Nicola Willis said without coalition partners Act and NZ First, National would've dealt with fewer Māori issues and operated with more pace and specificity.
National as a single-party Government would have focused less on “Māori-related issues”, according to deputy leader Nicola Willis.
It follows a revealing Mood of the Boardroom survey in which one business leader commended the Government for “some examples of excellent leadership” while noting ”many others are distracting, playing politics withlittle sense of compelling national issues which must be addressed“.
The survey of 150 chief executives and other business identities found Education Minister Erica Stanford was again ranked Cabinet’s most impressive member. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon slid from sixth last year to 15th, while Willis as Finance Minister dropped from third-equal to 13th.
During a question-and-answer session following the survey’s release this morning, Willis was asked what National would have done differently in Government if it hadn’t needed Act or New Zealand First as coalition partners.
“Look, I think you would have seen less focus on Māori-related issues, that’s a blunt but bold assessment,” she responded.
“I think that you would have seen us move some pieces of legislation with more pace because not as many compromises would have been required on the way through.
“And I think you would have seen a focus that is not dissimilar in the goals for New Zealand but that, from time to time, would have been able to operate with a specificity and pace that is not the reality of coalition Government.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis holds up a copy of the Mood of the Boardroom. Photo / Dean Purcell
She did acknowledge how all coalition partners had worked constructively, saying some of her policies had been improved since being challenged by her “friend on the right, David [Seymour], and friend somewhat to the left, Winston [Peters].”
Willis’ comment about “Māori-related issues” is likely a reference to several items National agreed to in its coalition agreements with Act and NZ First, such as reviewing Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation and Act’s Treaty Principles Bill, which National was eventually forced to openly oppose amid a public backlash.
In a statement, Seymour argued his party had pushed the coalition to go “further than they would without us”.
“What matters most is that together we acknowledge the challenges New Zealand faces and are working hard to fix them,” he said.
NZ First leader Winston Peters, who is currently in New York, has been approached for comment.
Also during the Q&A, Willis – responding to concerns expressed through the survey – said: “I respect the 150 people in this room deeply, but you are not broadly representative of the five million people we serve.”
Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin later told the Herald he viewed the survey as “constructively honest” and believed it was important politicians listened.
“I think it’s really important that we don’t think that we’re not connected with the five million New Zealanders, we absolutely are,” Quin said.
“Every one of the people in this room that runs a business is spending time with people all through that organisation and has a pretty good feel for how they’re feeling, how they’re thinking, how their households are, so it is worth listening to.”
Willis later clarified her comments were in reference to the thousands of households and sectors not represented in the audience.
“It wasn’t in any way to demean the importance of those perspectives, but simply to say that’s one perspective.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
