TAT LOO, like the ceremonial Chinese lion, is a potent mixture of playfulness and ferocity. Intelligent, articulate, passionate, politically impatient and singularly unwilling to suffer fools gladly, he set his sights on the Dunedin Labour Party about three years ago – and has only just run out of ammunition.
At a Special Formal Meeting of the Anderson’s Bay-Peninsula Branch of the Labour Party held in South Dunedin on Sunday afternoon (22/11/15) Loo and about twenty others announced that they were putting their controversially resurrected branch back into the constitutional limbo from which they had called it forth. Loo, himself, relinquished his executive role – but not before using-up us all his remaining shot and shell in a scathing farewell to a Labour Party he had, finally, despaired of reforming.
“Several of the current officers and LEC delegates of the ABP Branch have become deeply dissatisfied with the performance and direction of the Labour Party both locally and in Wellington and no longer wish to remain in their roles or continue supporting the party.” Loo explained in a posting on the Labour-aligned political blog, The Standard.
“Labour’s inability to be consistent in opposing the neoliberal/corporation-drafted Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the softening of the stance against the 90-day right to fire, the ethnically divisive and ineffective tactics against Chinese property buyers in Auckland, the voting for National’s inequitable and discriminatory social welfare reform legislation, and the support of National’s spying and anti-terrorism bill,” said Loo, “all point to a Labour Party which is now lost at sea but does not appear to recognise that fact.”
Loo’s conclusion was grim. “The palpable sense conveyed has been that apart from minor tinkering, there are no likely or viable prospects for positive, real progressive change coming from the Labour Party in the foreseeable future.”
The veteran political journalist, Richard Harman, writing on the POLITIK blog, suggested Loo’s departure was not something over which the Labour hierarchy was likely to lose much sleep: “In fact [President Nigel] Haworth and leader, Andrew Little, might well regard the move as a minor victory in their quest to make the party more relevant to mainstream New Zealand.”
According to Harman: “Anderson’s Bay was exactly the kind of left wing Labour branch which enabled Jeremy Corbyn to become leader of the British Labour party, a move which now threatens that party with divisiveness and possible electoral ostracism.”
This is nonsense. Corbyn was nominated by a clear plurality of “constituency organisations” – the equivalent of New Zealand Labour’s “LECs” (Labour Electorate Committees). The disaffection in British Labour extended throughout the entire party and its affiliated unions. Had support for Corbyn been restricted to a handful of left-wing branches, the 66-year-old backbencher could never have been elected.
New Zealand’s “Corbyn Moment” came three years ago at the 2012 annual conference held at Ellerslie in Auckland, when the party rank-and-file rebelled against the parliamentary caucus. It was around this time that Loo’s public profile began to grow, especially after his Standard pseudonym, “Colonial Viper”, was “blown” by Dunedin-based opponents of the Labour Left’s champion, David Cunliffe – of whom Loo was a strong and vocal supporter.
Indeed, it is almost certainly the “Peace of Palmerston North” – shorthand for the restoration of more-or-less cordial relations between the party rank-and-file and the parliamentary caucus that was plainly in evidence at the party’s 2015 annual conference held in Palmerston North earlier this month – that accounts for the timing of Loo’s decision to recess the Anderson’s Bay-Peninsula Branch.
After the long list of political “sins” detailed in his statement, Loo was clearly devastated by the party’s quiescent response to what he saw as the Caucus’s continuing perfidy. The “revolutionary moment” had clearly passed, and with it any good that the rebel Anderson’s Bay-Peninsula Branch might have hoped to achieve. The curious failure of David Cunliffe to fire in the 2014 election, and the catastrophic defeat it presaged, has reduced the Labour Left to a demoralised and thoroughly chastened rump.
Time to go. Loo’s parting shot was delivered with considerable accuracy at the Grant Robertson-led faction of the party, which, he believes, is slowly-but-surely gaining the upper-hand in the Little-led caucus. “We want no part of propping up the Thorndon Bubble careerist ‘pretend and extend’ set any further and will be moving on to new political projects.”
Like Mao Zedong, Tat Loo is gathering what remains of his revolutionary army and setting forth on his own “Long March” to Ya’nan.
Maybe NZF might be an option for him.
heh..!..i don’t think so..but nice try…
just to confirm that neolib-apologist/pimp harmon talks/ed absolute-shite..
