Collins sends warning to Ardern ahead of leaders' debate

Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins during the TVNZ debate last week. Photo: Getty Images
Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins during the TVNZ debate last week. Photo: Getty Images
National Party leader Judith Collins has sent a warning to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after comments she made regarding Collins' past with the Serious Fraud Office.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby this morning, the Opposition leader was asked whether she thought Ardern might be "upping the sass" in tonight's Newshub leaders' debate.

"Well I tell you what - she better not do that," Collins said.

"I've asked her to come back from what she said and to obviously correct the record - because what she said yesterday was absolutely untrue."

Collins was referring to comments made by the PM after National announced yesterday that, if elected, it would be doubling the SFO's budget from $12.7 million a year, to $25m.

Ardern took a jab at the move, referring to Collins' resignation from a ministerial post six years due to an engagement with the SFO.

Ardern said it was interesting to hear.

"Interesting to hear now... There's obviously a little history there with the Opposition leader and the SFO - as a previous minister, her engagement with the SFO led to her job loss," the PM said.

Collins, once the minister responsible for the SFO, resigned that and other ministerial portfolios in the lead-up to the 2014 election, after an email emerged that appeared to link her to a blog campaign to undermine former SFO boss Adam Feeley.

Then PM John Key initiated an inquiry, which found that while Collins had provided information about Feeley to WhaleOil blogger Cameron Slater, "there was nothing improper about the provision of this information".

Collins acknowledged today she was not happy with the comments and was calling on Ardern to retract them.

"She's in a position of Prime Minister - that's really bad," she told Hawkesby.

"So I expect she'll want to distance herself from those comments today."

Last night, Collins told Heather du Plessis-Allan it was "a very low blow" and said an inquiry had cleared her of any inappropriate action.

"I was disgusted with that response from her and clearly she's wrong.

"I just thought 'goodness sake, where's the kindness gone now?' I thought she wanted a clean campaign and that was pretty dirty."

She said the PM was probably nervous about tonight's MediaWorks debate.

"Gosh, the veil is definitely slipping, isn't it?"

Tonight's Mediaworks leaders' debate will kick off at 7.30pm.

Comments

View all

"Gosh, the veil is definitely slipping, isn't it?" certainly seems so, on social media it's worse with arderns acolytes practicing out and out bullying, so much for her "be kind" mantra.

The veil slipped from crusher many many years ago. crusher has a long history of dodgy activities, her very unwise and public relationship with the extreme right wing blogger Cameron Slater, He and her husbands involvement with Orivida, The SFO incident truthfully and quite correctly raised by the Prime Minister, Crusher is and always will be a bully of the Trump type, Can hand it out but can't take it. Not even fit to be Leader of the opposition and clearly showing why she was 3rd choice for the job.

So "Third Choice" Collins is crushed by a reference to her troubled past. Of course the truth won't matter to the MAGA types that support "Third Choice" Collins, they will just exaggerate and lie about what Jacinda said which if quoted correctly in the article seems to be a simple statement of facts.
Of course "Third Choice" Collins does not want anyone to be reminded of her troubled history, she is trying to create and project a new myth about herself, and the stories from her past just remind people of what an incompetent and problematic person she is.
National needs a new leader, but they have no viable candidates. They need new blood but that isn't going to happen anytime soon because they still haven't learned that they need to nominate suitable people first.

While not a National supporter these days, I expected Collins to show more signs of intelligence than what we are witnessing.

Does she really think her rhetoric and tactics in the way she is handling this campaign going to win support from undecided and swing voters?

All she is doing is playing to her base. Hey Jude (that's catchy!) you already have their vote. Don't be a Donald.

Is this the only thing politicians are good at, baiting each other and promises. It is as if scoring points for how good they are at the job is measured with hollow promises and verbal sparring, instead of doing what is best for the country they claim to represent. It is like watching children bickering. We have had to endure all kinds of shenanigan's this year, none of them funny, clever or in any way benefitting NZ.

Oh Crusher, your dirty deeds of yesteryear are the skeletons come back to haunt you. Karma at work!

View all