COMMENT Minor leaders make most of the limelight

• Published date: 27 March 2024
• Publication title: Daily Post, The (Rotorua, New Zealand)

While National leader Christopher Luxon has the keys to the 9th floor office at the Beehive and armed guards attached to his side, it’s the coalition leaders, NZ First’s Winston Peters and Act’s David Seymour, and their lieutenants who are dominating the news headlines

Peters and his people have had a number of wins in the coalition Government’s six months in office and have escaped relatively unscathed.

Any pushback on cuts to their portfolios are dumped in the lap of National’s Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ Budget bag of tricks.

Even the Smokefree repeal, which was slammed by health workers and pushed through by Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, has seen some appeasement this week after the NZ First MP also unveiled her plans to tackle the vaping industry and shops, which have replaced corner dairies as prefered ram raid targets.

Good win for NZ First.

Then Shane Jones popped his head above the parapet to suggest reopening Marsden Point Refinery.

It’s a pie-in-the-eye policy that grabbed headlines because when the previous Government and the refinery owners decommissioned it in 2022, tradespeople left the area for more sustainable work and the plant sits there...