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12:10 pm, June 10th, 2026 - 44 comments
Categories: election 2026, labour -
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I attended the Auckland Labour List conference three weeks ago. This presented a chance for prospective candidates to speak and show local members their abilities and their beliefs.
The event was uplifting and filled me with hope. There was a lot of new talent in the room and the enthusiasm and the determination to win was clearly evident.
The quality of candidates standing in National strongholds was intense and the party has had contested selections in some of the bluest of seats. Usually it is a case of finding someone, anyone, willing to perform the most heartless of roles. But this time there is some serious talent who may not make it this time but will be names to watch in the future.
Information from this conference and other regional conferences has informed the moderation committee and the party’s list was announced this week.
There were a couple of bolters.
Police Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo was all but guaranteed a place in Parliament by his list placing. By my calculation he will be the fourth in off the list and the party should be able to get 11 or more list placements.
I do not know him but his position is something of a coup. Having that senior a police officer in your ranks gives you a lot of credibility.
The Government and the conservative element of the Police are trying to suggest that there is somthing underhand about this. I bet if he was aligning with National the response would have been entirely different.
Warwick Cleine at 30 is also a bolter. His CV is impressive but worrying. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KPMG in Vietnam. He is an experienced tax and deals advisor.
I don’t sense any deep commitment to the progressive movement here. Give me a good dedicated member of the working class who will die in the ditch to do something about climate change to an accountant any day.
Like Jono Steenhuisen who at the Auckland List Conference gave one of the most inspiring speeches at a Labour List Conference I have ever witnessed. Jono is pure working class and reminded us that the Labour Party was and is the worker’s party. If we are to have a truly representative Parliament then there should be people from all walks of life in our caucus.
And he had I thought the best line of any speech that day when differenting the left from the right:
“Aotearoa not my tearoa.”
He clearly spent a lot of time thinking about his speech.
And he showed the depth of his intelligence by answering a question on economics with considerable nuance.
He has been active out west for some time. I was disappointed he missed out. The Labour Party Caucus needs more, even some people like Jono. And I would prefer Jono to Warwick Cleine.
There were other outstanding candidates including Vi Hausia and Red Tsonga who missed out.
Vi is the person primarily responsible for restoring at least some democracy to the Papatoetoe subdivision of the Otara Papatoetoe Local Board area. And Red’s contribution to local ethnic campaigns happen below the surface but are really really important. Just check out what happened last election if you need verification.
Here is Vi.
And here is Red who gave the longest and most in breach of meeting rules speech of the day but people appreciated it.
New candidates in electable positions were also impressive. Max Harris who is a real leftie, and an intellectual powerhouse with a keen sense of justice did well. I really hope he makes it into Parliament this time. He will be an integral part of future Labour cabinets.
Hannah Pia Barral also did well. She has an important task, to campaign for the Philipine vote and for the Upper Harbour seat. You only have to meet her to really like her.
And Naisi Chen who I think is outstanding and very important is highish on the list but not necessarily high enough to get into Parliament. But we need to make sure she has a future role to play.
Sam Collins also did well for a first time candidate. I think he would have been a great addition to the caucus. Having someone with media savvy who can boil down and make sense of what can be overly intellectual analyses of problems is a gift that we really need.
There were other really good candidates like Gary Payinda who is a Whangarei based Doctor standing for the Whangarei seat and at 49 on the list.
He was really impressive. He was direct and clear and consise in his description of our health system. Put him in Parliament, please.
Honestly the Auckland candidates were all outstanding. I left thinking that I would support every one of them.
Many of the MPs and others have been placed relatively low but this will make them more determined to win their electorate seats. Economist Craig Rennie at 51 is certainly in this camp.
A few of them will invevitably miss out. This is because of the depth of talent the party currently has. This group represents not only the class of 26 but also the class of 29 and of 32.
I can with a degree of confidence with current polling predict that Labour will pick up the following electorate seats this year:
Banks Peninsula, East Cape, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Hutt South (later Chris Bishop), Kapiti, Maungakiekie, Mt Roskill, Northcote, Wairarapa, Waitakere, West Coast Tasman, Whanganui and Whangarei.
And Te Tai Tokerau, Tamaki Makaurau, Waiariki, Ikaroa Rawhiti, and Te Tai Tonga will also come Labour’s way.
On current polling this should get Labour 11 list seat placements and will be close to getting Max Harris over the line. But we clearly need more party vote to get him elected.
Labour is in remarkably good shape to take this campaign on. Now they need to show up and campaign like the future of the country depends on it.
The irony with Whangarei is it is traditionally a blue ribbon seat. Labour's win in 2020 was an outlier and mainly due to the excellent handling of the pandemic at that time. This time it's another doctor against a real estate agent………. My pick is if the brilliant Gary Payinda can win Whangarei then the election could well be a biggie win for the left………
100%
A great list of candidates for sure – but something is missing . . .
