Unity
Labour, the Greens, and the Maiki Sherman show.
There exists no force
That could ever hold us back
Armed with intention
Unified expression
Together we're stepping forward
Songwriters: David Atai / Donald McNulty / Feleti Strickson-Pua / Junior Rikiau / Te Awanui Reeder.
I have always wanted political parties to be more transparent with voters about the potential composition of a coalition government and its offerings.
Our campaigning is mostly at the party level, based on an individual party gaining our vote, but what we get after the election, when manifesto items disappear at the negotiating table, may bear little resemblance to what people thought they were getting.
Wouldn’t it be good to at least know what you’re voting for?
Perhaps if voters had fully understood what putting ACT or NZF into a coalition would mean, they might have made different choices. Maybe they would’ve still elected this government, but either way, people deserve to make their choice with a reasonable understanding of what they're going to get.
I’m not suggesting a full coalition manifesto, but why not signal to the public where there are shared policies?
For example, with Labour and the Greens, it would be a no-brainer to say that, together in government, we will introduce a moderate CGT or provide free basic dentistry. The individual parties would still have room to campaign on points of difference, but voters would at least know the shape of a prospective government.
So I was pleased to see the Labour/Greens joint announcement yesterday and posted:
Love this message of unity from Labour and the Greens at Waitangi. It is open about the differences between the two, while emphasising that they have more in common. So good to see such positive intent to work together for all of us.
Chris Hipkins, Carmel Sepuloni, Marama Davidson, and Chlöe Swarbrick were full of smiles as they welcomed the media, and Chippy said:
“We’re here to send a pretty clear message that unity is important, that coming together as a country is important, that working with each other is important, and that we’re stronger as a country when we are unified and when we work constructively together.”
It seemed so obvious, yet so at odds with much of what we see in our parliament and politics. The typical egos and point-scoring, with nary a consideration of cooperation.
The announcement's message was to respect differences and acknowledge commonalities. Chippy noted that, between the two parties, there was more they agreed on than they disagreed on.
Hipkins pointed out how well the two parties have collaborated, both in opposition and in government, and contrasted that with the coalition parties, who regularly take potshots at each other, which is not good for the country.
Marama agreed and spoke about those hosting Waitangi events and others affected by recent storms. She noted that people have been caring for one another, whether they know each other or are strangers, and that this is what Te Tiriti is about.
She spoke of the attacks on Te Tiriti and on the bonds between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti by this government over the last two years. That many people have been hammered by this coalition and need to see what else is on offer for Aotearoa.
Questions.
Opening up to questions, the first was from Maiki Sherman of TVNZ, who asked about the absence of Te Pāti Māori.
Both Chippy and Marama handled it diplomatically. Others in the press pack followed up with variations of the same question, which was a bit rude, akin to attending a wedding and focusing on a guest who wasn’t invited and isn’t there while ignoring those present.
Maiki and others went on and on about Te Pāti Māori, with still no questions about the two parties making the announcement. The politicians smiled through it, but it got very repetitive.
Then we had the same thing with the news that Peeni Henare had decided to step down from parliament.
Chippy was respectful and made it clear he wouldn’t comment until Henare had made his announcement, but that didn’t seem to dissuade the reporters from repeatedly asking the same question, again. Maiki didn’t seem to even be listening to Chippy’s answers, or if she was, she wasn’t paying them any regard, and she wouldn’t let it go.
The four politicians looked comfortable together; you could see their shared frustration with the media and imagine a light-hearted debrief afterwards.
Chippy seemed to particularly enjoy it when Chlöe described coalition-building by saying, “What I can guarantee you is we’re not going to end up with the situation like this government with those coalition agreements coming out of these backroom deals, which read more like two hundred random hot-takes from your Grandad’s Facebook comments section than anything that anyone was transparent about during the campaign.”
They looked united in a way the coalition can only dream of. They seemed genuinely to like and respect each other, which is not something anyone would accuse Seymour, Peters, and Luxon of.
