Thu, 29 Jul 2010 1:06p.m.
By Duncan Garner
John Key should drop the slippery act – immediately.
It doesn't do him any favours. It makes him look smug and evasive and, therefore, like most other politicians.
His successful brand is at risk if he carries on this approach.
Yesterday's performance in Parliament was too selective and too slippery for him to get away with.
All the statistics show the gap between Australian wages and Kiwi wages is growing – but Key refused to accept it. He refused to admit it. In fact he went the other way – he said the gap is closing. It's not, no matter which figures you focus on.
Labour thinks the gap has widened by $57 a week based on average weekly earnings. I think it's more like $40 a week based on a similar scenario.
But John Key said yesterday the gap had closed; again I say he's wrong and this is why: he's comparing 2010 to 2005.
You must compare 2010 with November 2008, when Key and National took office. The gap has actually widened by $22 even using Key's own figures. How he thought he could get away with not mentioning this comparison is anyone's guess really. Within an hour of Key saying the gap had narrowed, the information he had worked off was given to us. It was clear; he had intentionally failed to mention the 2008 figure.
It's not the first time his spin has been just a bit cute.
Last week on the mining issue he said he promised to make changes to Schedule 4 land back in February and he has. Come on John, no one fell for that spin either! You ended up adding 12,440ha to Schedule 4, when the plan was to take some out – before the backdown.
What I'm saying is, Key should return to being the politician he was before the mining backdown. He could have just admitted the public spoke and he listened on that one – no fancy spin required.
And on the wage gap he should have just said since 2008 the gap has widened, but we have been in recession and Australia has not. They mine and we don't. Just be up front. People voted for him and continue to because he was seen as being fresh – compared to the other lot who spun their way through daily life.
Government is tough – it's harsh; you cannot win everything.
It can still be Key's ambition to match Australia – he just needs to accept it's a much tougher goal now. His old pal Don Brash doesn't think National can get there on its current policy settings – and maybe Brash is right.
But Key should drop the slippery act, he doesn't do it that well, and he should return to his old game, he's much better at it.