Herald wants more wins less spin

The Herald editorial:

The Government – whether that’s Jacinda Ardern’s “Labour-led” one, Winston Peters’ “Coalition” one, a Green-tinged one, or any other label for that matter – clearly needs a win. …

The issues around Clare Curran and Meka Whaitiri have dented Labour’s credibility, and there is potential for further damage.

Labour has been stymied in the progress of its flagship employment law reform legislation and plans to establish a Crown-Maori relations agency – and has been made to look foolish to boot.

The unwanted headlines are now about a Deputy PM gone “rogue”, an absent PM, the tail wagging the dog and a Government in chaos and disunity.

The issue isn’t that the coalition partners don’t agree on everything. That is to be expected.

The issue is that their political management is so incompetent that they end up disagreeing in public where Ministers proceed to announce things without having checked first with their coalition partners.

It may be too much to ask to feel the love, but New Zealanders need to feel secure, see evidence of cohesion, and to know our Prime Minister is not one in name only. To silence its critics and reduce the feeling of unease, the Coalition needs to start translating its slick presentations, grand visions and inclusive rhetoric into meaningful actions with concrete results.

Results are what matter.