TDB Coverage of Labour Party Conference 2015 – ask your questions here

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I will be covering the Labour Party Conference 2015 for Waatea News. I will be posting columns there Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday while blogging observations each day on TDB.

This is the 99th conference, the first Labour Party Conference I covered was in 1995 for Political Review. I think this will be my ninth conference.

This conference will ask how Labour wins 2017. I’ll be speaking to the various sectors within Labour to see how they sell a progressive policy platform to the electorate and how Labour appeals to a property speculating middle class who are earning more from capital gains each year than their actual income.

Labour face a difficult time. Shutting their conference down to the media to prevent Patrick Gower etc etc from misrepresenting policy is a reminder of the tensions between the activist membership and a LINO (Labour In Name Only) Caucus. How does Labour reward the increase in Maori voters when the wider electorate seem so hostile to policy gains for Maori? What will Labour do about worker rights? What will be their actual position on the TPPA? Are Labour concentrating on only winning over National voters? Do they trust Ron Mark’s NZ First over James Shaw’s Greens and how do Gen X and Y buy a house?

Andrew Little needs to make one hell of a performance in his speech or 2017 will simply be the waiting time before the factions within Labour move for a new leader post losing their 4th election in a row.

If Andrew is looking for inspiration, here’s David Cunliffe from yesterday…

QUESTIONS: If you would like to ask a question about politics that I can put to MPs – leave them as a comment on this blog.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

29 COMMENTS

  1. One question out of the many I could ask would be, is Stuart Nash and his recent comments on TDB and elsewhere indicative of the direction and attitudes of a “progressive” Labour parties new direction and strategy

    • yep, I was wondering how this attitude will be managed when we already know how damaging it is.
      Very sad to see how paper thin Stuart’s ability to stand “united” is, by attacking others, to make his point, smacked of “my dad’s got the biggest car” at kindy attitude, which I usually associate with National, very unsophisticated, and not very reassuring.
      Prepared to move on though.

  2. –will Labour put the TPPA to a members vote?

    –will Labour resuscitate its “5 point TPPA Bottom Line” and wait at least until the full text is available or until USA ratifies?

  3. Why did Cunliffe not put his views into policy?
    He offered us nothing at the last election that would have strengthened public broadcasting.

    Sick of the good rhetoric and bad policies. Good luck trying to spark Labour’s base with this self-defeating strategy.

    No questions sorry.

  4. Just been reading a very interesting book by Rhode Scholar, Andrew Dean.

    “Ruth, Roger and Me.” iBooks. https://itun.es/nz/m5th8.l

    The ebook is only $4.99

    extract…

    “My generation of New Zealanders has been told that being uncomfortable will make us work harder and strive further. We have been brought up on what Ruth Richardson calls the ‘stiff medicine’ of her reforms, and now we must be healthier for it.1 There is no gain without pain. By leaving welfare, trade unions, state houses, and state monopolies behind, we have become self-sufficient and free. If we are poor then that will simply make us work harder; if it is more difficult to find a job, and if that job pays very little, then we will be encouraged to be more productive and to make better choices. Student loans will make us select our courses more wisely; paying for healthcare will ensure that we visit doctors only when we really need to. We are the generation of shirkers who have been turned into workers, more competitive and productive than ever. In this section I explore ‘discomfort’, and how it has become one of the defining experiences of our age.”

    Recommend to everyone especially Labour members and those interested in politics!

    Very nicely written and has some really nice links back to Janet Frame and other NZ writers and his own experiences as well as interviews with Ruth Richardson and Rod Carr.

    extract…

    “Janet Frame in her first volume of autobiography, To the Is-Land (1982), writes that the election of that First Labour Government in “1935, ‘with its promise of Social Security, free medical treatment, free hospital treatment for all […] was almost like a Second Coming, so great was the joy in our household’. The passage of the Social Security Act was an even greater cause for celebration: ‘Dad, in a spontaneous dance of delight in which the family joined, removed the [medical] bills from behind the clock and, taking the poker from its hook by the stove, lifted the cover and thrust all the bills into the fire.’1 She quotes from a song to describe the feeling: ‘There’s a new day in view,/there is gold in the blue/there is hope in the hearts of men.’2 Perhaps we could call what is captured on the boy’s face, and what Janet Frame describes, the politics of utopia, in which a dining room table, a new house, and free doctor’s visits, herald the end of want, and the founding of what Savage called in his 1935 victory speech, ‘a prosperous nation, a free nation, a nation of free people in the southern seas’.3”

    And he also comments on the Labour campaign.

    extract….

