Rod Oram: Insight into 2008

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, February 26th, 2008 - 6 comments
Categories: john key, labour - Tags: ,

For those who are looking to the Beehive to bring some single minded focus to the current situation Labour finds themselves in, this article from Rod Oram at the begining of the month reads like a good starting point (SSTimes, 3 Feb 2008). He raises what the challenges for Labour are:

If it wants to be credible enough to win a fourth term, Labour has to be more objective in its analysis, more persuasive about what it has achieved, more honest about what it hasn’t and more articulate about what it would hope to do for the economy.

but he also highlights some of the weaknesses in National’s positioning:

In his state of the nation speech, John Key asked nine questions which he said the prime minister should answer before asking voters for another three years in power. They are all good questions to ask and, indeed, to fight the election on, as Key said he would. But in doing so he has dug his own deep economic hole. He has tabled some issues that no government regardless of ideology, policies or competence can hope to have much impact on.

While policies such as greater investment in infrastructure and Kiwisaver go some way to addressing the long term issues he goes onto say:

…progress is nowhere as big, fast, wide-scale or confident as it has to be to address the issues Key raised. So the onus is on him and his party to make a compelling case that they can do better. Their work to date, however, is disappointing…hopefully English and Key will start giving more and better speeches on the economy as they try to make the case they should be New Zealand’s next finance minister and prime minister.

We keep hearing that Mr Key says what people want to hear. Maybe we need a louder chorus asking for some concrete “how to” plans.

Rod Oram’s full text is here.

6 comments on “Rod Oram: Insight into 2008 ”

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  1. the sprout 1
    26 February 2008 at 12:00 pm

    We keep hearing that Mr Key says what people want to hear. Maybe we need a louder chorus asking for some concrete “how to’ plans

    very true. we won’t get anything from him because there aren’t any plans – at least none they’d want to share prior to an election.
    but it would be useful for exposing Key’s hollowness.

    the big question is – who is going to ask? obviously the media can’t be expected to hold him to account. the blogs will keep enlightening those who already know the score, but the masses will continue to be treated like mushrooms by the msm.

  2. mike 2
    26 February 2008 at 12:49 pm

    Sprout, why do you shoot the messenger. The media is just the sharp end of public sentiment. Helen and Co have courted controvesy with the smacking / EF bills etc and the public and media have responded accordingly. Why should the media give this govt a free ride when it is increasingly trying to run our lives and and spend our money for us.

  3. Matthew Pilott 3
    26 February 2008 at 1:02 pm

    Mike, it’s touching that you think the media, collectively, is thoroughly impartial and purely non-partisan. Where does this spring from?

    Why do you think ‘the media’ has decided that it’s not necessary to challenge National on anything remotely approaching a substantiative issue?

  4. mike 4
    26 February 2008 at 1:14 pm

    You speak of the media as one entity when its now more diverse and disjointed than ever.
    It has always had left, right and centrist viewpoints and I guess you should be concerned when left leaning writers turn on Labour policy like this http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10494496&pnum=0

  5. Matthew Pilott 5
    26 February 2008 at 1:20 pm

    Which is somewhat ironic mike, as by reading that I saw this:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1501165&objectid=10494313

    Although in the end, it more praises Key for the ‘compromise’ than congratulates Bradford for the law’s introduction! Seems if it works, Key gets credit, if not, it’s Labour’s fault eh?

  6. r0b 6
    26 February 2008 at 12:57 pm

    The media is just the sharp end of public sentiment.

    In exactly the same way that advertising is just the sharp end of public buying habits.