Labour conference 2013 – day two

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, November 2nd, 2013 - 30 comments
Categories: labour, political parties - Tags:

The social was rather packed last night. Unlike the 2012 conference where I started optimistic and wound up as depressed the following day after an evening where caucus members were chasing voting delegates around a nearly empty social. This was followed by a incredibly silly set of stories from caucus asserting that a vote about how leaders were to be selected by members was somehow a evil plot. Talk about pandering to the media with their need for a story…

So far I have started this conference somewhat more optimistic. But I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall.

0905: Moira Coatsworth starts with a worker speech detailing the current results of the party renewal that she has been fostering. The 75% increase in party membership this year (so far) compared to the end of last year being a good example. A large part of this has been reaching to the Labour ulterior to get involved in the leadership debates. But the ongoing review of the party that she and David Shearer sponsored after the 2011 election and the development of the policy platform over the last year has also been keeping people in the party.

0930: Speeches by the candidates for the Maori vice-president.

0940: On to the policy platform. This is a new development based on a whole lot of work not only over the last year, but also over the last decade especially by Jordan Carter and Grant Robertson. So far I have been impressed by the process taken on even trying to get a 62 page document. Nigel Haworth is running through the  amendments from the workshop to the platform.

1030: Ok I must be morphing into the media that my badge asserts that I am. I’m bored. I haven’t had to dodge any blood splatter. The most contentious discussion so far has been from people saying to stop putting redundant crap in the policy platform. Which as they point out needs some size reduction anyway.

1045: There are 89 amendments up before conference that went through the workshops for the policy platform yesterday. They have gotten through nearly 60 of them already. I think that for the first time in  my memory they are going to get through the lot in the time allocated. Grant Robertson is the latest example of someone pointing out that cluttering up the document with specificities isn’t that good an idea.

BTW: does anyone have a link to the electronic copy of the amendments for people to have a look at ? I can’t see it on the net. When is the NZLP site going to get a useable search? Do they need some help?

30 comments on “Labour conference 2013 – day two ”

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  1. Peter Wilson 1
    2 November 2013 at 10:20 am

    Nigel Haworth

  2. Ad 2
    2 November 2013 at 10:38 am

    Haworth has a light and competent touch.

    Productivity is high; we are cracking through it.

  3. mickysavage 3
    2 November 2013 at 10:41 am

    There are a few tweets suggesting that the conference has voted down the requirement that 100% of ECE teachers be trained. My clear impression is that the vote was not to include this policy in the statement of general principles as this was an inappropriate place for the policy to be recorded.

    I sense no desire for this not to be policy however.

  4. Papa Tuanuku 4
    2 November 2013 at 10:47 am

    the maori vice pres speeches are not worthy of comment?

    • greywarbler 4.1
      2 November 2013 at 12:14 pm

      PT This is just a basic mention of what’s happening. The Maori Vice President has been mentioned! Further information later, in full on-line hopefully.

      Attention was bound to be distracted by particular emotional flag-bearers like breast feeding, and ECE teachers.

  5. Ad 5
    2 November 2013 at 10:55 am

    OMG breast feeding are you kidding me this is exactly the nonsense that ZB punters will have a field day with. Stupid no matter how worthy.

    • Zorr 5.1
      2 November 2013 at 11:11 am

      Because the ZB punters are likely to ever vote for Labour anyway?

      Why should we care what those misogynistic knuckle draggers think about womens rights anyway? “Breast feeding? OMG it has to do with boobs!!!”

  6. Ad 6
    2 November 2013 at 11:55 am

    “Internet access is a right”
    Carried.

    Really solid stuff – excellent

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1
      2 November 2013 at 12:07 pm

      That is excellent news. The internet has become to important in the modern era for people to be denied access to it.