‘According to Harman: “Anderson’s Bay was exactly the kind of left wing Labour branch which enabled Jeremy Corbyn to become leader of the British Labour party, a move which now threatens that party with divisiveness and possible electoral ostracism.”
the facts of the matter is that corbyn is now more popular than miliband was..
..and like his ideological-compatriot in america..bernie sanders..is growing in popularity day-by-day..
(and ‘ups!’ to ‘viper’..he is one of the more erudite commenters @ the standard..and is invariably on the money..
..and everything he said in that farewell is absolutely accurate..)
..the upcoming shadow-cabinet announcements..promoting the right-wing-financed stalking-horse stuart nash..which little will do..
..despite the exposes on current affairs shows..etc..(i.e. ‘story’ story on simon lusk..)
..this will likely be the final straw for me..
..that will confirm that little is a neoliberal ‘safe pair of hands’ for the ruling elites..
..he won’t spill/knock over their gravy-trains..
..he won’t do s.f.a. to end poverty/inequality..
..he will just continue to pander to those he has pandered to during his whole career leading the most rightwing of all the unions..(i think only libertarian-brotherhood is more rightwing than the engineers union..the alma mater of little..)
and during those nine years that clark studiously ignored/marginalised/stigmatised those one in four children in poverty..(‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy families’ being the mantra..remember..?)
..during that time did this union leader little ever use his platform as a union ‘leader’..(i use that term loosely..)..
..did he ever use that platform to speak out/up for those disposessed..?
..did he fuck..!
..not a word..not a whisper..
..little/the union movement in general for those nine long years for those one in four children/the poorest..said/did sweet fuck all..
..and thus exemplified what eventually destroyed/corrupted them..
..the self-interest on steroids..the ‘i’m all right jack..fuck everyone else!’..
..this is all that a little-led-labour will bring..
..more of that..more of the same..
..ever hear the word ‘poverty’ cross littles’ lips..?..yeah..nah..eh..?
..he lurches from reiterations of arbeit macht frei!..to his stumbling/lying dismissals of the poverty-busting/anti-austerity policies corbyn/sanders/trudeau are preaching..real policies of change/hope/fixing up what we have so seriously fucked up..
..little dismisses these seachanges on both sides of the atlantic..saying repeatedly ‘it’s different here!’..(lying-bastard..!..)
..it is exactly the fucken same here..30 years of this rightwing/neoliberal revolution has got us deep in the shit..(who the fuck can’t see that..?..oh..!..that’s alarming..!..little can’t..!)
..little is just promising to protect those elites/that neoliberal revolution..
..just more of the fucken same-old same-old..clarkist-redux..
..and that is nowhere near good enough..
..we need major u-turns in multiple-areas..
..and little ain’t it..
..the sooner he is rolled..the better..
..(and a warning for labour..should you carry on with this little-folly..you may well have happen to you in ’17 what has just happened to yr counterparts in canada..eh..?
..with turei/shaw playing the role of trudeau..
..think on that one..
..if they have the smart-policies people are/will be thirsting for..and still-neoliberal little-labour is just offering more of that same-old same-old shite..
..labour will be fucken toast…eh..?
Tl;dr. You hate boner for little is getting out of control. You should put your pecker away. Seriously. It is hard to read, and needs some simtex.
Its true that there is no left. Its either right where labour sits, or extreme right where Nation sit with all the cults and sudo racists. Then your either on the extreme left or right.
Actually doing the left thing, making health, education, housing and retirement strong again, is really difficult with the exchange rates the way they are. Said in another way, we’ve turned over the original universal basic income guarantee to the private sector. Which is a one way street. Once sold, it stays private.
Honestly. It’s going to take a better man than NZ can produce to create equality for all again.
‘hate’ is such a strong word..
..i don’t ‘hate’ andrew little..i don’t know andrew little..he seems to like domestic-pets..so he can’t be all bad..
..i just happen to strongly disagree with his dragging labour even further to the right..
..and for his clear continued support for/of the neoliberal-shite we have endured for the last decades..from both the tories and labour..
..it’s not the personal..it’s the political..eh..?
..and in fact i supported little in that contest he won..
..since then i have only had reason to regret that support..(don’t ask me who would have been better..i look at them..and despair..)
..and i couldn’t disagree more with your wringing of hands/claims nothing can be done..that it’s too late..
