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 Yesterday’s announcement that the Iraq deployment would be extended to June 2020 before they are finally withdrawn reflects two realities … Read more
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
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
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
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
All eyes are on Winston, but still there’s a clamour for a National-Greens coalition. Simon Wilson looks at why the idea has such appeal and what it might mean for politics in this country. It’s like when your parents say they really like your music. Only they wish the words were a little easier to … 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
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