Fa’afoi for Mana

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, September 18th, 2010 - 75 comments
Categories: labour - Tags: , , ,

Kris Fa’afoi will be Labour’s candidate for Mana. There were four candidates – all very high quality -all spoke well and the selection panel would not have had an easy choice to make. There was a very large turnout and plenty of support for Kris in the hall; he was impressive and will do well.

A very different selection meeting from the last time I attended one in Porirua, when Graham Kelly came through a large field to head off Ken Gray. That was in 1987; I was the Party’s Trade Union Liaison Officer and the union strategy was to support unionists into parliament to help regain Labour from Rogernomics. Graham did stand firm for Labour values and traditions, often a lonely role in those days.

This time there was no argument over values; all the candidates were well grounded. Kris particularly, clearly came from among the communities and families in Porirua, and will represent the next and future generations well. He will I feel be a worthy successor to Winnie Laban.

75 comments on “Fa’afoi for Mana ”

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  1. comedy 1
    19 September 2010 at 8:12 am

    Same old shite………. Head Office jacks up the selection, and the local party organisation gets rogered. It’s nice to see that democracy is alive and well in political party selections in NZ.

  2. smokie 2
    19 September 2010 at 8:24 am

    Good call Comedy. And we wonder why New Zealanders are so politically disengaged. These elitist political careerists – all of them – can piss off.

    • the sprout 2.1
      19 September 2010 at 8:27 am

      How very prescient of Fran Mold to have resigned two weeks before the selection in anticpation of taking over from Kris. It’s almost like she knew his selection was guaranteed regardless of any veneer of a selection process.

      • Tigger 2.1.1
        19 September 2010 at 8:31 am

        Well if a ‘jack up’ (would love to see this argued properly rather than just these sloganistic posts) gets us a candidate so clearly suited to winning an electorate then bring it on.

        • smokie 2.1.1.1
          19 September 2010 at 8:49 am

          Well suited? I’m sick of people from outside the electorate telling us in mana who would suit us. It’s not like we had any bloody choice in the matter.

        • The Voice of Reason 2.1.1.2
          19 September 2010 at 9:04 am

          You’re on to it, Tigger! For the likes of comedy, the biggest insult is Labour showing itself capable of organising another resounding by-election win.

          Kris is a modest, hard working young man, who is going to be Mana’s MP not because he is an elitist political careerist as smokie fantasises, but because he will do a good job for his constituents. You’ve got to pity whatever muppet the Nats put up to against him. Whoever it is, their political career could be as badly dented as Melissa Lee’s.

          A good choice, from some great candidates and a good time in the electoral cycle for a Labour win.

          • smokie 2.1.1.2.1
            19 September 2010 at 9:45 am

            Is the leadership’s idea of who will win worth pushing at the expense of internal democracy?

            Serious question for you Voice. My answer is no, and maybe that’s where we differ.

            • The Voice of Reason 2.1.1.2.1.1
              19 September 2010 at 10:02 am

              Who says this selection was at the expense of internal democracy, smokie? Anyone in the Mana Labour party complaining? And why shouldn’t the leadership’s advice be taken anyway? That’s what we elect them to those positions; for leadership.

              As far as I know, this was a perfectly normal, democratic, selection process, which, I assume, you took no part in. If you don’t like the result, you don’t have to vote for Fa’afoi. But he’s still going to win handsomely and Labour nationally will gain because of it.

          • comedy 2.1.1.2.2
            19 September 2010 at 10:00 am

            “For the likes of comedy, the biggest insult is Labour showing itself capable of organising another resounding by-election win.”

            Oh Yes’mmm I really give a flying fuck if it’s a Labour hack or a Nat hack who gets voted in…. god forbid the best person for the job gets to be the MP for the people of Mana rather than the tired old shit of an excuse we call democracy in NZ.

            • The Voice of Reason 2.1.1.2.2.1
              19 September 2010 at 10:04 am

              I hear Somalia’s nice this time of year, comedy. No annoying democracy to bother you there.

              • comedy …
                19 September 2010 at 10:08 am

                Are you retarded Fran – my comment referred to the lack of democracy evident in Kris’s selection.

                • The Voice of Reason …
                  19 September 2010 at 10:13 am

                  Except there was no lack of democracy, comedy and the retard, as usual, is you.

                  • comedy …
                    19 September 2010 at 10:20 am

                    So as Sprout commented Fran’s resignation was just a lucky coincidence was it.?

                    Fuck all that spinning you do for your political masters must have you quite dizzy.

