The Truck Strikes

One of the many perks of being in Government is the ability to demonstrate your competence directly to voters. Rather than merely asking voters to trust them, incumbent Governments can point to successful policies as proof they deserve their jobs. It was this principle that guided Labour’s strategy of “getting on with the business of government” earlier in the year, and the raft of new policies such as KiwiRail that came with it. For the last 8 years Labour has made good use of the advantages of incumbency. Through solid handling of the Government, a number of their ministers have made very good reputations for themselves as a safe pair of hands, people voters can trust to lead the nation. Through capable handling of a number of departments, Justice Minister Annette King’s name has become almost synonymous with competency. Such an impressive track record makes Labour’s recent blunders all the more surprising.

The last few weeks should have been a great time for Labour. Nicky Hager made his traditional election year return to the headlines by breaking the story that National’s “positive, ambitious campaign” was being managed by Crosby Textor, an Australian public relations company famous for the use of gutter politics. The revelation that Lynton Crosby, a man once described as “The Karl Rove of Australian Politics” was behind the likeable centrist image John Key has been showing voters is a big blow to Key’s credibility. Not only that, but Hager’s story raised the possibility that Hager still has access to secret National communications. After the damage Hager did at the last elections with such information, the prospect of a repeat is a terrifying one for National. On top of this, the multinational banking company Merrill Lynch, which John Key used to work for, was busted with inside information that National was planning to open up competition on ACC, which would hand an estimated 200 million dollar profit to the insurance industry, but runs the risk of driving up premiums. This runs in the face of public comments Key had previously made. Labour spun it as yet another example of Key telling the public one thing while telling big business another. For Labour, it couldn’t have been a better week.

That is until the Truckers went on strike.

In an extraordinary display of political blindness, Annette King blindsided the Road Transport Forum with the news that Road User Charges for diesel vehicles would be increased, violating a promise from King’s department that the RTF would be given a one month notification period if any increases were to be made. The RTF responded by organising nationwide protests that brought rush hour traffic in the major centres to a standstill. For a Labour Government, traditionally the ally of the Union’s and their working class members, such a public falling out is a huge black eye. Even worse is the public perception that Annette King mishandled the issue, a huge blow to her credibility on top of the outrage earlier in the year when she appeared to blame a string of high profile murders on the full moon. The protests left the Government with egg on its face, and at a time when petrol prices are squeezing the wallets of voters, any misstep on transport is an open invitation to National to uncork one of its favourite attack lines: That the Government is out of touch with the hardships everyday New Zealander’s are facing. Why else would they raise the cost of driving at a time when so many voters are struggling to fill up their tanks?

Labour’s election year strategy has essentially been to consistently attack Key in the hope of damaging voter’s trust in him, while trying to remind voters how trust worthy they are through smooth governing and big policies. As it stands now, both parts of the plan are absolute disasters. The repeated smears against Key, on everything from misfiled election enrolments, to his years in the currency trading business, are having no effect on Key’s approval ratings. Despite all her efforts to run a tight ship, Clark’s Government has been marred by scandal after scandal, many of which have tarnished reputations her ministers have spent years cultivating. Trevor Mallard was disgraced b y his punch up in parliament and the Erin Leigh scandal. Annette King spent most of late last year being made to look like a fool in parliament by Bill English, as she defended the disastrous Electoral Finance Act, and has done nothing to turn her luck around this year. National seems only to have to sit back and watch Labour implode.

At a time when Labour needs to be doing it all can to convince voters they can be trusted with Government, they seem unable to do the jobs they were voted into.