Greg O’Bloody Connor is Labour’s candidate in Ohariu.
I don’t like cops getting involved in politics the way I don’t like military officers getting involved in politics. I also have concerns with the get tough on crime stuff Labour are indulging in with their political game of chicken against National in their Election rush to pump half a billion into the police force.
That said.
It’s a bloody smart move by Little and his ever broadening church.
This is how you win elections. The working class, the poor and migrant communities who bear the brunt of societal crime want to have their genuine fears addressed and a well known cop like O’Connor gives them the sense that their fears are being represented.
Add Willie Jackson’s Urban Maori support and these two on their own have the potential to lift Labour’s Party vote by 3.5% all on their own.
The incredibly talented Deborah Russell has won the candidacy in New Lynn. Her intelligence, personality and articulateness makes her Cabinet material and she is a future great for the Labour Party. She was joined by the affable and talented Paul Eagle, meaning Labour have added some real depth and scope in terms of their candidates.
Prior to this the Greens were looking like the only ones putting together an amazing pool of candidates, but these four new candidates by Labour have resonance with a wider electorate who haven’t been listening to the Labour Party for some time.
O’Connor has the added bonus of being a Union Boss in an electorate with more public servants than any other. O’Connor has huge pull with National voters, conservative Labour voters, NZ First Voters, hell even Greens could vote for him if O’Connor was vocal on his views towards cannabis reform. O’Connor could run circles around Dunne’s weak response to cannbais reform.
Labour are still in the running to change the Government in September.
Oh great, Labour has thrown its lot in with bigotry.
Cannabis reform or any other disqualifies bigotry
Labour haven’t got a snowflakes chance in hell of getting elected.
And putting agents of the fascist police state forward as candidates is hardly going to help. In fact, it may well turn voters off, since the NZ police have a well-established record of abusing the public of NZ and failing to respond when asked for help.
Actually, on second thoughts that probably makes a cop a perfect Labour candidate, since Labour has a well-established record of abusing the public of NZ and failing to respond when asked for help.
>> I don’t like cops getting involved in politics the way I don’t like military officers getting involved in politics. <<
Neither do I, but I pretty much agree with Bomber's take on this. Cops, like other gang members, tend to mellow with age, and can even become genuinely interested in being of service to the public. Also, an ex-cop, like any ex-public servant, has an ability to speak freely and publicly that they just don't have while the state is their boss. Just look at Ross Meurant's comments about the institutionalized paranoia of the NZ Police in the Operation 8 doco, or Tom Lewis's exposure of normalized police corruption in his book 'Coverups & Copouts', or the various former undercovers who have published whistleblowing books about their experiences.
Flushing Dunne is important for the same reason trying to stop ACT winning any electorate seats is important; it takes seats off a potential National coalition. Ohariu is a *very* socially conservative electorate. Dunne won the seat for Labour in 1984, thanks to Bob Jones splitting the National vote. Dunne left Labour in 1994, not long after his fellow neo-liberals Douglas, Prebble, and Caygill jumped ship. But unlike the other waka-jumpers who helped him form United (now United Future), he managed to hold the seat in the next election, and every election since. The only way Labour can defeat Dunne this year is with a candidate who is also an old, white man who doesn't spook conservative voters. Sad but true. Little and his team are swallowing a dead rat selecting O'Conner as a candidate, but they've chosen him for very good strategic reasons.
Lets give O’Connor a chance , he could have thrown his lot in with National , or ACT , but he didn’t. He chose Labour ,… perhaps because of his Police Union position , perhaps not..
Lets also not forget as a Union Boss ,… his first line of consideration is going to be the safety of his colleagues,… there’s some pretty mean and dangerous characters out there that the Police have to deal with that are not interested in giving a cheery wave and a ‘how do you do’ as the Police walk up their pathway to ask them a few questions…
Not always a job that’s always going to be a cakewalk and one that’s always going to please everybody all the time.
Wild Katipo, Martyn’s quote clearly shows why Labour has got it wrong with the Ohariu selection. O’Connor doesn’t come close to Chauval and Anderson, liberals who, but for the Green vote, could have taken the seat in previous elections. Predictably, Labour won’t even come close this election, even if the Greens don’t stand a candidate.
Heaps of people smoke cannabis, therefore heaps of people are considered criminals. I guess Labour thinks none of their supporters smoke cannabis. I guess Labour thinks the police were just angels under their rule.
The public, surely they’ll just do as they’re told on voting day … because everybody knows, voters couldn’t possibly have either long or short term memories.
None of the unions I’ve been in have ever had a union boss. There may be union leaders, or even bureaucrats, but calling them bosses is typical of the right. Has the writer of this post ever been in a union?
Choosing O’Connor shows that Labour would rather have the votes of redneck pakeha than do anything for workers. Once again.
Kia ora Ovicula.
I was a Union Delegate for the Northern Distribution Union for 2 years. In that time I led walkouts, and represented over 20 staff members in staff related industrial disputes and always worked hard to help build better working conditions for them.
Other than that I have always chosen to be a member of a Union when it was possible.So yes. I have been a member of various inions and I worked as a Union delegate for 2 years.
The term ‘union boss’ is used with Greg O’Connor because the Police Association is seen as quite a right wing organisation.
Broad church or bored church, where do we draw the line? O’Connor will stand in Ohariu, that is just one electorate, it does not represent the whole nation though. So I doubt that this rather socially conservative minded, crack down on crims hard talking former cop will be offering all that much to pull in a larger section of the votes.
And by the way, who is there, in Labour, going to get the usually rather apathetic, marginalised working poor and beneficiaries out to vote? Who is there to appeal to the younger voters?
Or are they now left on the sideline again, like in previous elections?
Over at The Standard, Andrew Geddis is defending Greg O’Connor’s record of premature support of police involved in shootings. Andrew claims that police shootings have been shown to be justfied.
Andrew’s obviously never heard of Halatau Naitoko. What about Paul Chase?
Andrew is doing his reputation no good at all.
Yes, crime disproportionately affects the working class, poor and marginalised…but to propose a ‘tough on crime’ response is still a right-wing solution that Thatcher would be proud of.
A left wing response to crime is to acknowledge that crime disproportionately affects the working class, poor and marginalised, but the solution is more economic equality and investment into rehabilitation. We should follow Norway’s justice system instead of USA’s.
Labour’s aim of putting more cops that the bottom of the cliff than National is a disgrace. It’s offensive to those of us who live in poorer areas – we don’t want more of a police state, we want an end to the drivers of crime. We don’t want better responses to crime, we want less crime.
This might work at the ballot box, but what’s the point of a Labour government who mimics National?
people will have mixed feelings on this….if you see police as your protector then “fine”….if you have had a bad experience with police and see them as your persecutor and victimiser….then “no”!!!
Little seems to be trying to make Labour a ‘law and order’ party
….lets hope he also brings those representing the underclass and most marginalised in New Zealand society into the Labour Party fold…afterall this is what the original Labour Party stood for…those most oppressed
Labour must stand aside for Hone Harawira and the Mana Party in the TTT Electorate and form some sort of alliance with them …as it has done with the Greens
Mana Party represents the original principles of the NZ Labour Party…working for those most oppressed and down trodden and vulnerable in New Zealand
Any chance TDB can score an interview or anything? It would be interesting to see O’Connor’s own opinions rather than everyone second-guessing what his stances are now that he’s a citizen in politics rather than a Police Union man.
+100…good idea
We used to have a half an hour discussion on TDB at 7 pm until about September last year. I miss that, it was actually a very useful kind of forum.
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