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NRT: A circus of self-mutilation

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, July 22nd, 2014 - 104 comments

No Right Turn gets rightfully acerbic about the witless fool “senior” MP in Labour who was trying to sabotage Labour in the Sunday Star Times this weekend, and about the general self-mutilation of Labour by its caucus at present.

Stand up – for an inclusive, caring & sharing NZ

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 am, June 19th, 2014 - 57 comments

Stand up: fight back: We know what we are up against. We’ve seen the depth of the negative, right wing campaigning.  NZ wants and needs better politics, and a more inclusive society.

TPP – the expensive vanity project of NZ diplomacy

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, June 13th, 2014 - 51 comments

Wayne Mapp is worried about the possibility of Labour backing away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). If National and MFAT would like support from the free-trade advocates inside Labour, then I’d suggest that they get off their padded arses and provide some solid information not only to us, but also to the public. But all I have heard so far is some psuedo-religious Randian rants about free-trade that are about as convincing to business people as statements about the imminent arrival of the Rapture.

Labour’s Mana Internet Party dilemma

Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, May 30th, 2014 - 234 comments

So what does Labour do? Gift Te Tai Tokerau and be open to allegations of manipulating the system (even though National has made an art form of this particular type of activity) or campaign hard and risk the loss of 3 – 4 % points of party vote if Hone loses his seat?

Bugger the polls!

Written By: - Date published: 8:56 am, April 6th, 2014 - 83 comments

Auckland Against Poverty protest the Young Nats Ball and Paula Bennett’s war on the poor.  Steven Joyce is cynical about the polls. A Stuff poll shows everything that is wrong with the media’s poll beat ups.

Rogernomics, income inequality & gender politics

Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, April 3rd, 2014 - 22 comments

All of us, in our diversity, can make a big impact this election year. Time to end the “neoliberal” tyranny!  Crime stats are celebrated masking the continuing impact of income & social inequalities. Rogernomics fractured gender politics & rape crisis intiatives.

Assuming justice and creating justice

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, March 23rd, 2014 - 35 comments

I’ve been thinking about politics, assumptions, and justice. I sat in on a recording of The Egonomist on Friday – thanks for having me there, guys! – and we discussed some of the issues and reactions to Sarah Wilson‘s articles on WINZ, specifically the backlash from people who insist that Sarah must be a liar, […]

Labour’s new Parliamentary chief of staff …

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, February 26th, 2014 - 376 comments

David Cunliffe has announced his new chief of staff following Wendy Brandon’s resignation because of ill health.  It is veteran strategist Matt McCarten.

On Best Start

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 pm, January 28th, 2014 - 95 comments

So Labour has launched the Best start policy and the criticism from National and its followers has been swift and well coordinated. And, like the bulk of National’s attacks on it opponents, it also has no basis in reality.

The Pablo-Trotter interchange – whither the left?

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 pm, January 23rd, 2014 - 169 comments

A response to recent exchanges between Pablo (on Kiwipolitico) & Chris Trotter.  I agree and I don’t.  I argue that Pablo’s Marxism needs some updating to include the politics of various kinds of oppression & the intertwining of and interaction between cultural “superstructure” & “economic base”.

Its not easy being Green

Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, January 11th, 2014 - 175 comments

There is an important debate for both Labour and the Greens to have about the level of cooperation they should display this year.  Some commentators have suggested that the Greens will be sidelined and that the battle will be between Labour and National but this is MMP and every vote counts.  The goal for progressives has to be to increase the overall left vote.

It’s 2014 and we have a job to do

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, January 1st, 2014 - 252 comments

In 2014 the New Zealand Left must have more on its agenda than “win power”.  We should want to create a better New Zealand, and doing that is about so much more than economic policy (which is also, obviously, important).  It has to touch everything.  And it’s going to take people working in different areas on different parts of the plan to make it all happen.

Forty Christmases

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 pm, December 25th, 2013 - 49 comments

Exactly 40 years ago to the day I was having a white Christmas – on the summit of Mr Fyfe overlooking Kaikoura. Today I celebrate another Christmas, high on another mountain, in another part of the world – with a light dusting of very dry, very icy snow drifting on the wind. The decades in […]

Battle weary & marginalised: state housing

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, November 28th, 2013 - 61 comments

The National government is destroying NZ’s state housing system.  Right of tenure removed,  a shift towards private provision of “social housing”,  housing campaigners marginalised, & Tracy Watkins crowing about the shift from the “welfare state”. Greens & Mana are for more state houses.  And Labour? [Update] Picket of (Nat) Party for the Rich Dec 8 Akl. NZH article.

What the Waitakere Myth says about pundits’ attitudes to the working class

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, November 13th, 2013 - 99 comments

I finally found the words, in a comment at The Standard, to explain something I’ve been feeling for years about the Waitakere Man thesis: I keep thinking about how to express this exact idea: that the whole Waitakere Man myth says way more about Chris Trotter and Josie Pagani’s attitudes towards the working class than […]

Beyond the MSM? You Bet!

