Mike Woilliams says Jacinda Ardern has fashioned a Labour Government in the shape his mother would recognise with its focus on sharing prosperity and building a future for our kids.
Mike Woilliams says Jacinda Ardern has fashioned a Labour Government in the shape his mother would recognise with its focus on sharing prosperity and building a future for our kids.
It was a politically busy week and a watershed for National with the departure of its longest serving MP, Nick Smith.
Smith was the last of the "brat pack" that included fellow newbies Tony Ryall, Roger Sowry and Bill English, who were elected in the 1990 general election.
Although sociallyconservative, Nick Smith brought a welcome dose of "greenness" to National and was an invaluable source of experience within the party. They will miss him.
He was passionate to the point of instability at times but what really interested me was that he held the seat of Nelson for 25 years until finally dislodged in the Ardern landslide last year.
Before Nick Smith, Nelson was a reliably Labour voting electorate and during his long tenure as MP, favoured Labour in its party vote choice.
When I retired as Labour Party president more than a decade ago, I took the advice of a mentor in Australia and disappeared off the party's radar "to let the next generation have a go".
Beyond making donations, I have not taken part in Labour Party activities since.
Last Saturday, however, I was invited to hear the Prime Minister and went along to the Labour Party's Auckland Northland Regional Conference in Mount Roskill Electorate.
This experience was a revelation.
I spoke at 10 of these events between 1998 and 2008, but last Saturday's conference saw at least twice and maybe three times the number of delegates as any I had attended on my watch, and they represented the whole range of Kiwis in all of its diverse glory.
My elder daughter, who has taken up acting as my conscience, tells me that it is politically incorrect to comment on people's appearance but at the risk of her wrath, I have to report that our PM looked good – fit, fresh and healthy in her weekend jeans.
She spoke for 40 minutes, apparently from just a few scribbled headings, and then spent around half an hour taking questions.
There are politicians who make great speeches after which you cannot remember anything significant they have said but this speech was not one of those.
It was meaty and memorable.
One fascinating fact she quoted was that during the Covid-19 lockdown everyone was told to stay home. This meant the homeless "rough sleepers" – and there seemed to be many in Auckland where I live – had to be found accommodation so that they would have a "home" in which to be restricted.
The PM had thought to find out just how many had stayed in their new digs after the lockdown was lifted and it was pleasing to learn that this number was 90 per cent.
It might seem a strange way to cure chronic homelessness, but, she observed, this was at least one silver lining in the otherwise dark Covid-19 cloud.
Jacinda Ardern has fashioned a Labour Government in the shape my mother would recognise with its focus on sharing prosperity and building a future for our kids.
Her communication skills are sublime as is her political nose.
Mike Williams.
There was no squealing about "dole bludgers" when benefits were increased in the Budget. This was down to Jacinda Ardern's laser-like focus on child poverty.
No politician in their right mind condemns measure to help poor kids.
Measures like this have meant that 109,000 of the poorest families are now $175 per week better off under her Government, and I was personally delighted to see the restoration of the training incentive allowance which funds beneficiaries into education.
Steve Maharey, a minister in the Clark government, introduced this measure which immensely benefited members of my whānau. National's Paula Bennett, who had taken advantage of this allowance while a solo mother, had the scheme abolished.
One political bull's eye that went largely under the media radar was the Government's decision to purchase enough vaccine to inoculate our friends in the Pacific Islands.
This came up during question time at last Saturday's gathering and was greeted by prolonged applause.
As well as a great gesture of friendship, this is great politics.
Pacifica groups maintain a traditionally strong verbal network known as the "taro roots" and this kind of good news spreads like wildfire.
By the 2023 election there will be 300,000 plus Pacifica voters.
No prizes for guessing who they will support.
Mike Williams grew up in Hawke's Bay. He is CEO of the NZ Howard League and a former Labour Party president. All opinions are his and not those of Hawke's Bay Today.
