Posts by Paul Williams
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Rich Lock,
OK, but this raises a slightly different issue: the implication is that Labour have effectively resigned themselves to at least two terms in opposition.
I don't think Labour's given up on the election, not at all. I expect the new List and the development of new policies to make clear the differences between National and Labour and, should the distractions of the recent past be avoided in the future, to campaign bloody hard. The link, above, to the RNZ Focus on Politics is worth listening to.
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Those setting the policy track do need to take cognisance of the state of the electorate and the campaign field, but this doesn’t automatically extend to shelving or dropping good policy for the sake of soundbites. That’s political cowardice, and I’m by no means advocating it.
Agreed.
(Easy to get the balance wrong, though. The s59 repeal, while good policy, was an overreach which was deleterious to Labour (despite not being Labour policy). I think the political loss incurred by sticking to the strict repeal was probably a poor tradeoff, when the Clark government could have adopted the Borrows amendment as a ‘near enough’ solution which lessened their vulnerability to the ‘nanny state’ line of rhetoric. Easy to say so with hindsight, too: at the time, I was right in behind the full repeal as passed.)
I didn't follow the Burrows amendment closely enough to quite know it's contents but understand the point you make nonetheless. I think a more egregious example of over-reach was the Electoral Finance Act.
Gio said (and Sacha agreed):
My complaint if anything is that they don't challenge the way that the media frame the conversation more, hard as it must be
I wonder what your views then will be regarding this episode of Focus on Politics regarding the budget and cuts to WfF. I think it's a very very strong statment (and positioning) of Labour's major differences with the Government.
But perhaps that's not your point? Perhaps you're talking about them better defining issues themselves? That is hard to do though I recall Clark partly got on the front foot both by changing her media strategy (including by bringing in the excellent and very reasonable Mike Munroe) and also by doing more with regional papers and in regional visits. She also settled on a couple of key issues which were both core Labour issues as well as extending Labour's appeal - I'm thinking particularly of the headway she made on industry training.
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In fact, this is more or less exactly the view expressed by many disenchanted leftie
Lew, not here however. I think the views expressed here do not resolve so simply.
What I meant is that unions, associations, NGOs, political parties, public intellectuals on the Left are not one amorphous whole you can lump together to make that sort of argument with regard to the media. They have different aims and roles.
I agree. Clark's real achievement was keeping a often fractious group(s), inside and outside Parliament, together over a long period.
Upthread, someone's suggested Clark and Cullen didn't prepare the party for their departure. I entirely disagree. Even if Phil's struggles prove his undoing, after Maharey decided to retire, Phil was odds-on to lead if they lost. Also, there's been real renewal of the party with many new members coming in against the tide. I hope the List process continues this. I think more renewal is needed.
My concern is to not panic. Lew and I possibly disagree on the issue of "policy", but whatever Labour does differently has to be sensibly determined and not just selected to generate column inches in the short term.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to SteveH,
Might be. For me, it's that I'll have to first pay several thousands to be a permanent resident and have my qualifications assessed etc but the only benefit... after two further years... is voting and after this w/e's State election, I'm glad I couldn't.
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Catching up as best I'm able.
Russell, thanks for this:
However much you love that one, it might be time to make another point.
Precisely. I like Danyl's satire and analysis, but on this issue, I feel it is pure cynicism.
I think there’s a difference between a responsibility and a legal requirement though…
My understanding is that, in Australia, you are required to vote if on the Register but you are not required to be on the Register.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Idiot Savant,
Ahem. First Labour Government?
Opps, and I know better.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to giovanni tiso,
When we meet in person, I'll tell you about the crazy right wing rally my wife and I witnessed in Venice, September 2000. Weird northern separatists - my guess, my Italian is poor - dressed like cub scouts.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Sacha,
Any musings about why they aren’t?
I don't feel sufficiently well informed or connected to comment on this Sacha. I've not lived in NZ for almost eight years.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to giovanni tiso,
I keep returning to Jesson’s analysis of the hollowness of New Zealand society in this respect – I think it still bears true, and it’s a genuine constraint on our political class, much as politics itself has contributed to it over time.
Gio, having only lived in the lovely colonial westernised places I have - Australia and NZ - I understand the point you make but have no experience of it. I hang with a political group too. Are you saying that in European nations there is a deeper engagement? I'd bloody love that!
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Sacha,
Not if it is so ineptly personalised as it was in 2008. Hence the need for strong strategy and comms expertise.
Labour had three terms Sacha, first time ever. I caught the end of the campaign and actually thought the fact that as Labour went out, they bought so many new people in was pretty good. This isn't a simple tactical matter, it's about rebuilding a party around talented and credible people. I suspect it's why so many people are so disappointed by Hughes. Of course, I'd also rather they were now in a better position to contest the next election too.