New Zealand Labour Party

John Key mentioned Labour’s real problem yesterday in his address in reply speech:

“David Cunliffe doesn’t like David Parker. David Parker does not like Grant Robertson. Grant Robertson does not like Clayton Cosgrove. Clayton Cosgrove . . . he’s not real fond of Andrew Little. Andrew Little doesn’t like Shane Jones. Shane Jones doesn’t like anybody in the Labour Party. Phil Goff does not like David Cunliffe, and Annette King doesn’t like anyone that Phil Goff doesn’t like. And I say to myself, it’s not hard to see why they chose someone who’s spent half his life in war-torn places like Somalia and Bosnia, because that’s what the Labour Party’s like now.”

It might sound flippant but it shows that Labour after a term without the steel of Heather Simpson to control caucus and the ambitions of pretenders Labour is now akin to street gangs with knives drawn giving each other the eye.

There isn’t any caucus unity, and just watching their body language yesterday as David Shearer stuttered and fumbled his way through 30 minutes of yawn inducing faux-rhetoric said more than their silence during the speech.

David Shearer might have stared down armed Somali warlords but having the big guns of UN peacekeepers or US Marines at your back in no way prepares you for the sharp shanks of political competitors waiting for you to trip up.

Phil Goff yesterday spoke about a week of “Hard Labour”, his speech coincided with a nasty brochure being sent to new mothers. Is this the “Hard Labour” that Phil Goff speaks of?

There are many questions outstanding regarding this nasty brochure. They are individually addressed using details not widely known or public. How is Labour obtaining the data. My correspondent tells me that they have never signed an ECE postcard, never belonged to Labour and wonders how they know she recently had a child. She is feeling very creeped out by this mail out from the Labour party.

Felix Marwick give Phil Goff a serve:

But the Labour leadership issue highlights some of the developments that stemmed from its succession plan at the last election. At the time it was seen by many (and I was one) that to have an orderly transition which saw experience retained was not a bad move. Experienced senior MPs led by Phil Goff were there to develop the party’s new talent and build an opposition party of force and skill.

Well, that’s the way it was supposed to work.

Hindsight is a marvellous thing and it’s easy to say this now. But perhaps the better option for Labour would have been to wipe the slate clean. Have a fresh start with new faces and no lingering ties to the Clark years. Perhaps that would have allowed voters to more easily identify with a new Labour Party and not suffer the hangovers of the past. It could very well have shortened Labour’s time in opposition. However the decision was made, history’s been written, and we will never know what might have been.

Phil Goff is dog tucker. The only reason they haven’t rolled him is that none of the pretenders have the guts or have the money to get someone with the guts to axe him between the shoulders.

We know he is rooted because even the American’s think he is stuffed and have said so in their cables back to Washington. The cables released in the latest batch by Wikileaks say:

“He stands at the right end of the political spectrum of the left-centre Labour Party. To maintain his tenuous grip on party leadership, Goff needs to convince the left wing of the Labour base that he represents their concerns.”

Don’t you love their turn of phrase, “tenuous grip on party leadership”.

Indeed!

This morning Darren Hughes outed himself as the MP under investigation by police, and good on him for coming forward…eventually.

It now transpires that Labour leadership have known about this for two weeks and felt that it was of no relevance to bring forward.

The Herald Reports:

“Labour leader Phil Goff said Mr Hughes had told him of the complaint a couple of weeks ago and assured him he had done nothing wrong.”

That is all fine and dandy, but what about the “high” standards that Labour have demanded from National constantly over the last two years? If the shoe was on the other foot Labour would be demanding for the MP’s resignation, demanding Key to explain why he hadn’t mentioned it earlier, demanding to know why Key hadn’t acted sooner and only acted after the media found out, and accused National of some sort of cover up!

“He said he had no reason not to believe Mr Hughes, whom he held in high regard.”

So, why is it different now that it is a Labour MP? Like I say, if John Key had made a similar statement, Labour would be having a field day about this whole thing, challenging Mr Key as to why he takes an MP’s word.

