Francesca Rudkin: Here's the Labour Party's biggest problem

The reason why Labour leader Chris Hipkins has an uphill battle leading into this year’s election, regardless of what the polls say, has been on show this week. I am not talking about awkward personal posts. I’m talking about his politicking.  

About a month ago, Chris Hipkins delivered his State of the Nation speech in Auckland. Some described it as boring. Others saw it as an effort to come across as mature and disciplined, to convey a reassuring voice to Kiwis that Labour would act calmly and firmly to deal with cost of living and affordability issues.  

But credible Hipkins was replaced with snippy Hipkins this week when he was asked how Labour would deal with the fuel crisis if it was in power. His response was to say “the Government needs to come up with a plan.” He went on to add, “they are the ones sitting in the hot seat.”  

Now, no one expects a politician to come up with a solution on the fly - but in an election year voters are looking for more than performative politics. We want to understand how the opposition would handle a crisis. We want to be reassured they would respond with ideas and constructive competence.  

In his State of the Nation speech Hipkins said he would put affordability at the heart of all decisions. But the impression he gave this week is that he can’t be bothered putting some thought into how he would deal with the biggest affordability problem currently impacting New Zealand homes and businesses. It was an opportunity to impress, and he gave it a miss.  

The Hipkins quip irked for another reason. We shouldn’t be paying opposition MPs just to perform occasionally in the house and in front of the media. We’re paying them to understand their area of responsibility and show leadership. We’re paying them to have the expertise to challenge the government and advocate effectively for better outcomes for Kiwis. And right now, many of these Kiwis are worried about the price of fuel.  

The other news that made it a difficult week for Hipkins was the revelation he knew something he claimed he didn’t. In its efforts to put Covid to bed once and for all, the Labour party is relying on the Royal Commission largely accepting that the response was appropriate and well managed, and on Hipkins, the former Minister of Health, taking a humble line and acknowledging they didn’t get everything right.  

But there was a hiccup this week with the discovery of a paper trail implying Hipkins knew more than he was letting on about risks associated with a second Covid vaccine dose for teenagers.

Did Hipkins just forget or did he get his timeline mixed up? Who knows. But it’s not a good look and makes the negative legacy of Hipkins’ role as Heath Minister and Prime Minister during the Covid years harder to move on from.  

The success of Hipkins staying on as leader of the Labour Party depends on being able to shed the past and grab the future. Neither has gone well this week. The bigger problem for the party is there is no one to replace him.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
The reason why Labour leader Chris Hipkins has an uphill
battle leading into this year's election regardless of what the
polls say. Has been on show this week and I'm
not talking about the awkward personal posts. I'm talking about
his politicking. About a month ago, Chris Hipkins delivered his
State of the Nation's speech in Auckland. Some described it
as boring, others saw it as an effort to come

(00:32):
across as mature and disciplined, to convey a reassuring voice
to Kiwis that Labor would act calmly and firmly to
deal with cost of living and affordability issues but credible.
Hipkins was replaced with snippy Hipkins this week. When he
was asked how Labour would deal with the fuel crisis
if it was in power, his response was to say
the government needs to come up with a plan. He

(00:53):
went on to add the'rether one sitting in the hot steak. Now,
no one expects a politician to come up with a
solution on the fly, but in an election year, voters
are looking for more than performative politics. We want to
understand how the opposition would handle a crisis. We want
to be reassured they would respond with ideas and constructive competence.

(01:13):
In his State of the Nation's speech, Hipkins said he
would put affordability at the heart of all decisions. But
the impression he gave this week is that he can't
be bothered putting some thought into how he would deal
with the biggest affordability problem currently impacting New Zealand homes
and businesses. It was an opportunity to impress and he
gave it a miss. The Hipkins quip irked for another reason.

(01:36):
We shouldn't be paying opposition MPs just to perform occasionally
in the House and in front of the media. We're
paying them to understand their area of responsibility and show
leadership when you're the leader of a party. We're paying
them to have the expertise to challenge the government and
advocate effectively for the better outcome for kiwis, and right now,
many of these kiwis are worried about the price of fuel.

(01:58):
The other news that made it a difficult week for
Hipkins was the revelation he knew something. He claimed he didn't.
In its efforts to put COVID to bed once in
for all, the Labor Party is relying on the Royal
Commissions largely, the Royal Commission largely accepting that the response
was appropriate and well managed to COVID, and on Hipkins,
the former Minister of Health, taking a humble line and

(02:20):
acknowledging that they didn't get in acknowledging that they didn't
get everything right. But there was a hack up this
week with the discovery of a paper trail applying Hipkins
knew more than he was letting on about risks associated
with the second COVID vaccine dose for teenagers. Did Hipkins
just forget or did he get his timeline mixed up?
Who knows, But it's not a good look and it
makes the negative legacy of Hipkins's role as Health Minister

(02:43):
and Prime Minister during the COVID years harder to move
on from. The success of Hipkins staying on as the
leader of the Labor Party depends on being able to
shed the past and grab the future. Neither has gone
well this week. The bigger problem for the party is
there's no one to replace him.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
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