A political commentator says Labour's re-election hopes are hanging by a thread and urgently needs to start releasing policy.
It comes after Kiri Allan's ministerial career came to a screeching conclusion on Monday. She was forced to resign from her portfolios including Justice after she was involved in a car crash on Wellington's Evans Bay Pde on Sunday night.
She was charged with careless use of a motor vehicle and refusing to accompany a police officer and will appear in court at a later date. Allan was also issued an infringement notice for excess breath alcohol between 250 and 400mcg.
Allan was a talented and fast-improving MP within the Labour Government and, just six months ago, was tipped as a potential deputy Prime Minister following the shock resignation of then-PM Jacinda Ardern.
Now she is back home considering her political future after a series of high-profile scandals that plagued her this year.
Former United Future leader and political commentator Peter Dunne told Newshub Late on Monday this latest departure from Labour is a hammer blow.
He told host Alice Wilkins the party can hardly afford any more missteps if it wants public confidence to be rebuilt.
"It creates an impression of chaos that ministers are falling literally like flies at the moment and the Government doesn't seem to be able to get any forward momentum, doesn't seem to be able to get out there and promote its policies," he said.
"It's not a good look when you're fighting an election that the polls show is going to be neck and neck anyway and I think people will be starting to wonder about whether it's worth the effort or whether perhaps a change is in the wind."
Labour has seen five ministers depart this year. It started when Ardern resigned.
Two months later, Stuart Nash was sacked after discussing confidential cabinet discussions with donors.
In May, Meka Whaitiri blindsided colleagues when she defected from the government to join Te Pāti Māori.
A month later, former Transport Minister Michael Wood quit after undeclared shareholdings surfaced, presenting a conflict of interest and now Allan.
On top of all that, Education Minister Jan Tinetti was ordered by the Privileges Committee to apologise to Parliament for negligence.
"It leaves them in a very difficult position, just 80-something days before the election to try and sort of recover the lost ground and put all this behind them and focus on the issues that they want to campaign on. A mountain, I think what Jenna Lynch said a little earlier, has become like Everest," Dunne said.
Following Labour's latest ministerial departure, questions are being asked if the party still has the support of the public.
When asked this at a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said: "They elected us."
Hipkins was also asked how he could show the public that he has it together, to which the Prime Minister said: "Just watch me."
But Dunne believes Labour needs to urgently start releasing policy if they want to rebuild public confidence and show things are back on track.
"Firstly, no more lapses like this and secondly, I think the Labour Party needs to get some solid policy out there. What seems to have happened for most of this year is they have been abandoning policies, dropping this one or dropping that one, but not promoting new policies in their place.
"I think that's what they need to start to focus on and just keep their fingers and toes crossed that no one else goes rogue in the meantime."
Labour MPs will be feeling demoralised after the latest ministerial departure, Dunne believes.
"We don't yet know what the public reaction is whether the public's taken this in its stride or whether it's something they'll be starting to rise with their MPs and candidates around the country," he said. "So I think it's going to be quite an uncertain time for them. As I said before unless they've got big policy initiatives coming out in that time, they're going to be finding themselves in a pretty disparate place, I would have thought."
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