There is a technique that can be used when negotiations are on the back foot and are not going your way. It’s called ‘Create the Disturb’, where you introduce a point in the discussion that can rattle the opposite party. It is designed to unsettle and raise questions with the result of knocking confidence and creating doubt.
A variation of this is commonly used in politics. The Government announces a policy, the opposition set out to unsettle the voting public by creating a disturbance in their mind thus knocking the confidence that the Government knows what they are doing!
However, dependent on this is the credibility of the disturber and this in turn may depend on the colour of the voter and whose opinion they may trust.
Newspapers, at one time, held quite a sway in the public political perception as trust was high. They were a beacon of information, held in regard with a certain level of integrity.
With the erosion of this trust, arguably of the media’s own making, opinion pieces are often no more than opinion, albeit biased, with few contributors striving to stay neutral.
Last week was full of distractions in NZ politics which arguably played into the Coalition Government’s hands as they wade through the aftermath of the equity pay legislation.
It started with the now infamous Andrea Vance opinion piece in the Sunday Star Times. While her intention may have been to castigate the Coalition Government’s fast-tracked Equity Pay Bill amendments, the opinion piece will always be known for its delivery and that word that shall not be uttered but its use reported to be fully condoned by senior Stuff editors. (For those outside of NZ, google Andrea Vance, Sunday Star Times, Brook van Velden.)
It also failed because it created a distraction to the very cause it was fighting against. The shock of the delivery was unsettling, and the reaction was more about that ‘word’ than the Government’s direction.
Next up came the Greens budget and while appearing to be thorough in its costings (and paid through taxes and not productivity), it left future coalition government partner Labour scrambling, not wanting to comment or rule it out.
Meanwhile, Labour’s Jan Tenetti asked questions in the House regarding said Andrea Vance column which took it to another level and in someways moved the debate away from pay equity to how senior female Cabinet administers should be treated and not disrespected, no matter whether you agree with them or not. A mistake, that Labour leader Chris Hipkins later admitted.
Thrown into last week was the Privileges Committee and its recommendations to the house on suspensions for three Te Pati Māori MPs, two of these being the biggest in the history of the NZ parliament.
A chaotic week for the opposition when the real issue should have been about equity pay agreements. While the Government stayed on course, the distractions took over and the opposition floundered. Now we move into Budget week which is not a distraction, it becomes front and centre and pay equity is set to become a minor distraction.
Yuki Tsunoda’s rise and decline with Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team is now a minor distraction compared with the fervent furore of Liam Lawson’s initial two outings with the squad at the opening of the 2025 season. So, what is different?
At the beginning of the 2025 season there was little to talk about and few distractions. It was all new and the title battle had only just commenced. Unfortunately for Lawson, he was easy pickings for the hounding media, as was the management at Red Bull and their decision to run him and not Tsunoda in the team with an obviously difficult car to drive.
It has been a huge distraction for Lawson with doubt rising and confidence dipping big time. So, what should all these five F1 rookie drivers do when the chips are down?
For every driver, it is like an aeroplane heading into mountains with not enough altitude to safely get through to the other side. Distractions are like extra weight. These have to be ditched to enable a lighter load. Those with experience have already achieved this and are confident that they will make the destination. Others have yet to learn.
The 2025 season is the makings of one of the most intriguing for some time. Now there is so much happening right through the field and not only at each Grand Prix but even for each practice and qualifying session.
It’s quite different to the start of the season and the one topic that seem to permeate the first few weeks. Now there appears to be endless print columns filled, much subjective debate and we haven’t yet got into the 2026 drivers’ market! There are so many distractions across the paddock.
Navigating through the mire of distractions doesn’t have to be difficult and it is no different than our NZ domestic politics and how MPs and the Government progress forward. The key to success is keeping your eye on the long-term objectives and steering the right course when unexpected ill-winds buffer and threaten to destabilise. Make progress, gain small successes and move forward.
For rookie F1 drivers, it’s time to get rid of the distractions that they can control. Ditch the unnecessary for the immediate journey ahead as there will be a time for the extras later when you have runs on the board.
It’s not difficult getting rid of distractions. It ain’t girl-maths!
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