Kerre Woodham: It wasn't so much a debate

I know people are complaining that last night's debate between the leaders of Labour and National was boring. But seriously, give me a ‘let's get on with business, steady as she goes’ Prime Minister any day.  

I am sick and tired of 'rockstar razzle-dazzle' prime ministers who give up when the going gets tough, be they ‘ponytail pulling, catwalk modeling’ Prime ministers or ‘unicorn riding, fairy dust sprinkling, jazz hand waving’ Prime Ministers. Give me somebody solid, sensible, reliable, who understands policy, who understands how to get things done, and I will be happy.  

It wasn't so much a debate. I don't think either leader was given enough space to debate the serious issues. It seemed odd that a question about what's your favourite beach was given the same weighting as Te Reo in schools, and some of the questions did seem absolutely bizarre. Speculation over whether China would invade Taiwan? Anybody with a passing interest in politics knows how prickly China is. Any suggestion of an answer from either man would have had diplomatic repercussions.   

I was gobsmacked when that question was posed. The only reason I could see for asking it was to test how much of a political rookie Christopher Luxon was. If he’d answered that in any kind of speculative fashion, all hell would have broken loose, but he had the great good sense to concur with the Prime Minister that it was absolutely ridiculous to speculate over a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.  

Christopher Luxon coped far better than he had predicted he would. Beforehand, there was a lot of tussling for the position of underdog between Chris and Christopher, and I thought he was actually quite telegenic. He looked better on the telly than he does in the newspaper, certainly better than in the CTU’s unflattering portrait they used in their ads.  

Chris Hipkins I thought look tired. I suppose he would be given he's running the country and campaigning, but it's television, you can't afford to look knackered. And while Chris Hipkins got in a few jabs with how the tax cuts will be funded. ‘Are you really going to be selling off that many houses to overseas buyers?’ ‘And are you depending on New Zealanders to gamble more to fund your tax cuts?’ I thought there were a couple of good jabs in there. ‘The boot camp's not working. You know, they didn't work the first time around.’ Christopher Luxon was able to respond to them. He managed to repeat the line of Labour’s Coalition of Chaos with Labour, Te Pati Maori, the Green Party, and the gangs often enough for it to hit home.  

There was a lot of agreement between them and I think that's something that everybody has picked up on, particularly in this election. There isn't that much difference between National and Labour, and to be honest, I found that reasonably reassuring.  

They're not mad ideologues, they're not frothing at the mouth to completely disestablish a New Zealand that we know, it's just how we get there. Everybody wants people to have the opportunity to own their own home if that's what they wish. Nobody wants to see the gangs in charge. Nobody wants to see kids going into crime following the family trade. Everybody wants to see New Zealand prosper.  

It's just how you deliver that, where there is the difference between the parties. And I thought Christopher Luxon had the upper hand because it is very hard for Chris Hipkins to defend his government's record, their record on just about everything is abysmal and indefensible. Campaigning during a time of rampant inflation, a cost-of-living crisis, and a crime wave, has got to be tough going.  

Most commentators agreed Christopher Luxon was the winner on the night. Even the Spin-off commentators, and you know, they traditionally take a younger, lefter view on political matters. And I tend to agree. He came across as energetic, upbeat, and not nearly as threatening as the CTU ads have tried to paint him. Chris Hipkins came across as tired and there's still a long way to go until polling day.   

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