    • Bill 6.2
      2 November 2013 at 1:48 pm

      You got the exact wording to hand? As discussed elsewhere, ‘access’ means 5/8ths of fuck all if it merely means that libraries or other public spaces will have internet access. What is needed is access from the home. That would mean a computer in every home and an end to kids of poorer families being effectively cut off from internet avenues to learning that richer people just take for granted.

      • Draco T Bastard 6.2.1
        2 November 2013 at 1:58 pm

        Good point Bill. I know a few years ago Labour were talking on RA about giving kids iPads. I pointed out that a Android device would be cheaper and just as effective. I’ve also pointed out that getting a computer in to every home wouldn’t cost that much either.

      • greywarbler 6.2.2
        2 November 2013 at 5:14 pm

        Bill
        Talking a bout computers in libraries. You have to request time. And sometimes you would be waiting to use it while school-boys stare at pictures of naked women. Or that’s what flashed before my eyes when I passed one the other day.

        So at home there would be a chance that the computer would be available swopped between the users, and monitored for not too many educational externalities. And the ones at the library are also used by visitors from out of town, much to the chagrin of internet cafes nearby. But there is a time limit. Seems a bit mad though if they get the use free.

    • QoT 6.3
      2 November 2013 at 11:07 pm

      I simply must point out the slight irony of back-to-back “breastfeeding is an issue which the punters will have a field day with” and “internet access is a right – excellent” comments. I don’t know the exact content of the remits, but I’m pretty sure that there are large numbers of people for whom breastfeeding is a rather higher priority than internet access.

      And while a few righties like David Farrar are fairly liberal on the subject of internet access, online privacy and broadband, there are plenty of pig-headed commentators who can just as easily make it an illustration of “out-of-touch Wellington bubble politicians forcing their identity politics on all of us”.

  7. Jacqui 7
    2 November 2013 at 12:08 pm

    Scroll right down to the bottom of the page here: https://www.labourparty.org.nz/conference-2013

  8. Jim Nald 8
    2 November 2013 at 1:08 pm

    I know we are focusing on the second day but astrological readings from a feng shui master says the climax of Labour’s conference tomorrow will be an auspicious day heralding the rise of those in opposition benches eclipsing those in government 😛

    • greywarbler 8.1
      2 November 2013 at 7:07 pm

      Hi Jim
      It’s good to hear the auspicious expectations for tomorrow may exceed today’s.

  9. Ad 9
    2 November 2013 at 1:51 pm

    Helen Kelly next. Hopefully not another hour about grisly industrial accidents.

  10. Ad 10
    2 November 2013 at 2:40 pm

    Goran Roos was absolutely excellent; practical, seeking value added wealth, clear about the role of government in a small state.

    • Tat Loo (CV) 10.1
      2 November 2013 at 3:05 pm

      Roos was good but the specific ideas he presented were well understood 10-15 years ago, and in some ways Sutch had a clearer vision for NZ 40 years ago.

      A solid starting point though.

  11. Jim Nald 11
    2 November 2013 at 2:41 pm

    Btw, what is Clare Curran up to these days? Is she at conference? It’s Labour Party’s big day of the year with their annual conference and Red Alert is still stuck on Gerry Brownlee and the right to know on 15 October 2013. Is the lack of postings keeping curran with Labour Party events a joke or a subtle message of some kind?

    • Ad 11.1
      2 November 2013 at 3:12 pm

      Oh she’s here; ghosts of the civil undead

    • Rhinocrates 11.2
      2 November 2013 at 6:22 pm

      It’s spring, so if someone’s kept up on her watering, she’s probably starting to bud or flower. Watch out for your allergies.

    • lprent 11.3
      2 November 2013 at 8:13 pm

      She is at conference. I haven’t looked at red alert for a while. Quite a while.

      • Anne 11.3.1
        2 November 2013 at 9:03 pm

        Red Alert never did acknowledge there was a change of leader. To all intents and purposes Shearer is still in charge. 😀

        edit: No disrespect to Shearer intended.

  12. Ad 12
    2 November 2013 at 3:42 pm

    DC is on fire