Kerre Woodham: There is a real disconnect between the mood of Labour and the mood of the people

The Mood of the Boardroom has been taken and the mood is decidedly grumpy.  

This is a yearly survey undertaken by the New Zealand Herald. The survey of New Zealand major CEOs - 90 CEOs and 18 directors responded to the survey - found that confidence in Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson’s leadership is on the wane, as the Government struggles to push through its major reforms.

Skills and labour shortages, immigration settings, inflation here at home, the Ukraine, supply chain disruptions and aggressive monetary tightening abroad have all contributed to this optimism in the boardroom and less confidence in the Government.

This is being replicated right around the country, right around the world. But there is no doubt that as this Government term has progressed, people are starting to lack confidence that they will be able to deliver on what they've promised. And while they are focused on pushing through these big reforms, there's a feeling that they've taken their eye off the ball when it comes to important domestic issues like crime, like education, like health.

I don't want to be negative. I'm not by nature a negative person. Anyone who has only ever met me through these airwaves probably doesn't believe it, but I'm generally positive and optimistic. But you call it like you see it.

What happens, I think, is that governments, and this would be successive governments as they stay in power longer, become less and less aware of what is actually happening in communities. They're in their own bubble.

They're in their own bubble with their own people, their own people who believe what they believe, their own people who are paid to say they believe in the ideology that's being promulgated, who are being paid to implement some of these big ideas that Labour came in with.  

In the meantime, on the ground, in homes, you've got people whose operations are being cancelled, you've got kids who are struggling at school and not getting the help that they need, you've got retailers who just want to give up after two years of the pandemic and then have been hit time and again by ram raiders.

You know, I think there is a real disconnect between what Labour thinks it's done, what Labour thinks it's doing, how well Labour thinks it's doing, and what the Mood of the Boardroom and the mood of the people actually is.  

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