..um..!..no it isn’t..and yes it can..
I’m sure Key fan boys get buyers remorse. But Hoskings hard on for keys is so great we could make a space elevator out of it. So after the rumour mills work its magic we take polls. It’s good we have the TDB to give us no bullshit assessment
Is Hosking still beating John Key’s drum, have given up watching any TV these days?
No idea. Even the promo-ads for Seven Sharp irritate me with their teenage-level of puerileness…
Where is a link to evidence that Corbyn’s popularity is growing?
Do you get paid for these comments Gosman?
u ask 4 evidence on how corbyn is going..?
..here ya go..fill yer boots…
http://www.whoar.co.nz/?s=jeremy+corbyn
you shouldn’t quote yourself. you aren’t wikipedia. you are even less legible. corbyn is sunk. face it.
Really, Nessalt?
Hmmm, we might as well do away with elections then, I guess. For you have seen the future and you have spoken…
This link suggests the opposite has occurred in relation to Corbyn’s popularity
http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/jeremy-corbyns-popularity-plummets-after-paris-attacks/
Good lord, Gosman! You did some research!!
Do you agree with the findings then Frank?
heh..!..’research’ from a rightwing-rag..that has three other specific corbyn hate-pieces in the sidebar..plus two more hate-labour pieces..
fact:..corbyn has been strident in his opposition to tory plans to cut the police budget..and tory plans to cut income supplements from millions of people already struggling..(tax-credits)//
..just today osborne/the tories have u-turned on both of those..
..two more victories for corbyn..
I don’t mind if you provide some counter facts. Simply claiming he is becoming more popular with each day is not really acceptable. I could equally claim he is becoming more like the father from Steptoe and son every day.
did you miss the link showing him now polling better than miliband did..?
And I provided a link suggesting Labour now has less support than under Milibrand. What is clear is that there is not a consistent positive trajectory for Labour under Corbyn.
That’s weird you say that because Corbyn was elected Labour leader with more votes than Miliband.
So yeah. Your still an idiot.
Gosman links to a poll immediately after a major terrorist attack.
Everybody laughs.
No, The Standard is not a Labour aligned blog. It’s a Left blog.
You should know better than continuing to spread the lies of the right-wing Dirty politics machine.
Well, it has to be left aligned, doesn’t it?
If it was exclusively a Labour ghetto it would consist mostly of tumbleweeds and empty chairs.
Don’t understand why you got so many down votes for telling the truth. The Standard is NOT a Labour-aligned political blog. Don’t know why people think because a blog is left is has to be an arm of the Labour Party, when that is not the case. The Daily Blog for instance, is a left blog, and the Labour Party has nothing to do with it.
TheStandard I agree is not “Labour” but in my experience not so much “Left” as Leftish”. If you wanted the views of libertarians supporting the “identity” sectors and demanding absolute subservience to PC101 they are there. Old Marxists, there too. Chardonnay socialists too as well. It’s an eclectic Church.
What I concluded was that as a mirror of the Right and a reflection of NZ society there’s a nasty streak that demands compulsion and obesiance be found amongst Standard bloggers. Theres no unity by way of acceptance and tolerance in the Left. CV by way of volume is as culpable of this as the rest.
I’ve been there the entire time that The Standard has been online and have never seen that. I disagree with pretty much everyone there on some points and agree with them on other points. As can be expected by, as you say, an eclectic bunch.
Hmmm, I’m not on there as much as I’d like to (pesky work committments, and stuff), but I have to agree with Draco that if there is “a nasty streak that demands compulsion and obesiance be found amongst Standard bloggers “, I must’ve missed it…
Interesting…
TAT LOO, like the ceremonial Chinese lion, is a potent mixture of playfulness and ferocity.
I like that . And for all intents and purposes , what he stood for I like even more. Except for the ability of foreigners to radically manipulate our housing markets…
But that is my own nationalistic fervor speaking… it seems this ‘Lion ‘ had his head firmly screwed on , it is a shame that those who are bold and stand for things that oppose the neo liberal agenda in this country are soon marginalized by the neo liberal right in the Labour party – to which there are far too many.
That has been mine and thousands of others main criticism of this party.
Interesting also that Loo fired a salvo at Robertson… this chap can see these neo liberals for what they are.
Mr Little…your job may have become a little easier by Loo’s demise but the temporary reprieve you get from that means you will pay a huge price in the long term by ignoring such men and women with conscience.
