It is easy to take this comment as a bit of a joke:
Funny thought ….. JLR jumps to NZF, a bit of theatre from Winny on saying XYZ, then JLR enters a by-election … wins for NZF and gets a plumb role in govt.
Oh so so funny
That seems ridiculous, but lets join a few dots.
That was said by someone with a close association with Cameron Slater.
Early last year Winston Peters’ lawyer represented Slater in his defamation case versus Colin Craig (unsuccessfully).
For many years Slater had criticised and ridiculed Peters, but suddenly last year switched to supporting Peters and NZ First through the election campaign. This may have simply been a way of trying to damage Bill English and National, who he had fallen out with, but it did raise some questions of why the sudden switch.
This year Slater has continued to attack National, and has attacked Simon Bridges since he took over the leadership.
When Jami-Lee Ross was ejected from the National caucus and took leave from Parliament (again) Slater became prominent in his support of Ross, and used information and secret recordings from Ross to attack Bridges and National. Some of Slater’s Whale Oil helpers have continued with their anti-bridges/National agenda.
Yesterday Peters announced that NZ First would proxy vote for Ross in Parliament – see NZ First proxy voting for Jami-lee Ross. Peters sounded uncomfortable trying to explain this unusual arrangement.
RNZ: NZ First to hold Jami-Lee Ross’ proxy vote
Speaking to reporters at Parliament, Mr Peters said the decision was made in the “spirit of representation” to ensure Botany voters were heard in Parliament.
“We’re not here to kick the National Party,” Mr Peters said.
“We are here to say to the people of Botany… you deserve to have your voice heard.”
As long as Ross stays away from Parliament the voice of the people won’t be heard in Parliament, so this is a strange claim – unless Peters is just trying to impress Botany voters perhaps.
Back to the ‘funny’ comment – I would have thought that Peters was too politically astute to stand Parliament’s most discredited MP for NZ First in a by-election. But Slater and his mates could be silly enough to think it is a cunning plan. He and the person who made the comment have histories of trying some fairly stupid stunts.
I guess anything is possible but it is very hard to see Ross stand any chance if he tried to keep his Botany seat, even if he happens to recover from his claimed health problems in time for the campaign – someone who is unable to do their job in Parliament would struggle to get votes in an electorate.
Peters must realise this, so it’s hard to see him going for this unless he thought it was a way to kick National – when he says something like “We’re not here to kick the National Party” that raises suspicions that that is exactly what his intention actually is, akin to his ‘with the greatest respect’ comments.
It would be remarkable if Ross could get anywhere near close to winning Botany.
If he somehow managed that, getting “a plumb role in govt” would also be a stretch. That would mean he would take over responsibilities of a current NZ First minister, which would be unlikely to go down well. And Labour would be nuts to accept Ross in their Cabinet.
So this all seems to be a big joke – except that I wouldn’t put it past Slater and his mates to think it was a cunning plan.
It would go something like this:
- Ross too sick to attend Parliament
- NZ First proxy votes for Ross
- Ross resigns from Parliament
- Ross now not sick and stands for NZ First in Botany by-election, and wins
- Ross appointed Cabinet Minister, replacing Tracey Martin as Minister of Children and Minister of (Internal) Affairs
Yes, it’s a joke.