Shitty policies, shitty polls (Patreon)

Last night was the first poll TV3 has done since the election. The timing was a bit weird, coming just ahead of a Budget. Usually TV networks wait until after the Budget to report on how people feel about the Budget.
I remember watching the Budget as a kid, and the only thing my old man cared about was the price of cigarettes.
Anyway, the poll was not good news for National, and even worse news for Judith Collins.
It comes after National has been beating the racial separatism drum pretty hard, with Collins at the forefront of that.
To see National move within the margin of error is pleasing, and to see Collins' personal popularity drop nearly two thirds suggests New Zealand has roundly rejected any racist rhetoric. Good.
In conversations with people in National, they seem to genuinely believe that there is something in this He Puapua document that should be brought into the sunlight. I raised with them that I'm not sure that people actually give too much of a fuck about this since if you're Pākehā the proposed changes in He Puapua won't actually impact you, whereas if you're Māori the recommendations would go some way towards redressing some godawful grievances that Māori legitimately have.
But no, they said, that's just my wonky nerdy Wellington brain talking. People out in the *vague gesture* do care about this stuff.
Turns out they don't. 
And of course the bitter irony is that Collins and National are trying to suggest that Labour is dividing New Zealand whereas it's obviously National that is doing the dividing. And failing.
So has New Zealand come a long way since Brash's Orewa Speech? Possibly. Maybe Collins and this version of National are just shitter at beating the racist drum. 
That said, this Labour Government does need a healthy opposition. It's making a lot of mistakes and weird choices, and needs to be tested on those. Held to account as they say. And I still think Collins is the one to turn National around. She might be the Andrew Little - the one who instills discipline back into the party. And also there isn't really anyone else capable of leading in that party. They're pretty shit.