As anticipated, he’s been appointed to a legitimate…

Rajen Prasad announces his retirement.

I'd expect Mana to support it. So you got Dotcom (who can't even stand) or ACT (who you can't stand). In other words, you got bupkis.

I have a blue shirt on today. I'm male. And I'm working (apart from a short break to bollox on here).

I have no interest in Clayton Cosgrove or any of those has-been righties. The weekend's announcement on drug policy has reinforced me in my policy of…

Serial litigant eyes Jones, McCully

Sideshows like this one from Darien Fenton about the Lego Movie come to mind. While it's laughable, I just hope it doesn't galvanise perception of 'nanny statism' or 'being precious'.

His recycling of Cosgrove's risible…

Good grief.

And the HoS devotes an incomprehensible editorial to the topic:

In the long-term, Labour needs…

Only slightly blunted when you realise that he was doing so on behalf of a food production industry which had, until not long ago, paid him an obscene amount of money as a CEO and will no doubt keep him…

Bravo

It's like when estate agents sell a house. Cozy => Really f***ing small.

"No frills" just means he swears a lot. "Ordinary bloke" means he's a sexist dinosaur. Also the sort to launch…

I thought of you when I saw it.

To be sur’, to be sur’

I can't believe I'm saying this, but your joke sensor might need it's firmware updated. And, yeah, it's not exactly an uncommon condition among politicians knocked down the greasy pole of status, or off it altogether. David Lange was self-deprecatingly hilarious about spending an awful lot…

There's your undoing, see. :)

Mr E?

Shane Jones' partner, Dot Pumipi, says the MP's greatest fear in making the decision to resign was that his phone would stop ringing and he would get withdrawal symptoms from the sudden lack of attention.

Seems a bit like…

I felt we really needed to get that picture up in here.

I am glad Shane Jones has gone. As a long-standing member of the LP, though on the Green side, I thoroughly disliked Shane Jones in spite some good speeches and replies in Parliament.
1. the pornagraphic films, whether or not tax-payer funded…

*- )

or Badgers...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIyixC9NsLI

The leaders' primary was just a starting point…

;- )

He hung up his gloves, and makes the other guys chase chickens around to increase their agility.

Yes me too. Age is relative and they probably have relatives and some would say.. they are old or young and I don't know anyones age here so ....;)

I think someone already got
the Northern Shoveler,
Shelduck'll be right
and Paradise is next!

The buckshot stops…

How long ago? What does he do now?

Oh totally – I was just responding to the commonly-articulated view that the Labour caucus consists primarily of 90-year old Roger Douglas clones who spend their days twiddling their…

Oh, I will be.

Couldn't agree more. I liked him first…

Labour must recapture the appeal to blue-collar males it had during those nine years in government led by a feminist PolSci lecturer.

… got about 50 RTs earlier. One of which came to the attention of Trevor Mallard, who replied thus:

@publicaddress @torshin but some…

How have they earnt the right to be there? By being in the party for so long? I think Kelvin made more of an impression than many on the list…

All MPs are put in place by the voting public. If voters do not like a party's list, they do not vote for them.

Can I just ask who exactly constitutes the 'dead wood' that's supposed to be dominating Labour? Aside from Jones (and for all that I loathe the guy and am glad he's leaving, the supermarkets issue was a really good one to jump…

Absolutely. Again, the dead wood issue comes into play, and the Boag…

Yup. And bloody hell, the number of business folk I used to hear complaining about the awful left wing pro-Labour NZ Herald would make you weep.

If you are referring to me – I wasn't saying that. My partner found the way he appeared smarmy and…

I don't recall anything of this clarity and purpose from Shane Jones in nine years.

Unimpressed with that statement myself.

__...spooky a Harvard just flew over…

He was asked in his post:
In relation to your last paragraph however, I think it is also fair to add…

She does her research close to the election. Not everyone is constantly engaged with the daily grind of politics. Closer to the time she pays close attention to policies. But with that…

That's typical of many comments and responses. I'm also puzzled by the no frills ordinary bloke claims, I didn't often…

Macey is a career diplomat and would either have held this job in addition to accreditation to a national or international body (in which case it becomes a political appointment) or should have been appointed through the normal process for state servants.