Politics is war. And doves have their place but in dire circumstance you need a Lion to clear the deck and provide the way forward. No one ever won a war by agreeing with their enemy’s in compliant servitude.
Yeah, maybe politics is war. But if you turn round and attack those who at base might have been considered your natural allies, who do you resemble most: the allies in WW11 or ISIS in Syria.
There will be disagreements in tactics and even sometimes on what constitutes a worthwhile target, but the lines of demarcation, despite so many assertions to the contrary on this site, between Right and Left-leaning views are far more clearly etched than you will allow in your ferocious, passionate intensity.
The fact is that there are good arguments to support moves towards free trade, however ring-fenced and attenuated the agreement at hand. There are also good reasons to support extra provisions, no matter how inadequate, from an unenthusiastic National government, rather than simply blocking them.
Sometimes it can be argued the other way. People hold differing views on strategy. There are no bumper sticker solutions. So, in my view, unforgiving, self righteous certainty about any proposition is actually the national flag for naive ignorance, not revolutionary purity of purpose.
The only way forward must surely be to start with the belief that our comrades, ALL our comrades, are not back-sliding traitors to the cause.
What did you expect from Harman, though? Another one of the governmental “in” club
Loo is better to leave Labour, to let them carry on being a Tory party lite in all but name. I don’t see why people bother with it anymore.
And I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a NZ JC to appear any time soon……..
For some weird reason he won’t leave the Labour Party though.
There’s not much to be said about the substance of this post. Much earlier this year, Tat Loo set out in no uncertain terms that he would spend the year attempting to harm/punish the NZLP for not being what he wanted.
When he does engage online, he can get pretty abusive. No moreso than some of the commenters on TS who have much stronger/deeper Labour ties, but pretty abusive nonetheless. While I liked a lot of the strong policy being proposed by the ABP branch and regularly publicised by Tat, he does share the habit of telling people who don’t agree with him to “f*ck off” pretty quickly.
Finally, I’m not sure he would appreciate the clumsy orientalist analogies.
Chris, you’re as delusional as Tat.
“The curious failure of David Cunliffe to fire in the 2014 election, and the catastrophic defeat it presaged, has reduced the Labour Left to a demoralised and thoroughly chastened rump.”
That’s right, DC carried the flag and was a truly miserable leader. This is why we can’t have nice things like socialism. I am sad he tainted the project that was taking Labour beyond our 1984 incarnation.
But was it that curious? Quite predictable I thought. He was surrounded by yes-people who fed his messiah complex. He was a late convert to democratic socialism, and I think utterly insincere in it. No one believed it, especially the media.
I don’t know how you expected any caucus demoralised by years of leaks and infighting from DC’s lot to respect him enough to lead them. On top of that, he was a dry in the Clark years. What converted him? He’s never said. I suspect it was convenient populist (with the newly enfranchised members) clothing.
I get that caucus should serve the party. Practically though, it is a lot easier when they respect and trust that person. Why hasn’t DC the trust of those he worked with? Ideology has been overplayed when explaining this. It is much more base. They simply dislike and distrust him.
Chris, I feel your hatred of Grant Robertson clouds your analysis. I hope you recognise that when Little refuses to go further left and Grant’s ‘young and the restless’ do want to go there. Little is a natural small-c conservative. He’s steadied the ship, but don’t expect a revolution any time soon.
I suspect that’s what Tat has discovered. What he hasn’t done is recognise that it is Little’s natural risk aversion, not some Grant ploy, keeping Labour centre (or quiet).
And if ‘the Thorndon Bubble’ are on the rise, it’s because Annette, Grant and Jacinda are competent politicians and clear communicators. Why aren’t the other factions producing any sustainable talent? Sepuloni has been MIA, Henare apparently has said he’ll leave Labour if it doesn’t promote him fast enough (and keep him there) and DC’s backers have shrivelled this term.
My hope is that the affiliates can get their shit together and bring through some talented, left-wing socialists with high enough EQs. Chances are, they, too, will gravitate to the centre-left faction. Not because of ideology, but because that’s where the talented team players go. It’s that, or the lazy and the crazy, or the Right.
Grant Robertson is a gutless incompetent self serving career politician. So is Jacinda Ardern. I agree Annette King is capable of delivering as a minister. As she is not allergic to work . They are all neo liberals out to feather their own nests. Ardern and Robertson are gross underachievers.
