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Melissa Lee & David Shearer interviewed by Paul Holmes (not seen in image) on TVNZ's Q + A programme - Source: ONE News -
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Labour's Phil Twyford desperately wanted to contest the Mt Albert by-election because he wanted to make the move from list MP to electorate MP. He felt that an electorate MP was more part of a community and he wanted to feel "utterly connected" to the people he would represent in parliament.
Twyford was speaking to the unease that some list MPs feel in the era of proportional representation.
Since MMP began there has been a sense that list MPs are second class passengers on the ship of democracy, not quite as real as those with a community to call their own. Some have argued that they don't represent the masses in the same way as their electorate colleagues and are creatures of the party rather than the public.
But the Mt Albert by-election is throwing up another issue around list MPs and their disconnect from the electorates.
While many at the top of party lists are experienced politicians and former electorate MPs, some of the newer breed have never had their political noses bloodied in a tangle for an electorate seat. They have not been tested by a community, grilled by community groups, and harangued in cold, dusty halls. They lack grass-roots experience.
Without that traditional testing on the campaign trail, they can struggle in the heat of parish pump politics. And as they say, all politics is local.
Melissa Lee came into parliament last year with no previous political experience. She hadn't stood in past elections, been a city councillor or been through any of the more common rites of passage of wannabe MPs. Smart, professionally successful, a leader in a significant ethnic community, and famously attractive , she pushed all the right buttons as an appealing candidate.
But this week, as she has been put through the hoops by the community she wants to represent and the media, she has been woeful.
On Q+A on Sunday she had no position on the core local issue in the Mt Albert by-election - the Waterview tunnel. With the government yet to announce its preference she was left to flounder while Labour's candidate, David Shearer, simply said 'we want a tunnel'.
Lee desperately tried to get on-message.
National - and her campaign team in particular, led by Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman - had obviously decided that crime and Shearer's carpetbagger status were her strongest cards and she was to play them whenever possible. She twice talked about taking her son to Gribblehurst Park, a sign that she knew the electorate in a way her Labour opponent did not. It was heavy-handed, especially for someone who has spent years in front of a television camera.
A week that began badly has only gotten worse.
She has been forced to deny claims by a former employee that public funds were used in making a promotional video for National's election campaign. New Zealand on Air and the Electoral Commission are investigating. The bad news for Lee is that even if she is cleared, the allegations will be repeated when those bodies announce their findings.
Then on Wednesday night she told a public meeting that the new motorway planned for Mt Albert would be good because criminals from South Auckland would drive through the electorate rather than stopping to commit crime.
It was a horribly ham-fisted attempt to stay on-message, and revealed a worrying reliance on lazy stereotypes. Aside from the slur cast on the good people of south Auckland, it's nonsensical. Criminals can't use off-ramps?
Lee clearly wanted to get off the motorway in a hurry (if you'll excuse the pun), and onto crime street. She took the wrong exit.
Lee's law and order line is now looking as a desperate attempt to avoid confronting the tunnel issue, as it veers into the realm of talkback radio fear-mongering. Crime rates in Auckland have been trending down for years (with violent crime the worrying exception).
It's also bad strategy.
She's part of a ridiculously popular government enjoying an extended honeymoon. She has no need to play the fear card; she would do better to stick to the feelgood vibes around the Key administration.
In what's a short campaign, she may have blown any chance of victory in the first week. It will take remarkable discipline to turn this around. And it's a reminder to us all just what an effective winnowing machine local, electoral politics really is.
P.S. Brian Edwards is a fan of Q+A, saying the programme provides "discursive and intelligent coverage of New Zealand politics" and is putting the newspapers to shame. Thanks Brian. Read the review
Q+A - TV ONE, Sunday at 9am and live streaming on tvnz.co.nz
Add a Comment:
Post new commentbruce963 said on 2009-05-14 @ 20:09 NZDT: Report abusive post
Stupid, stupid stupid. She deserves to go no where. I live in South Ak (Clevedon in fact). I work in SthAk , I shop in SthAK and I earn over $250k. But I also have respect for my community and feel safe where I live. Melissa should go get lost ! I don't accept her apology. She belives what she said. Her comments are really low. May she rot on the pile of useless politicians. We should count ourselves lucky that she didn't slip into politics. Bruce963
Hannan said on 2009-05-14 @ 19:19 NZDT: Report abusive post
As interesting as these candidates are, there are other candidates standing in the Mt Albert by election and I would like to hear their position on this too. It is the responsibility of the news media to let all candidates to be heard.
Wikitoria said on 2009-05-14 @ 18:36 NZDT: Report abusive post
As a South Auckland resident, I am shocked, but not surprised at the comments made. Transparency at the highest level. Wonderful! But not for National. Said in the heat of the moment! Huh! The election nerves! Huh! It shows the extent of the thoughts - thought by jafa. It was coming! National has been skating a dance of bliss for a few short months. The Labour party must be dancing with glee, Yee Ha! Thank you Melissa. As for this South Aucklander, I am highly insulted at her comments.
dbroadle said on 2009-05-14 @ 18:21 NZDT: Report abusive post
I was disappointed to see TVNZ coverage of the Melissa Lee story and found it to be both narrow and misleading to the NZ public. If national media claim that this will have a significant and detrimental impact on her career, more than likely it will. The only balanced comment was in the last sentence, relating to inexperience. I would expect broader, less biased coverage from key NZ-wide media.
vilisoni said on 2009-05-14 @ 10:52 NZDT: Report abusive post
What a load of rubbish. who does this lady think she is. not everyone in south auckland are criminals melissa. too me she is fake at the highest level. this goes all the way back to her opening speech in parlimaent where she said that all shopkeepers wouldnt die if gangs or something rather was taken out of soceity. i cant wait to here wat john key has to say> hes got a big mess to clean up