Labour leader Chris Hipkins has told his caucus the party needs to up its game on the cost of living, crime and the economy.
They are the key issues the coalition campaigned on and focused on in their first year of government; issues the public have clearly told Labour it needs to do better on.
MPs are at their annual caucus retreat at the Distinction Hotel in Palmerston North, having returned from their summer breaks.
The sun is out and Hipkins is still in jandals, but his opening remarks were serious in tone as he told his MPs Labour would pivot from listening to developing policy in 2025.
"When we gathered this time last year, I said that 2024 for us would be about listening and reflecting and hearing from New Zealanders.
"We lost the election and we needed to hear from New Zealanders what they wanted to see from us, but we also needed to hear the hard truths. Why didn't they vote for us at the last election?"
Hipkins said it was clear the public did not think Labour offered the best answers for big issues like the cost of living, crime, jobs and the economy on the 2023 campaign trail.
"We also heard some home truths from them, that they felt that across our six years in government, we'd often over promised and under delivered."
Hipkins said he wanted Labour to be the "best prepared incoming government" on the 2026 campaign trail and his caucus would be hearing from former Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes during its caucus retreat to help with this.
"He's going to share his observations on how we get the best out of the public service, because I think that's really important for us all to understand that and to reflect on things that we could have done differently last time we were in government."
Hipkins said it was clear the public did not think Labour offered the best answers for big issues like the cost of living, crime, jobs and the economy on the 2023 campaign trail.
"We also heard some home truths from them, that they felt that across our six years in government, we'd often over promised and under delivered."
Hipkins said he wanted Labour to be the "best prepared incoming government" on the 2026 campaign trail and his caucus would be hearing from former Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes during its caucus retreat to help with this.
"He's going to share his observations on how we get the best out of the public service, because I think that's really important for us all to understand that and to reflect on things that we could have done differently last time we were in government."
'The phone's back on the hook'
Hipkins committed to attending every every regional conference last year to hear ideas and engage with Labour's membership.
Both he and Edmonds have also made a concerted effort to spend more time in Tāmaki Makaurau, where its 2023 election defeat was keenly felt.
"I think it would be fair to say the phone's back on the hook but the people are waiting to hear what we've got to say.
"You'll hear more policy announcements from us as this year goes on. We won't be announcing all of our policy this year, probably the lion's share of it will be in election year, but you will start to see more policy announcement from us."
Asked if Labour would announce anything at its retreat Hipkins said, "nothing today".
The latest Taxpayer's Union-Curia poll shows support for Labour has inched ahead of National for the first time in nearly two years.
While it is reason for Labour's caucus to feel buoyed, Hipkins knows full well his party would need to both cooperate with and compete with others on the left.
"We've had regular communication [with the Greens and Te Pāti Māori] over the last year and there are areas where we've already shown that we cooperate together.
"So around the hikoi, for example, you know, we were cooperating together there. I don't think it will extend much beyond that in the next year or so.
"We're ultimately going to be competing for votes at the next election but I'm confident that we can continue to have a constructive working relationship with the other opposition parties."
On the chances of any Labour caucus reshuffle, Hipkins said he was not proposing anything immediately but would be making changes within his team over the year.
