david cunliffe

Categories under david cunliffe

  • No categories

The little I know about David Shearer

Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, December 3rd, 2011 - 134 comments

I ran David Shearer’s campaign headquarters in the 2009 Mt Albert by-election. That gave me unique perspective to get a good hard look at a man in a pressure cooker environment. David arrived from the middle east literally a few short hours before the candidate selection speeches.  It showed.  He looked tired. But he went […]

Labour’s decision and Labour’s alone

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, December 1st, 2011 - 84 comments

It worries me that the media and right wing are trying to take control of the Labour Leadership contest. There’s no great hurry with Christmas around the corner (no new leader is going to get a lot of traction over the summer holidays), but the consequences of making a hasty decision will be disasterous for the party, and disasterous for New Zealand.

Two weeks to choose

Written By: - Date published: 3:42 pm, November 29th, 2011 - 160 comments

Have just received an email from Labour’s President Moira Coatsworth. Phil Goff and Annette King to resign Labour’s leadership effective December 13. Moira is urging all Party members to make their views known to their MPs about the new leadership.The caucus will make the decision but members will have their say. Good.

Choosing our next PM

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, November 29th, 2011 - 172 comments

Looks like Labour will have a proper leadership comp with Goff as caretaker till early next year. Good. Let’s get to know the options. Labour needs to get this right. Because the next Labour leader needs to be the next PM in 2014. Needs to be able to win. The poor people of NZ can’t afford another lost 3 years being squeezed and ripped off by the Tories.

Nats fail own asset sales tests

Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, November 14th, 2011 - 67 comments

Labour’s David Cunliffe put out a press release judging National’s proposed asset sales programme by the 5 tests that Key laid down in an effort to reassure us that sales would only go ahead if they made sense and were good for the country. Cunliffe’s analysis shows asset sales clearly fail the Nats’ own tests. The only reason to go ahead is blind ideology.

The Recovery is here, it’s coming, it’s…

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, November 9th, 2011 - 48 comments

National want it both ways.  They’ve brought us economic recovery through their brilliance (we’ve just not felt it yet), but also the lack of a recovery is not their fault and is in fact why all the stats are so bad. Here’s a reminder of what they’ve said…

Nats clueless on privatisation consequences

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, September 7th, 2011 - 17 comments

If electricity assets were part privatised, future governments couldn’t make the kind of reforms that National made earlier this year because of the need to consider private investors’ rights. Pretty simple, eh? Tell that to Hekia Parata. Bill English has his head in the sand on the effect of falling markets and can’t guarantee Kiwi ownership.

Cunliffe kicks arse on asset sales

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, August 22nd, 2011 - 95 comments

At the start of the year, John Key said that he wanted to have a mature debate on asset sales. Now, his Finance Minister and SOE Minister are refusing to front up to debate David Cunliffe on the issue. Instead, that was left to old man Brash on Q+A yesterday. Cunliffe made mincemeat of him. The Right still has no justification for flogging off profitable assets.

Steven Joyce strikes out

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, July 19th, 2011 - 21 comments

Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce has dealt his government’s economic credibility a serious blow by attacking Labour’s costings of its fiscal plan and getting his own numbers wrong. David Cunliffe looks to be enjoying himself as he rips Joyce apart on Red Alert, in the Herald, and in the Dom. So much for Joyce’s dreams of succeeding English as Finance Minister.

In other news

Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, June 25th, 2011 - 14 comments

The spotlight was on Christchurch last week, and will be on Te Tai Tokerau over the weekend.  Lots of stories are slipping by under the radar.  But here are a couple of  pieces that deserve further comment.

English: dodgy asset sales figures

Written By: - Date published: 4:19 pm, June 9th, 2011 - 15 comments

Question Time: David Cunliffe wipes the floor with Bill English in the House today, as he shows up his missing costs of asset sales.

English – sell dams to buy prisons

Written By: - Date published: 6:37 am, June 9th, 2011 - 54 comments

So, that’s National’s great big plan: get rid of our electricity assets and use the cash to build more prisons. Not much of a brighter future there. National still hasn’t come up with a convincing reason why we would sell highly profitable monopolistic companies. Instead, we’ve seen a series of weak excuses. Now, English has revealed the truth.

What will Labour do?

Written By: - Date published: 2:26 pm, May 17th, 2011 - 40 comments

Good speech here from David Cunliffe to the Manufacturers and Exporters Association last night. He and David Parker both spoke and I understand their message was very well received by the audience. He outlines the principles for a good budget, and then answers the question about what would Labour do. There is another one to Business New Zealand today.

National reforms Kiwisaver – again

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, May 12th, 2011 - 26 comments

John Key has announced National’s third reform of Kiwisaver in 3 years, saying the government’s contribution will be cut and made up with higher minimum contributions from members and their employers. It’s an embarrassing flip-flop from the government that cut default contribution rates and shows no plan for the future.

Cunliffe addresses Key lies

Written By: - Date published: 4:53 pm, May 11th, 2011 - 56 comments

Key’s pre-budget speech was hugely uninspiring and mis-leading.

Cunliffe rips his claims apart.

A hell of a speech 2

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, March 23rd, 2011 - 32 comments

“The Prime Minister’s out of touch. Here’s a man who got well over$1000 a week from his own tax cuts… He may know where his bread is buttered on but it’s a different side of the loaf to most Kiwis… who every time they go to the supermarket are asking “how come this trolley of groceries is costing $20 or $50 more than it seemed it did last week’?”

Blame it on the quake

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, March 9th, 2011 - 23 comments

Last week, John Key said that, due to the earthquakes, “from June to June, my guess is that we’ve lost $12 billion in GDP”. Later, he said it was $15b over 4 years due to the quakes. Now, Treasury says most of that $15b is from the recession Key and English had led us into before the quakes. The Nats are trying to use the quakes to hide their failings.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.