I know the party intends to release a lot of policy over the next few week – but, to my mind, it needs to be transformative, not incremental! Not just neoliberalism with a kinder face!
For God's sake, Labour, give us old time democratic socialists something to vote FOR!
Well, there is the Alliance…..
“KiwiWorks would be a Ministry of Works for the 21st century……….
https://allianceparty.nz/
Imagine a Labour/Greens/Alliance govt…………………
https://thestandard.nz/the-cult-of-reasonableness/
https://thestandard.nz/wealth-taxation-as-national-self-interest/
Past time, imo, for a more progressive tax on the very wealthy & sorted who won't miss the money needed to repair the damage done by the nACTf CoC’s deliberate wrecking.
Dang! We've lost the "Iggy-vote"!
Iggy has been singing the same tune since 2011. Boring.
It would have been longer if it weren't for the fact that I was still living in the US prior to that (1990-2011). I'm sorry that you find it boring (not really). However, Labour is the author of neoliberalism in Aotearoa-New Zealand and has shown no appetite to repudiate it. They have a lot to answer for. I really don't understand why so-called lefties keep supporting them.
Because Lefties don’t give up easily on others and their comrades – it’s a human trait.
Absolutely. I have been a Labour supporter all my adult life. I am a proud "class traitor" having spent most of my working life working for working people. I have been a Labour member since the 1980's but volunteered for elections since 1968. (Yes, I am that old).
These days I have some fundamental differences with the Party over Gender Ideology. However, they still get my membership and my vote. They just don't get any extra $$ or my spare time.
I continue to support Labour because they promote (most) if the policies I have spent my adult life supporting and I am not going to chuck that all away because they are going through a (hopefully temporary) enthrallment by a homophobic and misogynistic belief system.
Yes, I feel the same way. No matter how tepid Labour is, they're still infinitely better than anything on the right.
But, oh, how I wish they'd be a bit more immediately transformative in their policies.
Iggy is just a wet (IMO).
What definition of "working class" are you using that doesn't include accountants?
How many dead accountants have you seen lying in the ditch?
Trick question – take compounding into account.
I shoulda said, "under a hedge".
More on the Naidoo selection and list place. Jenna Lynch suggests it is Chamber's job which is at stake because of falling foul of the very neutrality he claimed to be a representative of.
Let's face it, Chambers is a devout RWNJ and deep in the pocket of the mercenary Mitchell.
Police neutrality, anyone?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360990931/has-police-commissioner-richard-chambers-made-his-own-position-untenable
Very interesting Muttonbird, thanks for the link to that Stuff article:
"Chambers launching a review to find out whether Naidoo had been acting as some sort of mole, feeding information from “sensitive” briefings to “any third party” (subtext: the Government’s sworn enemy – the Labour Party)" certainly raised my eyebrows.
One question Stuff didn't ask was would such an effort to tarnish a candidate's reputation have been made if he was standing for a CoC party? Because the silence preceding Uffindell's entry to parliament would suggest that the answer would be NO.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Uffindell#Investigation_into_bullying
I suggest you look at how Tim Groser was treated by the then Labour Government when he informed them that he was looking at standing for the National Party in the 2005 election.
To quote Wikipedia
'While receiving praise from senior figures in the Labour government at the time of his appointments to the two WTO chairs,[25][26] Groser's 2005 announcement that he would contest that year's general election for the National Party was met with "anger" from the government. Trade negotiations minister Jim Sutton said he felt a "strong sense of betrayal" from Groser's decision and asked for Groser's resignation as ambassador. Prime minister Helen Clark called for Groser to be removed from his WTO chairs, which were separate to his ambassadorship.[13][27][28] Groser resigned his ambassadorship in May 2005 but continued as WTO agriculture chair until the government officially removed its support of him after the conclusion of agriculture meetings in July."
He was the expert in these matters but Labour dumped on him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Groser
Good suggestion. Ah yes, anger "from the government." Is the CoC angry at Naidoo?
I didn't know "that being a member of Parliament had been a job he [Groser] had coveted for thirty years." So, Groser got his wish, and who knows if he would have continued to do more good for NZ outside rather than in Parliament.
Well Mutton Bird chambers sure as shit won't survive a change of government now so beware the cornered rat.
He's a dangerous clown. It's my opinion Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming would still be alive were it not for the change in government and the appointment of Chambers.
So Labour are going to take 14 seats off National. MS has removed Napier from the list.. does this mean National will win Napier or Staurt Nash? And where will Taine Randall stand? Will that split a vote and win Labour a 15th electorate off National?
