Heather du Plessis-Allan: PM, your opponents aren't racist

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes her opening address at the APEC CEO Summit. Photo / Getty Images

As we say goodbye to 2021 and welcome in 2022, it's a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views our audience loved the most. Today it's the top five from Heather du Plessis-Allan.

PM, your opponents aren't racist - July 4

Labour can't keep blaming critics for reacting to their Māori co-governance plans. The changes are now so significant they warrant a proper debate. For that to happen, Labour needs to grow up and stop hinting its opponents are racist.

Up to now, Labour's got away with suggesting Act and National are the ones responsible for stirring up racial angst. For a while, that felt true, with Judith Collins touring National Party regional conferences giving speeches on a document no one had really heard of.

But this week Labour's blame shifting started to fall flat.

He Puapua is no longer a conspiracy theory trotted out by the opposition parties. It is now on the agenda. Labour has put it there.

Read the full article: PM, your opponents aren't racist

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson has said He Puapua is not government policy, but the recommendations could be. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Wellington is dying - March 7

I probably speak for many Wellingtonians when I say I'm gutted at what's happening to that city right now.

It's mildly embarrassing to say this, but I love Wellington more than I thought it was possible to love a place. Every weekend is tinged with just a bit of sadness at being forced to live out of the city for work. I miss morning runs around Oriental Bay, watching the fountain in the evening, downloading the thoughts of political tragics over a beer.

The city has a buzz about it that you only find in places where people know they have the power to change a country's course and everyone else knows they have the power to assist or prevent that. It's intoxicating.

Most people you meet in Wellington moved there for work and stayed because it's wonderful. But none of us can kid ourselves any more. Wellington is dying. We got cross with Sir John Key when he said that in 2013, but he was right and we now have to admit it too.

Read the full article: Wellington is dying

Oriental Parade, Wellington. Photo / Ross Setford

Auckland angry as lockdown drags on - October 3

Auckland feels like an angry city.

Angry at the lockdown dragging on. Angry that the boundary will remain and we won't be able to leave the city even in level 2. Angry at the gang members hooning around West Auckland for a funeral despite lockdown rules. Angry at the cops for not charging the lot of them.

You'll have sensed it by now. The text from your friend that ends with "I'm over it" and an angry face emoji. The out-of-the-blue message from another friend saying "now I've had enough". She means the Government. She was a Jacinda fan. She's not any more. Or the text from the colleague noting "I have never heard people so angry".

So, yes, Auckland is angry.

Read the full article: Auckland angry as lockdown drags on

The Auckland lockdown began in August and dragged on for months. Photo / Alex Burton

Don't underestimate 'pissy' middle NZ voters - June 13

Earlier this week, Labour's polling guru made an astonishing admission on the radio. He didn't think the government expected the blowback they're getting over the Auckland cycle-bridge decision.

Stephen Mills' company UMR runs focus groups and polls for Labour. To him, the reaction seemed "right over the top in lots of ways", led by "Fox News equivalents in Auckland radio".

Could he be any more out of touch? Could the government be any more out of touch?
Of course ordinary voters were going to hate the Boomer Bike Bridge to Birkenhead. You'd struggle to find a project that does a better job of screaming "middle class indulgence" to people struggling to make ends meet.

When you're stuck in congestion for close to two hours driving into the city from Pōkeno every morning because that's the only place you could afford to buy a house, that bridge looks like an indulgence.

Read the full article: Don't underestimate 'pissy' middle NZ voters

Of course ordinary voters were going to hate the Boomer Bike Bridge to Birkenhead. Photo / Supplied

Judith Collins is gone, but when? - September 19

Judith Collins will be rolled. There is no question over that. The only questions are when, and by whom.

"When" is arguably the harder of the two questions to answer.

It must be tempting to roll Collins as soon as possible. She is a deer fixed in the crosshairs after this week's Curia poll put National at a shocking 21 per cent. To be fair, the poll isn't setting off a chain of events. It only reconfirms the necessity of what was already inevitable.

Collins cannot realistically hope to be elected Prime Minister after her performance of late. From shouting at the young interviewer on Breakfast to calling Siouxsie Wiles a "big, fat hypocrite", her actions do not reflect the statesmanship we expect in our PMs.

Read the full article: Judith Collins is gone, but when?

National Party leader Judith Collins addressing supporters during the National Party Conference at Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau. Photo / Dean Purcell