On Wednesday afternoon I, along with a couple of others, had the pleasure of meeting with the Leader of the National Party, Judith Collins. We were getting together to discuss a proposal we had to assist National to win the next election, particularly in relation to recapturing the rural vote. I had met Judith once previously at a BFD function. Those of you who have read some of my previous articles will be aware of my admiration for this lady. Wednesday’s meeting did not disappoint.
Judith had no idea what we were there to talk about. After the greetings, she sat and said, “So you guys are onto something.” In my book, a great opening remark. “Indeed we are,” I replied. I gave her some background to the proposal before handing her the written material. A glance was all it took for her to grasp what we had in mind and she was immediately on board. No, if’s, buts or maybes, just a “What do you want from me?” Judith exudes exuberance, enthusiasm and positivity. She is a lady who wants to get things done, who will not be swayed or deviated from her plan of action.
Judith is a Thatcheresque type figure. Decisive in where she is going and with a determination to get there. As a recent headline in The BFD said – This lady is not for turning! Fran O’Sullivan had a good sub heading to her opinion piece on Judith in last weekend’s Herald. It read, “National leader can be polarising – effective people often are – but she’s winning a business following”. My guess is, ignoring Tova’s proven rogue poll, that Judith is winning more than just the business people. Right now we need a strong Leader of the Opposition and, make no mistake, Judith is it.
Fran’s comment that effective people can be polarising will, in my view, be the key to her success. Of those who oppose her, many are also scared of her. None more so than the government and their friends in the media. Hence Tova’s scurrilous remarks as she shrieked about her mischievous poll. It’s just a pity that Judith has to put up with being interviewed by these types who have the cheek to call themselves journalists. These people who fawn over Jacinda are in effect being paid for their loyalty by government handouts. It’s a disgrace, and the government needs to be held to account for it.
Fran says that if it takes “true grit” to be an opposition leader then Judith Collins has it in spades. She points out it is not racist for the He Puapua recommendations to be openly debated rather than sitting in some cabinet minister’s drawer. Fran asks why are they so fearful of debate? I can answer that in two words: Judith Collins. Ardern hasn’t got the fortitude to go down that track because she knows she won’t come out of it well. The preferred option for her is to just go ahead and implement a system of apartheid and lie through her teeth while she’s doing it. Utterly disgraceful behaviour.
This is where Judith has the government on the ropes and they know it. It is why she is quite rightly doubling down on her remarks.
She needs to do it ad infinitum between now and the election. It is the government who are playing the race card, not Judith. “The lady is not for turning” is very apt on this issue.
As Graham Adams of Victoria University of Wellington pointed out in his article on The BFD, when asked if Labour was being separatist, 38.7 per cent of respondents said yes. That means that, in a matter of weeks, the Leader of the Opposition succeeded in convincing nearly 40 percent of respondents that Jacinda Ardern is advocating some system of Maori separatism in the nation’s governance.
Judith’s Budget speech was very impressive. It was punchy and hit on salient points, e.g. “That was a Budget for benefits, not for jobs.”[…] “A Budget that’s light on hope and utterly lacking in ambition, that’s setting New Zealand up to fail.”[…] “There’s a lot of talk on that side of the House, but there’s no action.”
These are good sound bites for any media, but sadly not for a compliant media that have been bought by this government. Which is what our meeting was about. To explore other avenues for National to get their messages out and to entrench Judith’s position as Leader of the Opposition.
I am pleased to say there will be opportunities for public involvement. In fact, public involvement is vital if what we have planned is to be successful. Essentially, it is getting the message out in a different and entertaining way. More details to come.
Please share this BFD article so others can discover The BFD.