Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins
The Labour Party is on a mission to win back the hearts and minds of Aucklanders this week, acknowledging Super City residents did not feel Labour was listening to them or engaging with them ahead of last year's election.
With Parliament in recess, MPs are gathering in Tāmaki Makaurau on Wednesday and Thursday for a series of meetings and engagements all over the city, and to hold a mid-winter caucus retreat.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins admitted Auckland was an area where Labour lost a lot of support at the last election.
"I think people in Auckland felt like we weren't on the ground, we weren't there listening, we weren't there talking. And that's something that we've got to change," he told RNZ.
Last year, Labour lost the electorates of New Lynn and Mt Roskill, which had previously only ever voted Labour, while Takanini, Northcote, Upper Harbour, and Maungakiekie also flipped blue.
It only narrowly held onto Te Atatū and Mt Albert, the latter by just 18 votes, and both seats gave National more party votes.
It was Labour's worst result in Auckland since 1996, but the party is set on winning the city back.
Earlier this week, Labour's Auckland issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert accused Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown (MP of the safe National seat of Pakuranga), of being "asleep at the wheel" and not taking any Auckland-specific papers to Cabinet.
"This minister has given up on this portfolio and refuses to stand up for Auckland," Halbert said.
But Hipkins is not going quite so hard on the attack. He said the plan to win Auckland back would firstly involve listening to Aucklanders, and responding.
"I said after the last election that we needed to get out and about, we needed to spend some time listening and re-connecting."
Shanan Halbert. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The caucus is splitting into small groups on Wednesday, visiting organisations all over Auckland in sectors such as health, housing, transport, tech, energy and social development, as well as iwi.
Hipkins himself is taking a group of MPs to a trade apprenticeship campus.
Then, on Thursday, they will all gather to share and reflect on what they heard from Aucklanders.
Hipkins said the caucus would also discuss policy priorities in opposition, and what it may take to the election campaign. But he said there would not be any policy announcements coming out of the caucus meeting.
"I've said this year is really a year for listening, for reflecting, and for coming up with some new thinking and some new ideas. But we need time to work through that. So we won't see significant new policies from Labour until next year at the earliest."