I reckon it would be…

Oath – and disturbingly reminiscent of those on the other side who blamed National’s historically low share of the popular vote in 2002 on that damn biased liberal media. Of course, the fucking awful campaign, impossible-to-take-seriously-while-sober policies and the endless internal ill-discipline…

Even Braunias got that one right.

Oh man, Guyon's just about eaten me out of house and home! It's got so bad that here I am sneaking out to the nearest KFC for a feed. But that's alright. It…

"One button undone is casual, two buttons relaxed, three Hasselhoff".

I've heard he comes…

I thought that was pretty bloody silly too.

It can't but help their relations with the National shareholding ministers to do this (and if the left ever get back in, the…

I’ve got to say that Murray McCully is one sneaky bastard — it's the only way sitting Labour MPs Damien O’Connor and Clayton Cosgrove became part of an anti-Labour clique on that tool of the…

Comparing the headlines with the same list from yesterday is interesting.

Like any competent political party or movement does. By constantly working to shape the terrain.

*ETA Mixing metaphors here, I think that they probably tried to get…

In what feels like a finely choreographed dance the MSM has adopted the right’s framing of the issue and pronounced the decision as some sort of crisis for the Labour Party. The loss of 15 MPs including its sixth…

Political media management includes maintaining ongoing relationships with media producers so they have a better balanced background view to bring to stories.

A traditionally-fair channel like Morning Report selecting only one side of an argument doesn't…

I imagine as part of a good communication strategy you'd ensure that people who do a good job of representing your party are on such shows as part of balance. Instead the voice from the left…

Seriously, how is it their fault that Morning Report would choose that particular clique? That comment read almost like one of Imperator Fish's parodies. "6 Anti Labour commentators hated on Labour in Morning Report, giving further firm evidence…

except the one down South that he appears to be implicated in, yes

Disgustingly biased coverage. What producer worth their salt would give airtime only to tired right-wing fools like that bunch? Labour's ongoing inability to manage media and framing is really hurting them.

Sure, we’re not disagreeing there. I think you’re right: Sometimes, taking what people say at face value is the right call. As I’ve said up thread, instead of trying…

And neither do I . Just it was his words that I listened to not all the guesswork that has exploded. So it could be helpful to understand his decision should one care to take…

Well, yeah...…

Priority 4: Stopping sexual, physical and emotional abuse of women and children, and yes to men as well.

I was outraged with the Roastbusters scandal and the well publicized sexual abuse/ pedophile cases in Kaitaia over the last few years.

I sat…

I made sure I was lying down when I read the news in the first place, this morning.

Jones is gone , whatever

Yup. The only interesting bit now is whether the Nats will make good on their promises. I guess they have to,…

It's good for the public to know why he's leaving .If for no other reason than to quell nasty gossip, but I think there does come a time in life when putting your own house in order is on the cards. He mentioned his…

+1
I am now over it , Jones is gone , whatever

So you believe what politician say?????

I think I need a lie-down.

How rooted is the Labour totara?

Yep.I think that's a fair assessment.

...I know they are mammals, but he could count the bycatch in their stomaches...

Brilliant. Comment of 2014.

it's not the announcing, it's the way we are announcing :)

Jones said something to that effect, and he has options. The guy was always better at business than politics, so no surprise he matched McCully's wishlist either.

Davis seems genuine about this and he has been a good person in the past.

Most likely because of 'dead wood' that's passed their use-by date. To do a Michelle Boag on them would risk much greater instability than what we have now. I suspect the last…

And I see the high Commissioner to the Cooks is gone

The Pacific ambassador role is still open and Jones is not confirmed…

Exactly.

Not being able to fix all the problems is no reason to stop trying to fix some of the problems. And who knows maybe if you fix the problems one at a time you might find someday…

How did he "go rouge"? I feel kind of…

If correct, it is a spectacular misuse of taxpayers money for National Party political gain.

A salary in the order of half a million plus…

Are you sure? The legislation says they are appointed and dismissed by the G-G. Aren't they like ministers – semi-political appointments at the whim of the government of the day?

