A change of hands for some major portfolios and a subtle switch in focus suggest Labour desperately wants to rinse Auckland red.
Where has the Labour Party been for the past year? Flying safely under the radar thanks to the endless controversies coming out of the coalition, and recently far more scandal-proof than their opposition peers, you’d be forgiven for forgetting the party exists at all. But their recent rise in the polls despite an apparent invisibility speaks truth to advice Napoleon Bonaparte once shared with his army: “Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins is hardly a Bonaparte type – one is a military leader, the other is a politician, one is French, the other is from the Hutt Valley. But both are tactical, and rather than reacting like a barking dog at every NatAct-First mess, Hipkins has played his cards right by choosing when to be the bigger man, and when to flog a dead fish. With two recent polls putting a Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori coalition ahead of the current trio of parties in power, it’s about time he got back to the drawing board and sent out the troops.
This morning Hipkins delivered his state of the nation speech at the Auckland Business Chamber, where the prime minister launched his vision of saying yes to an economy of growth nearly two months ago. Hipkins’ sights were more or less the same, tweaked with a centre-left lens, and with a few bits attached: the official line is a focus on “jobs, health and homes” as well as, more quietly but just as importantly, Auckland.
Which is how the party’s second in command, Carmel Sepuloni, has found herself with the Auckland issues portfolio, which previously belonged to Shanan Halbert, second to last on the party list. Sepuloni, MP for Auckland’s Kelston electorate for over a decade, has given up her long-held social development portfolio (now belonging to Willie Jackson) to keep in line with Labour’s goal of “winning back Auckland”.
“I know that Auckland’s success will be New Zealand’s success,” Hipkins said, which is why Sepuloni is now expected to keep her focus on the city of sails.
It’s not an unwise move, considering Auckland is New Zealand’s economic and cultural hub as well as the most populous city, with more than 1,200,000 enrolled voters and the most electorates of any city, which, up until recently, included a heap of reliably red seats. It’s a city that encompasses both incredible wealth and incredible deprivation, with a large urban population, a demographic that typically prefers progressive policies. For some, Labour will be too progressive. For others, not progressive enough.
With challenges around infrastructure, housing affordability and quality, unemployment, the cost of living and climate change, as well as major gaps in socio-economic equality, threatening Auckland’s urban swathes, Hipkins’ promise that his government would be “one of rebuilding” could appeal to a city that constantly feels like it’s being halted. Some might suggest Hipkins’ vision was an attitude of yes and an economy of growth, tinted red.
He will be looking to reel back the blue wave that swept the city in the 2023 general election, unseating Labour MPs in the safe Mt Roskill and New Lynn electorates, as well as Te Pāti Māori’s capture of the Tāmaki Makaurau Māori seat. Labour retained its stronghold over areas of West and South Auckland, but tight margins in seats they held on to like Te Atatū and Mt Albert gave the party little to celebrate, nor did the vast margins by which they lost electorates like Upper Harbour, Northcote and Takanini.
A comfortable (enough) relationship with Auckland mayor Wayne Brown, who was in attendance for Hipkins’ speech, certainly doesn’t hurt either. Despite his centre-right leanings, this time last year, Brown forecasted a bit of “argy bargy” with the government, a prediction that more or less came to fruition through stoushes over Auckland Transport, the Auckland regional fuel tax and Brown’s attitude that the government doesn’t treat Auckland “like the major city it is”. However, 2024 did end with Brown and his former Brown nemesis – Simeon – shoulder-to-shoulder to announce the council’s absorption of Auckland Transport’s decision-making powers.
But that doesn’t mean it’s too late for Hipkins to slip in and lend an ear to the mayor’s woes, as it seems he already has been. Hipkins riffed on their seemingly unlikely friendship by telling the Auckland Chamber crowd he’ll “never die wondering what you think, Wayne”. Hipkins said Brown’s Auckland manifesto, an outline of expectations the mayor has for the government to support the city’s growth, shared a “lot of common ground” with Labour’s ideals. Even better, Labour hasn’t yet endorsed a mayoral candidate to try to unseat Brown in October’s local elections.
And sure, Labour wants Auckland, but does Auckland want Labour? To put it in American election terms, Auckland is something of a battleground district, willing to swing left or red depending on the economic times. Post-Covid, National and Act policies focused on fiscal conservatism and economic prosperity appealed, and New Zealanders have tended to switch governments after two terms since MMP was introduced, anyway – but a few promises, including increased social housing, are yet to come to fruition.
Auckland has also seen a rise in support for the minor parties – Act in Epsom, the Greens in Central and Waiheke – but with West and South Auckland’s populations growing and communities diversifying, according to the 2023 census, Labour could appeal as an antidote to the continued economic recession and racial tensions that have risen in the last year. But, if Labour fails to offer any relevant policies of substance for Aucklanders, Sepuloni could be door-knocking and campaigning in vain.
Other major portfolio changes
Labour’s caucus ranking remains largely the same, with Barbara Edmonds now at number three, having moved ahead of Megan Woods, and one big winner: Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, rising from 19 to 12. There are a few new portfolios in the mix, and a change of hands for some of the major pre-existing ones. Just as Christopher Luxon gifted a number of his MPs brand-new portfolios – universities, South Island – in January, Hipkins has allocated a handful of new responsibilities.
Also announced was a new economic team, led by existing finance and economy spokesperson Edmonds, who now also holds the new savings and investment portfolio. Meanwhile, Ginny Andersen has been given the new jobs and incomes portfolio, Peeni Henare now holds economic development, MP for Christchurch East Reuben Davidson has gained science, innovation and technology as well as the creative economy (added to the broadcasting and media portfolio he’s gained from Willie Jackson), and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel has Māori economy.
One of the most surprising changes is the handing over of the education portfolio to Willow Jean-Prime, from former education minister Jan Tinetti. Meanwhile, Kieran McAnulty has picked up the new public investment and infrastructure portfolio, with his transport and local government responsibilities going to Utikere.