“Mr Hughes was not sent on leave immediately because Mr Goff said he did not believe the complaint was relevant to Mr Hughes’ ability to do his job as an MP.”

So what has changed? If there is nothing to worry about why can’t he still do his job?

This next quote from Phil Goff is telling in the way that he makes it:

“It’s never a pleasant experience for a complaint to be made against you as an individual and he is asserting very clearly he has done nothing, he believes, that is wrong.”

That last part of the statement is very telling. When I read this I instantly thought of two things:

1. Goff is 100% convinced that Hughes is innocent, though he definitely thought Richard Worth was guilty.
2. Goff is leaving wiggle room to back track if it turns out the Hughes has done something wrong.

This is starting to look a little more interesting than first thought. It was already stoking speculation. This latest lot of comments from Goff only makes the fire burn even more, because he is throwing fuel on the fire.

Also, interestingly enough, it could be looking more like they were trying to cover this up:

“A journalist had asked about a complaint against an MP on Monday and was told by a Labour spokeswoman that it was not a Labour MP.  Mr Goff said the spokeswoman was speaking in “good faith” at the time. He said only he and his leadership team had known about the issue.”

I bet, as I have said already, that if the boot was on the other foot and it was National in this situation, that Goff would be accusing the Nats of lying and covering it up. And he is already blaming National for the story being revealed:

“Mr Goff also fingerpointed the National Party for leaking the story, saying he was told it had come from the Beehive.”

I find it interesting that as of last night, no one knew anything about the incident and now we are being told that Labour leadership have known about it for two weeks. Interestingly Andrew “Three Hats” Little claims he knew nothing about it? Is Goff keeping secrets from him?

This is the last thing that the Labour party really needed. But it would appear that it is a lot of their own making now that the truth is seeping through.

With Trevor Mallard working the phones hard out from his hospital bed and Annette King ordering MPs to STFU and run for cover, this has all the hallmarks of a snow job for sure. As more and more facts emerge it will be interesting to see how Labour deals with the issue.

Well of course not. Just look at the rigging of the selection in Mt Albert so Phil Goff’s chosen candidate could parachute in from Amman and the current gerry-mandering and reverse selection going on in Te Atatu.

Now it appears Phil Goff is hijacking another selection to ensure Kris Faafoi from his own office gains selection.

The Manatee blogs:

Fran Mold has today quit as Deputy Political Editor for TVNZ, according to well placed sources.

The reason is an agreement in principle that she will replace Kris Faafoi as Chief Press Secretary to Phil Goff.

The hirsute Fran Mold, best remembered for shrieking her way through Labour Party supplied lines at Don Brash seems set to replace Faafoi in Goff’s office, at least confirming where her political inclinations lie.

Serious questions remain though over the democratic principles, if any, that underpin Labour Party selections.

Matthew Hooton wrote in the NBR today (I had to creep up to the dairy at Bucklands Beach and bag a copy of NBR since my impoverishment at the hand of Fidelity Life) about the possibility of no less than six by-elections but he missed out Christchurch East, where it is widely thought that “Patsy” Dalziel is off overseas shortly.

Mana MP Winnie Laban’s Labour colleagues owe her a big bouquet of teuila, heilala and tagimoucia – first to congratulate her for being appointed assistant vice-chancellor (Pasifika) at Victoria University but second because of the opportunity she’s created to take the fight to National on strong Labour ground.

Labour’s top strategists understand that byelections on home turf can only help improve the party’s odds of success for 2011, which have slowly been creeping upward since Phil Goff finally manned up to deal to Chris Carter.

Yes, byelections can be unpredictable – but if you’re an opposition, struggling against a popular incumbent, unpredictability is a godsend.

Nothing else gives an opposition such profile to highlight a government’s faults, discover a few more, and urge voters to send a message to Wellington – all without anyone worrying their votes might actually change the government.

Right now Matthew Hooton is spot on. Multiple by-elections give Phil Goff the much needed bolster with which to secure a breach in the government’s defences and at the same time strengthen caucus into a true Phil Goff led labour Party rather than him having to put up with the cast offs of Helen Clark.