Have to say I was underwhelmed at Dr Gary Payinda's list placing ? I have read articles about..and by him, and IMO he would be a great advocate for New Zealanders Health.
Also re accountants? To me Craig Renney (spelling), CTU spokesperson, who I also read a lot about..and by him. He's a good guy…and should be up there and IN Parliament !
Why on earth is Renney only at position 51 on the list? I thought he was one of the bright new hopes for Labour. At that position, and looking at the Electorate he is running in he isn't going to be anywhere near a seat in the House.
It leaves me with a feeling that he has been nobbled. Could he be like Don Brash in 1981 in East Coast Bays? Rumour had it that Muldoon, scared silly about having a genuine economist it the caucus room, sabotaged his chances by raising the toll on the harbour bridge to prevent Brash winning the seat.
Could the current Labour Finance spokesperson, Barbara Edmonds, who doesn't really have any qualifications for the job, have blackballed him in some way so that she can get rid of an alternate candidate for the position? She is a lawyer, not an economist and might make a perfectly reasonable Revenue Minister but she is hardly up to the Finance role.
What a silly comment, as usual from you.
Nicky-no-Boats is not qualified to be Finance Minister and it shows by the utter shambles she’s made.
Since the obvious whooshed over your head, don’t read this: https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-post-1022/20260609/281548002575274
Do you happen to remember the story of Mandy Rice-Davies?
When a Barrister in the High Court pointed out that Lord Astor had denied sleeping with her she responded "Well he would, wouldn't he". This is often quoted "Well he would say that, wouldn't he".
Regardless of what Penney thinks, and says, and he is quite likely being completely accurate in his statement one is still left with no real answer to her quip. "Well he would say that, wouldn't he". What else could he say?
And I don't necessarily think that everyone who becomes Minister of Finance are up to the job. I presume your silly little slur of a name refers to one of them.
Neither are formal qualifications really essential. Steven Joyce was pretty good in the role although he certainly hadn't gained an Economics degree. It helps though.
Woosh, woosh, woosh.
Ah, pretty much summed indeed : ). Thanks Incognito and also DMK for input.
Do you mean “Nicky-no-Boats“? A factual 'slur' – "We're saving so much money!"
Willis would naturally reject that characterisation, as is her wont.
I like Nicola Willi$ Lotto Lady – "Hopefully this will follow her around until Nov 7th."
Yes again agree. Cullen was qualified as an historian rather than from any finance role or economics role. And IMHO he's been our best in my living memory.
Do I find it surprising you agree with Alwyn? Not so much. Just mind what you are agreeing with… Steven pretty legal Joyce
Ol' Finance Joyce and the Fiscal Hole….
It seems to me that Ad was agreeing with Alwyn that no formal financial or economic qualifications were required, in order to be a good Finance Minister.
They had different examples of what 'good' meant. Which I would expect given their historical commenting backgrounds.
Do you think differently? And only people with formal finance or economics qualifications should be appointed (similar to the requirement that the Attorney General be a lawyer)?
Is that a requirement, or a tradition?
It certainly seems to be a tradition that the Finance Minister not have a qualification in Finance or Economics. I think that the last one to actually have a relevant qualification was Douglas, and before that Muldoon (both accountants). And that is getting on for 40 years ago.
Sorry B, I'll try to make my question @11:35 clearer for you.
Is "the requirement that the Attorney General be a lawyer" a real requirement, or is that a simple misperception of reality?
If you'd prefer to continue avoiding my question, then that's OK
Thanks for clarifying why Alwyn was denigrating Barbara Edmonds @ 7.1; she doesn’t have the unnecessary qualifications.
"an historian"
Liking it – classy.
Yes agree Alwyn.
Renney is an excellent media performer, and his union is exceedingly loyal to Labour.
It will make him as a politician if he can overturn the Greens from Wellington Bays, and the previous booth returns show he can do it.
November 7th is going to be a great night for Labour.
You can see both Craig and Gary at work on the https://bhn.nz/ Big Hairy News network, where they have their own shows. I think Labour believe Gary has a high chance in Northland. Craig, as I remember, is standing in Mirimar, currently held by the Greens. Don't understand the thinking behind that, but I guess that's where Craig lives.
When I first saw the post "Labour's List" I thought 'to the right', what with Hipkins wanting to work alongside National on various initiatives. FTA with India for example.
Good ship Labour.
Did you see the Alliance is returning to the ballot?
Alliance!
That is a blast from the past.
I hadn't heard that. Aotearoa more than ever could do with more than a touch of Social Credit .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_credit
Nice – lower-case "l" though.
A (maritime) list would occur when the weight sits to one side.
Hipkins is smart to consider the ramifications of declaring "we won't" before the details are known – smart man. It's easy to attack a smart man's ideas when you're a thick-o (not you, gsays, I referring to thick-os).