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Looking for a new left direction: more than just one housing policy

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, November 14th, 2012 - 218 comments

A policy focusing on increasing state housing and affordable rents would be a good start. However, my current criticism of Labour leadership focuses on the policy direction of the leadership team.  This requires more than just one policy. A bold new left wing plan is needed to deal with the difficult challenges ahead. Updated

Labour Conference 2012: how is social media formed?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, November 13th, 2012 - 81 comments

So, in an effort to make a post not calling for the head of David Shearer, I decided to take a look at the Labour Party’s conference webpages. And oh boy are they a treat. I’ve blogged before about Labour’s (or at least, Shearer’s office’s) poor grasp of social media, but whole new levels of “what r […]

Shearer Says – on leadership

Written By: - Date published: 4:12 pm, November 13th, 2012 - 93 comments

Nonsense

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 pm, November 13th, 2012 - 70 comments

NZ Herald: ‘David Shearer is brushing off a crescendo of calls for him to step down by left-leaning bloggers and commentators, saying it is “nonsense” and should be ignored.’

At conference, vote for a members’ democracy

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 13th, 2012 - 53 comments

The Labour Party conference this weekend is crucial for the democratic future of the party. A party member outlines his view on how to vote. His main point? In U.K. Labour you only need 20% of caucus to allow a vote on the leadership. That’s about right.

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.

Remember Waihi 1912: who now has the courage?

Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, November 12th, 2012 - 21 comments

Tomorrow is the centenary of the death of Fred Evans on 13 November 1912, during the Waihi gold miners strike.  Out of this struggle of ordinary, but courageous NZ workers, grew the NZ Labour Party.  Who now has such courage to lead NZ politics in a new direction? Update: Allison McCulloch’s article on the Waihi strike.

Who could replace Shearer?

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, November 11th, 2012 - 90 comments

Some people are Anyone But Cunliffe.  Some people think Cunliffe is the One True Leader.  Some people want more options.  So let’s make a case for it.

It’s time to go

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, November 11th, 2012 - 175 comments

Eddie is right.

David Shearer needs to step down.

On David Shearer’s Leadership

Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, November 10th, 2012 - 284 comments

For the Left to win in 2014, David Shearer has to resign as Labour Leader. This is a big call to make and one that I have agonised over, but the reality has become increasingly clear: under Shearer, Labour is all too likely to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in 2014.

Opposition Party statements; what the MSM doesn’t report

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, November 10th, 2012 - 39 comments

The MSM quickly picked up a press release on the failure of the Southern Cross Cable. Others that are ignored:  Bennett has either lied or is incompetent;  Nat-linked appointment to TVNZ board; Hone’s ‘feed the kids’ Bill; Joyce’s education agenda; John Key as a “bumbling Marxist”.

Shearer Says

Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, November 9th, 2012 - 65 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on jobs and the Pike River report.

We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.

Assessing Labour’s frontbench

Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, November 4th, 2012 - 166 comments

The failure of Labour to fire isn’t limited to the leadership team. A big part of Labour’s front bench simply aren’t doing their job. Comparing them to the winning Labour team in 1999 really hammers home how awful our guys today are.

Make your own “Shearer Says”!

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, November 3rd, 2012 - 49 comments

Every week or so another gripping read is emailed out from the Labour leader’s office.  Find out how you too can inspire a nation!

Not in the public interest

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, November 3rd, 2012 - 89 comments

Some prominent “journalists” are working to undermine Labour and a possible Labour-Green government: one that could turn against the neoliberal scam that such “journalists” feed off. The left should take heart – the time has come to support the “public interest”, as outlined by Nicky Hager.

Shearer Says

Written By: - Date published: 3:47 pm, November 2nd, 2012 - 81 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on the Spring Creek miners, Christchurch school closures, and people as a priority.
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page

I don’t think I’ll be taking his advice

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, November 2nd, 2012 - 133 comments

On the back of Duncan Garner’s scathing piece on David Shearer, David Farrar endorses Grant Robertson for leader. Yeah, because his last recommendation’s worked out so well. Call me cynical, but I just don’t think National’s pollster has the Left’s interests at heart. No, I don’t think people will be looking to the Right for advice on who should lead Labour again.

Gordon Campbell on Labour

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, November 1st, 2012 - 152 comments

It looks like Gordon Campbell has picked up on Irish’s piece on what Labour needs to do and added a few thoughts of his own. I think Campbell has a point here and it troubles me deeply. The last thing we need is for Labour’s vote to collapse in election year the same way Bill English’s did in 2002, or for the campaign to be derailed by faux pas like Brash in 2005.

