That week ended with the Herald devoting its front page to how the police’s crackdown on motorcycle gangs was – believe it or not – working.
The calm and focused way that Police Minister Chris Hipkins has approached this issue is starting to bear fruit.
Who could have predicted that when it comes to dealing with antisocial and unlawful behaviour from motorcycle gangs, the humble parking ticket is proving more effective than the business end of a police truncheon.
Take the bikes off the bikies and the antisocial issues die down. After all, patched gang members tearing down Queen St on 50cc mopeds or e-bikes doesn’t quite have the same vibe.
Then on Wednesday, Labour landed a big one.
Five years in the making, the historic passing of the Fair Pay Agreements Act is the best news for low-income workers in 30 years.
The Act gives employees and employers the ability to set basic minimums across occupations and industries should they wish to.
Despite the disinformation, no one will be forced to join a union and, unlike regular pay negotiations, strikes will be banned.
It’s good news for business too.
If you’re a company that pays staff above the minimum wage and wants to compete more on quality than cost, you’re in luck.
The effect of a fair pay agreement in your industry will be to make it harder for cowboy operators to undercut you on price.
In fact, businesses with a product, customer service, or supply chain competitive advantage should probably consider initiating a process themselves.
Despite the hyperbole, the Act will do no more than take us closer to the “awards” system of that great bastion of socialism: Australia.
Australia was also in the news this week with its inflation figures now running at 7.3 per cent. While it remains a huge challenge, Finance Minister Grant Robertson can at least point to the quite remarkable fact that New Zealand is managing to keep inflation below that of our big brother.
And if Wednesday wasn’t busy enough, it emerged that it was possibly the personal intervention of Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta that helped to free two young Kiwis detained for several months in Iran.
Not a bad couple of weeks. But Labour will need many more good weeks than bad if it is to secure a coveted third term.
Their path to victory is littered with landmines.
The best political outcome for the Three Waters programme is to get it through Parliament, implemented, and out of the news as soon as practical.
The Beehive rightly calculates that in the end, most voters won’t care if their ownership interest over water assets is expressed as a taxpayer, rather than a ratepayer. So long as clean water comes out of the taps and the toilets flush, who cares?
Like many countries, our health system is under real strain post-Covid and not even the 40 per cent funding increase since 2017 has been enough to satisfy the beast.
The housing, transport, and police portfolios also remain a target-rich environment for the Opposition.
It’s not going to be easy, but third-term elections never are.
One thing is certain. Labour will need its mojo back at full strength if it is to have any chance of repeating the success of 2005.
Andrew Kirton was Labour’s General Secretary from 2016-2018. He now works in government relations for transtasman firm Anacta Consulting. He is married to a Labour MP.
