Good performance by Little . . .?but many will have missed it

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

If timing is everything in politics then Labour and the Greens may have made a bad choice for their joint campaign launch, which would be a pity for Andrew Little who made one of the best speeches of his career.

For one thing the media was overwhelmed by Hurricane Donald who roared through his first week with a series of executive orders showing he meant what he said in his campaign about a wall to keep out Mexicans, exiting the TPP deal and blocking some Muslim immigrants and refugees from entering the US.

They also chose a weekend when the top half of the country was enjoying a three-day holiday in blissful weather, and probably had little inclination to hear what the two party’s leaders had to say.

If so that would be unfortunate because Little was clear and dynamic in his speech, choosing to direct an attack on new PM Bill English — which will probably be an Opposition tactic throughout this election year.

He chose to focus on how English reacted to Trump’s removal of visas for refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, in effect forcing English to respond yesterday saying it is not the New Zealand way — something that is obvious but is seen by some as a weak response.

Little, who seems to have undergone an image remake similar to what Helen Clark once did, has replaced his trademark glasses with contact lenses and invested in a sharp suit.

It was interesting too that the Greens and their co-leader Metiria Turei were very much a back-up. While they probably did themselves no harm, it was interesting that the two clashed on the issue of the Five Eyes intelligence programme — a sign the future will not be all roses.

It was interesting too that the parties said they would not make deals on opposing each other in crucial marginal seats. They must have been very tempted to do that in Ohariu and dislodge important government ally Peter Dunne.

As Little said in his speech it is not going to be easy but, to pinch a sporting term, he has momentum.