All In The Family: Labour’s president keeps the media out of his party’s annual conference

By
Chris Trotter
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42
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PROFESSOR NIGEL HAWORTH has a peculiar view of the Labour Party. Justifying the exclusion of the news media from most of its annual conference to the NZ Herald’s Claire Trevett, the party’s president explained that its proceedings needed to be kept “in the family”. Putting to one side the obvious fact that a political party is nothing like a family, the professor’s words raise some pretty alarming issues. Families that shut their doors and draw their curtains against the outside world are often trying to hide something. So, what is it that Labour is trying to hide, Professor? Something shameful? Something ugly? Both?

Paradoxically, what Haworth and the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Little, are trying to hide isn’t in the least bit shameful or ugly. Free and frank political debate is the declared objective of the media ban. “We want people to be able to speak freely and frankly and be reported appropriately”, was the way Haworth put it to Trevett.

Curiously, the Herald journalist did not challenge Haworth’s implication that she and her colleagues would not report the delegates’ statements “appropriately”. Nor did Trevett point out to the Herald’s readers that with the news media excluded from important debates party leaders can crack down hard on dissident delegates with impunity.

This is no small consideration. At the 2012 annual conference, held in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie, journalists were able to report the extraordinary vitriol hurled at disobedient delegates by Labour MPs. The latter were furious that the conference had voted contrary to their instruction. They were probably even more furious that their behaviour was reported.

Free and frank discussion is actually much more likely when the whole world’s watching. Absent the television lights, anyone daring to challenge the top table is likely to be flayed alive by individuals who throw insults for a living.

Another of Haworth’s claims that went unchallenged by Trevett was his attempt to paint media access to Labour conferences as something rare and exceptional. He claimed that the media had been permitted access in 2013 because the party was introducing a new policy platform structure: “We felt at the time it was important for media to see that process. When we go into the revisions of it, these are debates we want to keep in the family.”

This is pure bullshit. For most of its 99-year history Labour’s conferences have been freely reported by the news media. Back in the 1970s, for example, a TV outside broadcast unit would set up shop outside the conference venue and broadcast a 20-minute News Special at the end of every day the conference was in session. The often riveting policy debates were beamed into the nation’s living rooms without let or hindrance.

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It was the same in the 1980s, when the party’s resistance to Rogernomics was dramatically broadcast to the electorate. As Jim Anderton once boasted to journalists gathered to report a crucial debate on GST at a regional Labour conference on the West Coast: “This is the real Opposition!”

And it is here that we come to the nub of Haworth’s objection to the news media’s presence at Palmerston North this weekend. He and Little’s staffers are terrified that if journalists are afforded free access to the most important conference sessions they will discover that, on issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the leader and his tight inner-circle do not speak for the party as a whole. Words and images conveying any other message than the Labour “family’s” complete and utter unity are, therefore, being prevented from reaching the public.

This kind of blatant media manipulation runs counter to everything a trustworthy political party should stand for. In democratic societies, political parties are where the nation’s future leaders are first recognised and readied for public office. They are the places where ideologically motivated citizens gather to debate and refine a broad range of economic and social policies intended to shape the nation’s future. As such, they cannot possibly lay claim to being “private” organisations.

Certainly, there are aspects of party activity which are justifiably kept confidential. Financial reports; personnel issues; discussions of election tactics and strategy: no one expects a party to permit the media to report these events. But to ban the media from the constitutional and policy debates of a party’s annual conference is insupportable. Political parties are – by definition – creatures of the public sphere. As such, the presumption must always be that the media, as the voters’ eyes and ears, be granted free access to as many of their proceedings as possible.

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42 COMMENTS

  1. The trouble is it will now everyone will leak like crazy, whilst putting their opponents in a bad light, to huckster journalists like Paddy Gower. Those journalists will then use that information to paint an image of a Labour party as hopelessly divided between “crazy” Marxist Corbynistas in the rank and file and a colourless, talentless, unsupported parliamentary party that all-in-all is an unelectable rabble.

  2. I wish I was going to the conference but unfortunately I am not in the position to be away this weekend. However at this stage I am willing to give Haworth the benefit of the doubt. You have to ask yourself which faction is more likely to have long standing mates in the media and favours to call in? Under current conditions, certainly not the left. It may be that the caucus and their crew want to quash the hopes of the members, unobserved by outsiders, but it may also be that Hawworth wants to rule out the use of media contacts for gaining unfair leverage and creating faux scandals, as was the case in 2012. It could even be much more simple – that he does not want the media making straw men out of policies that are still in the making.

  3. Points well made but the analysis left out was the apalling level of partisan political reporting engaged in by some, Patrick Gower being an obvious example.