Is anyone ABC any more?

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, October 30th, 2012 - 178 comments

It’s fine not to agree with someone’s politics. It’s fine to weigh up the attributes of one prospective leader against another and decide that one is the better choice. But the Anyone But Cunliffe clique didn’t do that. They literally wanted anyone who wasn’t Cunliffe. When Parker wasn’t going to win, they went to Shearer. It was a childish way to play with Labour’s future.

The job ahead

Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, October 28th, 2012 - 179 comments

The latest Roy Morgan poll bodes badly for Labour.

If they are to take the government benches in 2014 they need to get their house in order.

29%

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, October 27th, 2012 - 172 comments

The latest Roy Morgan poll has Labour down 4.5% to 29%. There’s no way to varnish it, this is a very bad poll for Labour, particularly for David Shearer. Yeah, it’s just one poll, and it does come off the back of the GCSB tape debacle. But it’s part of a broader trend of Labour […]

Shearer Says

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 am, October 27th, 2012 - 13 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on Greymouth, jobs, and privatisation.
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.

Imperatorfish: Discipline

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, October 23rd, 2012 - 17 comments

Labour MP Shane Jones appeared on TVNZ’s Q&A show over the weekend to debate with Gareth Hughes over plans for a Ross Sea marine reserve. Despite not being Labour’s spokesperson on conservation or fisheries. Labour hasn’t actually determined its position on the issue. So why did Jones appear at all? Did he get clearance from David Shearer before appearing?

Supernumerary

Written By: - Date published: 3:50 pm, October 22nd, 2012 - 100 comments

I’ve been thinking about what you might call a ‘good problem’ for the Left.. but it leads me to a ‘problem problem’. OK, so let’s say we win the next election – as the Left must do and should do given how unpopular the Nats’ policies are and, for the last year, how inept their political management has been. How do you share the economic portfolios out?

ImperatorFish: Labour Blamed For Robot Army Attack

Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, October 20th, 2012 - 13 comments

Questions were again raised about the leadership of David Shearer today, after a giant robot army descended from the skies and laid waste to most of the North Island. As the horde of killer machines spread fire and death in all directions, there was no news from the Labour Party leader about how he would deal with the crisis. Critics of Labour say that Shearer’s inaction is further evidence that he is unfit to lead the party.

Backwards to the future?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 20th, 2012 - 50 comments

Labour Day celebrates, what was at the time, a cutting edge victory for working people – the 8 hour working day.  But the struggles continue for men and women. Now is not the time to be going backwards on issues that impact on workers, people struggling on low incomes, or beneficiaries. Updated.

Jones to jump to NZ First?

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, October 19th, 2012 - 45 comments

I see David Farrar’s retailing the rumour that’s been doing the rounds over the last week that Shane Jones is in talks with Winston to make the jump from Labour to become Deputy Leader of NZ First. This makes a lot of sense for Jones – he’s to the right of Labour, has a reputation for being a bit un-PC and has the gift of the gab that a leading NZ First politician needs.

Shearer: Jobs that work for you

Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, October 18th, 2012 - 115 comments

This afternoon David Shearer gave a speech about jobs at the Hornby Workingman’s Club. It’s exactly the kind of speech I want to hear from the Labour leader, with plenty of substance to add weight to rhetoric.

Children of Men: money or our lives

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, October 18th, 2012 - 28 comments

Paid Parental Leave, Charter schools, compulsory early childhood education for beneficiaries: for NAct it’s all about money, and they use ‘shonky’ figures to justify their ‘shonkey’ policies and vetos.  This is ostrich and patriarchal behaviour, ignoring the evidence of the wider benefits to communities and society of good quality child care, education and Paid Parental Leave.

‘What crisis?’ Rudderless ship, stormy seas

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, October 14th, 2012 - 133 comments

There is ample evidence of a deep and lasting crisis, but in the delusional world of Planet Key it doesn’t exist. The EPMU Job Crisis Summit  opened a much needed conversation.  Russel Norman likened the New Zealand economy to a rudderless sailing ship In Stormy Seas.  Will the summit be the start of a sea change for NZ?

Shearer Says

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, October 13th, 2012 - 18 comments

David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on Tiwai, jobs, and the manufacturing sector
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.

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