(Ministers are"employed" in that they get paid a salary, but there's no accountability as…

Shane Jones' shock decision to quit as a Labour MP will lead voters to draw one conclusion and one conclusion only: that he thinks Labour cannot win the September general election.

Orly?…

Yeah, Russell, I really get McCully is Satan Incarnate to you and Gower but it's equally plausible to me that Jones cashed the reality check…

I'm only linking to it because he recommends my "nuanced and thoughtful analysis" of the issues ;-)

You cannot be serious. Even if you believe the party is better off without Jones, having him go rogue and publicly blindsiding Labour with his resignation…

As someone on WhaleOil noted: 1 button is casual, 2 is relaxed, 3 is Hasselhoff

Me neither. It's a made-up job title that happens to include the word "ambassador", not a diplomatic post.

You can tell the guy who realises that because when he goes on television he dresses like this:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30697024/paulhenry-jk.jpg

You can tell the guy who really has no clue because he goes on television…

Is that a head of mission / head of post?

head of mission means a person who is appointed by the Governor-General to be—
(a)High Commissioner for New Zealand in any Commonwealth country, or in the Cook Islands; or…

This reeks to high heaven, and it looks worse,…

It all becomes 'normal behaviour' when you see domestic violence as normal behaviour from the time you are born. So singling out domestic violence and family sexual abuse is a…

He's saying the right things, even if they're not all the things that could…

Another attack vector is, as Gordon Campbell points out, whether McCully has applied any process at all to the establishment of this putative role.

I was really hoping Matt McCarten…

We are the unwashed masses, and so we understand better than our betters how these things will resonate.

Can you point me to this please, I cant find it

...and of course there is no guarantee that things might, well, change, and the job could be found to be, sadly, untenable – sorry…

Good question Sacha , Cunliffe's chief press sec is his cousin Simon who while having a background as various deputy editors has no experience of politics and is considered a…

think in a collectivist mindset and the problem disappears.

How long until the knives come out for his use of the possessive "our"?

Would be Labour MP dissed Cunliffe years ago

yes, and how come we can all do a better job of this stuff than those who are paid to?

Labour lost an opportunity this morning. Wailing about a National jack up just made them look like weak victims being yet again outmaneuvered by those clever Nats. How much better for Cunliffe to have said something like:

"Yes, Shane and I…

It has been a huge community problem up North. There has been many charges of sexual abuse from community leaders. It has effected everyone in the community. Most people know someone personally…

Jones, however, may have seen himself ending up as a paralysed economic development minister in a Labour-Greens coalition which saw him having to constantly battle on behalf of any project…

And I’ve been sitting here thinking for the last couple of months that if I should get back into Parliament I really want to make a stand and make a difference…

And that was why Davis putting the onus on…

Stuff on Dotcom 28 March: "He repeated his claim that it would be represented in Parliament, whether or not it achieved the 5 per cent MMP threshold for list seats, because a sitting electorate MP would join."

Vikram Kumar on The Nation, 29…

The whole electorate/list thing came about because Kim misunderstood how NZ politics works.

Yeah, we know that ...

Shane Jones was not and had never been an Electorate MP. A List MP is of no use to Dotcom.

No, it’s not. Theoretically, sure, but when the guy is someone you know, someone inside your community? The first thing many people will do – “even” white middle-class…

A lot of people think it does. But Davis wasn't even saying that, he was responding to a question about the supposed common touch and whether he shared…

share the spotlight with Hone.. ?

it speaks to the tension between Labour's subtribes, stoked by folk like Chris Trotter and Josie Pagani.

This is a warning call for Labour; very few extra votes will be attracted to Labour because people like…

The whole electorate/list thing came about because Kim misunderstood how NZ politics works. Then that narrative took hold and away you go.

Also: it was apparently an either/or with Shane or the Mana party...and the Mana party seemingly won.

+1
Shane Jones is an impressive orator no doubt and…

Gordon Campbell agrees:

Shane Jones has left Parliament in the manner to which we have become accustomed, with self interest coming in first and second, and with the interests of the Labour Party (under whose banner he served) way, way back down the…

Wowzers. You know that for a fact?

That would have been unbelievably weird.

;- )

He must've really grown to despise Labour.