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Jim Tucker is a writer and journalist based in New Plymouth
OPINION: There’s something special about the Prime Minister coming to town in election year, isn’t there.
Our current one’s political machine tried to convince me otherwise when I inquired, but I wasn’t having it.
They said he would be in North Taranaki on ministerial business and there’d be no public election meetings (of the kind staged by Opposition Leader Chris Luxon in June).
But you can’t convince an old hand like me that any presence in the political outback this close to polling day doesn’t have votes written all over it.
Okay, there wasn’t a meeting open to public attendance. Probably wise, given the uncertain state of interest.
Luxon misjudged and had to hold his twice. Labour PM Chris Hipkins is on a hiding to nothing if he doesn’t get the same response.
I reckon he will, though. This is going to be between his party and the Nats, and he’s the one with the sitting member.
Most parties have already announced extensive candidate lists for many seats, but so far New Plymouth has only the two, Labour MP Glen Bennett in his first term and well-known local government politician David MacLeod standing for National.
Minor party New Conservatives might have Jonathan Marshall, but so far the Greens, NZ First and Act haven’t got anyone. That suggests with only five weeks to closing date, those small parties think Taranaki’s urban seat is not worth their focus.
Act has provided some intrigue. They had a candidate earlier this year, but she’s since vanished off their list (she didn’t live here) and the party is struggling to respond to my inquiry about whether they have someone else.
In fact, “struggling” might not be a strong enough adjective. I’ve recently had an email from Act leader David Seymour asking for money. Although I worked for a political party once to discover what goes on, us journos don’t usually donate cash to them, Mr Seymour.
But back to Mr Hipkins. Once here, he conceded it was indeed the start of his campaign and he was happy to kick it off in a place where he once lived and worked.
It turned out, though, that local connections – he worked in oil, and his Mum was dux of Waitara High School – aren’t significant when it comes to the PM getting involved in our issues.
Asked if he thought it was a good idea to let people build four giant windmills across one of the world’s most spectacular vistas, the Kapuni foreground to Maunga Taranaki, he said that’s up to the local consenting procedure, not his government.
He has the same view of the seemingly tortuous path to restore the former Ivon Watkins-Dow chemical plant site at Paritutu: “Again, there is a local process around that matter and I’m not going to insert myself in the middle of it.”
He was a bit more forthcoming on whether the endless piles of logs he saw at the port should cause us to worry about the effects of forestry on inland Taranaki.
“There are certainly opportunities for us to think about things like slash in our renewable energy discussions.”
The government had to look at the economics of generating electricity from biomass: “There are emerging technology solutions there we should be constantly monitoring. So this is not just a risk…it is an opportunity.”
VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff
Hipkins, eke-Mason and Bennett get the rundown of Port Taranaki from chief executive Simon Craddock.
Openly referred to as “Chippy” by his colleagues, the PM ordered using his nickname at the Waitara café where he and the team had lunch on Thursday, and tried the sausage rolls served up by his second destination of the day, Port Taranaki.
The port people did us proud. Not only did the PM get a thorough bus tour of what is a busy and fascinating place, but the sausage rolls were the best I’ve ever tasted.
The modern health and safety revolution has much to answer for when it comes to people being unfamiliar with Taranaki’s bustling port these days.
Most are too young to recall family Sunday afternoon drives down to see what was tied up at the wharves.
Acknowledging the significance of the operation and its hinterland to the economy, the PM said he will be back to Taranaki again in weeks closer to the October election.
I suspect he’ll get his hall size right, judging by the popular success of his visit to Waitara High School. He just needs to stop answering every question with the words: “That’s a really good question.”
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