Labour Party yawn-fest of a conference

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Labour’s message is ‘Labour – Let’s keep doing this’.

Really, and what is ‘this’ that we are doing? Incremental glacial change?

Labour’s ‘transformative’ Government has been everything but. Sure there have been some policy wins, but scratch below the surface and those wins look very shallow.

We have more NZers killing themselves than ever before, more people waiting for social housing, entrenched child poverty, historically low home ownership, beneficiaries queuing at 2am,  and many still struggling to make ends meet.

More NZers are just surviving than thriving.

The misses have been large. No Kiwibuild, no CGT and no real structural change to the inequality that has blighted NZ under neoliberalism combined with an alarming sense within Māoridom over mental health censorship, public health failures and Oranga Tamariki uplifts that their trust has been terribly misplaced.

Even the wins have looked like misses. Promising to maybe do something about climate change in 31 years is not a response to the crisis of climate change, it’s a joke looking for a punchline and the watered down and toothless worker rights provisions will have little impact in giving Unions muscle to force up wages.

The excruciating navel-gazing over the Summer School ‘sex’ scandal (the young man was discharged without conviction, so maybe not the greatest crime of the early 21st century) and the endless drawn out claims of a sexual assault cover up are the results of frightened MPs and staffers responding to twitter outrages than evidence that Labour are a rape culture exacerbater.

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Less time worrying about what the latest woke outrage is and far more time on actually running the Government might be a tad wiser.

But we can’t allow the perfect to defeat the good, while the pickings have been slim and the wins few, there have been some enormous symbolic moments like banning future oil permits, demanding a halt to development at Ihumatao and Jacinda’s extraordinary response to the Christchurch atrocity.

Without a doubt, New Zealand is a better place for having this Government.

Jacinda exploded onto the political stage with an energy and excitement that propelled her into a position to form a Government, but we also need to acknowledge that Labour’s energy was spent on winning and with little executive oversight, with no plans to reform the neoliberal public service who stymied any direct application of services and an inexperienced front bench, Jacinda has not been able to be transformative in the way her rhetoric was.

If Jacinda wants to win a second term, she needs to articulate her vision of the first 100 days of a next Government. She now knows what is possible and what isn’t, she now sees the hopelessness of public services that are management heavy and service lite. She has the room to sideline underperforming Ministers.

With those ingredients she must now be able to construct her vision of what needs to be done and what she can promise.

The Budget Responsibility straight jacket Grant Robertson signed her Government into must be dumped for a wholesale mass investment into transformative infrastructure, a mass state housing build and real work to get peoples wages higher while giving business huge tax rebates into R&D.

Grants announcement today that he was thinking of unbuttoning that Budget Responsibility straight jacket was his political version of the dance of the seven veils, but vastly less erotic.

Jacinda has to sell us a vision and give us the time scale of the first 100 days to create the perception of momentum.

She has to be bold, confident and authentically credible in providing hope to NZers that there can be a better way forward. She must do something that makes life directly better each week for her electorate. From a sizeable increase in welfare payments; to the first $20 000 being tax free; to GST being removed from fresh fruit and vegetables – she has to implement an idea that people can feel in their pocket each week.

If she cannot sell us her vision in the first 100 days, voters she warmed with the power of hope in 2017 will turn away cold in 2020 like the bitter frost of winter.

 

10 COMMENTS

  1. Yup. She’s lining up a career in comedy!
    I did think acting at first but her opening with “Let Keep On Doing This!”
    Is up there with,”I did not have sexual relations with that women.”

    • @Marc. Labour don’t deserve a win, but the Natz deserve it even less!

      Sad that democracy, is now voting for the least disappointing party, to keep the even worse and more corrupt party out.

  2. Letter to – Labour party MPs at Labour party conference.
    1st December 2019.

    TO Labour party MPs and others.

    IMPORTANT
    Today 1st December 2019, at the Labour Party conference, the press has reported that infrastructure funding boost will be made here today and we await the funding boost to Gisborne/HB rail freight/passenger services be made as these regions have been without rail services for 7 long years since 2012.
    No more road subsidies without similar subsidies for rail services please.

    This press release below was sent out 11th September 2019 criticising lack of ‘rail focus.’ during ‘Infrastructure NZ ’plea to Government for more funding.

    CEAC supports $6 Billion for infrastructure
    Wednesday, 11 September 2019, 7:44 am
    Press Release: Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre

    CEAC supports ‘Infrastructure NZ’ (INZ) CEO Paul Blair to seek an increase in more ‘transformation rather than incremental’ change to promote ‘national’ community wellbeing so that is a positive step forward if increased use of rail is signalled here.
    The result of the 2019 ‘Building Nations’ Symposium from 21-23 August forum polling was to seek ‘transformation rather than incremental’ change with a $6 billion dollar boost to regional infrastructure funding by industry leaders. QUOTE; “Our proposal, which almost three-quarters of respondents supported, would double the current $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund into a $6 billion Regional Growth Fund and use it as a tool to align central and local government investment.
    That sounds good but sadly there was no mention of rail once again so we fear they are lobbying only for roading.

