ACT beats Hipkins to the draw in announcing changes to our gun licensing laws

Buzz from the Beehive

Uh, oh.  Earlier this afternoon there was nothing doing in the Beehive.  Or rather, there was nothing doing that they wanted to tell us about.

We therefore drew a blank when we checked the Beehive website to find what our servants are up to.

Nor (when we checked with Scoop) could we find anything new from the Nats or the Greens, although the Nats since then have posted a statement on the rising expense of hiring government  consultants.

ACT was given a free kick,  in effect, and scored with three statements.

First, ACT’s Firearms Reform spokesperson Nicole McKee was braying that relentless pressure from her party has resulted in the Government making much-needed changes to firearms licensing.

Hamilton West – a raft of issues will be aired during the byelection Ardern did not want

Nominations for Labour and National for the Hamilton West byelection close tomorrow  and – while the  rest  of  New Zealand was slumbering,  politically, over Labour  weekend – hopeful new members of Parliament were busy sounding out  their  prospects  to  win   their  party’s  nomination.

National will be breathing a sigh of relief that this time round there is more diversity in the lineup than for Tauranga.

If  someone  tries  to  tell you  there  won’t be  much   interest   because  of  Labour’s  majority of  over  6000  at  the  last  election, don’t  believe it.  As many  as  seven people may be putting their names in the ring for National, while Labour seems to have  lower interest to run in the byelection forced by the resignation of Gaurav Sharma after his expulsion from the Labour Party.

Adding  spice  to  the  political  speculation is  a  rumour  that  Jacinda  Ardern  may  cast  her  role  aside  and  escape   back  into  the  big  smoke  of  Auckland.  This  has  been  given  legs  by   no  less  an  authority  than Dr  Bryce  Edwards (see here ) although the  NZ  Herald ‘s redoubtable political  editor   Clare  Trevett has  dismissed it.

Bryce Edwards puts a spotlight on Hamilton West: Here comes an unpredictable and intense by-election

DR BRYCE EDWARDS,  director of the Democracy Project, looks at the political climate in Hamilton West as  the political parties prepare to campaign for support in a by-election.  He writes: 

Get ready for a hard-fought and intense by-election in Hamilton West, triggered by the resignation from Parliament of former Labour MP Gaurav Sharma. Both Labour and National are going to throw everything at winning this by-election.   Complicating matters, there will be a number of minor parties and fringe elements – Sharma included – that might have a big impact on the result.

At this stage, the outcome is entirely unpredictable, with both Labour and National having good reasons for desperately needing to win it, and with some good reasons to expect success. But it’s likely to be a very close race, and a number of vital factors could determine which way victory goes.

The National Party is the frontrunner 

National is surely seen as the frontrunner in the by-election, due to the party’s hold over the seat in 4 out of 5 preceding elections, together with the fact that the Labour Government is currently in the doldrums.

As always, Opposition parties seek to turn by-elections into referendums on the current performance of the incumbents – and at present there is a lot about the Labour Government for the public to be dissatisfied about. This was evidenced by last week’s local government elections, which have also been described as a referendum on the current government.