“I’m just getting warmed up,” Chris Hipkins tells meeting in Naenae

RNZ photo by Lauren Crimp

Report from RNZ by Lauren Crimp
Labour leader Chris Hipkins declared last night that he’s just getting warmed up, after some voters at a public meeting in Lower Hutt questioned why the energy he brought to the meeting was not getting cut through outside it.

More than 100 people, plus a pet cat, crowded into a community centre in Naenae last night to hear from Hipkins at his first public meeting of the election campaign.

The meeting was held two days after a Taxpayers Union-Curia poll which saw support for Labour slump to 25.9 percent.

Hipkins received a warm reception, and many of his answers were met with applause.

Labour MP and Hutt South candidate Ginny Andersen introduced Hipkins as “The Right Honourable boy from the Hutt”, and he followed with a brief speech about his local roots and what he learned from his parents.

“They believed, as I believe now, you should be able to get … ahead through your own hard work,” he said.

But for too many Hutt Valley families, that was not the case, Hipkins said. “They’re working harder than ever … and it’s not enough.”

Hipkins told the room Labour would help them get ahead, and promoted its flagship cost of living policies like three free GP visits and the public transport fare cap.

For just under an hour the crowd threw up the full gamut of questions, canvassing healthcare, housing, beneficiary support, local government, climate change, pay equity, fuel tax, and the new water entity Tiaki Wai.

Hipkins promised Labour policies were imminent on supermarket competition, foodbank support, a bipartisan approach to the school curriculum and benefit eligibility.

One woman stood up to say people she spoke to did not know of Labour’s policies.

“Tonight I hear someone with fire in his belly and fire in his voice,” she said. “I don’t know why some of that just isn’t getting cut through.”

Hipkins replied: “Well, you’ll be pleased to know I’m just getting warmed up.”

He acknowledged that people had not yet heard what Labour had to offer, and said he would be embarking on a busy public meeting circuit over the next eight weeks.

Attendees RNZ spoke to after the meeting were largely impressed with how Hipkins held the room and ably answered questions. But they pointed out it was the first time they had seen that level of performance.

“He certainly spoke with passion, and I think that it’s not coming out … in the media about the clarity of their policies,” a Labour supporter said.

Another, who said she would give Hipkins her candidate vote and Opportunity her party vote, was “pleasantly surprised” by Labour’s leader, describing him as articulate and passionate. Before the meeting, that had not come across at all, she said.

A man said he was a swing voter who had not been impressed by any party, and the Labour meeting had not changed that position. “Neither party has really convinced me of the way forward,” he said.