                    • The Voice of Reason …
                      19 September 2010 at 10:34 am

                      I understand that there is a vacancy for a media person in Goff’s office already. That’ll be the job Mold is going for, if she is actually in the frame. When Fa’afoi leaves, that’ll be a second vacancy.

                      If you think I’m that good at spin, perhaps I should apply for one of the jobs. Can I use you as a referee, comedy? For some reason, Garth McVicar’s not returning my calls.

                    • comedy …
                      19 September 2010 at 11:06 am

                      No I think you’re pretty crap at spin ……… but that being said you’d be perfect for a job at the beehive as you appear to luv sucking the crap out of the politicians cak holes and regurgitating it.

        • Rex Widerstrom 2.1.1.3
          19 September 2010 at 3:04 pm

          a candidate so clearly suited to winning an electorate

          Brilliant satire Tigger! I see your point – if he’s such a strong candidate then why waste such shining talent in a safe seat where you could run a goose with a red ribbon?

          But he laughs don’t stop there! Mike Smith has the temerity to write:

          the selection panel would not have had an easy choice to make

          See what he did there? Calling a fait accompli a “choice”. Hilarious.

          He will I feel be a worthy successor to Winnie Laban

          Ha! Skewering two ineffectual drop-ins in one cleverly turned sentence!

          Brilliant, we need more of this satire to keep us laughing while these parties of principle walk hand-in hand towards a dictatorship, seeding the ground with compliant teat-suckers who owe their political careers, and thus their loyalties, to head office and not to the people.

          • Bob Stanforth 2.1.1.3.1
            19 September 2010 at 8:16 pm

            My vote, FWIW (which probably isn’t much around here, but that may be confused with me giving a large steaming turd of care) for post of the year.

            Long time reader, first time response Rex, and much respect, calling it like it really is.

            Noice.

            • Rex Widerstrom 2.1.1.3.1.1
              19 September 2010 at 9:03 pm

              Thanks Bob, that’s very kind of you. However I must defer to pollywog below:

              another token smiley brown lackey to wipe the Labour leaders arse when he’s on a walkie talkie to the ghettos, then when the going gets tuff, he can pack up and go back to a job of teaching how to be an MSM suckhole and writer of piss poor press releases

              Brilliant. Succinct. And wholly accurate.

              • Bob Stanforth …
                19 September 2010 at 9:58 pm

                Concur. Shame really, used to be a political party with nuts. Rainbow and unions hungry for power for powers sake stepped in, and for want of a better expression, poof. Gone.

                NZ needs a good (at least) 2 party political system, and that’s gone, thanks to corruption on a slippery slope. “My choice / decision makes no difference” – actually, it does, you send a message, and that message is rot from the inside.

                It does. And I call you on it Phil. Bereft of accountability, honesty and heart. Your minions (great movie BTW, took the kids today, almost rated as high as TS3) are making a mockery of the process and the outcomes.

          • the sprout 2.1.1.3.2
            19 September 2010 at 10:09 pm

            i’m hard pressed to recall a Labour candidate selection in the last couple of years that wasn’t a jack up. demography and promises not to roll the Goffice have triumphed over talent and merit every time. which helps to explain Labour’s shortage of genuine talent and the disaffection of local activists.

            • The Voice of Reason 2.1.1.3.2.1
              20 September 2010 at 7:36 am

              Christ, you must be busy, Sprout. There have been Labour candidate selections in almost all electorates in recent months and you reckon they’re all jack ups, eh? Alternatively, you might be just typing, not thinking.

              The last selection that caused a similar right wing chorus of accusations of jack ups was Mt Albert and that turned out bloody well for Labour and not so good for the rest. Mana will be the same; a solid win for Labour and a boost for the prospects of a left Government next year.

  3. just saying 3
    19 September 2010 at 9:00 am

    It may be almost forgivable in the current climate, in which the left no longer expects its reps to even pretend to be left, when LabourCorp stands a tory in a wealthy electorate (you’ll like him – we outbid National for him!)

    But surely ‘facilitating’ the installation of a tory to represent one of the poorest, and most disdvantaged electorates in the country, in one of the corporation’s safest seats to-boot, is a step too far…?

    • IrishBill 3.1
      19 September 2010 at 9:23 am

      Kris isn’t a tory. He’s a decent principled guy with left values. While I have concerns about a jump straight from the leader’s office to a safe seat, I think he’ll do a bloody good job for the people of Mana.

    • Nick C 3.2
      19 September 2010 at 10:17 am

      Actually Mana is one of the wealthiest electorates in the country, incomes in places like Whitby are very high.

  4. pollywog 4
    19 September 2010 at 9:55 am

    Kris particularly, clearly came from among the communities and families in Porirua,

    Oh you mean…you could tell just by looking at him that he was brown and fat like a lot of the brown fat poly’s who live out there ?…well aren’t you a clever dick !!!

    He will I feel be a worthy successor to Winnie Laban.

    sweet…so we can expect another token smiley brown lackey to wipe the Labour leaders arse when he’s on a walkie talkie to the ghettos, then when the going gets tuff, he can pack up and go back to a job of teaching how to be an MSM suckhole and writer of piss poor press releases.

    So whats his position on the big issues affecting Pasifikans. He got the nod by being Pasifikan, but does he represent Pasifika first and foremost ?…i doubt it

    There was a national fono on youth health and physical activity in Porirua the other day. It was opened by Colin Tukuitonga, CEO for Pacific Island Affairs and closed by Georgina Te Heu Heu, Minister for PI affairs. At it, the results of 2 research papers were presented which shows Pasifikan obesity is out of control and that, from the ‘top down’ policy directives to the ‘bottom up’ community initiatives no one seems to be able to halt the slide .

    It’s one of the most pressing issues for us as a people to deal with, so I would have thought it might be pressing enough for a prospective candidtate for the area to show up and exhibit some solidarity with and outline his views on the problem from a Pasifikan Labour party perspective.

    uhhh…didn’t see him there, didn’t hear him there, so i’d be surprised if he even knew it was on.

    Too busy kissing Labour party powerbrokers arse and practising his maiden speech in the mirror instead of getting down and dirty with the realness…i would imagine

    Then again, just being fat and brown should be enough to guarantee the fat brown vote so there’d be no need to campaign for that demographic in Porirua. It’s the white middle class well to do in Mana he needs to suck up to. No doubt he’s had plenty of practise in that area so i’d expect he’ll win hands down.

    Congrats Kris…you da man !!!

  5. Bill 5
    19 September 2010 at 10:22 am

    Yesterday there was a run down of the backgrounds of the four candidates on RNZ. The details escape me. No matter, the point is that the world of relative privilege that every last one of them was emerging from isn’t my world. Not even remotely close. And therefore, I’d suggest, nowhere near to any class values that I, or the majority of the electorate in Mana might espouse.

    I agree with Smokie that internal democracy should not be subverted by a desire from ‘those in the (supposed) know’ to hand pick candidates in the hope of engineering a win. The Labour Party ‘should’ be about reflecting and promoting the working class values and aspirations of it’s constituency and allowing those values to speak, not about manufacturing a pathetic gladiatorial environment where Tory champions ‘take on’ Labour champions.

    Can I be really clear here. If the values are are elevated in electoral politics then the individual candidate becomes secondary. What would be sought (presumably) would be merely a popular candidate with integrity. And that person would be discovered via democratic mechanisms deeply embedded within electorates.

    But when the candidate is elevated above the values, then democratic mechanisms become a hindrance to those trying ‘to game’ the situation and the importance of values and principles slip ever further away as personalities/ ‘game players’ and careerists dominate.

    And I’d suggest that that dynamic is one reason why the Labour Party today is headed by a man who espouses Tory principles and why the Labour Party is able to come to disastrously out of touch ‘pragmatic’ decisions surrounding the surrender of, to the extent we have it, democratic process and accountability.

  6. smhead 6
    19 September 2010 at 11:39 am

    I wonder how long Kris has been a left wing labour member. He seems to have jumped ship pretty fast.

  7. Disengaged 7
    19 September 2010 at 12:33 pm

    Kris seems like a nice enough sort of a guy, but I think that Labour has picked the wrong horse and they way they selected him has made his job, which was already tough, even tougher.

    The Mana electorate has many issues that need solving and they are going to require a strong person to address those issues and to take the people along with them. I’m concerned that it seemed to have been decided early on that a “brown face” needed to be chosen. Hell, Porirua Deputy Mayor Litea Ah Hoi has blatantly said that the MP needs to be Pasifika to provide inspiration to the young Pasifika. No, what they need is someone who can stand up to the gangs in Cannon’s Creek, get rid of the loan sharks and pawn shops out of the CBD, and to reinvigorate the mall and CBD so that businesses can come back into the area and start providing employment to the youth.

    So what are Kris’ qualifications? He grew up in a family where they often went hungry so he has empathy with the poor and he has done well now, so he can fit in in Whitby. Awesome. That’s going to put the fear of god into the gangs and loan sharks. What is his vision for returning the mana to Mana? I haven’t heard anything beyond “hey I’m brown like you and I’ve done ok”.

    Porirua doesn’t need a Pasifika John Key, it needs someone who can galvanise the community and be a strong advocate for them in Parliament. If that person happens to be Pasifika too, then even better, but that shouldn’t be the only criteria.

  8. pollywog 8
    19 September 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Porirua doesn’t need a Pasifika John Key, it needs someone who can galvanise the community and be a strong advocate for them in Parliament. If that person happens to be Pasifika too, then even better, but that shouldn’t be the only criteria.

    Porirua doesn’t need a Labour party version of Peseta Sam ‘loves to linger’ Lotu Iiga or a male version of Winnie Laban. It and we in the wider community, need a Pasifikan Labour party Hone Harawira crossed with some Michael Laws.

    Someone who will push our concerns and issues to the fore, then advocate strongly for solutions from an uncompromising Pasifika perspective, not from a christian apologist one or a token brownie one.

    Theres nothing to suggest Kris won’t compromise everything to become a Labour party ‘made man’.

    That whole ‘i was raised poor so i know what it’s like’ reminds me of the hiphop bullshit about guys who live in mansions still rapping ’bout keeping it real in the hood….

    …it wears mighty thin real fast.

  9. smhead 9
    19 September 2010 at 7:24 pm

    Does labour really need a candidate who applied for a job in a National minister’s office as press secretary so recently? Doesn’t seem like he’s got a lot of connection to Labour, apart from being a brown face.

  10. deemac 10
    19 September 2010 at 7:42 pm

    gosh, this certainly has got the rightwing trolls’ knickers in a twist! Which confirms what a good pick it was. If they had actually been there – instead of mysteriously “knowing” what locals wanted – they would have seen that the groundswell of support for Kris was huge (I think there would have been uproar if he hadn’t been selected).

    • Disengaged 10.1
      19 September 2010 at 8:44 pm

      Right wing trolls? The most vocal opposition I am hearing is from Porirua locals and Pasifika people, many of whom have supported Winnie L and are life long Labour voters.

  11. felix 11
    19 September 2010 at 8:01 pm

    In a recent interview he cites working comms for Labour as proof of his loyalty to the party.

    Looking at the quality of the Labour media presence over the last couple of years I’m surprised he brought it up, frankly.

    p.s. “teeths” isn’t a real word, antispam. Should be “tooths”.

    • lprent 11.1
      19 September 2010 at 8:08 pm

      Yep. It was in the downloaded dictionary I used. I stripped the file so that words were between 4 and 8 letters after stripping the quotes and other punctuation.

      Could have just popped in random letters to make words, so correct spelling was the least of my priorities 🙂

  12. Outofbed 12
    19 September 2010 at 8:24 pm

    I wonder who the Green candidate will be.
    Michael Gilchrist, trade unionist stood at the last GE I understand
    Fancy that the Green Party standing a local Trade unionist
    I think the Green party should try and campaign hard in those safe labour booths
    Whilst building on the strong booths like Raumati

    Even though the selection meeting hasn’t been held I can guarantee the Green candidate will have more leftwing credentials then Fa’afoi

    Vote Green in Mana

  13. Mike Smith 13
    19 September 2010 at 10:35 pm

    There were over 200 people in the room, more than in the last selection I was at in Mount Albert a couple of years ago when I was on the panel. People have to live in the electorate to have a vote, and have been a branch or affiliate member of the Party for over a year before nominations are called. By definition they are all locals, and they don’t get out-voted; out of a total of seven votes on the panel they have four, and nobody knows until the day how many will turn up to have their say. If they do turn up, they show their support; if they are united, they determine the outcome.

    With a good slate of candidates as there were here, support will be divided and there are bound to be some disappointed people and they can sometimes afterwards be bitter. That’s just a fact of life after selections, and I have been at many. However it is not in my experience a good predictor of outcomes.

    Kris Fa’afoi is certainly brown, although I don’t think he is particularly fat. Some may have forgotten that he forged an independent career on his own before he chose to work in politics. He certainly impressed me when he spoke – as they all did. I am sure that now the choice has been made he will be devoting himself to all the issues of concern to the people of Mana.

    • Kubra 13.1
      19 September 2010 at 10:43 pm

      Interesting. Tell me Mike, did David Shearer impress you when he spoke at his selection?

    • smhead 13.2
      19 September 2010 at 10:53 pm

      Hi Mike, according to a comment elsewhere:

      [deleted]

      That seems to be a very specific statement which says a lot about the floor vote. Putting aside your spin, is this true? If so it looks very much like the local voice (those local members who voted) got trampled on in Mana.

      [lprent: This is a very specific quote that is not sourced or linked to and could only come from very few people.

      I just zapped it because it is a idiot troll tactic to quote something without source. It could as easily be a highly specified big lie. I make the presumption that if a quote isn’t sourced then it is bullshit and so is the author of the comment – like smhead.

      Source or link it so people make up their own mind about the validity of the source. Without it I’ll have to presume that you are a troll and should be treated as such. That puts you on my shitlist for being stupid and wasting my time. I’m putting you in moderation for a while so I can evaluate if you are acting like a troll.

      Damn I haven’t seen this idiotic unsubstantiated big lie + presumptive questions tactic for a while. Depressing that someone is stupid enough to think it might work around here ]

      • Nick C 13.2.1
        20 September 2010 at 1:37 am

        “Source or link it so people make up their own mind about the validity of the source”

        How about you leave the quote up and people can make up their minds about the validity of smhead? You know very well that what gets said at a local candidate meeting isnt always put on another blog for someone else to link to. Of course he could identify himself to prove that he is in fact a reliable source, but given most of the authors here dont identify themselves we could hardly expect that of him?

        [lprent: Wrong. It was stated as being a quote from somewhere else. The person who made it is secondary to the source. For instance it could have come from fantasy island (aka Wisharts blog) or the rumors and spin private site that Whale has ineffectually been trying to get operating for a while. Without knowing the source of where the quote was published we have no idea of the validity of where it was ‘published’ – ie does that site have a history of acting as a channel of lying.

        Once you find the source then you can look at the reliability of the person writing it. Do they have a history of making crap up or are they usually credible? That doesn’t matter too much about if they’re using a pseudonym or not. Almost everyone here uses a pseudonym (including you) but we all have pretty clear ideas about who is reliable and who isn’t. The final test is the only one that requires identity – did they have access to the information or not. But NZ is a little village and material moves in all kinds of ways and material is often popping out of strange locations. Personally I tend to look at previous reliability as being more important.

        Unsourced quoting is also one of the fastest known ways to start a flamewar. That qualifies it as being extremely bad behaviour and is a pretty typical troll tactic. I did restrain my first instinct which was to give him a ban. He hasn’t the history of bad behaviour (by my definition of it). But this particular comment had all of the hallmarks of an practiced troll – a breed that I detest.

        Planting unsourced ‘quotes’ across reasonably respected media is also a classic start to a grey ops ‘everyone knows’ misinformation campaign. Amongst my library I have a number of books dealing this type of ‘big lie’ technique. It isn’t something that I tolerate much either. ]

        • felix 13.2.1.1
          20 September 2010 at 2:00 am

          “You know very well that what gets said at a local candidate meeting isnt always put on another blog for someone else to link to”

          There’s a clue in the first sentence of smhead’s comment, perhaps you can spot it if you look hard enough. It’s just after the bit that says “Hi Mike” and just before the colon.

    • pollywog 13.3
      20 September 2010 at 8:58 am

      Kris Fa’afoi is certainly brown, although I don’t think he is particularly fat. Some may have forgotten that he forged an independent career on his own before he chose to work in politics.

      Oh sure… he’s not in your Parekura Horomia League of Heavyweights but give him time. Now he’s got it made in a safe seat and can sit up the back to chortle along in tune with all the other stooges in the big house, while swilling his snout up large in the public trough, i reckon he’ll start packing on the kegs.

      BTW he didn’t seem to make much of a career impact before appearing to take the soft option and brown nose his way through the party ranks.

      So yeah…Is there a transcrispt of his speech floating round ?

      I am sure that now the choice has been made he will be devoting himself to all the issues of concern to the people of Mana.

      sweet… now that he’s being paid to care, he’ll care, where as before he didnt give a shit and was only in the game for himself. Such devotion to the cause is admirable…no really it is. Honest !!!

      I’m pickin higher honours for this guy. Maybe even our first Pasifikan PM if he keeps his nose clean and plays his cards right. He certainly seems ambitious enough.

      • Bored 13.3.1
        21 September 2010 at 9:37 am

        Ol Uncle Tom….lets hope not…myself for one will give him a go BUT I cant say I am happy wityh the association from party Central and Goff. Let time be the judge.