    “Yet something has changed in our lifetimes. We now have a well-developed scepticism of utopian visions, a justified one, perhaps, but one that has led to a political imagination that is insular, technocratic, and in the end, moribund. Our political discourse now sounds more like an advertising campaign for an insurance company – ‘Vote Positive!’ – than it does like anything that would run the risk of changing the way we think and act”.

    I’d love to know how Labour interpret this book!

    Do Labour still believe that discomfort works?

    Or can they understand just like the Muldoon ideology that Rogernomics and Richardson neoliberalism has run it’s course and now is destroying the country and people’s lives.

    They are destroying the Labour legacy of Savage.

    Can Labour learn any lessons from it?

  5. Here’s one, Martyn:
    How do expect to get elected in 2017:
    a. Sleep walk to power…..(hope that NZ has a sense of fair play, but make absolutely certain that you don’t scare the horses.) Agree with all the more popular or uncontested policies of the current government in the hope that the voter will vote for you by mistake or from sympathy.
    b. Offer micro, bureaucratic or procedural changes to tilt things a bit more towards the middle class and the disadvantaged, hoping to do a bit more when times are better. Maybe make a fuss about foreign buyers, or something about building better roads in the provinces, but promise to balance the books;
    c. Try to paint a brave new world with a total reinvention of the State-citizen relationship. Higher taxes. Free tertiary education:perhaps a fully funded Free University in Roturua and Invercargill. Free internet hubs in Waimate and Kaikohe. Move the Port of Auckland, perhaps. An International Airport at the Top of the South etc?

    Which approach is more likely to break the mould of irrelevance and failure?

    2. Who is best placed to poach National Voters. And how should they go about it?

    3.Which had most to do with the poor results in 2014:
    a. the apparent disarray between parties who should have been mutually supportive. (Do you think walking in some sort of step with the Greens would lose you votes then / now?);
    b. the apparent disarray within Labour with a split between the people who want vigorous action and those who believe in or think New Zealand believes only in baby-steps;
    c. serial charisma deficit;
    d. the failure to give anyone a positive, hopeful and appealing vision that might get people to cross the street to vote Left;
    e. The total failure to mobilise the missing million?

    Or was it just Kim dotcom, Dirty Politics, the other faction of the caucus/party, selfish Kiwis and bad luck?

    • Actually all Labour needs to do is be able to counter the inevitable dirty tactics that National will employ. Undermine, attack and manipulate the gullible NZ public at will. They are guided by Crosby-Textor who are the best in the business and if Labour want to get in the they need to do the same.

  6. I have three questions .

    # 1
    ‘What the fuck do you Labour guys actually do ???’

    # 2
    ‘ If what we see you doing is indicative of what you, in fact, do then can we get a Guinea pig walking over a type writer then chatter mindlessly at anything that moves to do that instead and cost us only one carrot, a lettuce leaf and perhaps follow that up by some sleepy times then some shitting? ‘

    # 3
    We save money and you make more sense. Win win?

    ( Don’t get me wrong. Loath jonky. )

  7. Labour and Mr Little, will you consider to introduce a universal basic income to replace the present, outdated benefit system, and have components or top ups for students, sick and disabled and those caring for kids? If not why not?

    Labour and Mr Little, will you distance yourself from the “welfare reforms” by National that came into effect mid 2013, and that have cause great stress and anger among affected, and abolish these changes once you get back into government?

    La bour and Mr Little, will you distance your party and potential government from bought “advisors” that tell MSD to pressure sick and disabled to work, as this is according to some questionable “experts” (Aylward et al) considered “therapeutic” and “beneficial”? If not, why not?

    Labour and Andrew Little, when are you going to steer clear of neoliberal economic and social policy, and restore a socially inclusive, united and fair society in NZ, that cares and offers opportunity to all, not just the upper class and middle class?

  8. Andrew’s not looking for inspiration from David Cunliffe, Martyn, but you knew that already. I suspect that the reason for the media ban reported on by Chris Trotter has as much to do with what Little fears Cunliffe will say at the conference as it does with the fear he and the red-blues surrounding him have of the loud support members will give Cunliffe from the floor when he demands a return to Labour’s core values. There will not be a single person at the top table proclaiming that their policies are informed by the need to restore solidarity, self-help and mutuality, of that I’m certain. It’s time to churn out the dirges and sing adieu.

  9. 1/ How much money does each caucus member need to resign?

    2/ Alternately are there any volunteer suicide bombers in caucus?

    3/ How much money would it take to get the Mongrel Mob and/or Black Power to do a hit on caucus?

