Nats endorse Goff for mayor?

62 comments on “Nats endorse Goff for mayor? ”

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1. Matthew Hooton 1

   9 October 2015 at 11:16 am

   The NBR is correct. There are many links between Goff and National at present.
   • John Shears 1.1

     9 October 2015 at 11:20 am

     Ah!!!!!! straight from the trojan horse’s mouth must be the truth.
     • McFlock 1.1.1

       9 October 2015 at 12:00 pm

       lol
     • Rodel 1.1.2

       9 October 2015 at 8:05 pm

       mouth?
   • Foreign waka 1.2

     10 October 2015 at 11:28 am

     Phil Geoff never was left leaning, never. He joined the labor party when he was very young, almost a school leaver really but progressed to be the #1 fan of Rodger Douglas championed deregulation and free trade – to this day seemingly. Perhaps he is being endorsed because he is all for the TPPA?
     Often forgotten is that he was part of the coup that tried to oust Helen Clark.
     Perhaps many people don’t really remember him and his actions in the past but it always pays to know what one votes for.
2. travellerev 2

   9 October 2015 at 11:32 am

   Why not? He is as neo-liberal as they come and will be a staunch supporter of the housing bubblers and corporate pirates who will descent on Auckland after the TPPA has been ratified!
   • AmaKiwi 2.1

     9 October 2015 at 2:16 pm

     I want to know where Goff stands on TPPA. I suspect it might be the same as Helen Clark’s position.
3. Stephen 3

   9 October 2015 at 11:33 am

   Penny Hulse it is then.
   • dukeofurl 3.1

     9 October 2015 at 12:13 pm

     The AG report into the murky deals done by her during the dying months of the Waitakere Council will put a halt to any of her ambitions.

     [Deleted – you don’t say this sort of thing without concrete proof – MS]
     • dukeofurl 3.1.1

       9 October 2015 at 6:02 pm

       I didnt want to suggest there was anything personal in Waitakere Citys actions, and of course Penny is a very capable and hard working Deputy mayor.
       But here are some of the areas the AG is looking at:

       Auditor-General Lyn Provost has begun an inquiry into Auckland Council’s involvement in a new town centre at Westgate, which is costing ratepayers about $200 million.

       “Among the concerns and allegations raised with the Auditor-General are ratepayer cash being used to purchase Westgate Rd through the current Westgate Shopping Centre for about $7 million, the council buying assets to help NZRPG’s financial position to start construction early and NZRPG receiving a council-funded project management fee of 8.5 per cent when the going rate was about 4 per cent.

       The Auditor-General has been told the council paid $1000sq m for Westgate Rd that should have been vested free to the council and a “high” price of $630sq m to buy land for the library and town centre.
       http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11394446
       Its the Herald of course so we have to take into account they get A LOT WRONG in what is their home patch- go figure what that says about their accountability, accuracy.

       [That’s better – MS]
       • Sacha 3.1.1.1

         10 October 2015 at 8:38 am

         Orsman, therefore angle not to be relied on. Phrases like “ratepayer cash” also suggest this was fed to him by the local Act branch and/or Brewer.
       • savenz 3.1.1.2

         10 October 2015 at 9:44 am

         +1 – the council should NOT be dabbling in Westgate!
4. maui 4

   9 October 2015 at 11:43 am

   Its a shame they don’t want a superhero in there.
   • weka 4.1

     9 October 2015 at 12:42 pm

     did you have a particular super hero in mind?
     • maui 4.1.1

       9 October 2015 at 1:11 pm

       Captain Maurice, although he no longer does speaking engagements as far as I know.
       • tracey 4.1.1.1

         9 October 2015 at 1:19 pm

         LOL

         Captain Underpants!
5. dukeofurl 5

   9 October 2015 at 11:54 am

   This will get the local wingnuts from both sides in a lather.

   I dont know about ‘tacitlly endorse’ ,what ever that means.

   I cant see the CR heavies going for him. The Slater clique ran with a pop up candidate last time, and I think the so called disinterest is just a way of clearing the ground for John Banks ( and his money) or his personally approved proxy.

