Opposition leader Chris Hipkins (centre) speaks to media after making his State of the Nation speech on 7 March, 2025. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Analysis - Political bipartisanship was a big theme of Chris Hipkins' state of the nation speech, but within an hour of it wrapping up National had already sent out its biggest attack dog, proving just how divided National and Labour can be.
Hipkins' delivered his pitch to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce on Friday - the same, albeit slightly smaller, audience as Christopher Luxon in late January.
The chamber's chief executive Simon Bridges - a well-known National attack dog during his own time in politics - hosted both leaders for their state of the nations.
There's a relationship and rapport between Bridges and Hipkins. It's clear they get on - political differences aside - and respect each other.
Speaking to RNZ after Hipkins' speech, Bridges said it would be music to the ears of business leaders that the Opposition leader wants to prioritise an infrastructure pipeline that has longevity over successive governments.
Achieving it is possible if both National and Labour "make it so" and business leaders want to see more of that, so even just saying it out loud on Friday would have resonated, he said.
Opposition leader Chris Hipkins makes his State of the Nation speech on 7 March, 2025. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Hipkins gave an assurance a Labour government, under his watch, wouldn't spend its "first year back in government pausing, cancelling, and reviewing everything".
"Just because the current government started something, we aren't just going to stop it because it was their idea not ours. If it's working, we will keep moving forward.
"No more throwing the baby out with the bathwater just to make a political point," he said to plenty of nods in the audience of roughly 200 people.
Back in Wellington at Parliament, however, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop wasn't so convinced.
While he eventually acknowledged he was trying to "work in a creative way" with Labour by inviting finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds to speak at the government's Investor Summit this month, the bulk of his 15-minute media conference was throwing punches at Hipkins and his MPs.
"Frankly the public have had enough of nice-sounding phrases and cliches, what they want is action," Bishop repeated over and over.
"They don't have any policies - they only have platitudes," he added more than once.
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says Labour has not developed any policy in the past 16 months. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Another criticism was that Labour hadn't developed any policy in the past 16 months.
Hipkins noted his party had spent time listening to the electorate, and that work was now underway.
It's not uncommon for opposition parties to hold back on policy in the first half of a Parliamentary term - National can be accused of the same thing in years gone by.
Where Hipkins left more questions than answers, however, was in his decision to elevate the Auckland issues portfolio to his deputy, Carmel Sepuloni, and make it her sole focus.
It's a worthy portfolio, especially for a party that got thumped in its safe Auckland seats at the last election, but that sort of focus should have been given to the country's biggest city a year ago.
And when asked by RNZ what the issues were that Labour had been hearing since that electoral defeat, Sepuloni said the cost-of-living crisis was still the number one concern. But beyond that, she was going to concentrate on listening to what the other issues are.
Every poll before and since the election would have told Labour cost-of-living was still an issue for Aucklanders, and the rest of the country. At some point listening has to turn into an action plan.
Opposition leader Chris Hipkins speaks to media after making his State of the Nation speech on 7 March, 2025, flanked by Carmel Sepuloni (left) and Barbara Edmonds. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
In terms of political swings, Bishop wasn't alone on Friday. Hipkins certainly didn't hold back during his speech, but also made clear many of the problems facing the country went back decades - putting the blame squarely on Labour governments of the past too.
He accused Luxon of turning his back on the "promises he made" by "allowing ACT and New Zealand First to call the shots".
"He is devoid of ideas; unfocused; and too weak to confront the challenges we face today and set us up for tomorrow," Hipkins added.
But he also posed a question for the business audience as to whether they felt better off today than they did 18 months ago. That was a launch pad to talk about how many of those leaders before him were landlords and owned investment properties as a "good way to make money".
"I'd encourage you to all ask yourselves a pretty important question. What's more important - capturing a greater share of the nation's limited residential property market, potentially shutting out future generations of first home-buyers, or investing in and growing productive businesses that create good, well-paying jobs?"
Bridges told RNZ after the speech that there would have been "pretty strong support for that view" in the room, and the need to find new places to invest.
"We've got to a point in New Zealand where it's not that radical to say a disproportionate amount of our wealth is tied up in property," he said. "What I hear a bit, and certainly has some attraction, is not an allergic reaction to a capital gains tax."
While many in the room would want to know the implications of that and expect to see some sort of tax switch alongside it, such as a corporate tax cut, Bridges said it certainly wouldn't have got people's backs up.
Bridges added that on one level National and Labour are "still talking the same language and issues" and within their different parties and cultures they're ultimately "grappling with the issues of long-term productivity and growth".
Some middle ground, perhaps, for all the political Chrises.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