    4/ When does caucus plan on listening to the rank and file members?

    5/ Does caucus plan to go and live on the Chatham Islands?

    6/ Does caucus have any plans to become an opposition?

    7/ Do I really care about you fuckwits and why should I?

  10. What is Andrew’s and Labour’s answer to this, please, more work to set you free programs, that have already failed:
    http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qoa/51HansQ_20151105_00000004/4-budget-2015%E2%80%94beneficiaries

    Is the government full of thickos and demagogues, and Labour have NADA to say about it?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514141

    ‘Back-to-work programme labelled a fail’, N. Jones, Herald, 17 Sept. 2015

  11. We got a letter from that speaker, that overpaid and wrongly appointed one, he is not trustworthy, he is not to be taken for his word, a disgrace for NZ.

  12. WHY DO YOU NOT GIVE DAVID CUNLIFFE A SECOND CHANCE DEAR LABOUR MEMBERS AND ESPECIALLY CAUCUS? GET OVER IT, HE IS THE BEST SPEAKER, I HEARD IT IN THE DEBATE YESTERDAY!

  13. The Nats knew Cunliffe was good – that’s why they destroyed him in the MSM. Same for Internet – mana party, it was a threat so was attacked and destroyed.

    My question – how does labour intend on outing the corruption within government. Dirty politics, that’s what I’m talking about!

  14. Here’s my 10 cents + 15% gst worth…

    Q: What can Labour learn from Key’s relationships and handling of his Coalition partners? And why does National’s coalition relationships appear more stable than what Labour has been able to present thus far? And how can it be improved?

    If Little starts to waffle, ask him this, “You mean, like how you dealt with the Mana Party, Mr Little?”

  15. I hate to say it but I can’t even imagine Labour will have any chance of winning power in 2017. Two main reasons:
    Labour still hasn’t worked out what it really stands for, and more importantly New Zealanders are not sure who and what Labour stands for.
    With the other main parties you have immediately identifiable groups, sometimes quite obvious. With National it is farmers, the financial sector and big business. With NZ First it is the elderly, with the Greens it is the environmentally conscious, with the Maori Party it is Maori concerns, etc. But who and what does Labour stand for? – once we would have said “the workers” but who are the “workers” now? They are not

  16. I hate to say it but I think Labour’s chances of gaining power in 2017 are virtually zilch, unless Key does something ridiculously stupid instead of just his normal stupidity. Two main reasons:
    Labour simply does not really know what and who it stands for, and more importantly New Zealanders do not know what and who Labour stands for. The other main parties all have traditional support groups, often obvious. National has farmers, the financial sector and big business. NZ First has the elderly, the Greens have the environmentally conscious, the Maori Party have Maori, etc. But what about Labour? Once we would have said “the workers” but who are the workers in 2015? They are not the same as they were 50 or even 30 years ago. Gone are the manufacturing jobs that used to employ thousands of unionized workers who gave Labour the solid support that they relied on. The poor and disadvantaged? These people are so demoralized by the great National Party clobbering machine that they have given up on politics and politicians. To them Labour is no more reliable than a John Key promise.
    The “workers” nowadays are more likely to be service workers, working in logistics or small business owners. They have developed in a union hating atmosphere and thus equate Labour with interfering old aunts who mean well but manage to get everyone’s backs up.
    Nor do Labour represents the few remaining true socialists. Most of them gave up on Labour 30 years ago. Labour could once have counted Maori as its strongest supporters, but if you look at it closely the support Labour got in the last election from Maori was more to do with the electorate vote than the party vote. Maori voted for individual Labour politicians who they liked rather than the party.
    The other reason why Labour cannot win in 2017 is that National have well and truly taken over the airwaves. Their control of news and current events is almost total. I see that some people believe that Radio NZ is holding out against the trend but is it really, or does National just want to make it look that way to try and preserve the myth that we have a free media?
    Day by day we have more examples of National’s corrupt practices and using bully tactics on its political opponents. Most of it is barely challenged in our MSM and then only in an extremely half-hearted indifferent manner.
    New Zealanders have become accustomed to National’s dirty politics. They are beginning to think of it as normality. That is a hell of change in a society that used to care about ethics and equality and used to pride itself on that.
    Labour and other opposition groups have, by their introspection and in-fighting, allowed this creeping sore to spread and it is now so large that it is almost impossible to reverse.
    No, I’m sorry, Labour has bugger all chance of winning in 2017. It needs urgently to fix its internal problems so it can look strong and fight the National toady media organisations. If it does it may stand a chance of showing up the National government as the miserable corrupt scumbag outfit that it really is.

