Former Labour ministers dismiss MP’s critique of Dame Jacinda Ardern’s Government
Lleaked audio included Labour MP Greg O'Connor's critique of the last Labour Government. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Former senior ministers in the previous Labour Government are dismissing criticism from one of their fellow MPs, who felt the previous Government lacked staff who could pull together and execute its intended reforms.
The critique from Ōhāriu MP Greg O’Connor was revealed by the Herald after audio of a Labour Wellington regional meeting was leaked.
One of the questions asked of several local MPs who attended the meeting appeared to have been over what lessons could be learned by the previous (2017-2023) Labour Government, led by Dame Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins for a short time after Ardern resigned.
O’Connor, who is an assistant Speaker and is standing as a list-only candidate at the election in November, pointed to the importance of senior staff in pulling a Government together and allowing the political leaders to lead.
“Jacinda was there, great leader, but what we’ve got to always have is that one person who has got really a good understanding, not necessarily an elected person, that go-to person who understands, has got this incredible knowledge of how everything is working and pulls it all together.
“And I think if we’re honest ... probably [that] person was a little bit lacking when we were there.
“So what we’ve got to make sure the lesson is, it’s a whole team approach.”
Wigram MP Dr Megan Woods, a former Housing Minister and Energy Minister in the previous Government, said she disagreed with O’Connor.
“Look, I think that we did a lot in the last Government.
“I don’t agree with Greg on that, I think we had an amazing team of staffers.”
List MP Ginny Andersen, a former Police Minister and Justice Minister, also felt differently.
“I did not agree with that statement, I thought we were incredibly well supported,” Andersen said.
“I was a Cabinet minister during that Government and I thought we had excellent staff working who did very long hours.”
Andersen said she had “never heard that said by other members of the caucus“.
O’Connor has been approached for comment.
Yesterday, Hipkins said he believed Labour had been “very, very well-served” by its staff while in Government.
He wouldn’t make reflections on O’Connor as members were currently deciding upon the list ranking of the Labour Party.
“Greg O’Connor is still a member of our team, and I back him in the fact that he’s a member of our team, but I disagreed with what he said at the meeting.”
Asked if he wanted to see O’Connor returned to Parliament, Hipkins said: “Look, I’d love to have a bigger team in Parliament.
“I’d love to have all of our existing MPs back and a whole lot more on top of it ... If Greg is re-elected to Parliament, he will be welcomed back.”
The leaked audio included MPs discussing how they would respond if they were asked whether they would rather fight “100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck”.
Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds responded by saying: “Every week I have to stand up in the House and ask a duck-faced horse – did I get that right – questions every single week, and I have the glory of being able to question her, or debate her in debates and to talk through media.”
Edmonds, who was likely referring to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, had since apologised for any offence taken and said she had “got the question muddled”.
Andersen acknowledged the leak was “frustrating” but indicated it wasn’t worth attempting to determine who the leaker was.
“It might be quite difficult to do that, I think.
“It’s important to look at where you tighten areas up, I know that we’ve always been open [to] people coming to attend and being part of things and also having it available online ... so maybe the party wants to reconsider some of those things.”
The Labour Party did not comment when asked by the Herald whether it was taking any action following the leak.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.