Ralston on Peters

Bill Ralston writes:

A NZ First conference is coming up next month and it appears Peters plans staging a comeback at the next election. Party members might wonder where he has been for the past several months. Going into seclusion is hardly the way to rebuild a shattered political party. From the email it seems as if he is targeting the economy, the Supercity, cuts to night classes and ACC physiotherapy and the repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

In other words, he plans to attack a variety of disparate issues that have nothing in common, other than they are unpopular moves in some quarters.

He is promising a return to what he is good at, populist rabble rousing. The Government is to blame for the international recession. We may be broke as a nation but we should still pay for people to go to macrame classes and get a neck rub. Attempts to get rid of inefficiently competing local body warlords in the country’s biggest city must be stopped. And, if all else fails, go Maori bashing because there are enough rednecks to assure him of 5 per cent at the polls.

It will be very interesting to see who Winston gets on his party list. I reckon almost all his former MPs will run a mile, so his line-up will be even weaker than previously.