I will never vote Labour again. Maori need to walk away from Labour. So do Pasifika. They are the heart and soul of Labour and need Robertson, Ardern and King like we all need a dose of the plaque.
You make politics sound like a business…
Chris is right in so far as Tat won’t be missed by party members, who saw him (fairly or not) as a narcissist. His branch has maybe 20 active members, and at best maybe a dozen of them actually buy into his project, yet when you spoke to him about ABP he would talk as if it was the vanguard of the bloody proletariat.
The fact Tat and his crew weren’t even at the party conference in Palmerston North says it all. He has all day to sit on The Standard and abuse the Labour Party for not being left enough but doesn’t even bother to engage in the party’s democratic processes.
To me it raises serious questions when someone storms out of a party on the grounds that they don’t agree with its policies, yet don’t even bother to put up a single policy proposal, one lousy amendment, or even show up on the debating floor to make their case.
Tat Loo is no lion, he’s an armchair revolutionary.
Agree with you Puzzled.
“There’s not much to be said about the substance of this post.”
That might be because you don’t understand it. And you know what that might mean?
Or it might be because Chris’ analysis of CV is not built from years of observing him day in and day out on The Standard and (a long time ago) Red Alert. Chris himself has said he never visits the Standard. If he did he would realise that Puzzled’s analysis above is just about bang-on.
Or it might mean that Chris has, as he is prone to, engaged in a whole lot of romantic historical analogies without taking a critical and informed view of CV’s recent behaviour within the Labour Party (see my comments, those of Puzzled, others), and that the substance may in fact be lacking.
As others have pointed out, CV isn’t even leaving the Labour Party (or at least refuses to say he will do so). That alone throws Chris’ headline out the door. Now if CT can’t get that very basic point right, is there any reason to doubt the comprehensiveness of his analysis in the article?
Methinks you are so used to having sycophants up-vote your semi-unhinged “angryman” rants that you’ve cast genuine analysis aside.
Shame about the post title. Tat isn’t marching out of Labour at all. His fiefdom has collapsed, but Tat apparently has no intention of leaving Labour. If you want a Maoist equivalent, what you are looking for is Paper Tiger.
Yep, that headline is completely wrong. Funny how Tat refuses to leave the Labour Party he detests so much.
Yet despite what pollies say, New Zealand is struggling
Bruce Lee once said more money does not fix money problems
This is great news for the Labour Party and the left generally. A clear sign the cancer is in remission. We may actually get elected one day!
Dream on…….
“Like Mao Zedong, Tat Loo is gathering what remains of his revolutionary army and setting forth on his own “Long March” to Ya’nan.”
What a bizarre comment, Chris, you are almost as bad as that Labour Party Tat Loo is critical of.
“CV” (“Colonial Viper”) has been a long time commentator and poster on The Standard, and while I could never agree with all his views and comments, I actually share a fair few of his.
He is absolutely right with his criticism of Labour, and I support Tat for daring to speak out and up re the hypocrisy, the blunders, the dullness and strange, hopeless tactics or strategies that the party’s leadership follow and now cling to.
Labour will indeed remain the 25 to 33 percent party, if things continue as they have. A “Corbyn moment” could have saved Labour, had enough in caucus seen the light, but they chose not to, that is most, and continue to seize hold of the party as a whole and drag it along, as the “softer” version of a “middle ground party” like “National Light”, a shade less useless and neoliberal as the Key Party we have.
Tat may find some like-minded and found a new party, I will be one of the first who will consider joining it, provided it stands for truly progressive and sensible policies, which Labour once did.
I agree, MIA
We don’t need another party on the left. You could argue that there are too many already. One of them needs to stand above the others and be the rallying point for voters. It won’t be Labour. “truly progressive and sensible policies” could well describe what a Green/Mana government would offer.
How’s Corbyn going in the UK?
He’s doing well.
How you doin’?
Do you actually know something worth repeating goose? Every other time you comment you read like a complete idiot.
I should say, all uk poles are updated after the rumour mills. Remember when the poles said sanders would lose and the media saying, sanders had no chance of becoming Labour leader? They where wrong. Being wrong goes right back to Blair, you and mainstream media made some bold predictions that aren’t worth listening to. Put your question mark away
+1 Mike in Auckland. In addition I think Labour is in danger of losing the 25% – 33% vote they currently have by their refusal to say NO to TPP.
