Daily Review 22/06/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, June 22nd, 2017 - 53 comments
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Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

53 comments on “Daily Review 22/06/2017 ”

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  1. repateet 1
    22 June 2017 at 5:58 pm

    If a group intent on Dirty Politics signed up in the Labour Party determined to be wooden horses to destroy the party’s election chances from the inside, they could hardly do better than the ‘intern’ shambles in Auckland today.

    In soccer they have own goals. This is standing up and booting the ball into your own goal again and again.

    • billmurray 1.1
      22 June 2017 at 6:47 pm

      repateet, well said.
      To his credit Andrew Little has came out and ‘accepted ‘ the debacle. What he didn’t do is sack McCarten. What McCarten has not done is resign. The fuck up festers.
      The Maori party and Winnie have come out with strong condemnation and this is telling with about 3 months until
      ‘D’ day.
      IMO legal action has a good chance of happening.
      The Greens, so far, are silent but I doubt this will do much for MoU solidarity, particularly if this hits the Courts or litigation payments ensue.
      Any apologists on these pages for McCartens plan will do little to restore this mess, it will damage and maybe destroy Labour.

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1
        22 June 2017 at 6:50 pm

        To his credit Andrew Little has came out and ‘accepted ‘ the debacle. What he didn’t do is sack McCarten. What McCarten has not done is resign.

        What could he sack him from?
        What could McCarten resign from considering that he’s already left?

        McCarten is Andrew Little’s former Chief of Staff and resigned two weeks ago from running Labour’s campaign office in Auckland.

      • ScottGN 1.1.2
        22 June 2017 at 7:01 pm

        You’re either ignorant or wilfully ignoring the realities of the news cycle. This will be gone by tomorrow. The Barclay debacle has abruptly ended the phoney campaign around the election. Expect the usual proxies to start to try and fill the airwaves with one scandalous exclusive after another.

  2. Pat 2
    22 June 2017 at 6:24 pm

    what brain deads within Labour thought this could possibly be a good idea?…..own goal doesn’t begin to describe it…

  3. Ed 3
    22 June 2017 at 6:26 pm

    For a wonderful take on UK politics, there’s noone better than George Galloway.

    • RedLogix 3.1
      22 June 2017 at 9:35 pm

      Fuck me Galloway doesn’t hold back. Old fashioned oratory whatever you feel about it. Only need to listen to the first 10 min.

  4. infused 4
    22 June 2017 at 6:47 pm

    No post today I see on Labours shameful bs.

    [you just copped a ban in OM. But know criticising authors here for what they don’t write is also against the rules. – weka]

  5. Anne 5
    22 June 2017 at 6:56 pm

    Labour is not responsible for an outside organisation inviting young people to come to NZ and help out during the election campaign. That this organisation let it all get out of hand is NOT the fault of the Labour Party. It’s the Labour Party who are stepping in to sort the mess out.

    Now we have the ludicrous claim by a crackpot and hysterical MSM (and I’m sorry to say John Campbell is one of them), that these youngsters are “immigrants” and then use it to accuse Labour of “hypocrisy”.

    THEY ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS. They are visitors and are only here for a matter of weeks.

    If Andrew Little doesn’t get off his back-side and tear strips off all of them for the bullshit they’re currently spouting, then he lets us down in a big way. This is one time when “Angry Andy” needs to pull out all the stops!

    • BM 5.1
      22 June 2017 at 7:01 pm

      Copied from another site

      http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=1702958&topic=7

      Proof Labour’s name all over slave labour scheme.

      Going right back to at least February (date of first link from Michigan University)

      https://umichpicsannouncements.wordpress.com/2017/02/24/labo
      ur-party-campaign-fellowship-in-new-zealand/

      https://casit.illinoisstate.edu/sites/pol/2017/04/12/2017-la
      bour-campaign-fellowship/

      https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/students/news/show/news-labour-campaign-fellowship/

      Dutch University links:

      http://stage.wp.hum.uu.nl/170424-2-new-zealand-labour-party-2017-campaign-fellowship/

      https://bskstage.weblog.leidenuniv.nl/2017/05/12/internship-
      2017-labour-campaign-fellowship-new-zealand/

      https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/students/news/show/news-la
      bour-campaign-fellowship/

      [Calling what’s happened to the interns ‘slave labour’ in the way you just did is trolling. If you think that you’re going to be able to troll like that going towards the election you are wrong. Expect a hefty ban. I haven’t caught up with the whole thing properly yet, but I’m smelling Dirty Politics here, and I’ve got less than zero tolerance for trolling under those conditions. By all means make your points, but you know well enough now where the line is. Please acknowledge you have read this note – weka]

    • Keith 5.2
      22 June 2017 at 7:08 pm

      He certainly didn’t describe this shambles the way you have Anne, on RNZ tonight!

