Seasoned campaigner Damien O’Connor was first elected to Parliament in 1993, the year before Dunedin Labour MP Rachel Brooking started studying at the University of Otago.
"It’s up to the people," he says judiciously.
"And, you know, clearly Winston’s [Peters] in his 80s now, and you see overseas there are many people in their 70s who are very active politicians. The people make judgements whether they’re effective or not."
At a mere 67, O’Connor has plenty of years up his sleeve if he wishes to emulate Mr Peters.
That said, he has to thread the tricky needle of political parties wanting to revive and revitalise their lineup of candidates and parties needing to have some wise old heads about to offer experience and guidance to younger MPs.
In recent years both National and Labour have found, to their peril, that new faces are all very well but your newly formed government can look a little lightweight without some veteran MPs in the fold.
Finding a Speaker can be a challenge too, although Mr O’Connor is quick to deny any ambitions in that direction, saying that’s a part of government best left to his cousin, Ohariu MP and assistant speaker Greg O’Connor.
You sense what Damien O’Connor really wants is one more crack at an external relations job; probably his old stomping ground as minister for trade and export growth, but anything in the foreign affairs field really.
"Those are areas where, you know, experience does count," he says.
"I’ve still got international connections from my time in trade, and, you know, they cross over into foreign affairs as you can imagine. So, yes, you’d like to think, and I believe that there is some value in that kind of international experience that would help us when next in government."
But, of course, there is the not inconsiderable matter of the fact that Labour actually has to win an election first before Mr O’Connor can fulfil such ambitions.
He sums up his role at the moment as making sure that "Labour is in it".
"We are focused on the core issues. Jobs and health and homes are clearly areas of concern for each and every New Zealander," he says.
"And the ongoing cost of living and the fact the economy has not bounced at all. It’s still really just stumbling along the bottom. That means that more people I speak to are looking for an alternative, so they want Labour to develop some really good, solid policy as an alternative government."
As the new kid in town Mr O’Connor has demurred to Ms Brooking and Taieri MP Ingrid Leary on local issues, but he has already been out and about the traps and making contacts.
Mr O’Connor, having held a range of Cabinet portfolios, is a very quick study, and as a veteran constituency MP has always been very attentive on local issues. His presence here is likely to be an invaluable asset to the local second-term MPs, although he modestly demurs when asked if he expected to play a mentor’s role.
"You’ll have to ask them. All I can do is just be an honest and open-minded old head," he says.
"I guess when it comes to day-to-day interaction with people on the ground, I guess I’m going to use a few years’ experience ... it pays to do a bit of homework, and when you’re talking with people, you’ve got to get below the bonnet a little bit and talk to the things that are relevant to people. You know, we can have grand policies, and I think as a country we need a grand vision. We don’t have one, so that’s something to work on.
"But it comes back that most politics is local: how you influence people’s lives and their hopes and aspirations is the core part of their decision-making."
Mr O’Connor remains Labour’s "buddy" MP for West Coast Tasman, and from his new abode will also be keeping a close eye on Kaikoura. He will be backing up his Dunedin colleagues in Waitaki, Rangitata and Southland, seats in which Labour will be wanting to have a red-hot crack at the party vote.
"A lot of progressive and positive things have been unwound by this government, almost on a weekly basis," Mr O’Connor laments.
"People can see that alternatives can be better for the country, so we’ve got to convince them next year the same thing is possible. It is a matter of getting some core policies that will shift direction in the core areas of concern, and that’s what we’re working on."
Cracking down on the duopoly, once more with feeling
Former Dunedin Labour MP David Clark might have felt a sense of deja vu this week, as Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced the latest efforts of the government to crack the nut of reforming the supermarket sector.
Dr Clark, when he was commerce minister, threatened to take a sledge hammer to the sector’s dominant players, Woolworths and Foodstuffs, saying: "The duopoly has now been given plenty of warning. If they fail to adequately open up their wholesale market voluntarily, government will make it happen."
Ms Willis also attempted to place the duopoly on notice but her rhetoric - "a cost-benefit analysis is under way on specific options for restructuring the duopoly and will inform future advice I intend to take to Cabinet on whether further legislative changes are required to improve competition" - was more tack hammer than sledge hammer.
Under Dr Clark’s watch the Commerce Commission released its market study on the grocery sector, a document which pleaded for more competition. He agreed but only had a single Costco to show for his efforts - a supermarket which Ms Willis said offered anecdotal evidence that competition was the silver bullet battling Kiwi householders needed to bring food prices down.
Ultimately, Ms Willis’ announcement was a collection of things which might work in the future. One suspects she has found, as Dr Clark did before her, that nudging the supermarket eagles off their perch will not be an easy task.
