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Labour supporters told to harness ‘hope and rage’; National voters fear ‘handout society’
Labour supporters have been told to harness their “hope and rage” this election while National voters say fear the worst should the left bloc take power.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins joined a number of Labour candidates, including his deputy Carmel Sepuloni, Phil Twyford and newcomer and foreign affairs spokesperson Vanushi Walters in the working-class suburb of Kelston in West Auckland, in the auditorium of the local girls’ high school, attracting a few hundred locals and party volunteers.
In her speech, Walters said Labour supporters had a mixture of “outrage and hope” to the campaign.
“Some of you, like me, will remember going on a march not long after the last election when they cancelled the smoke-free generation for our children – if they win, there will be marches for three years.
“I ask you one thing: bring all that energy, all of that hope and rage that you would put into those three years ahead, bring it now,” she said.
Hipkins took the stage donning a lei presented to him on stage by Sepuloni, who has been the MP for Kelston for over a decade.
RNZ / Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira
He used his speech to lay into Christopher Luxon – rolling out his party’s new attack line claiming Luxon had left people $6000 worse off – and laid out his party’s plan to make life cheaper.
Jobs, in particular, got the crowd riled up.
“Those on the other side who currently sit on the treasury benches say it’s not the government’s job to create jobs, well, they’ve certainly demonstrated that they don’t think it’s their job to create jobs.
“Under our government, we achieved record low unemployment despite some of the most challenging economic conditions any government in New Zealand has faced … we saved people’s jobs [and] we’ve now got a government that celebrates losing them,” he said.
Down south, the National party had their own rally on the West Coast.
Leader Christopher Luxon proved a popular figure among the estimated hundred supporters in Greymouth, many clad in royal blue.
After speaking for about 20 minutes, he then mingled with patrons and posed for a number of photos.
RNZ / Adam Burns
Luxon also heard staunch views from the locals as pre-election tension ramped up.
Property developer Geoff Ball endorsed Luxon but admitted he was “seriously concerned” heading into the election.
“We’ve got a country that’s in trouble,” he said.
“I’m not 100 percent confident that National and the current coalition is going to get in. I think it’s a big, big problem.”
Ball’s concerns stemmed from the belief that three years was not long enough for the coalition to boost the economy.
“I think they made a bloody good start, but I personally think they’ve got a long way to go,” he said.
“To me, the country’s got to be run like a business. It’s not a handout society.
“We used to be a country where we had a reputation of number eight wire, and we get sh*t done. Now we’re a country of red tape, bureaucrats, and b*llshit.”
RNZ / Adam Burns
Local man Brett Cummings had a post-speech one-on-one with Luxon, where he said they discussed “a few things that needed to be tidied up” on the West Coast, particularly around the repeal of regional councils and the overhaul of the Resource Management Act.
“There’s a whole lot of changes they’ve been promising, but it’s taking a long time to implement.
“All that land use and stuff, it’s a long time ago. Not that long ago in my lifetime, you used to have permitted activities to be gold mining.
“Now you’ve got to get three consents plus a bond and all the rest of it.”
RNZ asked both men to rate the past three years under the coalition government.
Ball gave the government a six, with Cummings offering up a seven-and-a-half to an eight.
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
rnz
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