Chris Hipkins: Labour Leader discusses health, voter registrations, policies on the Mike Hosking Leaders Breakfast
The Mike Hosking BreakfastShow Notes
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins admits his party wasn't totally ready to govern in 2017. National won the largest share of the result in that election, but New Zealand First chose to go into government with Jacinda Ardern's Labour instead. Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leader's Breakfast because of the nature of the election, they weren't as ready as they could've been. He says he went home on election night thinking they'd be in Opposition, not expecting the coalition negotiations to go the way they did. But he says the party is tangibly different now, as they're much more focused in what they're promising in this election. Hipkins says one of the biggest criticism of the previous Labour Government was that they were trying to do too many things and thus weren't delivering them well. He told Hosking this election they're only promising things he knows he and the system can deliver on. The Labour Leader says they're more pragmatic than they used to be. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from The Mike Hosking Breakfast
Chris Hipkins says he has no regret over his level of involvement with the Covid inquiry. The Labour leader was criticised for not appearing at the public hearing when the Royal Commission was gathering evidence. Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast he answered every question thrown at him. He also says the reviews of the Reserve Bank’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic were “largely fair”. An independent review of the bank’s response found that stimulus was kept in place for too long as the economy recovered, contributing to the wave of inflation that shook the economy after the pandemic. Hipkins says the reviews were in line with reviews of other central banks’ responses to the pandemic, but you could argue they got that a bit wrong.
An offer by the French Government to students has fallen short of demands as mass protests continue. More than 1300 people have been arrested over the weekend as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. Police have fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in a number of cities including Paris, while barricades were set alight in Marseille. Europe Correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking student leaders met with the Prime Minister today. She says they were offered concessions including classroom sizes and more vocational training, which wasn't seen as good enough. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins is certain their campaign hasn't been impacted by the controversy surrounding MPs visiting gang members. Former Labour candidate Kerrin Leoni resigned on Friday after fallout from her campaigning at a whanau event, attended by gang members. Hipkins told Mike Hosking on the Leaders Breakfast that having family members in gangs was not the main issue, her engagement was. He says we have to be able to say there is a pathway out from a gang upbringing, and Leoni could have been that role model. But Hipkins thinks Kiwis can see that he acted decisively when it came to dealing with the situation, saying he was more decisive on the issue than the National Party had been on equivalent issues. He says he sets high standards, and if people don't meet them, there are consequences. The Labour Leader has admitted he's frustrated the party can no longer contest all seven Māori electorate seats. Leoni is staying in the race, standing as an independent, but Hipkins says he doesn't think she'll win, even though she's still got Labour beside her on the ballot box. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.
So a good week for National and, by association, for the Government in general. There has been a shift with two weeks to go. The gang drama might just have put a nail in Labour's chances of government. Their polling is now in trouble. Their gap to National is now a problem. Thomas Coughlan's piece yesterday talking of the issues they have found with lack of enrolment in South Auckland seems to have induced an amount of panic within the party. Not a lot has gone right for them this week. As far as I can see, it's the combo for the Government. All three players are campaigning well. ACT are still my medal winners for the week. They remained disciplined, on message and haven't put a foot wrong. On each debate their leader, if he doesn’t win, is consistent and clear. Winston, although not as disciplined, turns up enough when it counts to remind you he is still a force. Luxon's week seems to have been about good news. He hung out with farmers and kids in areas where they are fairly blue. He may or may not have won the debate, but none of the debates have damaged him in any way, shape or form. The poll movement, even if he doesn’t admit it, will have given him a spring and, probably most importantly, the poll that had twice as many of us thinking the economy will be better next year than think it will be worse is the sort of news an incumbent can't buy. It may be that their line that as we get closer more people get engaged and the more engaged they are, the more they sit with the Government, is right. This week might have been the week it settled in toward the coalition. The others look ropey. The Greens in their debate didn’t mention the environment once, Chlöe came on Newstalk ZB and sounded like a councillor created by AI and the Māori Party through Oriini Kaipara looked as separatist as ever. One group looked like adults while the other looked messy. And the Opportunity Party? The polls show a trend. The air is leaving the balloon. It's touch-and-go. I still say they won't make it. Labour must be praying they do. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.