It's kiss and make up time.
After 51-weeks of snarls and bites, it's kiss and make up time when the media reviews its predictions over the past 12 month and presents awards for the best and the rest. What's more, Auntie Jacinda points to what the pundits misunderstood and exchanges Christmas gifts with arch-enemy Mike Hosking. Isn't politics fun!
Tova O'Brien kicks off with a relatively staid article starting with "Despite political screw-ups and scandal [by Labour and National], New Zealand is in a relatively good place right now." Right-oh!
The Stuff Awards
Stuff then leads the way with its best and the rest awards, summarised below:
The Michael Cullen award for political comedy goes to former deputy National leader Nikki Kaye for saying that Paul Goldsmith – possibly the whitest man in the world – actually descended from Ngāti Porou stock.
Rookie on the rise award goes to Dr Ayesha Verrall, a first time MP who made it straight into Cabinet.
The David Cunliffe award for most apologies goes to Green's James Shaw for repeating "very sorry" after putting millions of dollars into the private Green School.
Judith Collins gets the runner up for Quote of the Year award for her “My husband is Samoan, so talofa”
The quiet achiever award goes to Phil Twyford, famously good at bragging and demoted from Cabinet, who shepherded through one of the biggest non-Covid policies of the year, The National Policy Statement on Urban Development, which forces urban councils to accept a lot more housing and stop mandating car parks.
Worst award from last year's Rookie on the Rise award goes to Hamish Walker for leaking Covid-19 patient details, obtained from National Party stalwart Michelle Boag.
Party leader of the year award goes to ACT's David Seymour who nearly single-handedly brought in a major social change, the euthanasia bill and referendum, and increased his caucus by 900 per cent.
The Opposition MP of the year award goes to Shane Reti who projects the kind of competence the National party needs right now.
Unelected Politician of the year award goes to Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield, the reassuring face of the pandemic response
Finally, Elected Politician of the year award goes to, guess who?—Jacinda Ardern, for being both decisive and inclusive in a crisis and proving she's capable of making bold decisions, while explaining them in a way that took the country with her.
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