they opposed every measure it took to generate the surpluses they are now handing out".
"They found the lolly bag and ran the lolly scramble without having any idea where it came from."
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters took aim at National's front bench and each of their leadership ambitions.
"Amy Adams — she is playing such a long game it will be all over before it starts. Judith Collins — she's been playing a short game for a long time." He called Simon O'Connor the "oldest young man in New Zealand politics".
He called Steven Joyce "fake news", and finished by calling Jian Yang "National's Manchurian candidate" — Peters' pick for the next National Party leader.
But even Peters was gracious enough to wish everyone a safe break. "We've got to be safe on our roads, on our beaches these holidays. But the most dangerous place to be right now is the National party front bench, because right now they know they can't win, ever, with them."