    I doubt if, historically, the party had to cope with the level of manufactured stories that they now inevitibly face. Remember Gower’s performance two years ago (albeit abetted by the ABCs and their spokesperson, Hipkins).

    The media (main stream) simply can’t be trusted any longer.

  4. The media (TDB excepted) wont report the opposition news about politics,so if its kept hidden the journalists will try all sorts to find out and put everything in a bad light,maybe its a ruse by labour,maybe a backing, or fight againstTPP.?
    Someone fromNational must have put a sneak into the meeting,to leak info ,labour should be more discriminating who they allow to attend.The likes of Gower will always find someone to give him a negative story.

  5. And all we can do is gape on like rabbits caught in the headlights . Just like we did when tugging, lying jonky was outed. Time and again. And we pay them for this ?

    I asked, in another Post here, what it is that Andrew Little actually does? How does he fill in his working day?
    How do the opposition ministers , of whom there are many, fill in their days in our offices taking home our six figure salaries plus entitlements ?
    We all know what jonky’s mob does. But what does the opposition do ??
    The IRD knows every intimate detail about me and my life. It knows where I go, what I do , where I live, how I live, who I know and how much money I get upon which I must pay tax. And because we’ve sold ourselves out to head tinkery by being given things and money as rewards for being gullable idiots when we use loyalty cards that track our cash spending from which IRD know how much GST we can stand before we die of starvation or have to go naked.

    I don’t care that when I pay tax an unemployable person spends it. I don’t care that when I pay my tax a single parent buys fags and a bottle of wine. I don’t care . That’s called ‘ living in a society’.

    I do care hugely that politicians are spending my money misleading me for their on-going employment. I’ve seen politicians get off planes and go straight into shiny black Jaguar cars to be spirited away as if they’re royalty. What the fuck is that about. And they all do it too.

    We need to do someting direct and immdediately.

    • Here’s an idea. Pay your sub and get invited to the conference. Oh shit, if I’d known I would have sent you my invitation as I cannot attend. ( slight disadvantage living in California) sorry to late.

    • Politicians misleading money for their on-going employment is ‘living in a society’ too IMO. No different to people ripping off others through tax evasion, benefit fraud etc.

  6. I disagree Chris and as you know our media, for the most part, is not trustworthy. The pro-Natz biased media and idiots like Gower can take a day off and allow the Labour party to get their act together before being portrayed as idiots with idiot policies. Why not keep out something that will not serve anyone but just portray someone or some party as what it is not.
    Look at the disrespect and rudeness afforded most Labour politicians and pro-Labour people when they are interviewed on channel one and channel three. I would not want to invite them to my party either.

    I have very little, IF ANY, faith in the MSM especially here in NZ, so good on the Labour Party for taking a stand and saying no to biased BS huckster reporting and brainwashing propaganda meant to damage/destroy them and make our idiot of a PM look better, when he is a complete failure. Games Games.

  7. Let’s see…

    Event #1: Jesus Christ’s second coming takes place at the Conference, and blesses the working class…

    Event #2: Aliens materialise on the Conference floor, telling us that socialism is the way, and capitalism will self-destruct…

    Event #3: Andrew Little farts.

    Now guess which one will make front page/lead story in the media?

    I can understand why Haworth is wary of the media. Their penchant for irrelevancies; mis-reporting; exageration; or outright distortion, is (or should be) well known by now.

    Just ask David Cunliffe.

  9. I watched the reporting of the Labour Party conference in Australia this year. There was the usual sneering from certain right-wing pundits on private TV, but there were also some Left voices and some useful analysis. And several hours of airtime seem to have been devoted to it on a number of platforms.

    It isn’t the nature of the coverage, it is the amount. In New Zealand we are likely to see a snide, dismissive piece to camara from Paddy or Katie Bradford and a bit of destructive or patronising commentary on the Nation or Q&A from Josie Pagani and Carolyn Robinson and that will be it.

    One can understand keeping the media out, not so much because of misreporting, but because there is likely to be blood on the floor and the management would hope to keep the bloodletting as discreet as possible, but as they say, there is only one thing worse than people talking about you…

    By the way, if they genuinely believe that Labour and the Greens got disappointingly low returns at the last election because of the rabid Socialist policies of David Cunliffe then they are living in some sort of parallel political universe. The caution they are applying appears to be based on their hope of getting themselves elected on an It’s-Their-Turn ticket (hence Andrew Little’s ultra-cautious turn on the early show this morning). What might help, though, apart from a more vigorous set of views expressed by Little aimed at engaging a big section of the country in the prospect of a better future through intelligent policies attractively presented (yeah, that’s going to happen), is for him to start to enjoy talking to journalists. Currently the words only seem to come out under protest.