Labour seems to have zero interest in public service or the views of their voters. See Nash comments to get an insight on their views. Also had a look at Clare Currans FB page, any comments about TPP she does not even bother to answer. After I put it on The Standard yesterday she deleted them completely. This is supposedly the woman in Labour that supports TPP and also
She is their Clare is Associate Spokesperson Communications and IT, Regional Development and Economic Development (Procurement)
Chair of the ICT Committee of the Parliamentary Service
but does not engage with social media.
Comments from her voters (now deleted from her FB).
“Marnie Reid Clare Curran, I believe you are a good honest kiwi, and I see your passion, but Labour really needs to take a stand on Tppa ,
If I, a mother from Otago can work out its a corporate takeover why can’t people in Labour see that, or is it now with your high paying jobs just a matter of shoring yourself up and then leaving the working class to flounder??… Our kids future, our wonderful country, this is serious!
Like · Reply · 7 · November 9 at 12:51pm
Sally Randell
Sally Randell How can New Zealand Labour Party and Andrew Little spout on about creating more jobs when the TPPA and TISA will ruin any hope of that !! If Labour opposes the TPPA, you will gain far more voters for 2017 and you might even save your own jobs, coz TPP…See More
Like · Reply · 2 · November 9 at 2:18pm
Marnie Reid
Marnie Reid And one more thing , why can’t the Labour Party really take notice of the Scandinavian Countries and mimic them, they seem to be doing so much better in so many ways( not perfect, but….) instead of heading down the plug hole with the USA, I don’t know much about history but I have heard about the Roman Empire and how that ended
Like · Reply · 2 · November 9 at 3:27pm · Edited
Tom Ang
Tom Ang Godd on yer, Marnie. Speak up and kick a**!
Like · Reply · 1 · November 9 at 6:45pm”
Important questions people are asking Labour and just being sidelined on.
Will they vote for her next time?
Labour seem incapable of admitting they are wrong so are voters going to dish out the punishment again but even more?
I don’t always agree with Tat Loo’s conclusions, but I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times a few years back. He behaved as one would expect of an honourable gentleman and I was impressed with him as a person. It seems to me the bulk of the nasty vitriol emanated from his local [Labour] enemies… as evidenced by the appalling and humiliating treatment meted out to David Cunliffe’s wife during the 2013 leadership contest.
I don’t know anything about the appalling and humiliating treatment…. what went on.
“Like Mao Zedong, Tat Loo is gathering what remains of his revolutionary army and setting forth on his own “Long March” to Ya’nan.”
Comrade Trotter indulges in hero worship of the greatest mass murderer in history.
[Harry, be careful of attributing comments to authors that they did not make. That borders of mischief-making/trolling, and I won’t have a bar of it. – ScarletMod]
Methinks you are attributing a sentiment to Chris that exists only in your febrile imagination.
This should have been a ‘wake up’ call for Labour instead other Labour mainstream abused him and told him they were better off without him. His crime seems to be advocating winning policy that he was trying to get Labour to implement like being clearly against TPP. Personally this post shows clearly what is going wrong in Labour.
In some sort of bizarre mis direction many claimed Labour appeared too ‘left wing’. The Neoliberal Labourites did such a great job that Hooton and other right wing commentators didn’t even need to comment much, the Labourites did the neoliberal mantra for them!
You would think is is CRYSTAL CLEAR by now, Labour are appearing too ‘right wing’ not in the middle! They lost the election because they combined right wing foreign neoliberal economic policy with higher taxes for the middle classes! That is not LEFT wing policy that is STUPID policy. Labour are more RIGHT than NZ First on most issues!
Instead of raising taxes maybe the opposition needs to start looking at corporate welfare and how much tax these companies are paying in this country. Corporations in some cases are paying nothing or very little tax on huge profits.
But again that does not fit in with neoliberalism, where workers all sweat and toil for the benefit of benevolent business and the ‘greater good’ and then we get the ‘trickle down’ and ‘more jobs’.
Post Neoliberalism in NZ and around the world we now have less jobs, lower wages, less taxes from companies and from the fewer jobs and greater inequality.
