Get on board

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, January 30th, 2013 - 15 comments
Categories: democratic participation, labour - Tags:

Now I don’t know if there will be a leadership vote in the next couple of weeks or not, but if there is, and you’re a Labour supporter, then you really want to be a Labour Party member beforehand so you can have your say.

And even if there isn’t a party-wide leadership vote then there’s something even more important than who leads the party at stake – that’s the policy platform the party takes into the 2014 election. And the more of you lefties that join the lefter that policy platform will be.

There’s also the not so small matter of MP selection – it looks like members will get a much greater sway not only in what they want done but who they want to do it.

In short there’s never been a better time to join the Labour party if you want to make a difference. It only costs a few dollars and it’s easy enough to do online.

15 comments on “Get on board ”

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  1. KhandallaViper 1
    30 January 2013 at 8:10 am

    +1000 Irish
    I and many more will be bitter if we are denied the very very necessary right to give the leadership our views and to choose who to endorse.
    We will make sure the Labour Party remains true to its values and works to better the lt of all, including the 1,000,000 who are not registered or do not vote.
    We need a strong network of activists. Without inspiration from on-high we an still motivate ourselves by drawing on our values.
    We want to vote.
    We want to vote.
    We want to vote.

  2. ad 2
    30 January 2013 at 8:23 am

    +10 Irish. Up to all to participate if National are to be defeated.

  3. CV - Real Labour 3
    30 January 2013 at 8:25 am

    Good call IB. There is more than one way to take our party back. Whether or not members get a democratic say in February – which is just around the corner now – all of us need to get involved and start pushing Labour towards great Left Wing policy for 2014. Posts discussing different areas of Labour Policy and how they can be enhanced should be going up all through 2014.

  4. Socialist Paddy 4
    30 January 2013 at 8:37 am

    Aye Irish.

    What I really want to see from the Labour Party is some unity. Unity within the caucus, unity between caucus and the rank and file and everyone working for the common cause.

    I am not seeing it right now.

    A leadership contest would help clear the air and give the rank and file a real say in the party’s future.

    • Colonial Weka 4.1
      30 January 2013 at 10:09 am

      How can you have unity between groups that have fundamental differences in the direction of the organisation?

      If Shearer or caucus were to make the wider vote happen, and Shearer ended up remaining leader, would you and other Labour members here on ts stop criticising Labour policy and leadership between now and the election? If you didn’t, would the ABCs not see that as disunity?

      Likewise, if Shearer were replaced, would you and other members stop criticising Labour policy and direction on The Standard?

      I understand the desire for unity, I’m just not sure how it could happen given the situation.

      • Kevin Welsh 4.1.1
        30 January 2013 at 4:39 pm

        If Shearer or caucus were to make the wider vote happen, and Shearer ended up remaining leader, would you and other Labour members here on ts stop criticising Labour policy and leadership between now and the election? If you didn’t, would the ABCs not see that as disunity?

        Nope. I would throw my support behind the Greens or Mana.

        Likewise, if Shearer were replaced, would you and other members stop criticising Labour policy and direction on The Standard?

        Not if it was just replacing one figurehead with another. I would expect a change of direction as well.

  5. VivaciousViper 5
    30 January 2013 at 10:07 am

    Sorry Irish, but i don’t agree that ( the more of you lefties that join the party, the lefter that policy
    platform will be) Clark had a good following back when,however her policies were
    not left ones, she continued to single out beneficiaries, the oppressive one was in health
    (when she was health minister)where she made our elderly pay for their hospital care and
    i can remember the hell on earth that caused the vulnerable elderly who had to sell the homes
    they lived in order to pay for their keep in hospital, one couple that featured on tv was particularly gut wrenching,i was never a Clark fan and never voted for labour while she was in power,
    obviously neither did others in 2008, the last decent leader Labour had was Lange.
    The right leader is so important, the leadership is the figurehead, the determination
    where the party is focused.
    I voted for labour in the last election,although i thought Goff was not the right leader then,but
    the thought of a tory government made me vote for a hopeless cause and just cross fingers
    and toes, my vote was wasted.
    If democracy is denied by the Shearer team,then there will be no membership fee paid by me.
    My vote will also go elsewhere next election.

