February 23, 2026 • 5 mins
Nick chats with political commentator Peter Dunne about Labour's State of the Nation speech.
What is this year looking like for Labour? Are they playing it safe?
Dunne analyses the address to Labour supporters and what this means for their policy announcements coming up.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks d B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Political commentator Peter Dunn joins us.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Good morning, Peter, Good morning Nick.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
What did you think of the speech? I mean, this
is a state of the nation speech, this is election, Yeah,
this is an opportunity to really put down the Gortland.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah. But I think that Hipkins had no choice other
than to do what he did. I think a rash
of a rash of extreme, sort of expensive, attractive promises
would have seemed irresponsible at the stage. I think his
biggest task is to convince a skeptical Auckland audience that
he has what it takes to be Prime Minister, and
in that regard, being very low key and very deliberate
(00:48):
and very measured I think was the only approach he
could take him at this time.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Really, I thought that we're going to hear some of
major announcements.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
No, I look, I have been stunned if we did,
because A I don't think they've got them, and B
I don't think this would have gone down all that
well at this at this point in the cycle, I
think Hipkins's biggest obstacle is to convince people that he's
a more serious contender as prime minister than this year
than he was when he was Prime Minister and looked
out of his depth. So the thing to come across
(01:19):
as sober, considered, moderate and responsible was the card he
had to play. Whether it's an election winning card is
a different story. But this was about building up his
credibility in the short medium term.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
But surely he should be playing at an electoral card.
I mean this is an election year.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, But at this point he's got to have people
believing he's credible, and I think that's the challenge he's
first got to overcome. There's still a lack of credibility
regarding labor given its performance in government. Hips has got
to come across as the man that can change that.
Then he can start to come out with the promises
and the policies in the direction. And I think winning
(01:57):
over the Auckland business community, given that's where the bulk
of the population are in Auckland, was a critical task. Now,
you know, he had, as I say, probably no other
card to play, you So whether he succeeds, we won't
know for a little while yet, but I think that
that was probably his best, best.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
If you, like I said earlier in the hour, and
I've kind of been thinking about it constantly. You know,
you sometimes say things than you think is that right
or is that wrong? But I'm constantly thinking that Labour's
probably at a lower ebb than I can ever remember
in my lifetime. Can you remember them when they weren't
where they were less powerful than they are now.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I can remember back in the early nineteen nineties after
the landslide defeat of that year, when I was in
the Labor Caucus then we were reduced to just twenty
nine members compared to sixty seven for the then government.
We're a pretty low v at that point, and you've
got to just taken a deep breath and work out
why did that happen. And the one thing that political
(02:56):
parties have got to avoid in those sorts of situation
is the sort of the electric got it wrong mentality.
The electric never gets it wrong. It's the politicians to
get it wrong. So you've got to take the deep
breath and learn to come back. And I think that
is what Hipkins is trying to do. Now. He's not
going to come out and admit that they stuffed up
last time, But what he's saying, is we tried to
do too many things. Will only do only promise to
(03:19):
do the things we can deliver this time, which is
closest you can get. So he's starting to realize that
the last labor government wasn't perfect and that for the
public to treat labor credibly again after just three years,
he's got a massive task to try and restore that credibility.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
If you were advising labor and hipkins, what would you
be advising them to do right now?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Right now, I'd be saying more of the same. I
heard a very good speech, for instance, a couple of
weeks ago than he's entered Economic Forum by Barbara Edmonds.
Didn't say anything, but started to set a tone. And
I think that's what they've got to do, probably up
until budget time. Once the budget's out of the way
in May, then they'll have a clearer sense of the
state of the books and they should start to wheel
(04:01):
out no more than I think four or five big
promises that they can commit to achieving without the whole
sweep of other stuff that went with them last time.
So four or five big things that they can commit
to do and can be confident at achieving, but then
promote that very heavily post election, post budget until now.
I think they're quite smart to sit back and let
(04:22):
the government make all the running and make all the mistakes.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Is Barbara Edmond starting to get some cut through? I
think she is.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I think she is, and I think it's the same style.
It's considered. It's thought out quite well with me, You
agree with this secondary But she's presenting a coherent message
and she's setting a tone about how she's going to
operate if she becomes a Minister of Finance, and I
think that's what people want to hear at the stage
is what would labor and government? Bearing in mind it
(04:49):
would have the add ons of the Greens into party Murray,
which is the sort of the worst two elephants in
the room you could hope for. But bearing that in mind,
how would Labor actually run the show and keep on track?
