Political commentator Bryce Edwards says Labours' disorganisation at Tuesday's Parliamentary opening was "unprecedented".
- National's first show of power: Grinding Parliament to a halt
- Chris Hipkins blames 'shambolic' Parliamentary opening on National
"That the Government could be so disorganised on the first day and that they could be shown the better of by a really aggressive new Opposition that is certain to show that it means business," Mr Edwards told the AM Show on Wednesday.
"It should be a major wake-up call for Labour, for the Prime Minister that they need to up their game."
National's Simon Bridges questioned if the Government had the numbers to elect Trevor Mallard as Speaker, then struck a deal with Labour's whip Chris Hipkins in exchange for increased places on select committees.
Mr Edwards says Labour bought into National's bluff that they didn't have the votes in Parliament to install Mr Mallard as speaker, and are now attempting to spin their way out of the situation.
"That's one of the worst things about this story for Labour. Not just that it was such a shambles for them and they lost this manoeuvre by National, but they then tried to spin it," he says.
"And the public hate politicians that are just so obviously spinning it. So Jacinda Ardern had the first day of Parliament going from Saint Jacinda to being seen as a liar."
Mr Hipkins told the AM Show he wanted "compromise" because "the Prime Minister was certainly of the view that she didn't want this Parliament getting off to an acrimonious start".
However Mr Edwards warns that National is out for blood.
"This isn't the opposition that feels they lost the election, this isn't an opposition that is going to play nice," he says
"They're going to play dirty; this is going to be a really fractious Parliament. Both sides are really going to be at each other."
Newshub.
