Someone who applied for a job as Party Leader on SEEK has brought a team of seven into parliament.
Rodney Hide's analogy of Opportunity as the manufactured Monkees, an American imitation of the Beatles - along with a highly lucrative TV show - is apt. Qiulae Wong as Davy Jones is the recruited charismatic leader.
I was asked, "But if TOP are the Monkees, who are the Beatles?"
ACT or the Greens. Right or wrong, they are conviction politicians. They have values and vision and stand on them.
My conviction is that welfare is bad for most people, especially their children. I worked hard to advocate that which earned me ten on ACT's list in 2005.
What does Qiulae believe beyond a meaningless mantra of "cleaning up politics"? Or five vague bottom lines?
She may have some quite deep-seated beliefs but she hasn't shared them.
Not unlike Winston First, Opportunity is riding on the coat tails of one person - a successful applicant to lead a party, paid a salary she refuses to disclose.
But if managerialism is now what politics is actually about, she might be a good fit in a Luxon-led government. She boasts a team with strong links to the public service.
And despite Chris Luxon repeatedly ruling TOP out during the campaign, suddenly he is keen to "build a relationship with them".
An uncomfortable, unprincipled flip.
Why? Right now, prior to the final vote count, he can keep his powder dry.
The precedent to extending an unneeded invitation to Opportunity is John Key's inclusion of the Maori Party in 2008 which led to the ill-advised NZ commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
Until the final votes are counted there is absolutely no need to include Opportunity in the next government. In any capacity.
