Labour conference bits and pieces

24 comments on “Labour conference bits and pieces ”

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1. ieuan 1

   10 September 2009 at 12:59 pm

   Can you please make sure no one gets up and sings any dumb songs.

   Is it too much to ask that Labour actually run their conference like you would expect from a professionally managed political party or is it going to turn into some aging-hippie-sing-along-love-fest.

   [lprent: Wow that was fast. The post accidentally escaped into the public and I got response within a few minutes. Guess you didn’t read the post. How not surprising that is a resident wingnut. All talk – no brains.

   How exactly are that pack of clowns in NACT ‘professionaal’. They have made more fuckups than you make in your comments. Total shambles.

   As for the music – Labour makes it. National steals it. ]
2. ieuan 2

   10 September 2009 at 1:39 pm

   Charming.

   For the record I’m a Labour supporter, I voted Labour at the last election.

   However it’s hard not to cringe at the guitar playing/singing version of labour that appears on the news every so often.

   How about we also see Goff’s family at the conference? You know, to make him seem more human.

   [lprent: Hard to tell that from your comments. You must be the most irritated Labour supporter I’ve even seen. In fact I see that you’ve had a series of warnings about bilous comments, and I can’t see a trace of support for any Labour policy. Do you just dislike the Nat’s even more? ]
   • Tim Ellis 2.1

     10 September 2009 at 3:39 pm

     To be fair LP there seem to be a lot of irritated Labour supporters given Labour is polling well below what it got at the last election.
     • lprent 2.1.1

       10 September 2009 at 4:04 pm

       Not really, polls are polls, and you know what I think of them.

       On the other hand I have 12 pages of comments for me for whathisname to look through since december 2008, and I scanned as I usually do. If he is a labour supporter I’ll be very very surprised. The funniest series was him trying to say that some posts and comments trivialize politics. What he was complaining about was exactly the type of stupid comment he just made. Doesn’t practice what he preaches. I’d class him as a wingnut trying to score points.
3. Noko 3

   10 September 2009 at 2:06 pm

   Glad to (though I’m not a supporter) that Labour are getting their stuff together. They really need to take advantage of the recession, and how it’s being made worse by National with all the anti-worker policies by showing National how to do it, rather than appearing every so often in the media with a negative viewpoint.

   I hope to see Labour win next election but I want to see them stop playing along with the foreign powers game and stand strong amidst international turmoil, keeping New Zealand’s civil rights strong.
4. Tigger 4

   10 September 2009 at 2:09 pm

   lprent – I will be there in my alter ego…

   ieuan – to be honest I’m not a fan of ‘funny songs’ no matter where they occur but I find it ironic that the right label the left humourless yet when they do try some humour they’re slammed for making fun of the right…damned if you do…
5. r0b 5

   10 September 2009 at 2:09 pm

   I’ve always enjoyed Labour conferences for their energy, diversity, and good humour. Unfortunately I can’t make it this year, but have a great conference!
6. rocky 6

   10 September 2009 at 2:16 pm

   Thanks for the free advertising Lynn 🙂 I’m hoping enough people bother to come to my workshop.

   Just to be annoying / pedantic though – a couple of minor corrections on your post.

   1. Hodgeson should be Hodgson.

   2. Pete Hodgson put the original private members bill in the ballot that was then adopted in 1998 by the National Government, and became the Animal Welfare Act 1999. However it was actually Neil Wells who wrote the bill.

   3. Just to be ultra pedantic, is your spell checker set to US spelling? ‘Organizing’ should be ‘organising’ in NZ.
   • Draco T Bastard 6.1

     10 September 2009 at 2:32 pm

     My spell checker in set to Eng-GB and picks all the spelling with s as a miss-spelling.
   • lprent 6.2

     10 September 2009 at 2:41 pm

     Picky picky…. I’ll fix Pete’s name and adjust the credit allocation. As to the spelling – I’m a programmer. I’ve given up changing Color to Colour for every API that I deal with.
     • rocky 6.2.1

       10 September 2009 at 10:09 pm

       Yes Lynn, but I’m a programmer too and can quite happily flick between american and english. I do remember having issues with colour and color for a few months though 😉

       I know you can flick in and out of programming languages as quickly and easily as I can (you even know a whole bunch more of them than I do), why are the human languages any different?

       I’d expect you to be better at it, given more of the languages you use require compilers. How annoying it must be to continuously fix silly syntax or spelling errors, and each time wait for the compiler before even being able to properly test your code!

