Judith Collins has acknowledged a sense of arrogance and entitlement within her party, especially following their 2017 election loss, and is signalling a new kind of opposition.
The National Party leader this morning told TVNZ1's Breakfast attitudes within her party were changing quickly after being reduced to just 33 MPs following the 2020 election.
Collins said being cut from the 56 MPs they started with in 2017 was "what happens when there is disunity".
"Parties can become complacent and feel that Government is a right and it is not, nor is, by the way, being an MP. Being an MP is an utter privilege."
Breakfast host John Campbell asked Collins if there was a degree of entitlement from the Nats.
"Collectively there is an issue and that issue has to be addressed," Collins admitted.
"I think there was absolutely a feeling that we were robbed at the past election, 2017, and that whole attitude, I think it's changing very, very quickly."
Campbell asked if there was arrogance from her MPs, to which Collins said she was sure there "would have been some instances where that came through", but pointed to the party's review to find out what went wrong.
"There's nothing like saying bye to your friends and colleagues who are losing their jobs through no fault of their own to make everybody sit up and say 'do you know what, we've got to listen a lot more and understand that the country actually moves on from things and we need to make sure we're there too'," she said.
Collins has also said National is now a government in waiting, and this morning signalled a new kind of opposition from its past campaign.
"We have to actually have an alternative," she said.
"Yes you have to oppose, but you also need to propose ... You're going to find opposing, yes, but only on principle or detail, and we will be proposing because we think that's substantive and that's what we need to do."
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