Ironically Phil Goff paved the way with his inspired rigging of the selection in Mt Albert and parachuting in David Shearer. It worked then and it should work now as Labour looks to expend $500k per by-election of public monies in order to rejuvenate caucus before the election.

Matthew Hooton’s suggested by-elections now include Manukau East where good mate of George Hawkins is past his use-by date.

Labour has an even broader opportunity. In Andrew Little – also boss of the powerful Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, the country’s largest – Labour has as its president The Great Negotiator.

If Mr Little puts Labour’s 2011 effort ahead of his own post-election leadership ambitions, it is not beyond him to engineer at least three other byelections, all in safe Labour seats, for the same day as Mana.

It’s an opportunity for national publicity – all on Labour themes – that it simply can’t afford to forgo.

In West Auckland, Mr Little could arrange for Mr Carter’s disciplinary action to be dropped in exchange for him resigning as MP for Te Atatu.

In Christchurch, Jim Anderton could be asked to step aside from Wigram, ahead of his election as mayor of Christchurch.

Likewise, in South Auckland, George Hawkins could leave early from Manurewa to concentrate on local politics.

Ditto perhaps Ross Robertson in Manukau East.

Or Pete Hodgson in Dunedin North.

Pete Hodgson is way past sensible to stay on, he is still suffering from Key Derangement Syndrome and has taken to posting outrageous lies on Red Alert or silly polls. He clearly is no longer the great and trusted strategist and he has also stated that he won’t be returning next election. Phil Goff may as well ask the old duffer to shuffle off too.

Coincidentally today I banged in to old Labour stalwart and historian Dr. Michael Bassett and so I took the opportunity to grab his take on the Labour Party today. He provided me with an insight that I had previously not noticed, that of the influence of the “Ex-Presidents Club”that loyally got Helen Clark to the position she held. The “Ex-Presidents Club” is still largely intact, now only missing Margaret Wilson. Jim Anderton, Maryan Street and Ruth Dyson are all in parliament and all in the past were heavily involved in stacking LECs and floor votes in favour of Clarkists. It was Bassett’s contention that little has changed amongst this group especially Street and Dyson, indeed there are very strong ru8mour that Street and Dyson see them selves as the “dream team” leadership option within Labour and that they are sitting there actively tripping up Phil Goff as he seeks to distance his party from the apparatchiks of the Clark years. Dyson was involved in a failed attempt to get Chris Carter selected when the vote was 4 v 3 against selecting him. It was Michael Bassett that nixed her schemes to amend the Labour Party constitution in order to get Carter in earlier.

Phil Goff must grasp the nettle and use this opportunity to remake the Labour Party and to refresh caucus and take the fight to National in ways that they have not even contemplated in the master plan of trying to secure a second term.

It is game on for next year for sure.

There is an old adage in marketing, as much as in politics. If you have to start defending your position or product you have already lost.

A frustrated Phil Goff has dropped the s-bomb, telling reporters in Wellington today that questions about the strength of his leadership are “bull shit”.

The Labour leader was fronting after a meeting of the party’s national council to consider steps against the sacked MP Chris Carter today.

The meeting resolved that Carter has a case to answer if he is to remain a member of the Labour Party. Nominations for Carter’s Te Atatu electorate seat have been re-opened and Goff said Carter would, as of Monday, become an independent parliamentary MP.

He has already been dumped from Labour’s parliamentary caucus after a bungled attempt to undermine Goff’s leadership.

Asked this afternoon if the prolonged saga over Carter’s membership reflected on the strength of his leadership, Goff said: “Well that’s bullshit, frankly. That’s just nonsense.” Goff said he thought the question was non-sensical.

“It’s got nothing to do with my leadership. The party must follow due process – is there anything about that that somebody doesn’t understand?” Goff said that Carter would become an independent MP on Monday when notification was sent to the Speaker of Parliament.

Some-one should take Mr Stayin’ Alive aside and explain that even uttering those few sentences has cooked his already well done goose. Labour are so emasculated though that there are precious few with any testicles to do anything about the “Goff problem”.

