As I’ve written many times, Australian media take little interest in daily NZ politics (just as Kiwi media don’t obsess over Aussie politics). In the normal course of events a routine cabinet re-shuffle wouldn’t even merit a mention. So, why is Jacinda Ardern’s recent cabinet reshuffle even drawing any interest at all?
Because it’s a stark demonstration of just how pathetic the Ardern government really is.
Replacing a Police Minister and announcing the minister who holds the broadcasting, justice and immigration portfolios would be leaving politics, alongside the Speaker of the House, is, by most reckoning, an upheaval.
An upheaval necessitated by just how bloody useless most of Ardern’s front bench really is. Poto Williams and Kris Faafoi were hopeless at managing their portfolios. As for Trevor Mallard… well, I’m sure there’s nothing I could write that millions of New Zealanders haven’t already yelled at their TVs.
But if the outgoing ministers were useless, the fact that so many extra portfolios have been heaped on top of ministers’ existing jobs only goes to show how shallow the depth of talent in Labour really is. Chris Hipkins is left juggling three ministries as well as Leader of the House.
Then there’s Nanaia Mahuta.
Perhaps the most curious feature of the reshuffle, however, was that Nanaia Mahuta was left untouched, keeping both local government and foreign affairs portfolios.
As Local Government minister, Mahuta is desperately trying to peddle the contentious Three Waters legislation against a snowballing avalanche of public fury. As Foreign Minister… she makes Poto Williams look like a competent law’n’order manager.
Although she will travel to Rwanda on Sunday for next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Mahuta has come under heavy fire for neglecting travel to the Pacific at a time when China is aggressively extending its reach among small island nations. Her lack of on-the-ground diplomacy has been compared unfavourably to the energetic approach of her Australian counterpart, Penny Wong.
Wong meets Mahuta in Wellington on Thursday — a visit New Zealand’s Foreign Minister welcomed, declaring without a trace of embarrassment that she was “looking forward to hearing about Senator Wong’s recent travels to the Pacific”.
Mahuta’s contribution to New Zealand’s foreign policy mostly seems to be grovelling to China and undermining NZ’s longest-standing allies. Her focus has been almost entirely domestic: pushing the Three Waters turd around the punchbowl and trying to persuade sceptical Kiwis to drink up.
It is arguably the government’s most unpopular policy, and has provoked fierce opposition from councils and the public. In fact, a poll in January showed that only 26 per cent of New Zealanders were in support, with 40 per cent opposed. (Thirty-five per cent were not willing to offer an opinion.)
It is increasingly clear that Mahuta cannot do justice to her roles, if only because of the logistical problems facing a Foreign Affairs Minister at the bottom of the world who needs to travel but has demanding responsibilities at home.
So, why is Mahuta still in the job? Firstly, because, hopeless as she is, she’s the best Labour have to offer. Secondly, she’s Maori.
The fact that Mahuta remains in both ministerial roles has been seen as evidence of how little talent is available to Ardern and how much power the Maori caucus wields. Ardern has been described as the caucus’ political hostage, and her apparent unwillingness to make Mahuta choose between the two portfolios is taken as confirmation of that view.
Indeed, in the wake of the reshuffle, former Labour cabinet minister Michael Bassett said Mahuta was Foreign Minister “in name only”, adding: “Mahuta holds a Rasputin-like grip over Jacinda, who seems permanently in thrall to anything promoting Maori that Nanaia comes up with.”
The Australian
Mahuta’s strong-arming only goes to show just how weak a leader Ardern really is. She’s an empty-headed shop-window mannequin — and an increasingly tatty one at that.
Ardern’s only real political function has been to put a palatable face to an incompetent, tawdry government. But as her face increasingly makes New Zealanders reach for their barf bags (or their torches and pitchforks) instead of their hankies, she’s fast losing even that.
Her political capital is evaporating fast, her poll numbers plunging. Sooner or later, the party is going to have to ask themselves just how much of a liability she is.
The problem is: just as Ardern has no pool of political talent to draw on for new ministers, neither do her colleagues have even a remotely palatable option to replace her.
It’s so obvious that even the Australian media can smell it across the Tasman.