Ardern, Robertson reunion a crowd-pleaser

The reunion of the leaders of the last Labour government in Dunedin last night was like watching a reunion gig by one of your favourite bands.

Former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern and former finance minister Grant Robertson have not played any gigs together for a while, but each has released a memoir in the past 12 months so they have been rehearsing their greatest hits.

Thanks to the Dunedin Writers and Readers the old band was back together, and the Regent Theatre was packed to the rafters with devoted fans who wanted exactly what they got: a companionable and cheerful run through of some well-loved numbers.

There was lots of laughter, lots of tears and lots of fond memories as, under the benign, pleasantly professional but unchallenging questioning of host Stacey Morrison, Dame Jacinda and Mr Robertson ran through several stories that will be very familiar to anyone who has read either or both of their best sellers.

This was billed as two friends reuniting, and it felt like that. Politics is a business where you tend to have colleagues rather than friends but Dame Jacinda and Mr Robertson’s respective autobiographies demonstrate their closeness, and the chemistry which made them top of the pops for so long was clearly evident last night.

As Mr Robertson said: ‘‘Whenever I see Jacinda, I see this great friend who’s appeared. And then every now and then I remember that she was the prime minister and I was the deputy prime minister.’’

Some people, of course, have not forgotten. A trio of protesters were outside the theatre holding vigil before the event and patrons had to get through rigorous screening before entering the theatre ... a reminder that not everyone suited up for the team of 5million.

Dame Jacinda had a message for them too: ‘‘We always had two goals. One was to save lives and one was to keep people together. The second one, I’m not sure we did that ... but I feel proud that even the people who don’t like our response are alive.’’

Not all the hits got an airing: surprisingly, there was no reference to what for many will be the defining legacy of the Ardern prime ministership — the response to the Christchurch mosque shootings of March 15, 2019.

And one of the more obscure corners of her time in office — the failure to implement a capital gains tax — was played in the extended version. Oh well, this is a Labour town and a political crowd, and there’s nothing more that such people like than a good discourse about tax policy.

What made both Dame Jacinda and Mr Robertson excellent politicians was that they were articulate, funny and clearly fearsomely intelligent. They have moved on from party stoushes and policy-making but those parts of their personalities have survived their time in office intact.

That made this an entertaining hour, greeted with rapturous applause ... although a touch more substance and a few questions which really made the two ex-politicians have to think about their answers would have added welcome heft.

Still, the best bands always leave the audience wanting more.