Ali Ikram revisits ACT Leader Rodney Hide's gaffe with his take on “Nothing-Gate”.
Mr Hide has apologised for saying that the Prime Minister hasn't really done anything, laughing off the awkward error as just a bit of banter.
But when you think about it Mr Hide was actually right, Mr Key hasn't done anything, really.
But doing nothing, or at least very little, is part of Mr Key's political genius.
With statements like:
“At some point we'll consider it.”
“We had a discussion and the first thing I will say is there were no conclusions reached.”
“I can't put an exact date on that but I mean I think it's possible in a few weeks.”
“I don't know when we'll be in a position to tell you more it'll be soonish.”
And it turns out if Mr Key continues in this vein he just might be considered one of our greatest ever prime ministers.
New Zealand politics expert Professor Barry Gustafson says in the past the country’s great prime ministers were “cautious and conservative”.
“Seddon, Massey, Holyoake, Savage, they did change things, but they didn’t change for change sake,” says Mr Gustafson.
He says he thinks Mr Hide's desire for things to be done come from a bygone era.
“Rodney Hide is a throw back; he has never got out of the 80s and 90s where there was a belief in business schools and politics. Where change was good and radical change was even better,” he says.
Mr Gustafson says he thinks the biggest achievement of the National-led Government over the last 12 months has been not panicking in the recession.
Another case where doing something quite drastic would have been the wrong thing to do.
“No body wants your leaders to panic and run around like headless chickens throwing the baby out with the bath water,” says Mr Gustafson.
A news website poll asked readers what the Government's greatest achievement after a year in power.
Ten percent think it's their guiding the country through tough economic times
While just two and half percent say it's their successful coalition management.
Both of which were totally eclipsed by an astonishing 81 percent saying the Government's most significant achievement so far was Mr Key reading the Top Ten on Letterman.
source: newshub archive
