Rodney Hide loses it on The Nation

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Sat, 07 May 2011 6:00p.m.

Now the dust's settled with Don Brash coming out on top, Rodney Hide wants out

Now the dust's settled with Don Brash coming out on top, Rodney Hide wants out

By Tony Reid

Being dumped is never a nice feeling. Being dumped slowly and publically, even worse.

Now the dust's settled with Don Brash coming out on top, Rodney Hide wants out.

“If Don came to me and said look we want you to stand, I think I’d probably say ‘no’, I think the best thing is it's a new phase for the ACT Party now,” he says.

 But Hide was being difficult two weeks ago when he challenged Don Brash to actually join the Act party before dealing with the leadership issue.

And when Brash said he wanted to bring John Banks with him, Hide said no.

“I couldn't do it as leader, we have a constitution and I explained that, and I also explained that I didn't think that John would fit, John Banks would fit with the ACT Party philosophy,” he says.

Hide maintains ACT is the reason Labour got the boot at the last election and National came to power.

When asked if ACT under his reign had placed too much weight on law and order and not enough on economic policy, he snapped.

“That's a bullshit statement and the media keep repeating that, well it's not just the media it's all sorts of political commentators and political scientists.”

Richard Prebble is a former ACT Party leader. He's ruled himself out of a parliamentary comeback and had this advice for Hide.

“As a former leader, you should think seriously about retiring. It's not easy to work in a team when you've been the boss,” he says.

If Hide goes, he'll say goodbye to 17 years with ACT.

A party that liked him front and centre now only wants the back of him.

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Comments

09 May 2011 07:20p.m.

RobertM wrote:

Prebble is the last person to give Hide or Act advice. Prebble failed to save rail, possibly because it is is unsaveable and inefficient except for short distance passengers in NZ. Nevertheless Prebble lacked the ruthless moxie to make remotely tough enough cuts, it took David Richwhite for that. Prebble never got Act above 6% and accepted Heather Roy into his cacus. Hides crime seems to be threefold,(1)he did a good job on the supercity-proving he wasn't an Act type rightist,(2)He proved himself an active hetrosexual-getting a new partner who was good looking and 29- a remarkably conservative choice anywhere else in the world(3) He removed private Roy - the Timaru do gooder from the assistant defence portfolio of which she knows nothing about-and opposed any actual defence devoted to killing the enemies of the west or actual fighting. Actually peacemaking and baking cakes will not stop the likes of bin laden or the Taliban. Banks is too stupid to be useful for anything but reactionary support of more conservative and shortsighted police policy. What on earth is the use of big police stations in Ponsonby, North Shore or Remuera. Brash is too clever and cynical. One law for all is nonsense, people are not equal mentally or physically and the middle class, intelligent, universities and most of the rich re not people the police should take an interesting except in the cases of the most outrageous public offending or capital matters.NZ is a triple crown partnership between settlers, maoris and Australia however intolerable that is to the white male working class who are of very little value even for fighting or in any modern military.

09 May 2011 07:09a.m.

Alex wrote:

National need ACT else they risk having no coalition partners and have to rely on a 50% majority to be re-elected. It's unlikely the Maori Party will side with them again, and with a bit of luck Peter Dunne will lose Ohariu.

08 May 2011 11:06p.m.

Kim wrote:

If hide had any balls he would call thier bluff and resign from parliment altogether .. goodbye act..no elected mp, didnt hit 5% so all the others go too... i think (actually with that in his arsenal i'm a little surprised he couldn't survive)

08 May 2011 09:40p.m.

Clarke wrote:

Don Brash is a very shady man, He met with the Exclusive Brethren which to me just shows the mans complete lack of character and moral fibre.

No matter what woman he is with you can gaurantee that the old Buggar cant keep it in his pants and he accidentally slips into indescriminant women on a religious basis.

And this is the Politician that Rich White elite males are most likely to vote for.

God save New Zealand if this man ever gets to influence government policy.

He's 70 for crying out loud, which means this election is also likely the last he will stand in.

ACT replaced Rodney Hide because of his tanrished image... only to replace him With Don Brash?
Have to wonder if the party has complately lost the plot.

The price he will make National pay for a coalition will be significant, New Zealanders who vote National also have to take into account the damage that will come about as a result of this cultist extremeist holding power over John Key.

Act went from having broken leadership, to having really seedy broken leadership.

08 May 2011 02:47p.m.

mo wrote:

it's don brashes hand that get me, I have a possum and his hands are the same hands as brashes. my friend says his rat also has hands like don brash.

08 May 2011 02:04p.m.

Travis Bickle wrote:

I still can't fathom this whole episode. Am I right in thinking, at least until now, Brash had never been even a rank and file member of Act, let alone held any position within its ranks? How then can a complete outsider walk in and take over, even going so far as to tell its previous long-time leader, and the man whom until a matter of weeks ago seemed certain to lead the party into the general election, that he is effectively persona non grata? I'm no particular Hide fan but, heavens, he's been a key figure in the party for years while Brash has done nothing for Act. How can this have happened? And does Act not realise that by ditching its main man so readily for a johnny-cum-lately -- and at 70 Brash could hardly have left his move any later -- it leaves itself looking like a tin-pot political party in some banana republic?

08 May 2011 01:06p.m.

Wolfman wrote:

Can someone tell me, if Hide resigns from parliament now being an elected member and bringing in the other stooges, what happens? Do these stooges lose their seats also or does MMP not cover something like that. The only reason Douglas and Co are there is because Hide won Epsom.

08 May 2011 12:35p.m.

paranormal wrote:

Rodney is right. You churnalists/repeaters are just not reporting the really big issues such as the economy because you just don't understand how it affects New Zealanders. You should be ashamed of yourselves. The fourth estate has seriously let New Zealanders down over the past 12 years.

08 May 2011 09:24a.m.

peter wrote:

Loses it???? Hardly.

08 May 2011 07:47a.m.

James J.Read wrote:

TV3 is being misleading in suggesting that it is Rodney Hide who doesn't want John Banks in the ACT team. As one who has been active in the party for 15 years, I can assure you that many members foresee to many basic differences in outlook between ACT and Banks, to be able to have a good working partnership. His social conservatism is a major issue.