Political commentator Peter Dunne says Labour’s three-year strategy of staying a small target is leaving it stuck defending National’s tax claims rather than making its own case.

He says National’s nine-new-taxes campaign has forced Labour onto the back foot, and its denials keep reinforcing the attack.

“The difficulty with that is it ends up looking as though they don’t stand for very much at all,” he says.

He says once the election is over, win or lose, Labour will need to rethink its strategy.

“You’ve got to stand for something, not just look safe but therefore not electable,” he says.

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.

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