Friday, 19 August 2022
Meet the JournalistsPremiumAucklandWellingtonCanterbury/South Island
CrimePoliticsHealthEducationEnvironment and ClimateNZ Herald FocusData journalismKāhu, Māori ContentPropertyWeather
Small BusinessOpinionPersonal FinanceEconomyBusiness TravelCapital Markets
Politics
Premium SportRugbyCricketRacingNetballBoxingLeagueFootballSuper RugbyAthleticsBasketballMotorsportTennisCyclingGolfAmerican SportsHockeyUFC
NZH Local FocusThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay of Plenty TimesHawke's Bay TodayRotorua Daily PostWhanganui ChronicleStratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu Courier
Covid-19
Te Rito
Te Rito
OneRoof PropertyCommercial Property
Open JusticeVideoPodcastsTechnologyWorldOpinion
SpyTVMoviesBooksMusicCultureSideswipeCompetitions
Fashion & BeautyFood & DrinkRoyalsRelationshipsWellbeingPets & AnimalsVivaCanvasEat WellCompetitionsRestaurants & Menus
New Zealand TravelAustralia TravelInternational Travel
Our Green FutureRuralOneRoof Property
Career AdviceCorporate News
Driven MotoringPhotos
SudokuCodecrackerCrosswordsWordsearchDaily quizzes
Classifieds
KaitaiaWhangareiDargavilleAucklandThamesTaurangaHamiltonWhakataneRotoruaTokoroaTe KuitiTaumarunuiTaupoGisborneNew PlymouthNapierHastingsDannevirkeWhanganuiPalmerston NorthLevinParaparaumuMastertonWellingtonMotuekaNelsonBlenheimWestportReeftonKaikouraGreymouthHokitikaChristchurchAshburtonTimaruWanakaOamaruQueenstownDunedinGoreInvercargill
NZ HeraldThe Northern AdvocateThe Northland AgeThe AucklanderWaikato HeraldBay Of Plenty TimesRotorua Daily PostHawke's Bay TodayWhanganui ChronicleThe Stratford PressManawatu GuardianKapiti NewsHorowhenua ChronicleTe Awamutu CourierVivaEat WellOneRoofDriven MotoringThe CountryPhoto SalesNZ Herald InsightsWatchMeGrabOneiHeart RadioRestaurant Hub

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
New Zealand|Politics

John Armstrong: Hello Colin Craig - you have a problem

4 Dec, 2013 04:30 PM2 minutes to read
Conservative Party leader Colin Craig.

Conservative Party leader Colin Craig.

NZ Herald

One wrong step by Colin Craig, one embarrassing and potentially huge step backwards for his Conservative Party.

While Act was yesterday (finally) getting its house in some semblance of order, Craig seemed hell-bent on replacing Rodney Hide's old stomping ground as the laughing stock of New Zealand politics.

John Key, you have a problem. National's willingness to help Craig get a seat in Parliament has been based on the hope he might bring two or three other MPs with him on his coat-tails. Or should that be chem-trails.

However, when someone who conceivably could end up being a minister following next year's election is unsure whether he believes man has walked on the Moon, it is time to press the "whoop-whoop, pull-up" warning button on the dangers of potential coalition with a party which might also believe Paul McCartney is dead and Elvis Presley faked his own death.

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Craig was not fully subscribing to one of the great conspiracy theories, but he was not dismissing it out of hand either. That was breakfast-time. By lunchtime, Craig was shifting away from his ambivalence faster than the Space Shuttle on take-off.

Too late. His lunar-tic observations during an interview with RadioLive's Marcus Lush came close to overshadowing John Banks' press conference at which he announced he would not be standing for Act in Epsom next year as well as stepping down as leader at the party's annual conference in March. Given Banks will be in the High Court dock next year facing charges of electoral fraud, both decisions were inevitable. He correctly described his standing aside as a necessary circuitbreaker for the party. It gives Act one last chance of reviving itself. That is going to be a tall order.

Craig's clanger is the kind of career-defining and sometimes career-destroying own-goal that sticks in the public's mind.

Craig is fast becoming a liability for National to the extent that people may be put off voting for Key's party if the price for remaining in power means pandering to the Conservatives' more extreme tastes.

For Key the current fixation with who will strike a deal with whom must be becoming so tiresome for him to utter that immortal interstellar order: "Beam me up, Bill."

Debate on this article is now closed.

Related articles

New Zealand|Politics

Interactive 'mashup' of new electorates

27 Nov 06:38 PM
Politics

Steve Baron: Craig should be taken seriously

27 Nov 08:30 PM
Politics

The Act party flower

02 Dec 04:30 PM
New Zealand|Politics

Key: Colin Craig's just after attention

03 Dec 09:36 PM

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Seven injured, two critically, after crash involving St John vehicle

19 Aug 12:02 AM
Video

Christchurch school head prefect wins prestigious songwriting competition

New Zealand

Fire in middle of strike on Stokes Valley road

New ZealandUpdated

Live: Hundreds still without power in Far North, Kaitaia cut off due to flooding

18 Aug 11:52 PM
New Zealand|CrimeUpdated

$300k tax evasion: Builder used company money on Uber Eats and cash withdrawals

18 Aug 11:49 PM

Most Popular

Premium
Why Cecilia Robinson is rejoining My Food Bag board
Business

Why Cecilia Robinson is rejoining My Food Bag board

19 Aug 12:04 AM
Mid-air horror: Panic on Air NZ flight from LA as masks drop, emergency declared
New Zealand

Mid-air horror: Panic on Air NZ flight from LA as masks drop, emergency declared

18 Aug 10:55 PM
Live: 400+ Nelson homes evacuated; Far North town isolated after slips
New Zealand

Live: 400+ Nelson homes evacuated; Far North town isolated after slips

18 Aug 10:41 PM

Advertisement

Advertise with NZME.
About NZMEHelp & SupportContact UsSubscribe to NZ HeraldHouse Rules
Manage Your Print SubscriptionNZ Herald E-EditionAdvertise with NZMEBook Your AdPrivacy Policy
Terms of UseCompetition Terms & ConditionsSubscriptions Terms & Conditions
© Copyright 2022 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP