Suddenly I have some more independence. Instead of people thinking I am some sort of mouthpiece I can just be myself and say what I think.
I would like to start with this new feeling of independence by saying to David Shearer that the thing that really drives activists wild is when our MPs say stupid things to the media that reinforce right wing narratives about the Labour Party. Please do not do this. If you feel the urge to do this please just be quiet. The right will still use their framing but at least the effect will be reduced because people in our party will not be saying the same thing.
And another thing, going on Paul Henry’s show and talking to him about Labour’s internal politics is not a good thing to do. He is not a friend of the party. He is actually a real @#&*%^&+. He does not have the party’s best interests in mind and any Labour MP getting an invite to appear on his show should decline the opportunity. And yes I know that David Cunliffe appeared on his show. The things we do …
And I am struggling with your comments in this morning’s Herald that the “current calls for a female or Maori deputy leader to balance out the white, middle-aged men running as leader was one sign of that obsession. “People are saying we’ll have a white bloke for a leader so we need a woman or Maori as deputy. No. We need the most competent person whether that’s woman or a man. That speaks a lot about the party.”
Well it does but only that the party thinks equality is important and its leadership should be representative. Male female, white black, older younger, this presents an ideal partnership. And dang but three of the most competent MPs we have are Carmel Sepuloni, Nanaia Mahuta and Poto Williams. For instance Carmel not only won her seat but also increased the party vote. Compared to the result in Mount Albert she did really well, extraordinarily well. If you are looking for competence then there are plenty of female MPs to choose from.
And your comments on Morning Report this morning are, shall we say, unfortunate. Note to David Shearer, the Standard has a very open policy on comments and sometimes people say things that are not very nice. Criticism is not treachery. And David Cunliffe did not undermine you. A couple of fish being presented in Parliament was the coup de grace and Maryan Street is not a Cunliffe supporter.
And attacking David Cunliffe and then saying that the attacks need to stop brings to mind a word that starts with “h”.
I agree with the sentiment that Caucus needs to unite and move on. Note to David Shearer, please do this.
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