Willis struggled in finance debate, but it didn’t matter

Analysis: It took one minute for the jeers to hit Grant Robertson.

It took less than 10 seconds for the cheers to start for Nicola Willis.

And that set the tone for the night at Queenstown’s finance leaders’ debate. In front of an audience of 400 people, Grant Robertson, Nicola Willis, David Seymour and James Shaw came prepared to fight for the right to be the next finance minister.

There was no doubt it was a National and ACT friendly crowd. The mere mention of the Greens’ wealth tax set the crowd on edge and certainly the loudest boos of the night.

Grant Robertson came prepared with his one liner for Nicola Willis, referring to the topic de jour and the alleged holes in National’s tax plans – “Show us the Costings”.

While Willis stood her ground, she only proceeded to put more pressure on her party’s policies with a frankly astonishing admission that she doesn’t know what the impact of the combination of the reduction of the bright line test and the reintroduction of interest deductibility for landlords will have on the housing market.

In a room that was until that point largely supportive of National, there were some baffled looks and the vibe in the room certainly changed. She was also under fire when she said overseas buyers would only be a “tiny fraction” of the market, with James Shaw questioned how “a tiny fraction” of the market would raise enough revenue.

Pressed after the debate, she continued to say she thought supply was the bigger issue affecting house prices. But she couldn’t give a definitive answer and that in itself will only serve to drag the issue out for longer.

The most distasteful part of the night also goes to David Seymour. When moderator Jack Tame asked what National would do about the budget for the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, Seymour quipped “I guess Nicola might have to increase their security budget”.

Probably tied equal to loud applause and support from the audience was when Seymour promised 15,000 “faceless bureaucrats”, otherwise known as public servants, or real people with jobs, would be made redundant.

Was there a winner? David Seymour gained the most laughs and cheers, James Shaw was Mr Earnest, Grant Robertson had the best and most practiced one liner and Nicola Willis was the most popular, mainly by being the National candidate.