    If he hates talking to them. why would they want to talk to him – apart from the fact that it is their job, of course.

  10. This once proud and strong Labour party that I have fervently supported most of my life and now looks like a sad shell of its former self has stuff all left to offer that I want to hear and I bet after this they will still have bugger all, Mr Nash with his recent posts, the never-ending infighting, constant flip flops TPP etc etc etc have all but proven they are barely capable of managing to be opposition let alone govern.
    Don’t just shut the doors, lock them inside until they can prove they can once again become a cohesive unit and prove to all their supporters why we should bother voting for them again

  11. E-743,M-25,Y-2.
    I see some serendipity in the comparison which might be made between the Normandy Landing in June 6th 1944 and the next General Election in the third Saturday of November 2017. The planning for D Day started around 750 days more or less (May 1943) earlier in WW2 and a successful assault on Key’s government requires planning now, and not just by the NZ Labour Party. I believe that this Labour Convention is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL for the future self determination of our Nation.
    I therefore challenge all who attend to reexamine their consciences with respect to the tenets of NZ Labour, and I expect to see in the Fourth Estate
    next week, exciting news that three important issues have been addressed.
    They are;
    1.The TPPA has been rejected and WILL continue to be opposed.
    2.The ECA.1991 has been reopened in deep discussion for future repeal.
    3.The date of the GE.should be fixed to the third Saturday of November, and can only be called early by the Opposition on the basis of lack of confidence and supply.
    It is just that simple and it is all just common sense.
    E Day minus 743

  12. Is there not a third way (arf arf)? Deal with all the controversial stuff in branch meetings and the famed smoke-filled rooms – do the blood-letting and dust-ups in private then once all that’s over and done with have an open conference in which this unified party (with some faux debate thrown in on low priority policies so it doesn’t look too orchestrated) presents itself.
    It’s always harder on the left because the left is principle driven: easy on the right, it’s just about power. It requires acting smarter.

  13. I’m in two minds about it. Labour need to have a frank and full discussion and work out which side of Labour they are going to go with. In that case privacy might be the best way.

    I would not trust MSM either.

    Which Labour is going to win?

    Is it the Nash ‘shitloads of money, forget principals because winning is everything and don’t expect him to be a public servant because the public don’t pay his salary)

    or the

    Cunliffe fighting dirty politics

    or the two MP’s who are against TPP (are there more??)

    Anyway I do not mind the secrecy because they need to work out as a party what their values are. I do not know because they have too many different people representing different views and values which do not even fit with the Labour brand.

    One thing they need to do though is to find out, because they will lose more votes if they try to have two completely opposite members like Nash and Cunliffe because they represent completely different voters and policy.

    • There shouldn’t even be a ‘ Nash ‘ or any other neo liberals in that party.

      Period.

      That’s not a ‘ labour ‘ party , is it?

      That’s just a Labour party pretending to be.

      First port of call for Labour?

      The systematic and steady ejection of neo liberals and replacement by those who are genuine Labour party democratic socialists.

      Then they could still be entitled to use the term ‘ Labour ‘ .

  14. E-743,M-25,Y-2.
    I see some serendipity in the comparison which might be made between the Normandy Landing in June 6th 1944 and the next General Election in the third Saturday of November 2017. The planning for D Day started around 750 days more or less (May 1943) earlier in WW2 and a successful assault on Key’s government requires planning now, and not just by the NZ Labour Party. I believe that this Labour Convention is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL for the future self determination of our Nation.
    I therefore challenge all who attend to reexamine their consciences with respect to the tenets of NZ Labour, and I expect to see in the Fourth Estate
    next week, exciting news that three important issues have been addressed.
    They are;
    1.The TPPA has been rejected and WILL continue to be opposed.
    2.The ECA.1991 has been reopened in deep discussion for future repeal.
    3.The date of the GE.should be fixed to the third Saturday of November, and can only be called early by the Opposition on the basis of lack of confidence and supply.
    It is just that simple and it is all common sense.
    E Day minus 743

    • No, and this latest development regarding Labour is merely a predictable consequence of the deliberate destruction of public discourse, as (mostly) undertaken by those with a neoliberal agenda.
      Why participate in something that distorts and trivialises?

  16. What about Micheal Woodhouse and his changing of the zero hour legislation – or attempting to do so by introducing a Bill that entrenches them ?

    See today Robert Reids article in the in the NZ Herald .

    By the same ‘ Minister’ who promised to tighten Health and Safety regulations then we got worm farms.

    Hows that for a kick off Labour?

    Will that be discussed do you think?

    Will Labours neo liberal caucus have something to say about that?

    Hardly.

