If coalition MPs are as opposed to troops in Iraq as they say they are, why are they waiting two and a half years to withdraw them, wonders former National government defence minister Wayne Mapp. Yesterday’s announcement that the Iraq deployment would be extended to June 2020 before they are finally withdrawn reflects two realities … Read more
This is the perfect time to announce a future ban on sales of fossil fuel cars, argues former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Now that we have got past the CGT shemozzle, we can get back to the serious policy that the prime minister says is the existential crisis of our times, climate change. … Read more
Jacinda Ardern’s personality, relative youth and air of doing things differently are winning over the centre, but she needs to get moving on climate change, writes former National minister Wayne Mapp. In 2017, the day after Winston Peters had chosen which of the two major parties would be in government, I wrote a column about … Read more
In campaigning, Ardern’s party proffered a range of bold railway intentions. Now we’re waiting for the bold coalition blueprint, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp I am a fan of trains. I have lots of books on lost rail lines in New Zealand. For instance, losing the line to Rotorua seemed the ultimate in … Read more
The countless working groups are a kind of stalking horse for a big change, and voters will get to decide come 2020, writes former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp One of the things that is notable about this government is how so many of the ministers, from the prime minister down, signal their intent … Read more
Former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp asks what the party’s green policy might look like. The National party has won plaudits for pledging to support the new Climate Change Commission. Climate scientist James Renwick, for example, writing for The Spinoff, welcomed the prospect of “meaningful and long-lasting policies implemented that genuinely reduce our greenhouse emissions”. … Read more
Wayne Mapp, a government MP the first time Winston Peters was deputy prime minister, says we should expect the NZ First leader to use every opportunity to ensure his party’s survival. The Right Honorable Winston Peters has spent the lead up to his time as acting prime minister by reminding Labour of the limits of … Read more
Trams are almost certainly returning to Auckland, backed by the government, the council, and now even the Super Fund eager to invest. But is it really the answer to the city’s transport challenges, asks former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp There are four key elements in the government’s new transport plan for Auckland. They … Read more
The stakes of the next election can be found in the recently announced housing plan for Unitec and a transport blueprint that prioritises trains and bikes over cars. Labour is moving into the dangerous territory of telling people how they should live, writes National minister Wayne Mapp Getting a fix on the ideological bent of … Read more
When he was in his early twenties, I used to joke with him about the Bridges administration, circa 2020. He can get there in three years, if he gets it right and things fall into place, writes former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. From the moment he declared himself in the contest, Simon Bridges … Read more
As finance minister, his decisions were crucial to our quick recovery. In choosing his replacement as National Party leader, the question is whether to try to emulate Jacinda Ardern or reach for something very different, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. What is Bill English’s political legacy? More than anything, it will undoubtedly be … Read more
Opinion: Enemies of neo-liberalism looking for a socialist saviour will be disappointed – Ardern’s government essentially promises a continuation with existing policy, argues former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Among New Zealand’s left, some complain that Jacinda Ardern is not radical enough. She has a golden opportunity, veteran commentator Chris Trotter has argued, to cement … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has made an impressive start, leading a government of continuity. And for National, how serious is talk of a new conservative party springing up, asks former cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Two months in shows a government, and in particular a prime minister starting to become more comfortable about the reality of governing. Without … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has described herself as a ‘pragmatic idealist’. In her early forays abroad, the new PM has started to indicate what form that might take – and those hoping to see a new radicalism in NZ politics are likely to be disappointed, argues former National minister Wayne Mapp. After two international trips, New Zealand is … Read more
Will Bill English’s new caucus adopt a scorched earth, US-style approach, or a more traditional style of opposition, asks former National Party minister Wayne Mapp Over the next few months National has a choice that will shape both the perception of itself, and of the new government. It has to decide what kind of opposition … Read more
With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, New Zealand has a chance to rebrand itself as a dynamic country where interesting things happen, says Wayne Mapp, the former National government minister of defence. Well, we now have a new government with Jacinda Ardern, as New Zealand’s youngest prime minister in 160 years. People, both those who … Read more
Wayne Mapp was there at the first MMP coalition negotiations in 1996, and watched from both government and opposition as subsequent deals were assembled. The former National cabinet minister writes about those years, and what the key dynamics will be in the coming days. In business and politics relationships are built on trust, just as … Read more
The speculation about a Greens-National coalition is futile given the tribalism of New Zealand politics, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Instead, he wonders if a revitalised TOP can become a second, centrist Green party. All the discussion about a possible National/Green coalition reminded me just how much political parties are tribes. They are … Read more
Their supporters may not like it, but the smart choice for Labour might be to bow out of coalition negotiations and resign themselves to three more years in opposition. Former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp explains why. It is almost always the case that political parties will want to form a government whenever it is … Read more
Last night’s poll suggests the election might be slipping away from Labour. Former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp gives his perspective on the slide. Wednesday’s TV1 poll confirmed a trend of the last two weeks. That voters are shifting back to National. Of course a poll is only a poll – it might be wrong. … Read more
Labour’s surge makes a change of government a very serious possibility. History offers some interesting lessons, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp Only once in the last 75 years has a government won four terms. That is the size of the hurdle facing National. It had been easy to forget that, with successive male … Read more
I’ve never seen such tumult in NZ politics, writes National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp, but what matters most remains policy – how are the alternative governments likely to proceed in five key areas? I cannot recall a time in New Zealand politics of such change and turmoil. Perhaps the closest would be Sir Robert … Read more
Against a new challenger, Bill English will need to lift his game, while Winston Peters as PM becomes a real proposition, writes former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. The dramatic elevation of Jacinda Ardern to the leadership of the Labour Party instantly raises the question of whether she is ready to be prime minister in just … Read more
Will the appeal to regional New Zealand and a pitch centred on reviving the economically interventionist state bear fruit for NZ First, asks former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Is this going to be the year of Winston Peters, just as it was in 1996? The New Zealand First leader increasingly looks as though … Read more
If they want to move the dial and mobilise young people, Labour and the Greens could jettison the budget rules they signed up to, writes former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp, in the first of his new series of columns for The Spinoff. The election is now just over two months way. It comes … Read more