Meanwhile his fellow Backbone Club member, George Hawkins is planning his exit from one trough and his entry to another. It should be pointed out to those too stupid to understand that George Hawkins 20 year anniversary in parliament arrives on October 28th, he can resign after that and retain his massive golden pension, one of the few still eligible, and trot off to the new trough, with his wallet still safely being filled by the taxpayer.

If iPredict had a stock for a by-election in Manurewa, I’d be investing heavily in that.

Labour leader Phil Goff says ousted MP Chris Carter doesn’t have a mandate to remain as MP for Te Atatu.

Mr Carter was thrown out of the Labour caucus yesterday on a unanimous vote after sending an unsigned letter to media representatives in an attempt to undermine Mr Goff’s leadership.

Spectacular….this is going to be a massive filip for National in the polls. People do not like nasty blood-letting.

As I said yesterday if I was Chris Carter I would resign and force the broke, busted, dis-united Labour Party try and fight me off.

Mr Goff told reporters in Auckland today Mr Carter should reconsider that.

“That decision constitutionally is his, but he was elected as a Labour MP and he no longer has that mandate. He needs to reflect on that,” Mr Goff said.

“I think that he does not have a mandate to be the Member of Parliament for Te Atatu, given the withdrawal of support from the Labour Party.”

This is important here for Goff, at the moment Chris Carter is still a Labour MP. They haven’t thrown him out of the party. Does Phil Goff have the stones to take that step. Until he does then all this talk is simple bluster as the two men stare each other down.

It also looks like Phil Twyford, the hapless Member for the homeless, has been spiked again.

When Labour’s national council meets in a week’s time it is almost certain to suspend Mr Carter’s party membership. A new Te Atatu candidate would then have to be selected for the next election.

Radio New Zealand‘s political staff say it seems likely the party will look outside its caucus for a candidate.

Mr Carter says he’ll stay as on as an independent MP until the next election, but will give his vote to Labour.

This is going to be the toughest part for Labour because the LEC chair is Peter Kaiser. If he stands firm then Labour will have a problem with selections. it is clear though that they intend to strip Chris Carter of his nomination for Te Atatu and to also find a replacement candidate meaning almost certainly he is about to be Taito’d, chucked ignominiously from the Labour party, for speaking the truth.

The most telling for Labour is their utter paranoia of the “Tizard Effect”. Their reticence to talk about a sitting MP taking the nomination shows just how deeply un-popular Judith Tizard is.

For me though I think the most appalling stance taken by Labour is to question Chris Carter’s mental health, and to question it openly. This shows just how caring and sharing the Labour party really is, they are busily trying to spin and knife Chris Carter by now labeling him as mental. Phil Goff doesn’t deserve to be leader if this is to be their strategy to side-line Chris Carter.

Labour is in a real pickle. It is clear from my discussions with some Labour caucus members that Carter is both right and wrong. Let me explain, Chris Carter is right in saying that no-one thinks that Labour can win the next election, with Phil goff or anyone else for that matter, he is wrong though that caucus thinks there is someone else who could do better, there simply isn’t. Not a single name has been proffered to me as a suggested replacement for Phil. The overall feeling seems to be that like him or loathe Phil Goff is the leader only in the absence of anyone else.

One thing about Helen Clark, she ruled caucus with an iron fist, Phil Goff has let this get away on him.

The union branch of the Labour Party, the EPMU, has announced that it will be funding the campaigning of their boss, and Labour’s boss, for the seat of New Plymouth.

The man tipped as a future prime minister will stand for Parliament in New Plymouth next year.

Labour president Andrew Little announced his intention yesterday to contest the city’s electorate seat at the next elections.

Rumours about Mr Little’s candidacy have been rife since March, but the EPMU national secretary said he had needed time to make up his mind and to ensure he could run a strong campaign.

Even better though are his comments about his current leader.

“We’ve got a pretty good leader at the moment and it’s not an issue I can even think about,” he said.

Interesting. The leader is only pretty good and only at the moment and for some reason he isn’t allowed to think about it. That’s hosed down speculation for sure, not!

Andrew Little really is “Three Hats” now.