NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Mike Hosking: Two weeks in and new Government is missing in action

Mike Hosking
By Mike Hosking
Mike Hosking is a breakfast host on Newstalk ZB.·NZ Herald·
4 Nov, 2020 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Greens co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson and Labour leader Jacinda Ardern and deputy Kelvin Davis after signing their co-operation agreement. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Greens co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson and Labour leader Jacinda Ardern and deputy Kelvin Davis after signing their co-operation agreement. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Mike Hosking
Opinion by Mike Hosking
Mike Hosking has hosted his number one Breakfast show on Newstalk ZB since 2008. Listen live each weekday from 6am on Newstalk ZB.
Learn more

OPINION:

We have essentially ended up as I predicted in this column on July 2 with a first-past-the-post government.

Part of my original prediction was based on the Greens not making it. But even though they have, they are irrelevant which is no bad thing.

The deal done is a kindly sop, which will result in a lot of verbal virtue signalling from the Greens, but any real progress will be Labour's.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Part of Labour's success is unquestionably a flight to safety. In uncertain times, safety is certainty and comfort.

The last government was a good example of why MMP essentially doesn't work.

We like to know where we are at.

This term is make or break for Labour simply because there are no more excuses, no one to blame for all the stuff that went wrong or didn't happen.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

My suspicion is they will make a hash of it, not because I want them to. I don't. I want them to find talent we didn't see in the past three years. As I said in the last column I don't care who runs this place as long as they run it well.

The past couple of weeks have already been a disappointment though. Yes they have been constrained by special votes and meetings with biscuits, but there are also a frighteningly long line of people, businesses, industries and sectors out there with a growing number of concerns about their futures, and Labour has been missing in action.

Discover more

Politics

Ardern's team: New faces, new Covid focus - the winners and losers

02 Nov 04:00 PM
Politics

Jacinda Ardern's new Cabinet: Who's up or down, in or out?

01 Nov 05:06 PM
Opinion

Hosking: Marking the week - a look at all the news and current events

22 Oct 10:18 PM

Decisions and plans around the border, real plans - not verbiage and hot air.

Ongoing support for sectors such as tourism which are vaccine - and therefore border -reliant, in a world where the border looks closed for next year, or at least a chunk of it.

Even if you never voted Labour you know what you are in for. Photo / Warren Buckland
Even if you never voted Labour you know what you are in for. Photo / Warren Buckland

A social housing queue that's now at record levels having cracked 20,000.

The Auckland Port so frustrated around a lack of testing they shamed the government and started their own programme. The empty places at quarantine hotels as more skilled workers line up offshore desperate to get here and help. The lack of people given exemptions to enter the country as increasing numbers of employers and firms grow desperate for labour. Shipping that's bypassing New Zealand and leaving shelves empty at Christmas time. An asset-driven recovery package that's seeing money fly out the banks' doors at record levels and inflating house prices and making the wealthy wealthier.

Statistics that show that of the OECD countries, not one has increased their debt levels as a percentage of GDP as much as us.

So it's not like there isn't a lot to do. Yet for the past 2 weeks - nothing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It's confirmation of a long-held suspicion that essentially they worked out a good number of us loved being scared, liked a good dollop of welfare, and as long as we can buy a latte and go to the rugby we are basically happy.

There has never been more urgency to get on with major decision-making and yet it's been years since we've seen a party less urgent in their approach.

So the fact they have the parliament to themselves will make or break them.

If they bring the same pre-Covid ineptitude to this term as last, they are a two term government.

If they are emboldened by their win, and throw caution to the wind and start really governing, they may surprise us all.

But what we will see, is pure government, FPP government, and after the last 3 years I'm pretty sure that most of us will welcome the clarity.

Even if you never voted Labour you know what you are in for. Last term you didn't have a clue.

This is bad news for ACT and the Greens, and certainly bad news for New Zealand First and every other operator outside the tent trying desperately to gain traction.

In uncertain times, simplicity rules. It's only when life is good and we are bored we start to dabble.

Niche thinking, and nuanced ideas have no real place in times of crisis.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Hardly seems a priority': Greens react to moa de-extinction plans

09 Jul 06:00 AM
New Zealand

'Looked pretty serious': Accident closes Hamilton intersection

09 Jul 05:29 AM
New ZealandUpdated

Fresh school holiday measles scare as three infected people visit supermarket, library

09 Jul 05:16 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Hardly seems a priority': Greens react to moa de-extinction plans

'Hardly seems a priority': Greens react to moa de-extinction plans

09 Jul 06:00 AM

Marama Davidson says the money could be better spent on saving endangered species.

'Looked pretty serious': Accident closes Hamilton intersection

'Looked pretty serious': Accident closes Hamilton intersection

09 Jul 05:29 AM
Fresh school holiday measles scare as three infected people visit supermarket, library

Fresh school holiday measles scare as three infected people visit supermarket, library

09 Jul 05:16 AM
Auckland superette worker stabbed by group of screwdriver, knife-wielding teens

Auckland superette worker stabbed by group of screwdriver, knife-wielding teens

09 Jul 05:10 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP