Why National should do a deal with Winston

This headline is not one I ever thought I would write. In 2005 and 2017 when Winston chose Labour, I was somewhat relieved as I thought a Government reliant on him would end in tears.

Winston and I have never been exactly close. In fact he has threatened to sue me on occasion and I understand his nickname for me is Rumpelstiltskin, which I’m quite proud of as I can be a little imp 🙂

A Government with 69 seats pledged to it will be more stable than with 61 seats. And reaching out to Winston for a deal, when (at this stage) you don’t need to, engenders goodwill and respect, and people who know Winston say this is very important.

The numbers may change also. At the moment National/ACT is 61/121. The final vote might have them at 60/121 and needing NZ First. Now if you wait until end of November than if National wins Port Waikato you’re 61/122 and hung Parliament. If Māori Party only win three electorates then it 61/121. So basically there are multiple variables and you don’t want to wait until Friday 3 November or even Saturday 25 November to start negotiating. You will also get a better deal now, than if you wait.

I’d love to see a National/ACT Cabinet. But I’m not against NZ First having roles outside Cabinet. And in fact there may be some roles where having a NZ First Minister could be an opportunity. You could have Winston (or Casey Costello) as Minister of Crown/Maori Relations, who would handle the collective apoplexy of the establishment as it is made clear that public services should be based on need not race.

Consider the fun you could have if Shane Jones is (for example) Minister of Energy. The Greens and Te Pāti Māori will rage against him, while National focused on the cost of living and fixing the health and education systems.

If we want a three-term National-led Government, we want the three parties of the centre-right fighting the left on woke identity politics, envy taxes, soft on crime policies, wasteful spending – not fighting each other.