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, September 20th, 2013 - 221 comments

David Cunliffe spoke to the Left base in the Daily Blog Live interview last night: economy, tax, employment, GCSB, TPPA & more.  He raises hopes for a new, post GFC social democratic vision. But he spoke to those with economic & policy knowledge. His nods towards better social security, away from bennie bashing, need fleshing out.

On the Labour leadership

Written By: - Date published: 2:57 pm, July 21st, 2013 - 207 comments

Over the last few weeks Labour has been in a state of agitation as the party, the affiliates and even the caucus have come to the realisation that the Shearer project has failed.

A problem of “masculine” values

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, July 7th, 2013 - 121 comments

The MSM coverage of the Labour Party remit, led by right wing propagandists, is riddled with sexism and the same traditional masculinist values that marginalise the poor and those with least power. I repeat my post that critiques a speech on gender & politics at the 2012 Labour Party Conference.

‘The Pursuit of Loneliness’: death of a dream

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, July 4th, 2013 - 33 comments

US social critic, Phillip E Slater (1927-2013), lived anti-materialistic, anti-individualistic, community-based ideals: 60s-70s, middle-class, US-based counter-culture values, with limited political activism and focus. Admirable cultural values, lacking the politics to challenge global “neoliberal” elites. What can the NZ left learn from this today?

“Women of Influence” awards: from the left or the right?

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, June 27th, 2013 - 11 comments

There’s something to be said for Fairfax and Westpac’s launch of the Women of Influence NZ awards. Many women do not receive social recognition, or a fair financial reward, for their valuable contributions to society. The Fairfax-Westpac, right-leaning, individualistic awards foreground money, profits, leadership and business.

The disconnected: the future of the left?

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, April 18th, 2013 - 42 comments

The current direction of Key’s government, and the challenging circumstances of the 21st century create a need for urgent attention to the form of a new left politics; one that embraces the working class, trade union solidarity, gender, diversity & the emerging “precariat”.

Upcoming talk on Canadian student uprising

Written By: - Date published: 3:44 pm, January 11th, 2013 - 6 comments

This Sunday hip hop artist and political activist Darius Mirshahi will be speaking in Auckland about the political situation in Canada and how the left are organising to resist Neo-Liberalism. Later he will be performing material which has lead to attention from Glen Beck and the Canadian police.

2 storms and a rocket

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, December 14th, 2012 - 42 comments

With the GFC, changing climate and resource depletion, the struggles of the powerless get over-looked.  Asia-Pacific has been described as the focal point of a new cold war. Storms in Samoa and the Philippines, a rocket launch from North Korea. How should we respond?

Something rotten in the state…

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, December 11th, 2012 - 88 comments

As an outsider watching the struggles in the Labour Party unfold, I am becoming increasingly despondent about the state of Left wing politics in NZ.  Right now, NZ, and those of us who party vote Green/Mana, require a strong, democratic and solidly left wing Labour Party.

Postcard from a 21st century renter

Written By: - Date published: 1:19 pm, December 3rd, 2012 - 16 comments

Dear Jack, It’s been almost a century since your major contribution to NZ . Many still see you as an inspiration for a left wing vision. Unfortunately, we are having to fight the same old battles once again, the poor are being demonised, and we need more state housing.

Why I’m still worried

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, November 30th, 2012 - 90 comments

Labour may still be well below its 2008 election result, when it was chucked out after 3 terms, but, thanks to the doubling of Greens support, Labour+Green is level pegging with National in the latest Roy Morgan. Add New Zealand First, and the opposition is well clear. Except, that’s not an election winning scenario for the Left.

Gender, politics & NZ LP conference 2012

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, November 22nd, 2012 - 140 comments

The Labour Party are giving serious attention to the unacceptable gender inequalities in MP numbers and in pay.  The Greens are leading in tackling the underlying masculine framework of politics and employment, and, along with Mana, unpaid work.

Changing Labour: significant issues

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, November 18th, 2012 - 4 comments

These are exciting days as the Labour Party becomes more democratic.  In their reports on the Conference, the MSM are failing to focus on the important issues: ones requiring a new direction from the Left, such as damaging white collar fraud and the urgent need for affordable housing.

Towards an inclusive, democratic left

Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, November 16th, 2012 - 46 comments

The left needs to develop a new direction, not merely react to the ruling neoliberal discourses and policies. Under NAct there has been a resurgent masculinisation of politics, and the undermining of democratic processes.  How do we work towards a more inclusive, diverse participatory democracy?

Shuffle the caucus deck

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, November 12th, 2012 - 95 comments

By all means, get rid of the unfortunate experiment that is the David Shearer leadership. But the problem is really with the NZLP’s parliamentary caucus who appear to have lost sight of what we want them to achieve. Until that problem is fixed the party will continue to shed people willing to exert effort supporting them.

Why the Left still needs feminism

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, September 29th, 2012 - 280 comments

QoT has a shiny new author login and she’s not afraid to use it!  And Labour?  You definitely still need feminism.