      What idiot ever ever thought using unpaid migrants as campaign assistants stuffing them in poor living conditions was a good idea?

      And what idiots thought it such a good idea not to monitor and micro manage all initiatives to avoid such a fuck up?

    • Bill 5.3
      22 June 2017 at 8:10 pm

      Anne. It was NZ Labour seeking the help through a so-called fellowship programme. Those things are standard enough. Where I’m having some problem is in the misleading marketing of those fellowships. Labour said in its literature that NZ would be great place to be given the “global political climate” – as though NZ Labour was a part of the resurgence of social democracy 🙄

      It’s not. And any (say) Sanders supporter who came here hoping to a part of some Sanders or Corbyn or Menchalon or SNP thing would be bitterly disappointed.

      That being by the by and even putting the clusterfuck of non-organisation that Matt McCarten put in place to one side too.

      If a person on a fellowship is not an immigrant because they are here for a set amount of time, then why does NZ Labour consider international students to be immigrants when they too are here for a set amount of time?

      I’d like to hear Andrew Little square that circle he created tonight on Checkpoint.

      • weka 5.3.1
        22 June 2017 at 8:24 pm

        Maybe someone in Labour was trying to be subversive bring in Sandernistas or Corbynites 😉

        • Bill 5.3.1.1
          22 June 2017 at 8:37 pm

          I actually don’t think they’re above that level of stupidity. But more likely just simply putting out a pitch they thought would get peoples’ attention. Certainly seems to have worked. I wonder how many fellows they’d normally expect?

          • weka 5.3.1.1.1
            22 June 2017 at 8:48 pm

            I’ve yet to see a write up of the whole thing that I trust, and not sure I can be bothered going and parsing past all the bullshit tbh. The background stinks of dirty politics and mostly it looks like something that should have died away as Little said yep, this isn’t good and we’re going to sort it.

            • Bill 5.3.1.1.1.1
              22 June 2017 at 9:02 pm

              Nope. It’s a clusterfuck. Forget the nonsense about the door hinges and all that guff. Could be a parting “fuck you” from McCarten, or just sheer incompetence, or whatever. But it ain’t dirty politics.

              • McFlock …
                22 June 2017 at 9:16 pm

                the fuckup, if the bulk of the reports are accurate, isn’t dirty politics.

                The timing of the break stinks of, at the very least, “media management”.

              • weka …
                22 June 2017 at 9:20 pm

                That’s not the dirty politics. It’s what the right are doing while the left are busy bashing their own. The ‘slave labour’ meme arose very quickly. And the whole cupboard hinge thing is important, because people aren’t willing to talk about what is actually wrong (the larger numbers and the disorganisation) because on its own it won’t be a scandal, so they’re pointing to every little possible thing. FFS, sleeping dorms on a Marae is a hardship? Really? And there were people on social media calling that a slum. The nasty is big on this one.

                From what I can tell McCarten and some Labour bods set up a scheme outside of Labour and fucked it up, and there are some students from overseas who probably rightfully feel ripped off. But it’s not in any way comparable to what National have done over a long period of time re Clutha Southland. As far as I can tell the reaction to the intern thing is out of proportion and the left are falling for it all over again. Bash Labour and see how that helps with changing the govt.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  22 June 2017 at 9:28 pm

                  The ‘slave labour’ meme arose very quickly.

                  If they were that concerned about ‘slave labour’ you’d think that they’d be raising a massive fuss about the businesses that really are abusing imported labour. But they tend to defend those people instead.

                • Bill …
                  22 June 2017 at 10:34 pm

                  Of course “slave labour” became the go-to term! Why wouldn’t it? It requires about zero thought, isn’t accurate, but is good for shits and giggles among a given set of political what-evers.