  6. Bill 6
    30 January 2013 at 10:08 am

    On that selection process. Has anything concrete been put in place, or is there still room for that caucus to manouvere and deny the membership yet again?

  7. quartz 7
    30 January 2013 at 10:42 am

    Nah. Fuck the ABC. I’m not letting that useless aging pack of right-wing pricks waste thirty percent of the vote. My great grandfather helped found this party and I’m gonna fight for his legacy.

  8. Polish Pride 8
    30 January 2013 at 3:43 pm

    How does me joining the Labour Party enable me to change a very broken system…I fail to see it as doing anything but signing up to support a perpetuation of the current system and thus a failure to resolve problems that are systemic within the system….poverty, war, the focus on employment, over use of resources….
    Unless there are many in the party who understand the root problem that humanity ACTUALLY needs to solve and are prepared to have an open and frank conversation with New Zealanders about the future rather than just focusing on the 3 year election cycle then what is the point.
    I mean seriously do you believe Labour can fix the problems? And I mean really fix them. Not just tinker around the edges.. then please tell me how.
    They are the party with the most potential imho especially with the conversations around democracy – real democracy. But I am not sure that you fellas even realise it. Keep heading down the path you are and you will have the ability to effect change, real change…… to the entire system….. if you want to. The question is will you?
    Or do you just want the perpetuation of the current system and control of the corridors of power…. for at least as long as you can hang onto them until the next shift to the right.

    Grant Robertson once told me that Labour is the party for the workers.
    If it is really that then stop focussing on full employment for workers, instead focus on freeing them, otherwise you are just a slave master that wants better conditions for the slaves than the slave master next door.
    If Labour is the party for the workers will it have the vision to instead change the system and free the slaves….

  9. Tim 9
    30 January 2013 at 4:07 pm

    ..and pardon me for making the observation but…..
    signing up for Labour Pary membership seems like a good idea – if you believe in its founding principles. The fact that there’s been a few rogues that have hijacked things (usually based on egotistical imperatives) matters not.
    Memebership DOESN’t actually commit you to voting Labout (Party or candidate).

    The best thing for left (actually I even HATE that term) – perhaps ‘people-oriented’ rather than ‘money-oriented’ people, is to join the party that once represented them. THEN……if they feel betrayed – vote elsewhere.

    I’ll be a Labour Party member, but as things stand, I sure as Hell won’t be voting for them.

    In my nearby environs – that fast becoming person of matronly status (annette king) would have to be a big dissapointment.
    Her [Capital H – only because it begins a sentence] pathetic sellout based on God knows what – perhaps longevity leading to a sense of entitlement really makes me wonder.
    If I could be assured that her maternal instincts as a fag hag had not corrupted her commitment to traditional Labour values- those towards Paul Henry’s mate, THEN i’d review my opinion.
    Not lost is that I’m aware that those ICONS M&S just live a few yards down the road – those that have paid dues – but don’t they fuckin know it!

    It’s always amazed me how such have prepared to give certain people a free pass.
    (Annette King has had one for far too long – as, I’ve no doubt, have many others in the ABC club).
    To think I once voted for her!!

  10. benghazi 10
    31 January 2013 at 12:44 am

    So Irish you clearly haven’t seen the draft rules and plans of the ABCers who plan to centralise selection power and policy development???!!!

    Be a bit like the rules for for the February vote – supposed to go up on the website. Didn’t. No doubt a fait accompli by now so close to Feb 4th.

    This Party is really ILL. A poisonous caucus faction running away with it and a NZLP Council and hierachy unable to stop it (for whatever reason).

  11. xtasy 11
    31 January 2013 at 12:47 am

    So better hurry up then