ANALYSIS: The prime minister has set the tone for a scrappy election campaign. Jacinda Ardern prided herself on keeping it kind and forced the leaders of the opposition to follow suit. Chris Hipkins is making changes.
As a press gallery reporter, I interview Prime Minister Chris Hipkins most days and have noticed, when he's asked about the Opposition, he’s ditched the “That’s a matter for National” line and is happily wading into political scraps, complete with quips.
It hands Leader of the Opposition Christopher Luxon a pass to do the same, without looking out of step.
Just look at what happened on Monday. During a “walkabout” on a farm, the National leader said: “We have become a very negative, wet, whiny, inward-looking country."
The National leader announced his party's emissions reduction policy today. (Source: 1News)
Asked about Luxon’s comment at a press conference, Hipkins hit back, saying: "I guess it makes a change that he's running New Zealand down in New Zealand as opposed to running the country down when he's overseas."
It was a two-pronged attack on Luxon, taking issue with his assessment of Aotearoa, but also inviting the public to remember a previous controversy Luxon had got himself in when he called Zealand businesses “soft” during a trip to the UK.
More fiery back-and-forths sure make for more vibrant television news stories, but they also deliver something new to the public. With the sanitised version of politics kicked to the kerb, political personalities are being revealed.
The prime minister, for instance, is showing he's willing to show his claws repeatedly if the opportunity arises.
When Hipkins and Luxon packed up their Red Bands and Swanndris and set off for Fieldays yesterday, Hipkins took the chance to take another dig at Luxon.
“It’s been mostly positive. I haven’t met anyone who is wet, I haven’t met anyone who is whiny, I haven’t met anyone who is inward-looking, I haven’t met anyone who is really negative, admittedly I haven’t run into Christopher Luxon yet."
Hipkins seems to have made the call that this is the right time to bring back a more combative style of politics. It sits more naturally for him too which helps.
Jacinda Ardern chose a warmer, more conciliatory tone, and it fitted the times. Everyone was, naturally, a bit delicate as Covid knocked the country around.
But now, it feels like the public may have recovered enough from the worst effects of the pandemic to regain its appetite for a bit of rough and tumble.
Is there anything wrong with that? Politics might be a serious business, but it can also be fun; a contest of ideas that can get a bit scrappy.
Let’s enjoy the political theatre a bit.
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