                  That’s not ‘dirty politics’.

                  Hone Harawira highlighted this back in April but was poo pooed by Labour and Labour supporters. And no, it wasn’t set up outside of Labour. They may have been kept in the dark in the latter stages, but then that just raises questions about their internal structures of accountability and communication.

                  I think it is quite a big thing to entice people into New Zealand for political campaigning when the literature used can reasonably be held up as being mis-leading btw. (ie – the literature suggested rather strongly that NZ Labour was a part of the resurgence of social democracy.)

                  As for comparisons – not interested, if that implies only commenting on the worst excesses of politicians if they happen to be from ‘the right’ party. Labour may need to be in government if we aren’t going to have another three years of National, but that doesn’t make them left. And it doesn’t mean they get a free pass on shit (not that they would, even if they were).

                  This being a political blog, apart from the few who have made a conscious decision to not vote, anyone reading here is going to vote. The overwhelming majority will vote in a way that runs counter to the interests of the National Party. And they have options. (eg – if not Labour, then perhaps Green)

                  edit – yes, it’s entirely possible someone sat on this until it could be used to deflect heat away from National. That’s not dirty politics either – just strategy.

                  • weka …
                    22 June 2017 at 10:51 pm

                    Like I said, bash Labour and see how that helps to change the govt. Lots of people won’t vote Green for various reasons, so that leaves Labour, NZF or not voting. The last two won’t help change the govt. If the left can’t figure out how to do constructive criticism instead of bashing its own then maybe it’s ok with handing National a 4th term, or settle for a centrist L/NZF govt.

                    • Bill …
                      22 June 2017 at 11:06 pm

                      Well, if you think that having genuine questions and making reasonable observations is ‘bashing’, or buying into some dastardly plot, then hey, we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

                      Some people are looking at TOPs and others at MANA btw. So there’s potential beyond these Labour or Green or NZF or nothing set of options you propose.

                      And picking the timing for something is what every political party does. It’s ‘management’ (as McFlock termed it) and it certainly isn’t a ‘dead cat’ – that’s when you throw out shit about your own side to shift the conversation.

                    • weka …
                      22 June 2017 at 11:34 pm

                      I don’t think asking genuine questions and making reasonable observations is bashing. I’ve already differentiated between bashing and constructive critique.

                      Mana and TOP votes might also cost the left the election. So a narrative of Labour are shit for the next 3 months leading to 1.5% and 3.5% of the left vote going to Mana and TOP is not helping to change the govt.

                      And picking the timing for something is what every political party does. It’s ‘management’ (as McFlock termed it) and it certainly isn’t a ‘dead cat’ – that’s when you throw out shit about your own side to shift the conversation.

                      Pretty interesting seeing you minimise the dirty shit from the right as if it’s just par for the course political strategy.

                    • Bill …
                      23 June 2017 at 12:16 pm

                      Pretty interesting seeing you minimise the dirty shit from the right as if it’s just par for the course political strategy.

                      Yeah. Timing releases for maximum effect is what every political party does. Pulling in contacts for penetration is also what every political party does. So unless you’re suggesting or claiming that “Politik” is an updated incarnation of “whaleoil” seeding msm with stories from the National Party…

                      Throwing lots of shit at a target in the hope some sticks so that any stink from the original story increases is also just par for the course. If you think that’s the preserve of National or anything to do with what Nicky Hagar was on about, then you didn’t understand the issues raised in his book.

                      Meanwhile, it seems the timing was just the timing on this issue. From ‘stuff’.

                      General Secretary of the Labour Party Andrew Kirton heard about the problems with the scheme late last week and flew up on Monday to sort things out.

                      and

                      “Earlier this week the Labour Party Head Office contacted me (Matt McCarten) about these issues and requested to take the programme over so that it could resolve them. I have agreed to this and am no longer involved in the programme.”

                      So shit happened and shit was reported in pretty quick succession.

                    • weka …
                      23 June 2017 at 12:33 pm

                      Yes, saying that nasty shit in politics is what everyone does and is par for the course, is minimising what just happened.

                      “Timing releases for maximum effect is what every political party does.”