        Also I hope he reads your blogs on weight issues…you hear Ryall going on scaremongering about a “tsunami of dementia” (translation = old common garden white farts costing lots of rich white farts tax dollars for aged care). While we rightly attempt paliative care for the aged we ignore the diabetes plague at our peril. And while its big for Pasifikan its a problem right across the younger generations. Its one of those big things that needs concensus and focus, andI dont hear Labour making enough noise here.

        • pollywog 13.3.1.1
          21 September 2010 at 10:23 am

          Yup..one of the reports was on a 3 year study of 4 high schools looking at various interventions to effect weight loss among Pasifika students.

          Scary thing is, none of them worked and a question raised was that, by high school, it’s too late to effect positive intervention to kids who have already entrenched habits passed on and learnt by their parents, peers and media.

          …so the upshot being to basically write of a generation and develop strategies for educating and changing habits while still at junior school level.

          The big influences highlighted were TV, lack of parental supervision on diet, a fall off in exercise at high school level and fizzy drinks.

          As Tukuitonga said in his opening address at the conference and i’ll paraphrase…

          “It’s not that we need new solutions (cos you cant substitute for good diet and exercise), it’s that the current strategies aren’t working and it requires more effort from the gov’t and the community to develop better ones that get the messag across and make it stick, to then get acted upon because a lot of times, the rhetoric doesnt match up to the actions”

          What i found ineffective was that time wasn’t allowed at the conference to pursue solutions amongst the delegates and that solutions weren’t forthcoming from the ‘experts’

          So here’s what i been thinking. Suggestions off the top off the dome formed in some Q & A time i managed to squeeze in with the presenter of the research paper…

          TV/ Exercise –

          lobby for a health channel on freeview and tender for groups/production houses to provide culturally appropriate live exercise programs 5 days a week that then get looped over 6 hours a day.

          If we’re gonna watch TV then lets put on the health channel and do a family workout with people we readily identify with at atime that suits us all.

          Fizzy drinks –

          treat it as we did tobacco.

          Tax the shit out of it so it’s too high priced to afford and limit advertising and marketing to sports groups by way of sponsorship. Also put health warnings and pics of rotten teeth and diseased organs, gangrenous limbs and people in IC units on the labels.

          It may even take radical protest like hanging off buildings with banners or squirting politicians with coloured liquid to get the message across 🙂

          Apparently a ‘fat’ tax or ‘sugar’ tax works in the states and could work here in conjunction with removing GST off fresh fruit and veg.

          Parental influence

          Relieve poverty stress and provide more resources to educate and keep at least one parent at home to oversee the kids more.

          Something the current gov’t seems intent on doing the exact opposite.

          And something i haven’t heard the bulk of Pasifikan mp’s in opposition advocate on. Perhaps Fa’afoi could make it a personal crusade given his electorate has a high density of fat brown folk ?

          I’d be worried that, given we as Pasifikans are a silent and invisible underclass, the gov’t wont change a damn thing to solely benefit us, if obesity is seen as just a poor brown problem, where as tobacco was a cross cultural problem.

          Theres also the kickbacks from the food lobby groups and the power of sway the big soft drink makers have over politicians in much the same way as the pro alcohol lobby have.

          Key wont move against them when its in our wider interests so i cant see him doing jack shit for us Pasifikans.

          • Bored 13.3.1.1.1
            21 September 2010 at 11:25 am

            WTF did you not stand for Mana? Theres more realistic policy in your reply than the whole of Labour….and the fat busting ideas apply right across the community.

            • pollywog 13.3.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2010 at 3:44 pm

              Heh…i live in Nelson, am not affiliated to any party and reckon i can do a better job of influencing policymakers/community from the bottom up

              so yeah…I’m just putting shit out there in the hope someone picks up on it but eventually i’ll be having words in the right ears or left ears.

              I dont give a shit as long as we, as Pasifikans, get a better deal.

          • comedy 13.3.1.1.2
            21 September 2010 at 3:51 pm

            Good stuff polly – and Yes too much thinking for you to be a politician.

            How do you think incentivised wellness would work amongst polynesians ? (paying them to get well/stay well)

            • pollywog 13.3.1.1.2.1
              22 September 2010 at 4:11 pm

              How do you think incentivised wellness would work amongst polynesians ? (paying them to get well/stay well)

              Sounds a bit daft to me. I dont get how it would work ?