    *Government must fund publicly owned rail properly as Kiwi Rail lacks adequate funding for staff, locomotives and rolling stock to service all regions to upgrade our export regions by rail freight services such as our Gisborne/HB regions.

    QUOTE; Paul Blair; “Respondents overwhelmingly supported more tools for local and regional governments in order to unlock the full potential of our regions; – Three-quarters of the infrastructure sector have called for transformation, rather than incremental change, of the culture and incentives between central and local government to work together to promote national well-being,” says Infrastructure NZ CEO Paul Blair.”
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1909/S00130/infrastructure-sector-calls-for-transformational-reform.htm

    CEAC would be delighted to hear from (INZ) that rail was also part of that $6 Billion Dollar also, so we shall see.

    IMPORANT
    Today 1st December 2019, at the Labour Party conference, the press has reported that infrastructure funding boost will be made here today and we await the funding boost to Gisborne/HB rail freight/passenger services be made as these regions have been without rail services for 7 long years since 2012.

    *Government must fund publicly owned rail properly as Kiwirail lacks adequate funding for staff, locomotives and rolling stock to service all regions to upgrade our export regions by rail freight services such as our Gisborne/HB regions.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The Labour party must take this into consideration here, as the health of all citizens are at stake if even more truck se instead of rail is used.

    Subject; – CEAC public health notice – Study; – Quote; “Living near a busy road can stunt children’s lung growth, a UK report has shown.
    Children’s health was found to be affected by staying within 50 metres of the road.”

    Read the press release today below.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2019/11/living-near-a-busy-road-may-stunt-children-s-lung-growth-study.html

    26 November 2019
    Podcasts
    Listen to Newshub’s latest podcasts

    HEALTH
    Living near a busy road may stunt children’s lung growth – study
    • 6 hours ago
    Sae Strang

    The study also revealed one-third of Londoners are thought to live near a busy road.

    Living near a busy road can stunt children’s lung growth, a UK report has shown.

    Children’s health was found to be affected by staying within 50 metres of the road.

    The study recorded the effect of roadside pollution across 13 cities in the UK and Poland.

    It found 14 percent of kids in Oxford had stunted lung growth, while in London 13 per cent were affected and 8 percent in Birmingham.
    Related News

    The study also revealed one-third of Londoners, an estimated 3 million people, are thought to live near a busy road.

    According to the research, written by King’s College London and released by a coalition of 15 health and environment non-governmental organizations (NGO) said, living near a road with heavy traffic may increase your risk of developing lung cancer by up to ten percent.

    The new study also showed an increased risk of cardiac arrest, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, bronchitis as well as reduced lung function in children who live near a traffic-ridden road.

    Amongst the report, the coalition of NGOs has been calling on politicians to commit to taking steps to in order to reduce the drastic state of illegal air pollution across the UK to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

    “Air pollution makes us, and especially our children, sick from cradle to grave, but is often invisible. This impressive research makes this public health crisis – which affects people all across the UK – visible, and shows the urgency with which all political parties must prioritise cleaning up our air,” said Dr Rob Hughes, Senior Fellow at the Clean Air Fund in the King’s College London press release.

    This is the first time a wide range of health conditions and cities have been analysed in one report.
    End
    Please keep this evidence as a record of residential health concerns to be mitigated.
    CEAC encourage to see a Government who is caring, considerate inclusive and responsive to citizens’ concerns.

  3. I think this govt is more ” Meh ”,… than the constant blatant outrage and corruption like we had under National,… mind you,… theres been a few serious about turns that have left people feeling betrayed,- the TTPA for one. And there have been others…

    And that doesn’t look good.

    And in all of what Mr Bradbury has mentioned above,… this govt has indeed fallen short. Still, given a choice, I’d still prefer the COL than the last disgusting, contemptuous and corrupt crowd who seemed to have some strange notion that they were actually a government…

    But you know and I know , dear reader,… that nothing in this country will ever change for the better until that fine and happy day when our politicians finally grow a spine and ADMIT,.. like the IMF does,… that neo liberalism is a failure.

    And an apology to the people of New Zealand by whoever finds themselves in the next govt , … for the govts of the last 35 years of lies, rorts, and corruption wouldn’t go amiss either…

    In fact, an apology would be a sterling start to being that ‘ bold, confident and authentically credible in providing hope to NZers that there can be a better way forward ‘ …

    Indeed it would…

  4. ” Promising to maybe do something about climate change in 31 years is not a response to the crisis of climate change, ”

    New Zealand can’t unilaterally do anything about Climate Change given our 0.1% contribution to the so-called “greenhouse gasses”. You know this. That is why New Zealand has (correctly) done nothing, because no one else is doing anything. Shooting your own economy in the foot (especially when we can use these funds/resources for internal current social issues), while everyone else in the world is going about business as usual (some of which would effectively be our expense) is beyond stupid.
    Last time I checked, not a single country disarmed due to our “Nuclear Free New Zealand” policy. We all collectively rubbed our nipples in righteous glory, but we achieved exactly nothing of global consequence.