                      It’s not just a release though, it’s lies. Every political party doesn’t do that. There’s a difference between using truth to criticise one’s opponent and using lies. We see this on TS too and moderate for it. The left parties might cross the line sometimes but generally they don’t use blatant mistruth to smear National. And they don’t have a whole system set up to do that on multiple fronts.

                      There’s another thing here too, The Chairman is doing this on today’s OM, which is that no-one is allowed to make mistakes. Labour or any party should be allowed to fuck up and then make amends. If that’s not true then we’re basically fucked. But it is still true, and so there is a need to push back against the moves that will condemn out of proportion to the offence and the response to the offence.

                      So yeah, minimising. You appear to be ok with that culture, I’m not.

                    • Peter …
                      23 June 2017 at 1:46 pm

                      ( If the left can’t figure out how to do constructive criticism instead of bashing its own )
                      In MHO they aren’t on the left what left party would ask people to travel from another country and work for nothing and complain about young people working for shit wages here. Shit wages is better than no wages. Bunch of fucking tory lite

                    • weka …
                      23 June 2017 at 2:05 pm

                      @Peter, who will you vote for, and do you want to change the government?

                    • Bill …
                      23 June 2017 at 4:06 pm

                      What just happened Weka?

                      An organisational disaster, that began as a Labour Party Fellowship Programme, which then became some weird (and failed) “Campaign for Change” that sits very oddly with NZ Labour’s immigration policy, and that raises multiple questions about NZ Labours internal structures for accountability and communication in general?

                      Or was people running around referring to fellowship volunteers as interns and slaves what happened?

                      You seem to be suggesting that the latter is what happened and that the former is just some incidental detail not worth mentioning.

                      Yes, saying that nasty shit in politics is what everyone does and is par for the course, is minimising what just happened.

                      I’ll add that I didn’t say anything even remotely like “nasty shit in politics is what everyone does”. I said that people will throw shit (mud, if you prefer) at a target.

                      What is the “blatant mistruth” you suggest that the National Party have told about Labour? And what is this “whole system set up to do that (smear and spread lies) on multiple fronts” that you imagine National to have these days?

                    • weka …
                      23 June 2017 at 4:28 pm

                      Both those things happened, and I’ll just note the minimising again.

                      Go follow Hooton on twitter for a while, that’s a reasonably good indicator of the lines being run, the degree of nasty, and the attempt to undermine via smear and mistruth rather than actual critique. And rather than me responding to a request about my imagination I’ll just say that I find it extremely unlikely that National and co have stopped Dirty Politics. You can prevaricate over semantics, but it looks to me like the machine still runs.

                    • Bill …
                      23 June 2017 at 4:47 pm

                      That would be funny if you yourself weren’t running around seeking to shut down worthwhile critique by ignoring and sidestepping the substantive issues that arise in comments from this Fellowship debacle (read above), as well as hectoring people for not discussing whatever fallout from what the likes of Hooton are discussing, and generally getting all wavy armed and stompy booted when you don’t like people’s criticisism of NZ Labour and all because, it seems, the election! The election!!

                      The framework and structures that Nicky Hagar wrote about are gone.

                    • McFlock …
                      23 June 2017 at 5:02 pm

                      The framework and structures that Nicky Hagar wrote about are gone.

                      You sure about that? This volunteer thing seems to have been going on for a while, and it all blows up the very day after Barclay trips on his own sword. Almost like a very convenient distraction.

                      Some of the nodes of the old network are defunct, but a new network with different nodes could be there. The timing could just be spectacularly bad luck, but… I’m a bit suspicious

                    • Bill …
                      23 June 2017 at 5:18 pm

                      The NZ Labour Party/McCarten thing blew itself apart on Monday through Tuesday. It was reported on on the Wednesday. NZ Labour decided when to pull the plug – no-one else. And the timing’s really nice for National.

                      I wrote that the framework Hagar wrote about is gone. Do I think National and Labour and the Greens et al have media networks they can utilise? Yes.

                      Do I think National has stories and lines being spun by Bill English’s office that are then fed to bloggers who feed it all back through msm? No.

                  • weka …
                    22 June 2017 at 10:54 pm

                    Different thread, it’s inconceivable that the timing of this is coincidence. There’s a grey area between strategy and out and out two track, Hager-documented dirty politics, but I think this is easily towards the nasty shit end of the spectrum. Call it a dead cat. Whatever, this is bullshit and the left is playing right into it.

