So Labour have slapped the Greens in the face by cutting them out of the Intelligence review and by disrespecting Metiria.
The middle who Labour are chasing love authority, they see National Security as the high alter of respectability and allowing the smaller parties to review the illegal, mass surveillance spying, American interest serving intelligence agencies might make the middle uneasy.
The decision is extraordinary for three reasons. The first is that Labour are the Party who have suffered most at the hands of the Intelligence Community. In 2011, the PMs Office colluded and instigated the falsification of information with the Secret Intelligence Service to smear Phil Goff months out of the 2011 election. To give that very same agency 24 hour warrantless spying is gobsmacking, sucking up to the establishment after the establishment have committed the worst abuse of political power in NZs history seems twee.
The second reason spitting in the Greens face for the middle voter is extraordinary is because it sends a crystal clear signal that Labour will always try and screw the Greens if they can and the risk is Labour will form a minority Government with NZ First to lock the Greens out of power again. This means the Greens really have to look at 15% and Labour need to poll 36% for the possibility of a true Green-Labour Government. Only then will Labour allow others to play in their sandpit. Seeing the way Labour slit MANA’s throat in Te Tai Tokerau, even though MANAs 1.4% would have robbed National of their ACT majority, the future of real co-operation between the Greens and Labour looks frail at best.
The third reason this decision is extraordinary is because Little argues he put David Shearer in instead of the Greens because Shearer is better qualified. This is the same David Shearer who Key claimed in Parliament had come to see him in secret while Shearer was still Labour leader to cut a deal on the GCSB legislation. While Shearer was appearing at protest speeches against the GCSB mass surveillance laws, he was also privately talking to Key to cut a deal on the law. How that person of all people will give greater oversight than the Greens would is an absolute mystery. He was prepared to sell Labour out on mass surveillance, why trust him now?
The Key allegation against Shearer has never been denied by Labour.
Locking the Greens out from oversight on the Intelligence Review when those agencies have been so corrupt is 50 shades of bullshit.
Well Martyn when we’re you last on the ground in Iraq, Bosnia, Liberia, Somalia, Lebanon, Gaza, Afghanistan etc. not recently then. I’m pretty sure no one in the Green Party has either. Instead of whining do your homework.
Don’t think John Key and anyone from National has been on the ground. There’s definitely been Green Party members in Gaza, as I met one.
Labour continue to cut their own throats. They will merely “use” the Greens at their “convenience”. The Greens might do well to cut themselves loose, remain dignified and stand on their own feet.
David Shearer was to me a wrong choice for leader of labour.
Oh sure he knew a lot about foreign aid and hardships abroad.
But the proof of knowledge of provincial hardship was abismall to say the least.
For instance, when we in HB asked him to come to HB and Gisborne to help fight for our communities sagging economies, and our lost rail service which was killing our competitiveness, he shied away and sacked Phil Twyford who had come to Gisborne to see our problems, and replaced Phil with Iain Lees Galloway who refused to attempt to ever come to Gisborne afterward at our request.
This clearly shows Shearers lack of understanding for the provincial hardships and issues affecting these remote areas of NZ, and subsequently we think he only knew more about the remote areas of overseas and was not interested in our remote areas at all.
He had better now get involved and help Labour’s new Napier MP Stuart Nash as we need all the help we can get considering that I the latest NZ Household survey Gisborne was ratted as the second highest unemployed in the country now.
Of course Labour will never back the Greens or play fair. Isn’t that how Little came to be the leader – his support for TPPA, support for illegal spying by GCSB, Sis, cops, ‘understands big business’ (according to Boag), interested int he middle not the left (e.g. Greens, Mana) etc. He thinks Maori are to be patronised and a Maori woman not as good as a white male. He had/s a lot of support from NATs to get this leader position. He’s only another neocon in red clothing. The press are also playing fair with him which makes him look better than he is. Ah the games they all play.
Yep he,s just another yawn fest, ‘stand for nothing’ and an ass licking, neocon….
