Helen Clark calling the shots

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, May 4th, 2011 - 19 comments
Categories: act, don brash, humour, national, national/act government, rodney hide - Tags:

After a turbulent fortnight in politics, Helen Clark’s new look Green Party is now in place.

Ex Labour leader Helen Clark, who resigned after losing the 2008 election, has re-emerged from the political wilderness with dramatic effect. Taking advantage of the Green’s stagnation in the polls, and with the influence of her big-money New York backers (“No Clark, No Cash”), she was unanimously voted in as leader by the Green caucus in an emergency meeting last week.

As Party leader outside Parliament Clark has since been in negotiations with PM John Key on the Green’s parliamentary makeup. Metiria Turei has been allowed to retain her position, but co-leader Russel Norman has been stripped of his Ministerial responsibilities and will be taken out the back and composted.

The unelected Clark says it has been a pleasure working with the PM on the makeup of the government, and she looks forward to a significant leadership role after the 2011 election. She said she thought it was unlikely that she would be offered the top job, but that given the enormous problems that New Zealand faced, and the need for strong, decisive leadership, she wasn’t ruling anything out at this stage. Interim PM John Key, last seen clutching a one-way ticket to Hawaii, described himself as “comfortable” with the new arrangements…

[Sounds too crazy to be true, doesn’t it?]

19 comments on “Helen Clark calling the shots ”

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  1. Adrian 1
    4 May 2011 at 9:42 am

    About time. Earthquakes, tornados, floods, cyclones, mine collapes, none of this shit happened when Helen was in charge!

  2. JS 2
    4 May 2011 at 10:18 am

    Calamity Key, Catastrophe Key – I agree, bring back Helen. And I expect major media attention and serious interviews with no one actually asking ‘Why’ or ‘For whose benefit’?

  3. ianmac 3
    4 May 2011 at 10:20 am

    That really nails the idiotic nature of the current farce Rob. Imagine the uproar! Headlines would scream,
    “Democracy Usurped!”
    “Arrogant Failed Leader Demands Democratic Bypass!”
    “Crippled Dinosaur Reappears From The Past!”

  4. mickysavage 4
    4 May 2011 at 10:47 am

    Perfect analogy Rob.

    The scary thing is that the hollow men are at it again, the moneyed wealthy aristocrats who are devoid of principle and for who power at all costs is the goal.

    I am sure that Joyce has some involvement in what happened and no doubt the cheque books of Gibbs and Heatley determined the outcome. The middle men need to be exposed however.

    Our democracy requires that these shadowy hollow men who organised the coup are brought out into the open and their relationship with National is investigated.

    Hopefully Nicky Hagar is onto the job although for the sake of this year’s election their identity needs to be shown earlier.

    • vto 4.1
      4 May 2011 at 10:59 am

      Maybe that information could be found out by simply asking Don Brash?

      Or do you think he would not tell the truth like last time?

      And if he would not so tell the truth then why on earth is such a criminal allowed to partake in the politics of our country? Because it is as bad as a fraud.

      • mickysavage 4.1.1
        4 May 2011 at 11:58 am

        Agreed VTO.

        It makes Winnie’s fibbing so trivial in comparison but the faux outrage that was poured on him was amazing to behold.

        That would be another interesting comparison to draw.

        • Rex Widerstrom 4.1.1.1
          4 May 2011 at 1:50 pm

          Yes go ahead mickey and characterise the disgust of thousands of ordinary people (hint: they’re the ones not wearing yellow blazers and standing to personally benefit from Winston’s downfall) as somehow “faux”.

          The longer blinkered acolytes of tired, rotting-from-the-core-out old parties go on dismissing the fact that people have had a gutsful of these shennanigans, the longer lead-in that’s given to the progenitors of new movements.

          Movements who’ll hopefully succeed in displacing from office forevermore the parties who long ago abandoned any pretence of morality.

          Lying is lying, and whether it’s about parallel campaigns by religious cults or the theft of $158,000 and the pimping of public office to donors, people have had enough. Dismiss that at your peril.

          • Craig Glen Eden 4.1.1.1.1
            4 May 2011 at 3:38 pm

            Rex Rex calm down Rex theirs a good boy. I think Mickey is actually talking about the level of attention given to one verses the other by the media. Yes Winston was not t6tally honest but shit do you not think that Brashes little tack over is a little strange and oh oh look over there its Helen oh no its Phil, Phil’s on the phone it must be to Helen oh Helen’s running the Labour Party.

            Get with the pro gramme Rex

          • mickysavage 4.1.1.1.2
            4 May 2011 at 7:58 pm

            Hi Rex

            I was commenting more on the response of the right to the actual sins complained of. I do not even like Peters!

          • Jum 4.1.1.1.3
            4 May 2011 at 9:59 pm

            Rex Widerstrom,

            No doubt women ‘have had enough’ of misognynists like you as well, and pay inequity and domestic violence and sexual abuse, so you’ll no doubt be throwing yourself out, Rex; you’re the old guard as well.

  5. prism 5
    4 May 2011 at 2:10 pm

    Heh, heh. In Brash’s case ACT is supposed to be the tail of the dog but the old cliche comes true of the tail wagging the dog. And the dog is our dearly esteemed parliament and finally our democracy.

  6. Fat Uncle 6
    4 May 2011 at 10:06 pm

    Well it would make a change to have an ex-Labour cabinet minister who didn’t end up an ACT doyen…

  7. burt 7
    5 May 2011 at 6:18 pm

    rOb

    Close, Helen just rules the party by txt – perhaps she knows that she is completely unelectable after the mess she left Labour in last time.

  8. alex 8
    5 May 2011 at 9:21 pm

    I’m totally serious. If Clark came back to lead Labour I would abandon the Green Party (which I am a member of) in a heartbeat. There is no other Labour leader who has ever done so much good for the country, who cares the mess she left her party in, they are only a mess because of the power vacuum created by her departure.

  9. Virginia Anderson 9
    6 May 2011 at 2:15 pm

    The Greens and Labour need relationship counselling. They are obvious bedfellows but both parties insistence on standing candidates in every electorate against each other dilute any chance for the left to win the election. Formalise a coalition party agreement and concentrate on the similarities. We have a much better shot at killing this right wing, old boys network if we present a united left front. City Vision in Central Auckland has been an effective force doing just that.

    • felix 9.1
      6 May 2011 at 2:27 pm

      I’d suggest that one reason the Greens behave in this seemingly stubborn way in elections is because they’ve not really been given the indication that Labour would take them seriously as a coalition partner.

      But yes I agree, and both parties’ unwillingness to get on top of this to date is something I find enormously frustrating.