Neoliberalism will not create more jobs and does not sound like a good plan for Labour especially now opening up offshoring of government and council jobs via TPP and unchecked economic profiteering in NZ but all sounds fine to politicians isn’t it?
The other point I will make regarding why Labour has lost last election (and put in neoliberal terms so maybe Labour can understand it)
In the business world there is a mantra and that is, it is easier to retain an existing customer than than to find a new one. In fact it costs something like 9 times more for a business to get a new customer than maintain an existing one.
The same applies for voting.
Labour simply does not value its existing voters. They want to compete with the Natz or Mana for those ‘new voters’. They are so busy and focused pandering to these new voters that they forgot about their existing ones.
All through these left wing blogs where most people are more likely to vote Labour a significant portion are complaining about Labour policy and direction in particular TPP.
Instead of looking to capture those voters and views to Labour, the party faithful instead seeks to abuse, devalue and claim they are better off without them and are not going to go in that direction.
Might I suggest that Labour is ignoring the CLEAR gap between NACT policy and the Greens.
Tau Loo are in that gap, (he seems not left enough for Green) but violently against NACT policy? Who does he vote for next time, nobody or NZ First?
He could be still voting Labour! Why alienate him? It makes zero sense to me?
It is not Tau Loo throwing his toys out, it is the powers within Labour along with valuable existing Labour Votes!
I’m happy if Labour focuses on it’s existing voters. Please concentrate on keeping the 25% of the Electorate that bothered to vote.
Gosman, 25% of the vote is 25 times better than the 0.69% your part (ACT) won at the last election. And even the sole electorate seat your party scored was gifted to you courtesy of National.
With a recent Roy Morgan Poll (October 26 – November 8) putting Labour at 29.5% and ACT at 0.5%, I think you need to look in your own back yard first. (http://www.roymorgan.com/morganpoll/new-zealand/voting-intention-summary)
Don’t you?
Will never likely be voting for Labour again because of their attacks on the Greens and other opposition parties. Hold them responsible for the defeat that left us with at least 3-6 years more of John Key.
Their election campaign sucked, and the billboards should have explained why to vote against National, rather than just said ‘vote for x’, which encouraged no-one. Labour could have won with witty lines like ‘Keep the Key out of the Keyhole’. :/
What a load of crap! This is prefaced on the fact Cunliffe and Loo were the left wing candidates (wrong) rather than the opportunists they where. Chris , you ignore the fact that Tat’s candidate (Andrew Little) won the Labour leadership. Perhaps the so called Grant Robertson-led faction of the caucus are truly united with the new leadership (no doubt, no evidence otherwise), thus when combined with fact that they tend to be where the talent is concentrated. I for one am happy to see Labour rising in the polls.
I always liked the ol’ Viper Pilot. Hope he finds a new political vehicle to carry on the fight.
He’s still wrong about one thing though: Glenn Greenwald is a manipulated stooge (probably unwittingly) for the libertarian nutjob Pierre Omidyar, and the Snowden docs will be used for an anti-statist faux-libertarian agenda that far outstrips any likely scrutiny on the private sector’s role in the administration of a violent globalist plutocracy. Don’t matter what political party you vote for while those folks keep getting their way. Omidyar’s publication won’t be contributing to the enlightenment or emancipation of the masses.
I don’t really care about Labour’s internal politics or who did or said what. But as someone who thinks of themselves as an old-fashioned social democrat, it seems to me that what Mr Loo has said (quoted in the article) is correct. Labour has patently failed to articulate a vision that is not National-Lite. Vote Labour and get more of the same? No thanks.
You guys can argue the finer points till the cows come home, but on their current trajectory Labour will be consigned to another 3 years – and perhaps forever – in the wilderness come 2017. Elites may allow Labour to govern when National looks tired and needs replenishing but the evidence strongly suggests they will only maintain a holding pattern until the ‘natural party of government’ is ready to return to power.
The problem for us lesser mortals is that this singular lack of an alternative means we’re screwed. Low wages, a shredded safety net, poor or non-existent worker protections, trade agreements that protect corporates rather than the public interest: all have become the new normal. I’d walk away from the Labour party too if I was anywhere near it.
@Donna +100
The difference is that some like yourself have totally walked away from Labour but others are trying to bring Labour back pre 1984 to their social democrat roots and away from Nat LIte policy for the greater good of getting the Natz out.
