OPINION
Andrea Vance has, in an article on Stuff, tried to advance the theory that ‘National is in the wrong fight’. According to her, National need to leave the Golf and Rotary Clubs (that comment is so last century) and get into the fight for the middle ground of politics leading into the election. Having read the article in full I’m not sure that it wasn’t just her bit done in return for Stuff’s remuneration from the Public Interest Journalism Fund.
Ms Vance started her article critical of Nicola Willis for a knee-jerk reaction to the prescription charge removal in the Budget, saying National would repeal it. Ms Willis, in her initial comments, said this was because there were many who could afford the $5 charge and were happy to pay it, hence targeting. This seemed to have escaped Ms Vance who wrote that Christopher Luxon had to explain that what they were talking about was a targeted response.
Andrea Vance thought this was slightly adorable as it’s normally the opposition leader’s words being mopped up by his deputy on Morning Report to clean up his mess. She then went on to say that their ‘marriage’ came under the spotlight this week with speculation that party supporters were prepping her to roll him. This was in reference to an earlier equally silly article on Stuff, which was nothing more than a bit of stirring, to use Ms Vance’s words, ‘from shit-stirrer-in-chief [Chris] Hipkins from the podium of truth’.
Next, she honed in on Christopher Luxon’s poor leader rating as per the Newshub poll and implied that, as picking the right leader is a strategy National has yet to perfect, he will cling on. She chose not to compare Mr Luxon’s real world CV with Mr Hipkins’s career politician one. In any case, in my view, this election will be about party policies rather than individual politicians. According to Ms Vance, Mr Hipkins is firmly in the middle ground warmed by the embers of his own policy bonfire. How cosily poetic. If she were up with the play she’d realise there’s a good chance Mr Hipkins will be roasted on his own bonfire at the election.
As for the middle ground, now represented by co-governance, kapa haka, night and day ram raids, a health system in crisis, the longest ever house waiting list, falling educational standards, non-attendance at school, a public transport system falling apart, to name but a few: if that is the popular middle ground then National are right to keep well away from it. It’s a disaster area. Ms Vance thinks National is being pulled further right by Act and therefore they are fighting over the same few votes. I have news for her: a lot of us on the right wish that was indeed happening.
What she is talking about is simply the policies both parties have in common. Some of the policies she lists are 2 for 1 farming rules revocation, repeal of the gun laws, and shipping of livestock. She says they are aimed at the Groundswell farmers, older, male, rural, National’s core support which should be already banked. The support is already banked. Farmers won’t be voting Labour again, if ever. Once bitten, twice shy. Just so Ms Vance is aware, even if the support is banked you still have to let them know what your policies are.
She then does her best to turn her article into a comedy piece by asking us to contrast National vacating the centre ground with the confidence of Messrs Hipkins and Robertson rolling out a Budget that was full of financial orthodoxy and prudence. In the reaction I’ve read on the Budget, I’ve yet to see any comments observing anything remotely resembling financial orthodoxy or prudence. In Stuff’s own poll asking its readers whether they thought this was a good Budget for them, only 20% said yes and a whopping 80% said no.
Poor Ms Vance is not only out of touch with reality but also out of touch with her readership. This unfortunately is the standard of journalism we can expect these days. The first thing National should do is scrap the wasteful Public Interest Journalism Fund fund. It’s ‘stuff’ alright but stuff of a very poor standard and from a senior journalist at that. Stephen King once said, “The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”
Andrea Vance should take heed.