              But back to Fa’afoi…

              to go from MSM suckhole to press sec suckhole to politician suckhole hardly qualifies him to represent ‘real’ people cos it seems like he’s spent most of his time hanging round people with no real world experience so the most we can expect is for him to be a total suckhole pandering to overseers who are used to his suckholiness.

              I hope some hardened parliamentary journo goes all hard arse on him in a serious Q & A session to find out what his opinions are on a whole range of stuff not least Pasifikan issues.

              I’ve seen and heard Hekia Parata and she sounds proven and well battle hardened. I’m pickin she’ll own Kris in a debate…

  14. the pink postman 14
    20 September 2010 at 3:33 pm

    I have sat on a number of selection panels. On each one the local floor vote has influenced the result. The Labour Party has a democratic selection system that works well .
    Not every one goes away happy ,that’s democracy .

  15. oscar 15
    20 September 2010 at 7:05 pm

    This was a total jack up. Faafoi did not impress many actual labour members at all that I spoke to. The mana electorate’s brown faces only comprise just 8% of the voting populace.. Hardly worth riding roughshod over the actual electorate members, and a fair democratic process for. If it weren’t for the union patsies that had been directed to vote Fa’afoi, then Pagani would have emerged the clear choice.
    Hekia Parata will crush Fa’afoi on the hustings. He managed to give the same speech two weeks in a row. If his press releases and journalism are anything to go by, then Mana will be lost to National.
    I hope it is, if only to make the upper echelon of the party realise they’ve gone too far. Goff can’t have everyone he wants parachuted in.

  16. The Voice of Reason 16
    20 September 2010 at 7:45 pm

    “Faafoi did not impress many actual labour members at all that I spoke to.”

    So you weren’t actually there. Great. I’m still waiting for someone inside the meeting to lay a complaint. TV One and TV3 haven’t rustled one up and it isn’t for the want of trying. Poor Rebecca Wright was reduced to wasting her two minutes tonight waffling on about something she read on WhaleBlog. Yeah, that’s right, it’s got that bad at 3News unsubstantiated posts by a convicted criminal now form the basis of ‘news’ stories.

    Tomorrow, Rebecca discovers an old copy of the World Weekly News down the back of the studio sofa and attempts to interview Elvis on Mars.
    .

    • Oscar 16.1
      20 September 2010 at 8:23 pm

      I was there actually. Was not at all impressed. Winnies choice for the selection panel was clear, and it was her choices that led to this jackup.

      • The Voice of Reason 16.1.1
        20 September 2010 at 8:52 pm

        Ok, you were there. What form did the jack up take? Threats? Menaces? Did Winnie hit somebody with her handbag?

        Or did the normal democratic process take place? Speeches, lobbying, vote counts, more lobbying, more votes. A winner eventually decided. That sort of thing? Because at the moment, you are the only person who is claiming both a jack up and proximity to the event. I’m a loyal labour guy and I want to know if my party has been hijacked.

        How did it go down, man?

  17. Oscar 17
    20 September 2010 at 10:04 pm

    Haha, it’s hardly a normal democratic process when a couple of the union members I spoke to said that they’d been told to vote for Fa’afoi “because he’ll help us the most”

    Hardly democratic.

    • The Voice of Reason 17.1
      20 September 2010 at 10:16 pm

      Sounds like sage advice to me, Oscar! That’s how lobbying works, eh. If the union concerned thought Kris was the way to go, why wouldn’t it ask its members to vote that way? They are there as affiliated union members and as part of the union caucus. So they would be inclined to act, and vote, collectively. But it’s still their right to vote as they wish, despite the union’s position.

      That’s actually pretty democratic.

      • Oscar 17.1.1
        20 September 2010 at 10:24 pm

        Explicitly getting told how one should vote is not democratic. If the unions weren’t there, Pagani would easily have been selected.

        • The Voice of Reason 17.1.1.1
          20 September 2010 at 10:33 pm

          If the unions weren’t there, there’d be no Labour party.

          • Oscar 17.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2010 at 11:33 pm

            Never mind the fact that under Goff the party is moving well away from the true centre left ideals and representing the workers.
            The unions would be better to align with the Greens.

            • Pascal's bookie 17.1.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2010 at 11:51 am

              “The unions would be better to align with the Greens.”

              Who’s stopping them? It’s up to the membership innnit?