Sometimes we get a morsel that Little is trying to do this, (his party speech) but then it is negated by the next minute (we will probably stay in TPP anyway). You get Cunliffe with his speech against the dirty politics that was really well received, then you get Nash in TDB saying he will renounce any principal to win and that he doesn’t work for ‘left wing nut jobs” etc
So is Labour, old Labour or New Labour. Personally I think that the New Neoliberal Labour should be the ones forced out they are ACT (far right), the pre 1984 Labour brand is old Labour. (centre left).
But while Labour are trying to maintain both positions they are prey to the Natz, MSM and their existing voters who are not prepared to vote Nat Lite and are angry about the hijacking of the Labour brand to Roger Douglas’s ACT (which only got about 5% of votes NOT popular). Even the Natz are pretending to be Labour now.
Labour needs to stop pretending to be the centre and start being the centre. That is the missing gap!! TPP is for the rich and exploitation, nobody believes in trickle down, it has led to more inequality and climate change!!!!!
So Donna, why should Labor not take up leadership from the absolute Center of the political spectrum under the slogan of “People’s Capitalism and defined by moving towards at least a minimally meaningful level of personal (retirement) wealth ownership by all citizens eventually, and easily initiated by amending the “Cullen” NZ Super Fund to be permanent, with contributions to be resumed through the taxation system to Personal Accounts ?
To speed up the process, re-introduce the $1000.- Kiwi Saver kick-start by universal auto-enrolment of all those not having received it yet – from “cradle to grave(!)” , including new-born babies, and seniors who originally did not qualify for it.
With this $1000.- kick-start as a “sleeping KS Account invested within the NZSF it does not cost anyone a cent extra, and requires the reservation of less than $3billion within the $30 billion NZSF for that purpose.
Vigorous rational discussion on the pros and cons of all that might open up a new era of co-operative socio-economic politics in the world, and the elimination of poverty.
Labour needs to reacquaint itself with the “missing million voters” I am sure they are not all National Party voters, otherwise the result would have been even worse.
1. A lazy MP leads a sloppy electorate organisation because an active well run one can be an occasional challenge. This is a common scenario. A key indicator of this scenario is unpaid levies. It usually means most branches are moribund. The MP or a close servant will assist with filing annual returns and such like for the “paper branches”.
2. Members get frustrated with the lack of political relevance of the electorate’s meetings. This is a common scenario. Most drift away and get on with life. Some go to the Greens or worse. Many remain Financial Members and show up at Election time only.
3. Members get frustrated and decide to try to up the game in the electorate. Decent MPs see this as a good thing and harness the energy. Some MPs see it as a threat and get paranoid.
4. Keen members set up a new branch to retain/entertain/engage those who enjoy the energy of politics.
5. Paranoid MP throws a hissy fit. Then they run to whomever is looking for their vote at the NZ Council or in the next leadership battle. Grant gives a empathetic cuddle. Cunliffe is blamed.
6. Keen members are accused of standing in the way of Labour winning the next election.
7. NZ Council makes the expulsion of these members an urgent matter.
8. Grant tells Clare she is safe to run a sloppy electorate.
9. Clare promises undying fealty to Grant.
10. Order is restored.
11. National win the next election.
The Anatomy of failure
1. A lazy MP leads a sloppy electorate organisation because an active well run one can be an occasional challenge. This is a common scenario. A key indicator of this scenario is unpaid levies. It usually means most branches are moribund. The MP or a close servant will assist with filing annual returns and such like for the “paper branches”.
2. Members get frustrated with the lack of political relevance of the electorate’s meetings. This is a common scenario. Most drift away and get on with life. Some go to the Greens or worse. Many remain Financial Members and show up at Election time only.
3. Members get frustrated and decide to try to up the game in the electorate. Decent MPs see this as a good thing and harness the energy. Some MPs see it as a threat and get paranoid.
4. Keen members set up a new branch to retain/entertain/engage those who enjoy the energy of politics.
5. Paranoid MP throws a hissy fit. Then they run to whomever is looking for their vote at the NZ Council or in the next leadership battle. Grant gives a empathetic cuddle. Cunliffe is blamed.
6. Keen members are accused of standing in the way of Labour winning the next election.
7. NZ Council makes the expulsion of these members an urgent matter.
Grant tells Clare she is safe to run a sloppy electorate.
Clare promises undying fealty to Grant.
8. Order is restored.
9. National win the next election.
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