  5. This is what’s happening, and there’s no argument. Try as you like and I’d love to be wrong, but I’m not. Sorry for the bad news.
    The Labour Party is simply white washing a way out for the Kiwi riche who, for generations, have plundered our wealth.
    The natzo’s couldn’t do it because we hate them all thus a red flag would be raised and a spot light would be shone on the fat natzo rats scurrying about in our country’s wood pile as they threw money at the Hoi polloi to con us into us shutting up while they fucked off with your money. ” Couldn’t have that, could we boys?”
    So, it’s up to the Peoples Party to polish the rough edges off a nasty, dirty, jagged little lie. The treasonous abandonment of its people because the perps made good coin in doing so.
    I knew, when jonky handed the grubby reigns over to a flat footed gumboot wearing Southland cocky traitor who then chucked the reigns at the blank cassette we know as simon bridges, I knew there was something up. I just wasn’t sure exactly what it was.
    Now I know.
    Metaphor alert!
    Think Cinderella. Go on? Think?
    She was the fairest of them all. And her ugly sisters did their best to keep her hidden because all the princes wanted to root Cinder’s and not them.
    AO/NZ’s economy’s like that. The crooks must keep our real wealth figures hidden ( Certainly the historical ones ) otherwise we might ask “ How is it then that we now have homelessness, child poverty, third world diseases, underfunded DHB’s, culturally impoverished rural hinterlands, people living on the streets or in cars, if they’re lucky, P addictions, stuffed prisons and many, many other social ills directly linked to governmental under funding? “How the fuck’s that?” One might, indeed, ask.
    It’d be an easy question to answer. Mainly, because I’m as brilliant a thinker as I am handsome but also as a consequence of seeing the many sides to what I’ve termed ‘ The Great New Zealand Institutionalised Lie’ I’ve got a clear view of the bucket of bile that’s been vomited up by our MSM at the behest of our criminal abusers for us to try and swallow.
    To put it another way:
    Since from about 1910 our politics have been parasitised by wealthy bullies.
    Since about 1910, we’v never really had a functioning democracy. What we have had, is a pretence of one within which the old criminals hid in plain sight. They manipulated and subverted our export driven primary industry as though it were some kind of plaything.
    As a result of that, we’re all $- fucked on a rich country but because of a meteoric rise in the demand for our agrarian goods due to global climate change with its certain famine and consequential wars we’ll experience a financial Renaissance.
    Labour’s job is to reintegrate our agrarian exporters into the fold and fire them up for the massive task ahead without sounding alarms.
    Namely; To top up bankster profits and line the pocketsess of the Children of the Rats all the while making sure no one comes along and says “ Yeah? But hang on a minute Mate?”
    The deeply disturbing thing for me personally is that I neither see nor hear any evidence yet of an even basic awareness of the above from anyone else apart from my brilliant and handsome self.
    ( “Thump! Bugger! “ Sorry. I just tripped over my penis again.)
    There’s one other thing I’d like to write.
    We have no politics. We have no politicians. We have no financial security because ‘They’ have our finances.
    ( Ba ha !You watch grant robertson start throwing our $7.5 billion around now the fat fucking traitor. )
    But what we do have is our beautiful AO/NZ and we have each other.
    We. Have.Each.Other.
    Not them. But us. We should never forget that. More importantly, we should never, ever, let Them forget that.

    • … ‘ But what we do have is our beautiful AO/NZ and we have each other.
      We. Have.Each.Other.
      Not them. But us. We should never forget that. More importantly, we should never, ever, let Them forget that ‘…

      ———————————–

      Must have Kiwi music on my brain atm,.. borrowed some lyrics from a brilliant song from one of my favorite NZ bands , I’m sure the brilliant but sadly late Mr Brazier would not be offended. RIP.

      ———————————–

      Born in the sight of the ‘Auckland’ dock
      If it weren’t for the call of the sea
      Was the sound of poverty

      So they write you down on their social list
      Songs of war and girls that don’t exist
      And how you can’t be free

      Yesterday we were ten years old
      Yesterday we were freezing cold
      Yesterday you had us bought and sold

      But now we are Billy Bold

      Must we immigrate or stand and fight ?
      Troubled times we must unite
      Let the chains that bind us be

      There’s no need to shout everybody knows
      It’s wilted now, our ‘New Zealand’ rose
      Let’s storm the last Bastille….

      But the baton’s hard and the dungeon’s cold
      You’re black or white, you’re young or old
      Yesterday we did what we were told

      But now we are Billy Bold

      Yesterday we were ten years old
      Yesterday we were freezing cold
      Yesterday you had us bought and sold

      But now we are Billy Bold

      And you hear the drums they roll
      Street war must take its toll

      For now we are Billy Bold

      ———————————–

      People?,… its time for us to get Billy Bold. We have each other and this is our place, and our country.

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