Gerry Brownlee shows National is set to play rough

"The haste and blunt wording is a symbolic message of what's to come."
"The haste and blunt wording is a symbolic message of what's to come." Photo credit: Reuters

OPINION: Boom - there it is: "Hateful Diplomat must be expelled".

That's from Gerry Brownlee - National's Agitator-in-Chief dropping a bomb on the Government.

He let rip at Winston Peters imploring him to "act without hesitation" and send an Iranian diplomat home for "what was effectively a hate speech".  

He relied on media 'reports' to inform the strong worded release - something he never did as minister.

A slow trickle of opposition press releases have made their way into our inboxes from National since they made the big move from the Beehive.

They've been predictable - the old 'We left you a country in good shape - don't mess it up' lines.

Bill English kicked it up a notch, calling the Prime Minister 'brutal' the other day - but aside from that it appears he's taken a dose of her 'relentless positivity pills'.

Enter Gerry Brownlee - National's top troublemaker. He stepped up and sent out the first real opposition press release, the first real attack.  

The haste and blunt wording is a symbolic message of what's to come.

The fact that it came from Brownlee is a sign this is a directive from high - go hard or go home.

It's a lesson for all the newbies - 'This is how we act in Opposition'.

It's rough, tough and it will get dirty.

Jenna Lynch is a Newshub political reporter.