    And this is why they are such a train-wreck of a party. They wouldn’t know their socialist democratic roots nowadays from a hole in the ground.

    The very sorts of things that party was foundered to protect against – and now look at the weak , impotent rabble they have become.

    The answer and solution ?

    Eject the neo liberals from among you and hand direction back to the party membership – who are the majority and who hold to the original tenets and policy’s that party was foundered on.

    And while your at it… whats this about tolerating – nay – even endorsing the ripping off of workers as has been enabled by successive neo liberal govts since 1984 .

    Around $18.00 PER HOUR is classified as a LIVING WAGE.

    And that means three things – an APOLOGY , a REIMBURSEMENT for 31 years of theft and rort by those employers and the politicians who designed those laws to simply be on the take , and an IMMEDIATE REPEAL of those sections of law that entrench this exploitative abuse.

    NOBODY GETS SOMETHING FOR NOTHING in this world and to those con men/ women employers and politicians who want to hold their hands out for a freebie and bludge off workers to subsidize their business and bank accounts its time you learn to get off your fat arse and get with the program.

    If you cant afford to run a business and pay a decent realistic ( LIVING WAGE ) rate then your a failure as a businessperson and all your doing is relying on the state to grant you an on going subsidy – aka dubious law making – off the workers backs.

    Sucking off the proverbial TIT !!!!

    As said before by Thatcher – socialists are fine when they can spend other peoples money – but she deliberately was silent on the flip side of that –

    Neo liberals are fine as long as long as they can use rort , deceit , guile and publicly un-mandated laws to rob the common wealth ( therefore treasonous in intent ) for their pecuniary advantages .

    So how about it Labour ? … are we going to see a serious effort to challenge marauders like Woodhouse ?

    Or will your neo liberal caucus overrule the majority again and threaten to discredit anyone in the membership that stands up on honesty , fair play and basic common decency ?

    You have a lot to come back from before you get anywhere near public credibility again.

    And here would be a good start.

    • Well judging by all the downticks that’s either a whole bunch of Labour tribespeople or a whole bunch of neo liberals or both with their corporate mates.

      Hear this : I would be quite happy to give Labour support if they showed support to those who make up and were formerly their SUPPORT base.

      The fact they are not and the fact they have so many corporate stooges in their caucus tells me and many , many others that they do not have the working people at heart at all.

      As a consequence , – we have no loyalty whatsoever to the NZ Labour party and nor should we.

      Until such time as they EARN THAT SUPPORT BACK- then expect no votes or quarter given.

      Prove yourselves.

  17. Sigh, sounds almost like a “private” funeral assembly, not wanting outsiders attend and “upset” the speeches and proceedings.

  18. NZ media don’t report, they make up sensationalist stories instead. In short Mr Trotter, the media cannot be trusted, recent history proves that, hence the media ban from Labour’s conference, and it is completely understandable.

  19. I completely endorse closing the doors to the media. They are not to be trusted. REmember all the bad press the idea of gender quotas got? Media called it the Man Ban……………

    Keep the bastards out. They are not to be trusted. And Frank thanks for your postings. Really appreciate your posting.

    • “Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Work-focused case management is just one of the tools that this Government is using to support New Zealanders off welfare. “

      “support NZer’s off welfare”

      Why do they use such rubbish grammar.
      It’s pure doublespeak, it results in gobledegook.

      here is the translation:

      Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Work-focused case management is just one of the tools that this Government is using to move/throw/shift New Zealanders off welfare.

      or

      Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Work-focused case management is just one of the tools that this Government is using to deny New Zealanders welfare.

  21. Please Don’t knock Paddy Gower.I think that is a
    little unfair. Knock Helen Clark or Andrew Little by
    all means for their reprehensible opinions on the TPPA ,
    and their iirevicocable statements on the TPPA.
    Paddy is in my opinion a good man and unlike others such as MH of
    7 sharp is not a lapdog for the National Government nor any other political party.

    • Where have you been Hi Vis? You are kidding, right? Of course Patrick Gower is lapdog for the National Government. Why knock Helen Clark and Andrew Little? they are not the current National government that want to sign us up to the TPPA. If you are angry over the TPPA, then be angry at the lying deceivers John key and Tim Groser, they the ones selling us out.

  22. With you WK – prove yourselves alright!
    Put the best / most productive parts from the labour conference online for all to see – at the same time – media or not, then people can make up their own minds, without spins or twists.

  23. Reading this post, it seems media will spin on a pin head if nothing else available, Trotter’s protestations are ridiculous if we look at the facts for and against having media present….nice try, but just proves the point really.

  24. The NZ Press are controlled by JK’s Stasi Network, and the NZ Herald is a Daily National Party Newsletter.

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