North & South – June 2019

OPINION

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 87

Tipping Point

Is Judith Collins really the answer for National?

firmlyinourowndrearilyautumnal

capital,fendingoffthelatestroundof

speculationaboutwhetherhewasabout

toberolled,andpickinghiswaythrough

loadedquestionsbasedonleaksfromhis

owncaucus.

TheLeaderoftheOppositionwould

havewellknownwhenhewonthepo-

sitioninlateFebruarylastyearthatit’s

notcalledtheworstjobinpoliticsfor

nothing.Itsurelookedlikeit whenPhil

Goff,DavidShearer,DavidCunliffeand

AndrewLittlewerespeed-dating

throughtherole,beforeArderngother

partybackonthewinningsideofthe

ledger in 2017. Helen Clark’s first couple

politics by bevan rapson

ASPRIMEMINISTERJacindaArdern
preparedtojetofftojoinPresident
EmmanuelMacronofFranceand
representativesoftheworld’sbiggest
techcompaniesintheinternational
spotlightofa MaysummitinParis,her
NationalPartycounterpartremained
miredinaWellingtonswampof
speculationabouthisleadership.
Couldthegulfbetweentheprizesof
officeandthechallengesofaspiringto
it havebeenmoreneatlydepicted?
ForNewZealandprimeministers,
eventhosewithouttheincumbent’s
soaringpollratingandproveninterna-
tional appeal, the global stage can offer

anelevatedrefugefromtheslingsand

arrowsofthedomesticscene.

Whetherornottheyachieveanything

ontheiroverseasjaunts,theirreputa-

tioncanbeburnishedjustbyassocia-

tionwiththeleadersofmuchlarger

countriesandtheirsharedinterestin

noble-mindedcauses.

Whatevermightfinallyresultfrom

the“ChristchurchCall”summit,Ardern

couldbeprettysurethatfora dayor

twoatleastshewouldn’tbefacingque-

riesaboutthelatestShaneJoneshowl-

erorKiwiBuildshortfall.

Whileshecouldlookforwardtospring-

time in Paris, Simon Bridges was stuck

Adisaffectedparty

membershipgave

DavidCunliffehis

chanceatLabour

leadership.Could

adisaffected

Nationalcaucus

dothesamefor

Judith Collins?

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