Why does anyone who leans left still vote Labour?
They began our neo liberal experiment in 1984 with a massive betrayal of the electorate, and they haven’t changed. The Rogernomes are still in charge of Labour.
They’re just National Lite. They’re not actually left at all.
Because at the moment there is simply no populist left alternative
I beg to differ. The Greens look pretty popular.
Sorry.They dont. They are not. Norman has left and labour ignores them.
11% of those who voted would disagree with you. That’s not a small minor party, that’s a sizeable minor party.
Who has slightly less charisma than two dead snapper?
If David Shearer was the answer, what on earth was the question? Well the question might be “Who would pay a contractor they employed faster than Andrew Little?”
Is the unpaid contractor story the one you’re running with to distract the public from the shonky Sky City convention centre deal? Or is it meant to hog headline space from National’s war-mongering efforts to appease John Key’s masters in the US?
Try harder Dan. You efforts are so transparent a blind man could see through them.
You will find my opposition to the Sky City deal (and praise for those that opposed it) in another column on this site. As for the above post, it was simply a (possibly feeble) attempt at humour.
You caught me in a humourless mood and this medium doesn’t allow much in the way of nuance when it comes to humour or sarcasm.
I’d prefer to focus on what I see as far larger issues (regardless of who is involved, left or right) like Sky City or ISIS. Let’s not be distracted by a small-scale issue that has conveniently arisen at a time when we need to maintain concentration on far more important matters.
Gotta admit it’s a bad look not paying a bill when due ! Sky City untidy too mind you but different principals in question. What was Little thinking ?
It seems that Labour has once again failed to learn the lessons of its epic electoral drubbing. A contemptible act, but pretty much what you’d expect from Labour’s ‘Old Blues’. Direct action against Labour would be appropriate. If I’d wanted to live under the KGB I’d’ve moved to Russia.
[…] When you look at the direction Little is taking Labour as leader, perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise though. Labour need to win the middle and while doing so could cost them the Left, that doesn’t seem to be much of a concern for Labour. Seeing the manner in which Labour worked with NZ First, Maori Party and John Key to oust Hone from Te Tai Tokerau, the activist Left seems to be a threat to Labour that they intend to kill off rather than work with. […]
Which might make sense in a realpolitik kind of way – except that Labour’s ‘chase the middle and shit on the left’ strategy doesn’t seem to have delivered them much over 25% of the vote.
Of all the parties Labour makes me the angriest. They have the potential to change the government, but my god how can anyone keep voting for them with their arrogance, stupidity and petty behaviour. I want to support them but they keep showing why I didn’t vote for them.
They really are NationalLite.
Looking at the election results, the parties that grew their votes from last election, were Internet Mana, Conservatives, and NZ First.
The parties lost the most votes, were Labour and Maori and Act.
People are looking for alternatives to NATLab.
Maybe Labour needs to realise why they have no friends apart from Key off again, on again, Bromance. At least Key has alliances. Labour is too stupid, arrogant and unreliable to even understand why they should be forming alliances.
We need to give Labour a chance to capture the muddle sleepy hobbit ground as the right wingers all own the media.
This is going to be a mammoth task with the odds stacked against Labour with no voice now inside our taxpayers public media.
NZ First is hanging in there well so I also agree with FREMANNZ that some here are diverting the spotlight away from the real culprit here we know as FJK and his slimy dealings and love for dirty politics again as Joyce goes after Andrew for a late bill payment what a stretch what about FJK using taxpayers funds again in an attempt to reach another deal with Sky city but failed!
This should still be a hot topic.
“some here are diverting the spotlight away from the real culprit here” I dont think so. Sky City – big own goal. Zero labour contracts – just wrong. Little not paying a contractor – a giggle for a day then gone.
[…] to Metiria means the Intelligence Agencies will be given a free ride rather than genuine oversight. Shearer tried to secretly cut a deal with Key on the GCSB legislation. While he was publicly turning up to meetings to denounce the law, he was also privately meeting […]
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