Tracey wrote, “It’s refreshing to see these leaders standing together, speaking authentically and openly about what connects them and all who live here in Aotearoa. These are good people, and I am grateful for their work and their presence at Waitangi this week.”
You can watch the full announcement and follow-up questions here:
The Maiki Sherman show.
Then last night I watched the coverage on 1 News and was less than impressed.
Maiki focused on Peeni Henare’s departure; a whiff of an implied scandal makes for a juicier headline, but is it in the public interest for our state broadcaster to look for things to criticise Labour over when there is no evidence of anything untoward, rather than report on the announcement by the two parties?
After focusing on Henare’s departure, 1 News mentioned the Labour/Greens announcement but immediately moved on to discuss a different party, Te Pāti Māori, and played a recorded interview with Rawiri Waititi.
There was essentially no coverage of the Labour/Greens announcement, with only a few seconds of the opening remarks. I thought it was disrespectful to two parties polling close to 45% between them, and a reminder that there is often a gap between what happens at Waitangi and what you see on the news.
I may have sworn at the television as I posted:
Where the hell does Maiki Sherman get off suggesting that Peeni Henare’s retirement from politics is a sign of disunity in Labour?
It seemed like a deliberate attempt to rain on the parade of the Labour/Greens announcement, with Sherman suggesting Henare’s departure was a sign of disunity within Labour.
Exactly like she didn’t do when Judith Collins recently retired or when other coalition MPs have signalled they are not standing again. Why is it no big deal if a senior National MP moves on, but it’s a sign of disunity when it’s Labour?
David commented, “She was desperate to find something, anything, that could overshadow Labour and the Greens presenting a united front. Even had a stir about TPM - it's not for Labour/Greens to comment on TPM's internal discussions until they’ve reached a resolution. This is gossip, not news.”
Josephine said, “She really pissed me off during that stand-up this afternoon, Nick Rockel.
She was rude and aggressive despite Chippy telling her he was giving Peeni Henare space to address his retirement from politics himself. She was desperate to try to get Chippy to say that all was not right in the Labour Party.
She was properly horrible today.”
I’d agree with that, and I thought the place and the event deserved rather more respect than Maki Sherman showed in her report.
If Waitangi stands for anything, it is unity and respect for each other, and I was glad to see that spirit in the announcement by Labour and the Greens yesterday.
If you’re able to afford a $80 annual subscription or $8 a month, your support for this newsletter enables me to write for you and is greatly appreciated. 🙂
If that is a bit too pricey at the moment, I’m offering my 20% discount again over Waitangi weekend, which brings the price to $64 for a year, or $6.40 a month. Pay what you can afford.
Have a good Wednesday, folks. Look out for the Māori Queen Nga Wai Hono i te Po being welcomed at Waitangi this afternoon. Despite my misgivings about last night’s news, I reckon the media do a pretty good job of covering Waitangi.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
To end today, here’s Nesian Mystik with Unity.
Thanks Nick. It reminded me of the ‘bad old days’ when the pack of nasty media would attack, attack Jacinda. Didn’t it change with this lot. It’s about time Chippy etc. put their foot down and laid out some rules. Even challenge them at point of interview for such behaviour.
It was really pleasing to see the collective media stand up. The two parties also made it clear it is ok to disagree on some things, but not to swipe at each other, like Winston is doing atm. And as they said, they agree on more than they disagree. Under our system, parties do compete for votes and there will be differences in policy. Thats ok too. I get what you are saying Nick about coalition agreements being secretive, but there is no other way I can think of. We elect the party of our choice and trust its leaders to stand up for the policies we voted for. We win some, we lose some but having a respectful and collegial relationship as was demonstated yesterday is a really good place to begin. On Maiki : I am just so incensed about that piece last night. The worst thing is she missed the important message of unity - really important at Waitangi - and was hugely disrespectful to Peeni Henare, an MP who has served nearly 12 years including in Ministerial roles. I'm thinking of sending a letter of complaint and I suspect I won't be the only one - not that it will make much difference.