And the decision is…
Labour have come out of their caucus after their vote on who should succeed Phil Goff as leader. The new leadership team is David Shearer and Grant Robertson.
ImperatorFish: Phil and Carmel’s Greatest Hits
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
Holding the blogosphere to account: how did dpf, Trotter and WhaleOil do on their predictions for Phil Twyford and Carmel Sepuloni after Carmel won the Waitakere nomination…
Good luck, David
To Cunliffe and Shearer, good luck. To the 34 people choosing the next Labour leader, remember your task is to choose the person who can represent a million+ centre and left voters. The man to take the centre-left to victory in 2014. Don’t you dare let petty personal issues cloud your judgement. We, whom you are privileged to represent, deserve better.
“We believed in ourselves”
Read this and weep: New rolling stock (carriages) for South Island scenic rail journeys are as good as, or better than anything I […]
Not the Dunne thing…
Peter Dunne has – according to Alcohol Action NZ spokesperson Professor Doug Sellman – “deliberately suppressed” the biggest and best survey on Kiwi attitudes to drink legislation this country has (not) seen.
Open mike 13/12/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
The lesson of Lange
David Lange was a good man with a sharp mind, he was quick as a cat thinking on his feet – especially debating – he was an excellent communicator. With only six years’ parliamentary experience before becoming leader of the NZLP he was also the least experienced of all Labour’s twelve leaders to date. David Lange got eaten alive.
Nanaia Mahuta
I believe that a strong platform of investment in education, skills and training makes all the difference for many hard working families.
We need to be relevant to aspirations in the provinces, this means that we need to support our provincial candidates more effectively so that they are not having to fight an election on a single issue and not without the resources and support of the party.
Glorious BlackCaps destroy Australia by 7 runs
Sorry to interrupt the politics with sport, but this is our first test victory in Australia since before our strike bowlers Southee and Bracewell were born. And only our 3rd victory in Australia ever.
ImperatorFish: The Labour Leadership Indecision
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
The Labour leadership contest is not a left-right battle, but a tough call between an Obama-like orator and a down-to-earth guy who lives his values. Both talented and want to reform the party: but hard to chose who’s best to lead the fight to National.
3 more years of this
On Breakfast this morning, John Key said that losing a confidence vote “by definition, constitutionally means a snap election”. No. If a government loses the House’s support, then another one can be formed that does have Parliament’s support. Only if that cannot happen is there an election. Key has been PM for 3 years. He should know the basics.
Tolley Drops
The new cabinet is out, and the Biggest Loser is Anne Tolley.
The big win
The new government comprises the same parties as the previous one: National, ACT, United Future, and the Maori Party but with 64 votes, not 69. The governing parties’ total vote fell from 51.84% to 50.41%. Even the narrower Nat+ACT bloc fell. National’s ‘big win’ was just one more seat. And the most powerful man in the country now? Peter Dunne.
Right-whiner: Paula Bennett
Paula Bennett did pretty well in 2008, she won a seat that gave more party votes to Lab+Greens than Nat+ACT. But she was a bad MP. The electorate swung away from Nat+ACT and Bennett lost. But does she take it with grace? No she whines that Labour used “nasty and vicious” tactics like “mobilising the left” and getting out the vote on election day.
2c on the leadership
In the end it comes down to two questions. Are the public looking for a good bloke, or are they looking for a compelling politician? Which of the two can unite, motivate, and lead, the caucus and the wider party?
Labour leadership – have your say!
Tomorrow morning the Labour caucus will meet to vote on a new leader.
That means there’s just one day left for party member to have their say.
So email or phone your nearest labour MP and let them know who you want. It’s time for party members to own their party’s future.
The face of asset sales
Peter Dunne could stop the sale of our assets but he won’t.
Even though he didn’t campaign on selling them.
If he had it’s unlikely he’d have won his seat – let’s hope his constituents hold him accountable.
Open mike 12/12/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Sunday afternoon poetry
This is for anyone who’s struggled to keep up with the Labour leadership contest, whether currently at the Auckland meeting or not.
Open mike 11/12/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Right-wing Herald element goes OTT
John Armstrong’s column today – not yet on website – is extraordinary. “Elements on the left cried wolf about National having a secret agenda” Armstrong’s faux outrage is generated by the fact that National’s charter schools policy was not part of any election mandate, and some people have pointed this out. Funny how people on the left are always “elements” – couldn’t possibly have a mind of their own.
ImperatorFish: The Two Most Powerful Arguments They Can Muster
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
National seem to be backing Charter Schools on the premise that if the teachers don’t want them, they must be good.
I am going to miss the real Aaron Gilmore
The body of Aaron Gilmore will be leaving Parliament. However the divine rapture of the presence of “Aaron Gilmore for Prime Minister” will linger long after after that pretender to the name has gone.
Read the wisdom that is Facebook on the blessed one.
Caption contest
Carmel wins, Nats down 1, MMP to stay
Official Election results are out. Carmel Sepuloni takes Waitakere back for Labour by 11 votes, and National loses one seat to the Greens. MMP wins by a mile. Well done Carmel – I’m really glad she stays in Parliament. I don’t think a recount will change anything – I scrutineered the official count last election and the people doing it were very very careful.
The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency
Truth-Out content is licensed for redistribution, so I’m going to repost this excellent piece in its entirety. It’s long, but it’s worth it. Is Obama going to grow a pair at last?
Open mike 10/12/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Auckland candidates meeting moved
Due to the huge amount of interest in Sunday’s meet the leadership candidates meeting the venue has changed to a larger venue.
I can’t say that I am surprised. There have been more inches written about these meetings than any political meeting that I can remember since Orewa I, especially in the blogs.
American politics
Sometimes when I get depressed about NZ politics, I take a few deep breaths and reassure myself that at least it’s not American politics.
Weekend social 09/12/2011
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
Nats throwing the kitchen sink at Cunliffe
Nat masterminds Farrar and Slater are throwing it all into the anti-Cunliffe push. Farrar has a quote dredged up by the Nat research unit of Cunliffe in 2007 saying he doesn’t want to be PM because “it’s bastard of a job and I have a young family. I don’t think the two would go together.” “They must be older now” smirks Farrar. Yes, dumbarse. 7 years older by 2014.
A solution to the Bridgeman problem
I have a theory that the Herald employs Shelley Bridgeman et al as columnists only because, while a relatively small team of monkeys on typewriters could spit out much more cogent and insightful pieces well within deadline, the price of bananas these days makes it more economical to fill the space between ads with whatever dross these ‘writers’ throw-up. But, I have an alternative that benefits everyone.
ImperatorFish: Which Candidate Gets My Non-Vote?
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
Scott wants his say on the Labour leadership – even if he’s not sure who he’d vote for. But he’ll decide like many of us at the Sunday Meet the Candidates Meeting.
Disgraced again on climate change
To add insult to the injury of another wasted year on climate change, the government has taken the opportunity of the Durban conference not to make progress, but to disgrace us yet again.
Open mike 09/12/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
ImperatorFish: Not Irony #2
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
David Farrar is running National’s line that anything the teachers don’t want must be good for the education of our children…