The nerve of Hipkins

Complaining about unemployment after mandating it

In a tweet dripping with faux outrage, former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said:

“So according to Nicola Willis people concerned about rising unemployment are ‘glass half empty’ and people who have lost their jobs ‘shouldn’t take it personally’. Could she be any more out of touch?!”

Out of touch? That’s rich, coming from the man who fronted a government that forced thousands of Kiwis out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not because of market forces or economic conditions, but because they refused to comply with vaccine mandates.

Let’s not rewrite history here. Under Labour, thousands of teachers, nurses, midwives, police officers, firefighters and others were sacked or forced to walk away from their jobs because they made a personal medical choice. They were publicly vilified, treated like lepers, and excluded from society. All of it happened while Chris Hipkins was the COVID-19 Response Minister.

Did he show them empathy? Did he ever tweet about those people losing their jobs or being treated unfairly? Of course not. His government showed no remorse and instead painted them as selfish and dangerous.

Now he wants to play the working class hero?

Hipkins’ and Ardern’s Labour government actively destroyed jobs through unscientific mandates, excessive lockdowns, and bureaucratic overreach. They bulldozed businesses with red tape, crippled sectors like tourism and hospitality, and drove up inflation with wasteful spending. Unemployment might be rising now, but let’s not pretend Labour didn’t leave the economy in a mess.

If Nicola Willis made an offhand comment about unemployment that rubbed some the wrong way, fair enough. Let’s not pretend she’s the one who oversaw mass job losses due to authoritarian health policies. That honour goes to Chris Hipkins.

The sheer lack of self-awareness in his tweet is astounding. If Hipkins wants to talk about people losing their jobs and feeling like politicians are out of touch, then he needs to look in the mirror.