Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins woo New Zealand voters with sweet treats. Photo montage: Newsroom / Supplied
Our political leaders are getting ahead of Stats NZ's food price index, to be published this week, by serving up their own
In a week in which National said it would pick up the phone to Winston, then said it would return the country to the polls rather than form a government with Winston. Then Labour agreed a second election wouldn't be so bad, while National reverted to its original position out of respect for the voice of the electorate ... it's a stark reminder to all politicians that you, the customer, are always right.
*
It was Sunday, but not quite a sundae. Instead Labour leader Chris Hipkins was dishing up $9 double sprinkles cones with fruit sticks in Takapuna, from a Mr Whippy ice cream van owned by candidate George Hampton. If Labour MPs' going rates are $9 for a soft-serve cone, they really can't complain any more about supermarket prices – and neither can Hipkins now lecture schools on banning sugary drinks....
*
Christopher Luxon donned a blue and white National Party apron at The Quay, Whangārei, to make espressos and wait tables. Serving up a $24 entree of sesame seared wild Southland tuna with charred spring onion mayonnaise and pickled cucumber, he wasn't doing much to bring down food inflation either – but at least he avoided soiling his starched white shirt for a change, and there were some greens on the plate. Polls have indicated some lukewarm support for a blue-green coalition, but former Green MP Sue Bradford told Q+A yesterday that a coalition arrangement with Luxon would "destroy" the Green Party. They'd be pickled like cucumber, she might have added.
*
Winston Peters was in Masterton, speaking at the Copthorne Hotel. He mocked the campaign coverage of photo opportunities of Luxon driving a tractor and Chris Hipkins gorging himself on sausage rolls, pies and ice cream up and down the country. But it's only fair to note that just a day earlier, Winston Peters had posted a photo of himself checking out the ribs on the BBQ at Shaka Bros on Christchurch's Oxford Tce. If the smoke didn't make your eyes water, the $86 for the Meg's Munchies menu special would – beef short rib, pulled pork, lumina lamb, St Louis ribs, jalapeno and cheddar sausage, potatoa salad, tortilla and condiments ...
*
Our reporter Emma Hatton, on the ground at the Tomoana Showgrounds in Hawkes Bay, advises that Act's David Seymour restrained himself to munching on a bacon buttie as he embarked on a rainy Sunday morning walkabout. However he managed to find common ground with most who stopped for a chat – a teacher, a young mother, a business owner, a contractor. Emma Hatton suggests that part of the Act Party's success this election is Seymour's ability to talk to just about anyone. I'd suggest it's also his ability to eat just about anything without looking embarrassed about it.
*
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson discloses to Marae's Luke Bird her history as an aerobics instructor, in the 1990s while studying at university. "I had the bright pink and the orange and the green lycra, and the little bike shorts, and the tiny little string that goes up the back – I had all of that going on, Luke. And honestly, I think about that and I'm both proud and cringing. You'd get one grapevine out of me today and I'd be puffed and over it."
But this day was about the food, and she dishes up her "fantasy food" for Luke Bird – pancakes made by her husband, spread with butter and brown sugar, with a cup of tea. "I know it doesn't sound lavish but it's honestly what I think about when I think about comfort."
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
