Labour leader Chris Hipkins has revealed one campaign regret after being pressed to explain what he took away from his party's shattering election defeat last year.
Shortly after the loss, Hipkins said Labour would "go back to the drawing board" and that the party needed time to reflect on what it could've done better.
Four months later, the Labour leader was pressed about what he could've done differently on Q+A this morning. Asked to give an example, Hipkins cited the difference in campaigning styles between himself and former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
"I probably should have sat down with the team at the start of the campaign and said, actually a campaign led by me is going to look a bit differently to a campaign led by Jacinda.
"We should have done different events. We should have done different things, things that were sort of more naturally playing to my strengths, rather than just trying to rerun the same campaign we ran the last two times."
He added: "I think partly it was just the sorts of things that we were doing. I have different areas of interest to Jacinda, and everybody will know that. And we probably should have built that into the campaign a bit more.
"We were going to do some things, sadly, in the last few weeks of the campaign that were more playing to my strengths - things around home insulation and rooftop solar and those sorts of things - which we couldn't do because I ended up isolating in a hotel with Covid-19.
"I think just things that would have perhaps reflected a bit more who I am."
'Not going to bark at every passing car'
The Labour leader was also asked about his apparent reticence to issue press releases so far this year - a potential sign about how he'll approach his job in opposition.
While his party's portfolio spokespeople have issued several statements throughout the past two months responding to the Government, Hipkins himself has remained quiet.
None have been sent to the media quoting the Labour leader directly.
He said: "That doesn't mean that I haven't been doing work.
"I don't measure our success by the number of press releases that we put out," he said.
"Let's be clear - as the leader of the opposition, I'm not going to fall into that trap of just barking at every passing car. When I have something to say, I will say it."
Hipkins added: "I've done several press conferences. I haven't written down and put out press statements… I will put out press releases when I have something to say about us."
Party launches petition on sex-ed guidelines
Labour launched a petition today to stop the Government's expected changes to sex education guidelines for schools.
Speaking to Q+A, Hipkins said: "I think it's really important that schools are a place where all young people feel included, they feel welcomed and they feel safe.
"I think moving away from that inclusive model, which the current government are proposing to do, I think actually puts a number of vulnerable young people in a greater degree of risk.
"And I don't think that's the sort of thing that responsible governments should be doing."
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of NZ On Air
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