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It was everyone else versus us, says Mark Osborne

It was everyone else versus us, says Mark Osborne

National’s Northland candidate Mark Osborne told TV One’s Q+A programme this morning that ultimately, the responsibility for the party’s reversal of fortune in Northland sat with him.

“I was the candidate. I did everything I could with the team that we had and with myself, and we came up short yesterday,” says Mr Osborne.

Last night’s by-election was the first substantial loss for the National Party since coming to power. But Mr Osborne said the reality was “by-elections are challenging”.

“Everybody’s come in behind Winston, so it’s pretty much been everyone else versus us,” he says.


Q + A Interview
Episode 5

MARK OSBORNE interviewed by CORIN DANN

CORIN Did Winston Peters ring you last night? I understand he did. What did he say to you about this loss for you?

MARK Well, actually I rang him. So I rang him as soon as the result became clear and I wished him all the best and congratulated him on his success last night.

CORIN But I understand he was saying to you it wasn’t your fault. He very much thinks it was a message to the government and to National for neglecting Northland. Do you agree with that?

MARK No. No, not at all. Ultimately, responsibility sits with me. I was the candidate. I did everything I could with the team that we had and with myself, and we came up short yesterday.

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CORIN What went wrong, then? Was it name recognition? Did you not connect with voters?

MARK Well, I think there was a number of challenges that we had. We’ve got a very democratic process for selecting the candidate in the National Party. And that took two or three weeks to get through, which meant that Labour and Winston had a couple of weeks’ head start on us. And, of course, as you say, Winston has something in the order of an 80% name recognition. Mine was substantially lower than that, so we had to improve it, and I think we were gaining the whole way through the process, but didn’t get there in the end.

CORIN Look, with all due respect, I mean, the days that I was up in Northland, I certainly encountered National Party voters who said, look, they wanted to send a message to National here. They were always going to, in a general election, give their party vote to National. But this was an opportunity for them to send a message. Northland is being neglected, isn’t it?

MARK Well, look, I think there’s challenges. But there’s also opportunities up here. They’ve been up here for many decades. And that’s why I was so keen to stand and try and help – inside the government – unlock some of those opportunities that we have. So I don’t think it’s anything new that we’ve got challenges and issues here. But the opportunities, again, as I say, were something that I was very keen to unlock.

CORIN The bridges – the ‘bridges bribe’ as it’s being called – that was clearly a big mistake. Voters saw right through all that. All the polls showed that.

MARK Look, I don’t agree with that. I saw a poll that said 58% of people plus certainly wanted the bridges. It was something I campaigned hard on. And you used the word ‘bribe’, the reality is that through this campaign we’ve released policy for $32 million to $69 million worth of bridges, as you point out. Winston, on the other hand, released policies or ideas in the order of $400 million. I don’t think anyone’s questioned any of those so far. So we talk about running campaigns on policy. We’ve done that. He’s done that, but nobody’s pulled him up over that. And I hope he can deliver.

CORIN But didn’t the bridges, though, just highlight National was coming to this late? That they had to throw something at Northland. That they had not delivered over the last six years?

MARK Look, no, not at all. Something that right through my candidate-selection process for the party, people told me was important – roading and bridges, along with other things as well. And, personally, I’ve to a head-on on one of the bridges. I’ve talked to many people where the bridges are certainly constraining economic development. So it’s something I pushed very very hard right from the early days, and that’s what you can do in government, or being the candidate for government. We got some traction there, and we got a commitment over the 10 bridges, so very pleased with that.

CORIN What about the campaign director, Steven Joyce? Did he hold you back too much? I mean, there’s been questions about whether we saw enough of you. You didn’t come to the Q+A studio. We’ve talked about that. Did you not get out there in front of those voters enough for them to get to know you?

MARK Oh, look, I’ve been working 20 hours a day for the last three weeks. And I’ve been in front of more voters than anyone. I can assure you of that. Look, the point you just raised in terms of not coming to the Q+A office itself, that was for exactly the opposite reason to what you’ve suggested. It was so I could be in the electorate talking to people. It’s important with the distances we have to travel here in the north that we spend as much time in the electorate. And that’s what I chose to do. I chose to stay here in the electorate and talk to voters about the things that are important to them.

CORIN Do you think that National should be worried that this is a tipping point now for them that they’ve lost this seat? They’ve gone from a 9000-strong majority to being behind 4000. Something serious is going on here. You must see that.

MARK Oh, look, I understand what you’re saying, but the reality of it is this is a by-election. By-elections are challenging. Everybody’s come in behind Winston, so it’s pretty much been everyone else versus us. And when you look at it like that, I think Willow-Jean dropped from about 30% of the vote at the general election to 5% on this occasion. And all those votes have swung in behind Winston. SO essentially it was everyone else versus me and us. And that’s what you see here in this by-election – everyone coming in over there, and our guys, we just didn’t have the numbers on the day.

CORIN Would you stand again if you had the opportunity?

MARK Oh, look, if I got the privilege to stand again and if the party thought and I thought that I could make a real difference for Northland, absolutely.

CORIN Mark Osborne, I think that’s a good time to leave it. We’ll leave it there. Thank you very much for your time.

ENDS


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