Hopefully Prime Minister John Key at last is learning – the hard way – that the strategies he apparently used so successfully as a money dealer don’t cut it in politics.
I’m very, very pleased that he’s finally stated categorically that Kiwibank will NOT be sold while he’s prime minister. But why did it take so long to finally state it? Why so many attempts to be slippery with his words over the past few weeks?
Slipperyness may work when cutting money deals, playing people off against each other, giving assurances that have loopholes, giving himself wriggle-room. But when you’re dealing with an electorate who are passionate about important issues, it just undermines his credibility. People with strong views are not interested in cutting deals and adjusting frameworks so everyone saves some face. They want firm, principled statements from their leaders.
After his easy ride with the electorate during his first year in office, when his affable grin let him float above any churning undercurrents, he is now starting to look less substantial. Too often now the grin and dismissive response to challenging questions looks shady. Watch his eyes and the direction of his glance when confronted with the results of some previous slippery statement. Too often they’re telling us that he’s not telling the whole story but rather a version cut to suit what he thinks he can get away with.
The dealings with Tuhoe showed this clearly, and it’s come back to bite him. And the increasingly used tactics by his government team of floating plans for things like mining, conservation and water use to see how we react, smell more like games of poker or business tactical deal-making than honest consultation.
What does John Key really stand for? How carefully do we need to keep an eye on him to try to work out what cards are in his hand and which he’ll play next? Some people didn’t like Helen Clark’s generally more direct and less blokesy approach, but at least we usually knew what she believed in and what she wanted us to do. With Key we always have to guess. And for me, it’s wearing thin, John.
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