And that's why I think Hipkins, Edmonds and the rest
of the team are pretty smart if they stick to
the game that playing at the moment. The moment they
deviate from met and start to go off down sidetracks,
(05:11):
then I think that's the moment I start to fall apart.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to news talks It'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks d B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Political commentator Peter Dunn joins us.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Good morning, Peter, Good morning Nick.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
What did you think of the speech? I mean, this
is a state of the nation speech, this is election, Yeah,
this is an opportunity to really put down the Gortland.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah. But I think that Hipkins had no choice other
than to do what he did. I think a rash
of a rash of extreme, sort of expensive, attractive promises
would have seemed irresponsible at the stage. I think his
biggest task is to convince a skeptical Auckland audience that
he has what it takes to be Prime Minister, and
in that regard, being very low key and very deliberate
(00:48):
and very measured I think was the only approach he
could take him at this time.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Really, I thought that we're going to hear some of
major announcements.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
No, I look, I have been stunned if we did,
because A I don't think they've got them, and B
I don't think this would have gone down all that
well at this at this point in the cycle, I
think Hipkins's biggest obstacle is to convince people that he's
a more serious contender as prime minister than this year
than he was when he was Prime Minister and looked
out of his depth. So the thing to come across
(01:19):
as sober, considered, moderate and responsible was the card he
had to play. Whether it's an election winning card is
a different story. But this was about building up his
credibility in the short medium term.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
But surely he should be playing at an electoral card.
I mean this is an election year.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, But at this point he's got to have people
believing he's credible, and I think that's the challenge he's
first got to overcome. There's still a lack of credibility
regarding labor given its performance in government. Hips has got
to come across as the man that can change that.
Then he can start to come out with the promises
and the policies in the direction. And I think winning
(01:57):
over the Auckland business community, given that's where the bulk
of the population are in Auckland, was a critical task. Now,
you know, he had, as I say, probably no other
card to play, you So whether he succeeds, we won't
know for a little while yet, but I think that
that was probably his best, best.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
If you, like I said earlier in the hour, and
I've kind of been thinking about it constantly. You know,
you sometimes say things than you think is that right
or is that wrong? But I'm constantly thinking that Labour's
probably at a lower ebb than I can ever remember
in my lifetime. Can you remember them when they weren't
where they were less powerful than they are now.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I can remember back in the early nineteen nineties after
the landslide defeat of that year, when I was in
the Labor Caucus then we were reduced to just twenty
nine members compared to sixty seven for the then government.
We're a pretty low v at that point, and you've
got to just taken a deep breath and work out
why did that happen. And the one thing that political
(02:56):
parties have got to avoid in those sorts of situation
is the sort of the electric got it wrong mentality.
The electric never gets it wrong. It's the politicians to
get it wrong. So you've got to take the deep
breath and learn to come back. And I think that
is what Hipkins is trying to do. Now. He's not
going to come out and admit that they stuffed up
last time, But what he's saying, is we tried to
do too many things. Will only do only promise to
(03:19):
do the things we can deliver this time, which is
closest you can get. So he's starting to realize that
the last labor government wasn't perfect and that for the
public to treat labor credibly again after just three years,
he's got a massive task to try and restore that credibility.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
If you were advising labor and hipkins, what would you
be advising them to do right now?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Right now, I'd be saying more of the same. I
heard a very good speech, for instance, a couple of
weeks ago than he's entered Economic Forum by Barbara Edmonds.
Didn't say anything, but started to set a tone. And
I think that's what they've got to do, probably up
until budget time. Once the budget's out of the way
in May, then they'll have a clearer sense of the
state of the books and they should start to wheel
(04:01):
out no more than I think four or five big
promises that they can commit to achieving without the whole
sweep of other stuff that went with them last time.
So four or five big things that they can commit
to do and can be confident at achieving, but then
promote that very heavily post election, post budget until now.
I think they're quite smart to sit back and let
(04:22):
the government make all the running and make all the mistakes.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Is Barbara Edmond starting to get some cut through? I
think she is.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I think she is, and I think it's the same style.
It's considered. It's thought out quite well with me, You
agree with this secondary But she's presenting a coherent message
and she's setting a tone about how she's going to
operate if she becomes a Minister of Finance, and I
think that's what people want to hear at the stage
is what would labor and government? Bearing in mind it
(04:49):
would have the add ons of the Greens into party Murray,
which is the sort of the worst two elephants in
the room you could hope for. But bearing that in mind,
how would Labor actually run the show and keep on track?
And that's why I think Hipkins, Edmonds and the rest
of the team are pretty smart if they stick to
the game that playing at the moment. The moment they
deviate from met and start to go off down sidetracks,
(05:11):
then I think that's the moment I start to fall apart.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to news talks It'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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