Stuart Nash, and the challenge of being a leader when a cyclone upends everything

Stuart Nash found himself confronted with a cyclone devastating his electorate, while also taking on the weighty role of selling himself as a crime-crushing Police Minister.

OPINION:

When leaders are forced to respond to traumatic and devastating events, the glare goes on them.

The vast majority are up to the task, but it’s a tough gig.

Napier MP Stuart Nash was reshuffled into the police portfolio, on top of forestry, just weeks before Cyclone Gabrielle.

The floods have not only devastated his electorate, but in the weeks following, there’s also been a microscope on the police response to fears of looting, as well as the extent to which forestry slash played a role in the disaster that unfolded.

That’s a heck of a job for one man to handle. It’d almost be impossible not to cut a few corners.

When he went on Newstalk ZB on Tuesday, it was with the weight of a month of tough mahi behind him, and likely limited preparation.

The vibe of the day was braggadocious. And as he punched back and forth on Mike Hosking’s show, his biggest boast was to admit breaching the Cabinet manual.

It’s a bad error - to call Andrew Coster and vent over a judiciary decision and ask him “Surely you’re going to appeal?” - and it’s seen him stripped of his police role by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

Ironically, Hipkins put him in that position because he would have wanted him to play that role - the classic Nash, the no-nonsense, loose-lipped, crime-crushing minister that National and Act have tried to own the politics of.

Many wouldn’t have been listening, but in the week after the cyclone, Nash went on Newstalk ZB and called looting gang members “animals” and told gang leaders to get them off the streets.

Few seemed to particularly mind that description, and perhaps its success emboldened him.

It’ll hurt Nash’s pride to have to resign as Police Minister, but his electorate does really need a local MP in the lead-up to the election more than it needed him in the police portfolio.

Also in the spotlight this week has been Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence head Ian Macdonald, over his decision to take a tramping trip in the lead-up to the cyclone.

Macdonald got back into reception - and in contact with Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (HBCDEM) - on the evening of February 13.

Even though Cyclone Gabrielle loomed on the radar early, it’s hard to argue Macdonald shouldn’t have gone on the long-planned walk.

Everyone is entitled to annual leave, and to not be disturbed while on it.

His commitment to his role and the region got him back to Wellington, where he helped co-ordinate the response on February 14.

He was then able to get back to Hawke’s Bay on February 15, where he stepped in to lead his no doubt tired colleagues.

What makes the trip interesting is that it helps further cement just how little expectation there was that the cyclone would cause catastrophe in the region. We were all caught on the hop.

- Chris Hyde is the editor of Hawke’s Bay Today.