Grant Robertson is the deputy leader of the Labour Party, and that means he is supposed to be the attack dog. He is supposed to sink his teeth into opponents and hang on grimly. In this role he has been toothless, and I am sure a redneck commenter will explain why.
National have handed up a whole lot of meat for Grant to sink his teeth in but he hasn’t even gummed them. He could start by asking about a senior political figure who has a suppression order over a domestic incident. He could then orchestrate a series of questions about National Party President and Sanford Director Peter Goodfellow’s business dealings starting with their $2.3m fine for deliberate pollution in the United States.
Peter Goodfellow keeps giving Labour free hits, and Grant keeps refusing. Sanford has issues with “slave labour” that are in the public domain, and these come up in the media repeatedly, yet Grant hasn’t asked the tough questions. Labour are supposed to look after the oppressed, yet one of the oppressors has escaped public scrutiny because Grant hasn’t manned up.
Grant could have also asked a series of questions about the investment in a Nelson property that left investors out of pocket for about $5m, with National Party Board Member Roger Bridge, and former Board member Craig Myles being the directors of the company involved.
This may seem a bit minor but Michael Cullen would have made National ministers look corrupt by tough questioning about Goodfellow and Bridge. Cullen would have convinced the New Zealand public that where there was smoke there was fire, and National were dodgy.
If Grant is serious about being Prime Minister he will start savaging National, holding Key to account for the people around him. That’s if he can overcome a habit of a lifetime and bare his teeth.
