Peter Carr
Winston Peters, Christopher Luxon and David Seymour. Photo: You Tube.
Watching the political triumvirate last Friday afternoon reminded me of The Three Musketeers. Of Alexandre Dumas fame. Instead of Athos, Porthos and Aramis we had Little Boy Blue, much smaller Little Boy Pink and the facially wizened Old Wise Man. Dumas’ authorship names for his three heroes would not match our three new ex-combatants endowed with the strength of populate support to rule for another three-or-so years.
The colour descriptors for two of them are related to their ties as they do not seem to have any others (for that matter nor does James Shaw) but the sartorially correct senior citizen continually shows up the others not only with colours (matching handkerchief too) but in the style and cut of his suits.
The floor show in the Beehive that afternoon was comical bordering almost on farce. Sternly and properly Blue Tie gave out the key points in a measured tone, respectful of his two flanking partners, politically correct and factual, giving out the good news with the balancing bad items.
Mr Sartorial could not help himself. Launching almost immediately into his favourite subject – treating would-be journalists as cub reporters – belittling them for their mood swings and frustration while being kept waiting for the results of closed-door meetings in two cities. A polite rebuke from Mr Blue put an end to the tirade but one hopes that future press conferences do not descend into favouring two yes-women who were the clear and almost singular favourites of a recently departed Prime Minister.
The camera then swung right to embrace the cherubic countenance of Mr Pink who, sadly, chose this prime professional moment to babble on constantly as to the ‘wins’ that his team had gained at the expense of the other two. Like it or not he needed to rise to the national (small ‘n’ is deliberate) occasion and respect the viewers and the assembled media with some semblance of gravitas that was – and should be – expected on such an occasion.
Now that the circus is closed, and a new dawn arose at Government House on Monday, we are set for what some may feel will be a wild ride. The trio are hell-bent on bringing the country back into a more equitable economic shape. They are conscious that wild lolly-scramble antics by the previous government must be re-routed into a more professional and balanced format. Not everyone will be pleased but such is the being of western-type democracies. Clearly the recent swelling of public service ranks will need a very careful and considerate approach in either cutting back or re-shaping intelligent people into more responsible and useful tasks.
Spare a thought for Chris Hipkins who was thrust into a role that he did not seek when his predecessor threw in the towel. He has carried out his ‘acting’ role over recent weeks with aplomb and dignity knowing, all the while, that he is headed to the dark side of The House…there to languish on the green leather seats dreaming up verbal grenades that he can throw to the other side. For three long years – at least.
