Will law & order be the camel that breaks Winston’s back?

Mike Hosking writes:

I’ll say this about your New Zealand First voter: they’re straight up and down.

I am receiving large levels of correspondence, and I am not the only one, from people saying they are embarrassed or ashamed that they voted New Zealand First.

They feel duped, ripped off, if not hoodwinked.

And it’s the foreign aid package that’s tipped them over the edge. …

Hence him having to swallow that massive dead fish on oil exploration, not to mention irrigation bans and the dairy crackdown. But the Foreign Affairs package – and it’s $900m worth of aid and more diplomats – is not what a New Zealand First voter would have had at the top of their priority list.

The regional fund might have been. And that still has potential, potential to help the regions and get the party votes. And the key, and this is what virtually all the correspondence is saying, the key is in the name. New Zealand First.

Where’s the New Zealand First in foreign aid? And all this on the back of the news that cheaper doctors’ visits in this country have been delayed.

This is the stuff a classic New Zealand First voter would have expected and embraced – you miss out, so Mr and Mrs Tokelau can get some more help. And to what end? We can’t subsidise a doctor, but we can hand out thousands to a person who doesn’t even live here.

NZ First voters are feeling betrayed but Winston may be able to woo some of them back.

However the straw that may break the camel’s back is law and order. NZ First has always campaigned on very hard line law & order policies. If they sign up to Labour’s law changes to repeal three strikes and make bail and parole easier – well that will be the death of them I’d say.