Paula Bennett: The changing of the guard - but not the tide

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins during his first post-Cabinet press conference on Wednesday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

OPINION

Chris Hipkins is in for a hell of a ride. The tide has already turned against Labour and a change at the top is not enough this time to turn that around. Years ago when Ardern stepped into the role of Labour leader, taking over from Andrew Little, there was no change in policy, just a change of leader. Yet that was enough for them to gather some momentum and get them close enough to the line for NZ First to choose to put them into government.

There will be no massive change like that for Hipkins. People have stopped listening to Labour and simply don’t believe their promises. He can cancel a few things - but are they cancelled or just postponed?

Hipkins has been an integral part of the Ardern Government. As a senior minister and a close confidant of hers, he has approved and led much of the work that has been proven to be very unpopular.

Will people believe that he has changed his mind? More likely they will think that he is only cancelling some projects because he wants to win the next election. What happens if they do win? The issues around Three Waters won’t have gone away. We know that they fundamentally believe in a public service co-governance arrangement.

As Minister of State Services Hipkins has led much of this work through the public service. He may delay some of it but if they are successful in the election this year, there can be no doubt that it will go on the new Labour Government’s agenda.

Hipkins has already stated that he wants to see changes to our tax system. That he doesn’t believe the current system is fair, but he won’t make changes before the election. What will those changes be if he is PM after October 14?

We do know what Hipkins stands for. He has led much of the unpopular policy work over the past few years and he has not changed his ideology overnight. At a personal level I wish him well. However, this change of guard will not be enough to change the minds of the majority of New Zealand voters.

Paula Bennett is a former Deputy Prime Minister and National Party politician who now works at Bayleys Real Estate as national director-customer engagement.