       Perhaps that’s why you’re a php convert? An interpretive language that can do most of what you want 🙂
7. toad 7

   10 September 2009 at 2:42 pm

   I’d been hoping that Rocky might have been heading over to Greener pastures.

   Labour had nine years to do something about phasing out sow crates and battery hen cages. In that nine years they did nothing.
   • rocky 7.1

     10 September 2009 at 2:49 pm

     We’ll see Toad. The thing is I figure there is more point to my involvement in Labour than in the Greens in terms of lobbying for animal welfare changes. The Greens are already on side. As I’ve said on here previously, I support a Labour-Green coalition government, and I party vote Green. But if I ram my head up against a brick wall for too long, perhaps I might meet you on those greener pastures 😉
     • George D 7.1.1

       11 September 2009 at 3:39 am

       Rocky, I hope for everyone’s sake, including your own, that you get _real_ (as opposed to nice rhetorical) progress on this issue.

       Could you put in a word against the fire-sale of rights in the name of “security” as well?
8. Herodotus 8

   10 September 2009 at 3:15 pm

   It will be interesting what evolves out of this weekend. BUT I am afraid that Labour being out of government for only 9 months is too short a space of time for them to learn from their mistakes in any meaningful way. The election lose needs to hurt abit more so that many feel the pain and remember the distance they put themselve from average kiwi. From my perspective 1999 -2003 I had little to make comment about, esp from what occurred 1997-99, BUT 2006-2008 I feel NZ went backwards and great damage was done that will take many many years to rectify.
9. Mac1 9

   10 September 2009 at 3:22 pm

   Have a good Conference, LPrent.
   Ieuan should remember that the Left has the good songs, and I do not wish to be reminded how the rest of the quotation goes. I was there at the singing of the song he complained of- the main thing as a muso that I remember is the poor quality of the sound, and that it was unrehearsed and played to a group who didn’t give a stuff as to the quality- it was Molly Malone’s after all. And that’s not a denigration of the Irish, just a reference to their product’s effects.
   • lprent 9.1

     10 September 2009 at 3:30 pm

     Yeah – was to fill a hole in the conference. The sound was crap – wellington town hall from memory.
     • Mac1 9.1.1

       10 September 2009 at 3:53 pm

       You’re right, on both points. The TV footage came from the Conference stage but the song was first aired at Molly Malone’s.
       “In Wellington’s fair city,
       They sang a left ditty
       Brought tears to the eyes at dear Molly Malone’s.
       Now the Right are so narrow,
       They push their own barrow,
       Crying Crocodile tears for music live alive-o.”

       Best I can do but at least you can’t hear it.
     • luva 9.1.2

       11 September 2009 at 4:25 am

       Wasn’t it an attempt at humour while still peddling that oh so succesful election strategy Attack Attack Attack.

       Lets hope this year we see a positive alternative vision from Labour. Something we can believe in and realistically hope for when they return to power.

       We can all see for ourselves what National is and isn’t doing. Lets hope we don’t have to hear about the Nats all weekend from the speakers. We want to know what Goff and Labour will do and how they are going to do it.

       Bring it on.
       • lprent 9.1.2.1

         11 September 2009 at 8:43 am

         I see that you’ve changed your handle. Is this another one of the “I’m a labour supporter, and they need to change their tack” tactical moves?

         There seems to be a lot of it going around. Guess that NACT are having assues..
         • luva 9.1.2.1.1

           11 September 2009 at 8:17 pm

           No

           I am not a Labour supporter. Not sure where you picked that up from.

           Am I a National supporter, at the moment yes but have not always been and doubt I will be forever.

           Do I want to see Labour with an answer….hell yes.
10. Tim Ellis 10

    10 September 2009 at 3:41 pm

    Oh and as for Rocky, I enjoy her posts. They are thoughtful and the last few I’ve read haven’t at all been sycophantic pro-Labour. I don’t often agree with her but she does make you think.
11. Ara 11

    10 September 2009 at 5:38 pm

    I really wish the mainstream parties would take on animal welfare issues. It is the only issue that would swing my vote from left to right- I would vote for any party that would promise to get rid of animal cruelty in this country.

    The other issue I feel passionately about is New Zealand for New Zealanders ie stopping people who live overseas buying/speculating in property here.

    Labour will need to find some issues that catch the interest of New Zealand. It is time to start thinking about being something other than a right wing party with a liberal social agenda- people are heartily sick of that.
12. jabba 12

    11 September 2009 at 9:47 pm

    Rocky .. why a Labour Green vote .. both parties are spenders with little idea on how to make money to spend on welfare

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