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Election 2020
The elections may be all but lost for National, but its leader Judith Collins was still making a show of resistance on the last day of the campaign, as Sam Sachdeva reports.
At first glance, a nondescript path at the foot of Mount Roskill seemed like an odd place for Judith Collins to kick off her last day of the 2020 election campaign.
Questions from journalists and responses from the national leader were sometimes drowned out by cars whizzing past Dominion Road and Southwestern Motorway.
But it was the absence of noise that interested Collins most – specifically, the non-existent construction work on Auckland’s light rail, which the Labor Party promised in 2017 would be underway before the next election.
“Goldie and I thought we would come with Parmjeet and look for the legendary light rail on Dominion Road – we haven’t found it yet, I don’t know if you’ve found it,” said Paul Goldsmith, finance spokesman. and Parmjeet Parmar, a list MP based in Mt Roskill, chuckled alongside her.
This attack on the government of Jacinda Ardern, which despite all her good intentions, she has failed time and time again, is one of the most powerful weapons in the Opposition’s arsenal.
But it has largely failed to register with voters influenced by the government’s handling of Covid-19, and perhaps deterred from National by its carousel of leaders.
“I know I have the support of the caucus, the support of the members and the support of the board and I have the support of the people who vote for us, but I also think that it is very difficult for someone to join the Prime Minister,” he concluded, trying to get rid of any feeling of premature concession.
Collins was not admitting defeat on Friday, but there was an air of resignation in his reflections on the campaign to date.
“I love public meetings, I have to say: whatever happens, if I am prime minister or leader of the opposition after tomorrow, let me tell you that we will continue to hold public meetings.”
Why was she confident that she would remain the leader of National this time next week? Asked a reporter.
“I know that I have the support of the caucus, the support of the members and the support of the board, and I have the support of the people who vote for us, but I also think that it is very difficult for someone to join the Prime Minister,” he concluded , trying to get rid of any feeling of premature concession.
Yet Collins’ message in recent days has suggested a leader more focused on saving furniture than rising to victory: He has repeatedly urged former national voters who lean towards ACT or New Conservative to remain “two blue ticks. “In an attempt to avoid the base he bleeds out instead of chasing so-called ‘undecided voters’ in the center.
“I think we always have to look to the rank and file, particularly when we have faced the opposition, because… the rank and file can never be taken for granted, and we have seen it in the past,” he said.
It was the base where Collins next headed, heading to a Browns Bay restaurant for lunch and thanking the party’s volunteers and supporters.
There were no signs of defeatism there, although the fatigue was evident: “I’m screwed, crushed friend,” one volunteer told another when asked how the last wave of campaigns had been.
Taking over the platform to applause and cheers, Collins went back to chasing one of his favorite targets.
“We’ve been looking for the light rail… and we can’t find it. We were looking for at least one nest, we could find the light rail nest, we couldn’t find the light rail droppings, not a feather. “
Encouraged by the reception, she recited national policies before finishing with another dig in the government’s record.
“We make people work, we develop business confidence and, by the way, everything we say we are going to do, we do because we know how to do it.
“And what you can’t do is you can’t live with a slogan and you can’t drive with a slogan and you can’t really claim, you have to be able to deliver.”
The last stop of the day, on what was a relatively light schedule, was an apparition between some “human fences” in Rosedale.
“Keep your livelihood, keep your sanity,” a National supporter yelled as she waved campaign signs at passing traffic.
Waiting for an ‘interesting’ night
Collins gleefully took up the sign waving, even offering a bit of vibe as he got into the swing of things before shooting a video for social media asking Kiwis to vote, yes, “Two ticks blue.”
But barely halfway through what was scheduled as a 30-minute appearance, he was back in Crown’s car and ready to get ready for the big day.
In the letters for Saturday? Perhaps an uncommon lie, before a nine o’clock hair date, then prep for National’s election night event in Auckland.
The campaign’s deputy leader and chairman, Gerry Brownlee, would not be present, Collins confirmed, but would instead stay in Christchurch: “God, we must not forget the continent.”
And your prediction of the evening’s results?
“Interesting.”
That was as good as even Collins in his prime could have offered for what is sure to be a painful night for National, and it could well end in a bloodbath.
