O’Sullivan and Trevett’s Hit on Collins

Two articles appeared in the Weekend Herald from Fran O’Sullivan and Claire Trevett. Both concerned Judith Collins and both were written along similar lines. A cynic might say that we are looking at a coordinated attack. I don’t think that was the case but two such articles appearing on the same day from two different people should not be ignored.

Fran surprised me to a degree with her comments. Ms Trevett’s were only to be expected. Articles of this nature, whether designed or not, will have National viewed in a negative light by those who read them. The commentators both refer to Collins’s handling of the caucus and her own performance.

Fran is of the opinion that rather than having Parliament recalled it should have taken place on Zoom so that all MPs could take part. She agrees that the Prime Minister played some politics. “Surprise,” she says. So that’s it. We are all supposed to just accept that and move on. I don’t think so. Parliaments around the world are sitting, so why isn’t ours? It’s easy to see why. Here’s where the politics come in. Ardern didn’t want herself or her ministers to be held to account. So she, in cahoots with Mallard, decided that only a handful would be allowed to be there.

Fran’s message for Judith was that Zoom meetings are how democracy is best served. I disagree. Holding ministers to account on Zoom is nowhere as effective as face to face. Ardern and her ministers are cowards. They don’t like the grilling from opposition MPs or from the likes of Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis Allan. With very little Covid outside of Auckland and none in the South Island, there was no excuse not to recall Parliament’s 120 members. I’m surprised Fran has been taken in by this blatant political posturing.

Fran then mentions Collins’s stripping Bishop of his shadow Leader of the House role for not toeing the party line. She says a leader who has to bring talent to heel in such a fashion is a weak one. Coming from Fran that comment really astounds me. Toeing the party line is the very basis for displaying party unity. If you are an MP then, no matter your personal views, you have to abide by the decisions of your party. To do otherwise is to undermine the party. Good heavens, it wasn’t so long ago that these commentators were blasting National for leaking and looking disunited. Now Collins is putting an end to that, she is still copping flak. These people can’t have it both ways.

Claire’s article displays ignorance. On Bishop, she says Collins has just created another disgruntled MP. I hope the guy has learnt a very basic lesson. According to Claire, MPs’ eyebrows were raised when Collins decided that the middle of a lockdown was a good time to do a reshuffle. I say why not? She says they were further raised at her handling of the return to Parliament and an interview on TVNZ’s Breakfast Show, at which she lashed out at the reporter for having a “political agenda”. Anyone reading The BFD transcript of the interview would agree that Collins was dead right. Claire speculated that Collins’s danger is that she creates so many groups of disgruntled MPs that, in seeking to divide and conquer, they unite to conquer her.  That’s Claire’s wish anyway.

Both commentators referred to the Liberal Wet wing of the Party and the usual names appear: Bishop, Willis, Luxon and Stanford. These are the people holding differing views on matters largely to do with social issues. They represent a generation whose time has not yet come so they need to wait and, while waiting, toe the current party line. That means, for example, not running around at the party conference openly displaying a different view from that taken by the party on a particular matter. That is what, quite rightly, upset Judith.

I don’t see any of the aforementioned Wet-wing as possible leaders of the party at this time. They need reminding that the biggest voting bloc in the country is in the upper demographics, the majority of whom do not share their views.

O’Sullivan and Trevett need to get a better understanding of what is needed in the National Party. The reason for Collins showing the type of leadership she has, is because that is what the party has needed for quite some time. It needs discipline and for MPs to realise, in public at least, they must be seen to be in unison with whatever the party’s position is on all matters. If they don’t, we will have O’Sullivan and Trevett writing once again about what a disunited rabble they are.

A final note. Fran says the National caucus is not exactly brimming with talent. Well, compared to the other side, they all look like Rhodes scholars to me.

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