  18. Rebecca 18
    20 September 2010 at 10:36 pm

    Nearly everything I’ve read about this selection is complete crap. I was there, voting as union member, and it was obvious that the locals, both members and affiiliates, wanted Kris and he was clearly the best candidate. Nobody from my union (the SFWU) talked to me about how to cast my vote, other than encouraging me to attend. And the real truth of the matter was that Josie Pagani was not the local choice or the second choice. That would be Peter Foster. People should stop making shit up. This was an absolutely fine process (and I would be happy to call it if it wasn’t), with a good candidate. Just because he worked for Goff doesn’t mean the locals don’t support him. Can’t we just move on to winning the bloody by-election?

    • Oscar 18.1
      20 September 2010 at 11:36 pm

      How can the best candidate be someone that gave the same speech two weeks in a row, Rebecca?
      Josie was actually a much more preferred candidate for the local party members. Faafoi was all the union members choices.
      Labour just handed this electorate to National on a plate. Hope they have the balls to deal with Judith Tizard coming back in.

      • Rebecca 18.1.1
        21 September 2010 at 8:45 am

        Oscar, that’s not my read of the room, and I was sitting with locals too. I don’t understand at all how the electorate has been handed to National!

        • Oscar 18.1.1.1
          21 September 2010 at 11:39 am

          Well you obviously weren’t sitting on my side of the room. The electorate has been handed to National as Parata is far more eloquent and engaging than Fa’afoi. I struggle to see how he will stand a chance against her. What’s he going to do? The same speech at every meeting?

          Won’t get far, especially now he’s started covering up his job application for the National Party.

          • Pascal's bookie 18.1.1.1.1
            21 September 2010 at 11:56 am

            “Won’t get far, especially now he’s started covering up his job application for the National Party.”

            I’d like to see some evidence that the application happened. So far all I’ve seen is
            ‘whaleoil reckons’ which doesn’t count for much in my books, though your mileage may vary. I’m not saying it’s not true, but I’ve been a bit sick so haven’t been following things as closely as I otherwise would, and on the face of it it looks like bullshit. So, gotta cite?

            • Oscar 18.1.1.1.1.1
              21 September 2010 at 12:28 pm

              It’s a pretty solid piece of evidence to be honest. whales not the only one with dirt on him.

              • Pascal's bookie …
                21 September 2010 at 8:16 pm

                So where is it then? That tv3 news clip from last night was a fucking joke, so I hope you aren’t talking about that.

                For example, here’s what the herald had to say:

                He rejected suggestions that he had sought, or had been approached about, a job as a press secretary for a National minister.

                http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10674968

                Note the use of the passive voice about these ‘suggestions’, they are just noted as things that are out there, seemingly coming from outer space or volcanic eruptions. If there was solid evidence, then the herald would have said something a bit stronger, or atthye very least, found someone to stand behind these ‘suggestions’.

                So what’s this solid evidence?

                • The Voice of Reason …
                  21 September 2010 at 8:39 pm

                  I kinda think if there was any kind of contact between Fa’afoi and National, somebody in their media unit would have an email, or a receipt for 2 coffees, maybe a diary entry, something, hell, anything, of substance and would be loudly broadcasting the fact.

                  But all I hear is silence from the people with the most to gain if they actually had the goods and empty talk from their apologists.

  19. Gazza 19
    21 September 2010 at 10:30 am

    After all the mud slinging back & forth it still all boils down to the fact that Faafoi was chosen because the Mana electorate is predominantly of Pacific islands extraction as Pollywog sort of tried to explain the candidate was chosen on a race based selection, it would have considered that a brown face was going to be the best chance of winning the seat albeit this is not always the most acceptable choice.
    Being that Faafoi flipped flopped around in the last few years it would seem that he is just trying the easy way into parliament to feather his own nest for a few years.

    • Oscar 19.1
      21 September 2010 at 11:37 am

      Ok.. here we go again

      According to statistics New Zealand, the entire mana electorate consists of just 22% islanders, 5%maori.
      The remaining 72% are european/other races, so remind me again how less than a third is ‘predominantly’ an islander electorate?
      Manuaku is an islander electorate, yet the party hacks see no problem keeping Hawkins up there.

      Laban was acceptable to most as she was more white than brown. Heck she has a white husband, so obviously she isn’t a racist. Is fa’afoi? I heard nothing about his plans for not just the poor and brown, but for the rest of the unfortunate citizens of Mana – that other 72%.

  20. outofbed 20
    26 September 2010 at 5:54 pm

    Jan Logie has just been selected to be the Green Party Candidate in Mana
    Congratulations Jan

    Jan Logie
    I’m really privileged to have just been selected as the Green Party candidate for Mana.
    I’m looking forward to challenging National and Labour on social justice and transport issues. WE can do things so much better. Bring it on!