    • Oh the irony, Mike the Lefty! I presume you will be at the conference trying to devise constructive policies that will appeal to New Zealanders and transform the country in some way.

      Sixty years of experiments have established that a simple redistribution model does just as much harm as good, so your pure Socialist solutions will have to be tempered by some very smart constructs if self respect is to be maintained and the people will be able to exercise genuine self-determination.

      This is not the world of the Fifties, no matter how much we may believe that we miss them. Time passes and the laws of entropy create an ever more complex environment. You don’t have the bosses on one side and the down-trodden workers on the other. Sure there is still exploitation, but it is way more insidious and way more difficult to root out.

      The transfer of power to the corporate world (Google,BP, Amazon….), the synchronization of interests between them and the moneyed forces of government and the development of a super-national judicial body (as seen in the TPPA) has just as much to do with the disadvantage of the 99% and a developing helplessness of individual states as the greed of the bosses.

      Like I say, the world has changed. It doesn’t mean that there is nothing to do, but if we don’t learn from the last half century, we are pissing in the wind.

      By the way, if you, and all the other sneering radicals who have posted here, think bagging the best hope you have of making progress, while sitting on your chuff, is a strategy, may I suggest another one that even predates the formal Labour movement.

      Try chucking feces.

      So satisfying, and a sure argument winner!

      • Where is the irony? I simply think that Labour will not appear to be a credible alternative government until it works out what and who it stands for. What is so radical about that? I am not a member of Labour, just a person who is frustrated to see a once great party reduced to fighting itself instead of National. If this ofemds you then YOU should be the one attending and doing something about it instead of pretending everything is rosy.

  17. What are Labour going to do for the small Self employed business owners with regards to Inland Revenue penalties? i.e. small owner operators pay the same penalties for being late with PAYE or GST as large conglomerates i.e. we only pay $250 per month PAYE but if we are one day late they charge us $250 the same as a multi nationals with thousands of employees. Its the same with GST, helping small businesses with these type of costs would ensure more votes next election

  18. I’ve been asking for 30 years what Labour’s core values are,particularly with reference to such as wealth & income distribution,the rights of workers,the provision of housing, education,&,health services,and the status of the Treaty of Waitangi.
    I would love that question to be put to the conference

  19. What are Labour’s solutions for climate change?

    What are Labour’s solutions for our low value commodity export sector?

    How are Labour going to stop our country being sold off – especially when they were the architects of it via the China Free Trade Agreement?

    Now it is clear that investors wants the farms not the milk and the residential property to invest in – what POLICY are labour going to put in place?

    In addition can they even stop it because they will be in violation of the China Free trade agreement if they try to limit ownership of farms or property?

    Do Labour care that our farms are being sold off and our milk supply chain bypassing NZ in real terms?

    Even if Labour were part of the problem what POLICY will Labour make to try to stop Kiwis becoming tenants in our own country and businesses?

  20. I have a question.

    When is the present Labour leadership going to boot out all the lite blue neo lib traitors, return the party to its core values of championing workers and small/medium business, giving all Kiwis a chance on a fair playing field?

    In its present form, Labour is stagnating in a seeping pond of murk, a state not conducive to becoming government in the near future!

    David Cunliffe was the best thing to happen to Labour in a long time. NatzKEY knew this, as did Labour’s lite blues, so through lies and deception, used msm to destroy any prospect of Cunliffe taking Labour into government! That’s before they started on Mana/Internet also taking it out of the equation, culling any chance of it being in Parliament!

    If Labour doesn’t have a complete overhaul of itself, get rid of the driftwood from Rogernomics, turn itself around and get back to its basic purpose of advocating for the low and medium waged and small business, then any progressive future for NZ will be completely lost!

  21. Will Labour drop their support for new coal mines, deep sea oil drilling and more motorways?

    Will Labour switch the $billions put aside by both governments for motorway construction into public transport?

    will Labour show their sincerity for concern over climate change by having a visible presence at the People’s Climate March on Nov. 28?

    Or will Labour like National in the face of the growing climate crisis persevere with business as usual?

    Surveys have shown that 80% of New Zealanders are opposed to deep sea oil drilling and 60% want the government to do more on climate change.

    Will Labour throw in their lot with the majority of New Zealanders and the Green Party?

    Or will Labour stick with National and the fossil fuel lobby?

    This is the question I would like to ask.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/11/07/this-weeks-waatea-news-column-labour-party-conference-2015-with-friends-like-greens-nz-first/#comment-312877

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