Invigorated Hide set for Act three

Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide
Act New Zealand leader Rodney Hide continues to reinvent himself as the party struggles in the opinion polls, writes Dene Mackenzie.

Eventually, the spark of the old Hide emerges from the new JekyllTO the surprise of many, but not Rodney Hide, he became the MP for Epsom at the last election and went back to Parliament with only one other MP, Heather Roy, for support.

He defeated National Party MP Richard Worth, who remained on the list.

Mr Worth is back for another round this year but Mr Hide says there has been no deal for National to step aside in his favour.

Act was decimated at the polls and faces a bleak future unless Mr Hide can retain Epsom and convince voters that a party vote for Act is a meaningful gesture in a poll-driven election year.

National looks a shoo-in to win the election and has polled consistently high enough to govern alone.

So why would anyone vote for Act, the Otago Daily Times asked Mr Hide.

"You can either vote for a change of government or a change of direction."

National Party leader John Key was promising the same sorts of policies that Prime Minister Helen Clark was espousing.

But with Act in the mix as a coalition partner, there would be a distinct change in direction.

Act took a step back to the future with the revival of party founder Sir Roger Douglas.

Sir Roger was known to have disagreed with Mr Hide's flamboyant style as the "perk buster" of Parliament.

But Mr Hide has changed.

Not the least, he has shed 40kg of weight, talks earnestly about the difference Act can make to politics and takes much prodding to rise to any bait about how soft he has become.

But eventually, the spark of the old Hide emerges from the new Dr Jekyll.

The party's slogan of "Act - the guts to do what is right", has the ring of the old Mr Hide about it.

With Sir Roger back directing party policy, and likely to be high on the Act list for the election, Mr Hide can concentrate on retaining Epsom, something he is confident of doing.

"But I won't take anything for granted. The polling is good for me in Epsom and the Auckland media is calling it `my seat'. But the party vote is what counts for Act. That is what killed us last time.

"I want to reassure people that the party vote for Act is for something."

National promising to do what Finance Minister Michael Cullen was already doing might be good for Mr Key but it was not good for the country.

Act had set the goal of catching up to Australia by 2020.

To do that it was obvious Sir Roger was needed.

Mr Hide is not worried about the shift in focus from him as leader to Sir Roger as the architect of Rogernomics - the economic theory that dragged New Zealand into a deregulated world between 1984 and 1987 - when he was a Labour finance minister.

While plenty of people had criticised Sir Roger, successive governments had not thrown out his polices, Mr Hide said.

The yellow Act car will be seen around Epsom this election, towing a trailer with the party's 20-point plan prominently displayed.

Finally, a hearty laugh when it is suggested that the car he will be using this year can be at least three or four sizes smaller.

Dene Mackenzie is political editor of the Otago Daily Times.

He attended Rangiora Primary School at the same time as Mr Hide but they were three years apart.

 

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