Opinion: Rob Rattenbury: Why Labour needs to tread carefully

Polls this far out from voting day are just an interesting distraction to those who can be bothered. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Comment

It is hard being a little bit left and a little bit right, a centre voter. One tends to see the world more in greys than in black and white.

There is a time though when you begin to become concerned that matters are happening around you too fast and seemingly without your input. Matters of major importance which, in time, could change how our democracy works forever.

In late 2020 Labour was handed the keys to the country. The country is there to be run as they wish for three years without needing the agreement or approval of any other political party.

This was, in part, in gratitude for how Labour rose to challenge Covid-19 and the successes that fell out of that. But also, in my opinion, a tiredness with National and its internal antics last year, the MPs who failed to meet the bar of what was expected, the leaders who came and went.

Nearly one year later Covid-19 is still rocking our world with borders still shut, the Aussie bubble popped after a few months, not of Labour's making of course but this is not helping a government that has huge expectations of transformational change.

The debate about the He Puapua report - which Jacinda Ardern says they did not really pay much attention to before the election, but is only a discussion document - has caught the attention of a suspicious electorate.

This has been delegated to Willie Jackson to consult with the Iwi Chairs Forum. That's nice. Is he also going to consult with the rest of Aotearoa as well? I am sure he will.

As a discussion document it seems to be hanging around for a while. Assurances are being made that not all of the matters mentioned in the document are up for discussion, like the very brief mention of an Upper House.

What if the Iwi Chairs Forum comes back and says, well, that's what they want. What does Jackson do then?

Then there is the badly handled matter of the meth addiction programme for the Mongrel Mob chapter. Perception or optics is everything in politics, especially when you want to do something that you know will cause controversy.

Openly and honestly explaining the detail of this proposal may have garnered a bit more public support. I support it because I have taken the time to find out the detail about it.

I do not listen to Judith Collins or David Seymour; they are in the business of attacking the Government; that is their job. Collins has a short memory though. A similar programme was put in place under National.

Rob Rattenbury. Photo / NZME

Labour has also decided to get into a fight with the Nurses Union, a group of people who are regarded as, if not saints, angels in our community. A workforce shattered by Covid-19, suffering from recruitment issues, pay issues and retention problems.

New Zealand educates excellent nurses but loses many offshore where they are actually more appreciated.

As a group our police are, in my opinion, also up there in the eyes of most in our community. Police cannot strike or take direct industrial action, but watch this space folks. They have marched before in protest.

These are two groups of workers who garner compassion and sympathy across the electorate. Voters have children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews who are nurses or police.

They worry about them coping in the hospitals and on our violent streets. This may not help Labour's chances of governing alone after 2023.

Then there is the recent Roy Morgan Poll. Polls this far out from voting day are just an interesting distraction to those who can be bothered. This poll shows a closing of the gap between a Labour/Green grouping and a National/Act grouping of 7.5 per cent.

If the Māori Party is included in the opposition mix this drops to 5 per cent.

ACT is the big winner at a record 13 per cent with National still languishing at 29 per cent.

Labour gained 1 per cent but the Greens dropped to 10 per cent, quite a fall.

Too early to get over-excited but some in Labour will be quietly worried about the speed of agendas being discussed, particularly around the proposed separate Māori Health Authority with a veto on all health matters, what results from Jackson's visit to the Iwi Chairs Forum, hate speech legislation and Labour's attitude to two of the least troubling groups of workers in the country, nurses and police.

Labour beware. Swing voters gave you carte blanche in 2020. That can so easily change.