My 2011 Political Awards
In my Herald column I hand out some awards. The summary:
- ACT MP of the Year – Rodney Hide
- Maori Party MP of the Year – Te Ururoa Flavell
- Green MP of the Year – Gareth Hughes
- Labour Mp of the Year – Damien O’Connor
- National MP of the Year – Gerry Brownlee
- MP of the Year – John Key
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Tags: David Farrar on Politics, NZ Herald
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December 23rd, 2011 at 10:43 am
Gareth Hughes over Russell Norman???
Big call!
December 23rd, 2011 at 10:56 am
ROADKILL of the Year – Rico
SPEECH of Year – Gillard to NZ parl.
NUMBER Cruncher of the Year – DPF
Geek BLOG of the Year – ReadWriteWeb
Real BLOG of the year – Kiwiblog
COMEBACK of the Year – Winston, closely followed by (AirNZ) Richard Simmons
MAYOR of the Year – Bob Parker
SPORTSMEN of Year -ABs
LEADER of the Year – (Sir) Richie
MEDIA of the Year – iPhones and Twitter
BOOK of Year – Chch Press Quake book with DVD
ART of Year – Dalek snowman
INTERVIEWER of the Year – Kim Hill (for life).
TV of the Year – Maori TV.
December 23rd, 2011 at 10:58 am
I agree with all your comments. I do not see any advantage for the pm keeping the election date secret as his own party organisation is also kept in the dark. Rather I hope john key has started a trend in that the pm must announce the election date not later than the first sitting day in election year.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:17 am
Gareth Hughes? Surely you jest, DPF….
Hughes proved during the year that he is nothing more than a complete vacuum – pushing an environmental message is fine, but openly condoning the maritime terrorism perpetuated on the oceans by Sea Shepherd, shows that Hughes’ judgement skills are totally deficient. Coupled with other similar deficiencies, I just don’t rate him at all. He comes across as being totally wet behind the ears and devoid of common sense.
At least Norman gained some credibility during the year – whilst I don’t agree with many of the policies he promotes, he was at least (on occasion) seen to moderate his position on some issues and even attempted to inject some economic pragmatism into some of his comments. But the Gweens in general are just like candy floss – totally lacking in substance.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:23 am
@Budgieboy
It depends on your perspective. Norman has done a good job of repositioning the Greens, although arguably this has been a multi year project. I agree that Hughes has done a fantastic job of getting his name and face out there. In absolute terms he might not be the strongest, but relative to expectations he’s done great. He was practically leader of the opposition on the Copyright Infringement bill and also had a high profile around transport and the Rena (the media whoring no doubt learned from his background as a Greenpeace activist). There are 122 MP’s in parliament, he is the youngest and one of the least experienced, as an opposition backbencher who is 7th ranked MP in the third biggest party in parliament he has punched significantly above his weight.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:29 am
I’m with Elaycee. From his Facebook and Twitter postinbgs, it’s evident that Gareth Hughes has quickly boarded the Parliamentary Gravy Train, and will soon rival Kris Fa’afoi for the coveted I’ve Been Everywhere Award. Lord only knows how large his carbon footprint is; during the election campaign he was up and down the country with reckless abandon.
And it was Hughes who jumped the shark over the MV Rena, suggesting that oil should and could have been being pumped from the wreck on Day One when that was patently not the case. Hughes may be the face of the future for the Greens, but his judgment at the moment leaves a lot to be desired.
December 23rd, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Gotta agree with above – Gareth is a moron you just happened to be right three times in his life.
December 23rd, 2011 at 6:59 pm
I disagree with all but one of the above.
ACT MP of the year – nobody. The party imploded.Nobody came out with any credit – least of all Hyde whose hypocrisy destroyed it at the outset. Biff the trophy – they are deservedly dead.
Maori – I still have extraordinary respect for Pita Sharples who in his understated manner has done more for Maori and for race relations than anyone since Billy T James. He should win.
Green – Gareth who? Russell Norman single handedly took this Party to a new level. Dont agree with his pollicies but like his style.
Labour – has to be Goff. David – you eulogise Hyde for quietly taking the flack within ACT. But Goff withstood the betrayal of his own colleagues with enormous dignity, and came surprisingly close to achieving the upset of the century.
National – John Key please. He IS National. Who else have they got? Sorry, Brownlee is a buffoon.
MP of the year – Grudgingly, maybe Key. But he will have to lift his game exponentially if he is to qualify again in 2014. Charisma, well-rehearsed sound bites and being a genuinely nice guy got him through 2011 but won’t be enough for another three years. Very, very strong leadership will be required. Can he provide it?