                    Calling something slavery is a highly political act (esp as I’m guessing some of the students are from the US). As you’ve pointed out this is a political space. People aren’t unthinking, they know exactly what they are doing.

  7. ianmac 7
    22 June 2017 at 7:10 pm

    The origin of the complaints may be because of inter tribal warfare over the use of that marae. Others reject its use largely for hosting visitors I think so it may not be as bad as it sounds. The issue timing is very convenient indeed.

  8. ianmac 8
    22 June 2017 at 7:43 pm

    John Campbell interviews Bill English at a visit today. John’s repeated point was “If it was OK for Barclay to continue last year, what makes it necessary for him to resign now? What changed?” Clip is 7minutes long.
    Bill’s broad grin becomes lost in his growing frown.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201848531/pm-rejects-national-cover-up-allegation-over-todd-barclay

  9. Draco T Bastard 9
    22 June 2017 at 8:10 pm

    Grenfell exposes the true face of deregulation

    In part, Grenfell Tower is a testimony of the government’s ideological obsession with deregulation. In 2000 the government was warned that current guidance “may not be adequate for the purposes of ensuring the safety of external cladding systems in a fire”. Recommendations from the inquest into the 2009 fire were also ignored, while in 2013, the all All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group issued a report on the safety of tower blocks yet the minister refused to meet them. In March 2014, the all-party group wrote to the minister to say “Surely… when you already have credible evidence to justify updating… the guidance… which will lead to saving of lives, you don’t need to wait another three years in addition to the two already spent since the research findings were updated, in order to take action?”

    There is no doubt that the reason for government inaction was anti-regulatory zeal. Brandon Lewis, the Tory housing minister between 2014 and 2016, warned against increasing fire safety regulations to include sprinklers in 2014 because it could discourage house building. He told MPs: “We believe that it is the responsibility of the fire industry, rather than the Government, to market fire sprinkler systems effectively and to encourage their wider installation.” He said the Tory Government had committed to being the first to reduce regulations nationwide. Lewis added: “The cost of fitting a fire sprinkler system may affect house building – something we want to encourage – so we must wait to see what impact that regulation has.”

    This is how capitalism kills. Cutting corners, not building to high enough standards all so that a few people can make higher profits and supported by the scum in parliament.

  10. ianmac 10
    22 June 2017 at 9:43 pm

    Not sure if this has been covered re Labour’s Fellowship Campaign. The good side.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11880781
    “An American student taking part in a “fellowship” programme for the Labour Party campaign has defended it, saying most of the 85 interns on it are happy.

    She believed the complaints and leaks to the media were driven by one or two interns who had a beef with the programme. She claimed one was dropped from a leadership position on the programme after allegedly taking bottles of wine from Labour MP Jenny Salesa’s house after Salesa hosted a meal for them.”

  11. ianmac 11
    22 June 2017 at 9:56 pm

    And this appeared late Thursday 22.00:
    Former National staffer Glenys Dickson says MP Todd Barclay should have resigned immediately. First she has spoken since the original interview.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/93991790/former-national-staffer-glenys-dickson-says-mp-todd-barclay-should-have-resigned-immediately

  12. ianmac 12
    22 June 2017 at 10:06 pm

    And this,”English today indicated that Barclay didn’t know his recording of a staffer’s conversations could be illegal until a police investigation was launched.”
    In spite of the Tea Party? Really? 9:31pm
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11880796

  13. Draco T Bastard 13
    22 June 2017 at 10:07 pm

    The old Tory order is crumbling – it’s taken Grenfell for us to really see it

    Britain’s old order is crumbling. Those who sense this most acutely, such as the rightwing press, are its defenders. This week, The Sun was reduced to begging its readers to see the evils of socialism. They are right to panic when 30% of its readers ended up voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. Right to reflect that, according to a new YouGov poll, 43% of people believe a “genuinely socialist government” would make Britain a “better place to live” and just 36% say the reverse. Those who represent the future – younger Britons, particularly younger working-class voters – are decisively plumping for Corbyn’s new Labour party.

    now to engineer the same collapse of the Tories here. Including those in Labour.