The words that came out of Grant Robertson’s mouth when Labour leader Chris Hipkins tested positive for Covid two weeks out from the election were “definitely unprintable”.
“.. In a series of years where shit happened, shit happened again,” Robertson told Newsroom.
The interview is in his new office on the third floor of Parliament building, which is home to the Opposition.
He has one painting on his wall, which he co-owns with his colleague Megan Woods, and all the rest are still in boxes waiting to be unpacked. He says there are too many for the size of the office, but he can’t take them home because there’s no room there either.
The clock in the corner is running an hour slow and Robertson kicks his shoes off as the interview begins.
This is a man who suddenly has a lot more time on his hands.
There were many things that went wrong for the last government that led to Labour being thrust back into opposition after just two terms, and Robertson says identifying those things and rebuilding them will be key to success in 2026.
Losing both the Wellington Central and Rongotai seats, along with several safe Labour seats in Auckland and six of the seven Māori seats, paints a narrative of where the work needs to be done.
“You can see with both Rongotai and Wellington Central the Green Party support that was evident when Tory Whanau was elected as Mayor flowed on.
“There was equally a wave of sorts in Auckland, it was a different wave to Wellington … those MPs were taken out in a distinctive move, and even the National Party will tell you they didn’t expect to win those seats either.”
The Covid hangover, cost-of-living crisis and crime-related issues all culminated in a mood for change in Auckland, Robertson says.
In the Māori seats it was the effects of a strategic vote where Te Pāti Māori campaigned hard for the electorates it won and voters gave Labour their party vote to get two MPs for the price of one.
“When you think about all those different forces, we’ve now got to sift back through and say, what does Labour 2026 look like to be able to bring our coalition of people back together to put us back into government, and that’s obviously what Chris Hipkins has put as a priority for us.”
In Wellington, Robertson says he doesn’t “believe there was anything more Ibrahim [Omer] or Fleur [Fitzsimons] could have done”.
Omer won the candidacy for Robertson’s old seat after he made the decision to step down ahead of the 2023 election, while Fitzsimons stood in the safe Rongotai seat left vacant by Paul Eagle. Both lost the seats at the election.
Robertson told Newsroom he was “desperately sad for Ibrahim” who he believes would have been an exceptional local MP.
Labour losing his seat of 15 years was by far and away the biggest shock for Robertson on election night.
“I remember I was driving out to Lower Hutt, well Alf was, and I was in the car, and it was just after 7pm and I was refreshing, and I saw the first few booths from Wellington Central come in and just went ohhhhh.
“By the time I got out of the car and walking in at about 7.30pm I was like, I think we’ve lost.”
Robertson says he backed himself to win the seat if he had stood again but he made a decision between that, and minister of finance and the latter won out.
“It was the right decision for me for lots of different reasons, but the finance role for me won, and you’ve got to run as if you’re going to win it, and I didn’t want to put myself in the position of being finance minister again and still not really being able to hold it all.”
Deciding not to contest the seat was a “strong wrench”, as was packing up his electorate office after the election.
“That was almost a bigger wrench than coming over from the Beehive in the sense I’d had that [role] the whole 15 years I’d been an MP.”
Now that Labour is in Opposition, Robertson could have called time, with no seat to prompt a by-election, but for the meantime he’s sticking around.
“I’m going to take this in six monthly blocks and make my calls then.”
Robertson is spending his time coaching and mentoring those MPs who haven’t been in Opposition before about what it takes to get through.
He still has the shadow finance role to keep him busy but has also found time for reflection.
“The emotion is a real mixed-up thing of sadness, because here we sit with bits and pieces of the programme being pulled apart, so it’s hard not to be sad about that whilst also being proud of what we did do.”
Robertson says he and his former ministerial colleagues never could have imagined the problems and disasters that came their way in government, from the Covid pandemic to natural disasters and the cost-of-living crisis.
“I don’t feel ripped off, you just have to deal with the cards you’re dealt … it’s just life and what comes in front of you, and you just deal with it.”
I am so sad Grant has decided to leave. Such a good man who the country can’t afford to lose. The unusual combined attributes in politics of intelligence and caring. Such a good communicator with a big heart in the right place. Those left are lucky to have such a mentor. Counting down the days til the next election when the country will see sense again, but with a huge hole in cabinet.
not leaving (yet, anyway).
“but for the meantime he’s sticking around.”
Why oh why no capital gains tax while in office and closer scrutiny of the overlords who are in charge of govt department so the work & policies labour wanted put in place , were done so efficiently & effectively . It was like watching a slow train wreck .So sad for those labour supporters too.
Rongotai and central were not lost to the left. We need to be collaborative – how do we work together to grow the progressive vote. Labour needs to rediscover its mojo and show true leadership that moves beyond listening to focus groups.
Surely Labour lost sight of its principles, particularly in light of research by the IRD into the 311 wealthy people who were found to be paying less than 9% in tax. Many were hit by the fact that Labour did nothing to remedy this situation when so many were struggling to make ends meet. The capital gains tax is probably too politically toxic now but there are other ways – a residential land tax for example, and a tax on land that is unoccupied. Bernard Hickey is advocating these taxes.
It will be a benefit for us all to have Robertson stay as opposition Finance ‘minister’. It will be easy with his experience to counter the empty-headed desperados of the National Party, including Nicola Willis, though it might not affect support for the new government.
What we need to look at is a comparison of the response to the victorious election results of Ardern(2020) and of Luxon (2023). Ardern said openly she would be the PM for everyone, not just her constituency, which looked like and surely did mean they would do nothing. Luxon and the Nats have been just the opposite, openly favouring their base and acting quickly and determinedly, to the detriment of the majority.
This should indicate that we are not in a period of conventional politics, but rather a period of deep malaise; not only here, of course, as it is a global thing. Desperately trying to hold onto a dead past. We all know why this is, though it is taboo to talk about it so I won’t delve deeper here.
National didnt, and still don’t have any serious policies for address well kown issues . They simply wanted to rid of Labour and be in power – which is why they have let ACT and NZF run the show today. It is not going to end well for the hapless Mr Christopher Luxon. In his review I hope Grant Roberson recognises that Labour were beaten by national’s Spin Doctors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topham_Guerin. They took advantage of the apres Covid protests and for over a year got away with spinning the line that Jacinda was a dictator and Labour were out of control. It looks like the labour anti-spin doctors were simply asleep at the wheel while their political guru Dr Megan Woods was away with the fairies at lake Onslow!
Grant Robertson’s role in the last government was to oversee the maintenance of the economy and what that currently means is the maintenance of the neoliberal economic order. A lot of people, without really understanding what that means in terms of the transfer of wealth from poor to rich, were expecting the Ardern government to deliver to everybody. The two principles are incongruent. I obviously don’t know if Jacinda fully understood this or not, but as Richard points out (above) she did claim to want to represent us all, and she also did say, at least once, that she understands the damage being caused by neoliberalism. It’s this sort of confusion over having a foot in two quite separate pies that leads to the general public despair over the ability of politicians and parliamentary government to solve problems. Robertson seems to be at a loss as to what went wrong. I would tell him, if asked, that it’s the consequence of not telling people what you actually stand for, that you pretend to want to represent the masses but you are bowing to the corporate gods and explicitly and deliberately providing for their continuing stranglehold of our collective wealth. THEIR wealth comes out of OUR environment-that’s the message that I think Roberston needs to get his head around. And that’s why people left you for Te Pati Maori and The Greens. If you would be a genuine left political party representing the masses and the environment then the loopy conspiracy theorists who’ve gone to NZF wouldn’t have been any consequence and you’d still be part of a government.