   My pick is that Michelle Boag is behind AT Chairman Lester Levy going in as a ‘non political’ choice.
   • Sacha 5.1

     9 October 2015 at 12:19 pm

     “John Banks (and his money) or his personally approved proxy”

     Banks has no power to approve anything – he always did what he was told to by the C&R bosses like David Hay.
     • tracey 5.1.1

       9 October 2015 at 12:27 pm

       this ^^^^^^
     • dukeofurl 5.1.2

       10 October 2015 at 1:17 pm

       David hay certainly ran the show as far as councillors were concerned, but he has been out of the picture for some time.
       Notice Banks got himself into big trouble over his fundraising for mayoral race last time, so its a personal effort on his part , not in any way beholden to Hay.
       Banks still has his fingers in the pie, Im sure his money helped the Slaters ( who hes long been close to) fund Palino. Will be same next time around, his influence will be felt if he doesnt run.
   • Ad 5.2

     10 October 2015 at 9:58 am

     Lester has far more political power as Chair of Auckland Transport, Chair of Waitemata Health board and Chair of Auckland Health Board, than he would ever have as Mayor. Between those three, he has far more Ministerial and Prime Ministerial access than a mere mayor.

     All Mayors – even the Auckland one – are treated with complete patrician contempt by Ministers.

     The power in New Zealand is no longer primarily in the elected Mayors and Ministers, it’s in the CCO and Crown Company Chairs, and the entity Chief Executives.

     Lester Levy understands this, and will never enter the realm of politics directly.
6. Sacha 6

   9 October 2015 at 12:17 pm

   “the de facto Nats’ organisation Citizens and Ratepayers has retired its name”

   just re-branded as ‘Community and Residents’, but still the same penny-pinching dullards that C&R have always been.
   • tracey 6.1

     9 October 2015 at 12:25 pm

     snap
   • mickysavage 6.2

     9 October 2015 at 12:29 pm

     Yep they are contesting the electricity trust elections as we speak
     • Visubversa 6.2.1

       9 October 2015 at 12:36 pm

       And they had billboards up 3 weeks before City Vision. Plenty of $$$ to pay contractors to do it.
       • tracey 6.2.1.1

         9 October 2015 at 1:20 pm

         At least 3 weeks… I began to think I had missed a year and it was mayor elections already.
         • alwyn 6.2.1.1.1

           9 October 2015 at 6:58 pm

           Horrible isn’t it?
           I start getting the feeling that we are heading toward the US system of permanent campaigning. The Presidential election seems to have been running for years already and it is still 13 months before the election.

           On the other hand that may be better than the Singapore method where the Government announces the date of the election, and the electoral boundaries and electorate sizes (number of MPs in each one) only about 9 days before the election.
           It makes it pretty well impossible for opposition parties which is, of course, the reason they do it.
           • millsy 6.2.1.1.1.1

             10 October 2015 at 3:59 pm

             How many MP’s does Singapore have.

             From what I understand, it can be dropped into the land area between New Plymouth, Waitara and Inglewood without even touching the sides…
   • dukeofurl 6.3

     10 October 2015 at 1:27 pm

     Youre half right- CR brand still works for them in the central isthmus, but isnt any use in the greater Auckland area.

     Noelene Raffils tried to call herself some sort of CR and Community Independent last time and lost. She even ditched the blue for orange.

     The so called Ratepayers Alliance (ARA), really a group of property investors likely has links with CR.
     CR will use the ARA to back CR friendly candidates outside isthmus wards next elections
     • Sacha 6.3.1

       10 October 2015 at 4:57 pm

       Isn’t the ‘Ratepayers Alliance’ connected with libertarians in Act and National like their Taxpayers Onion parent group? Not likely to appeal to many.
7. tracey 7

   9 October 2015 at 12:25 pm

   “Unlike Labour and the Greens, the National party won’t promote candidates for local body elections and the de facto Nats’ organisation Citizens and Ratepayers has retired its name and partisan politics. …”

   Citizens and Ratepayers has change dits name but its website refers to its history. As for the above paragraph it should read

   Unlike Labour and the Greens, the National party won’t openly promote candidates for local body elections preferring to do it in a duplicitous manner and the de facto Nats’ organisation Citizens and Ratepayers has renamed itself to divert attention from its right wing partisan politics. …
8. Tiger Mountain 8

   9 October 2015 at 12:45 pm

   Goff would make a reasonable Mayor compared to many others, but he would not even need to be captured by the business lobby, he is already there

   this type of headline and speculation makes it more and more obvious that a new “Minto for Mayor” type candidate is needed–a clear difference
   –Free public transport
   –slash the $100,000 plus salaries
   –sit the CCOs on their arses and make them transparent and accountable on pain of dismissal
   –clear positions on favouring public transport vs more roads
   –a Living Wage City

   right wing candidates blather on about rate increases but you can count on them both increasing non commercial rates and flogging off the ports and anything else not nailed down
   • Ad 8.1

     10 October 2015 at 10:00 am

     How many sad re-runs of the Mana Party, or the Cunliffe 2014 disaster, does the hard left need to learn the hard lesson of electable politics in New Zealand?
9. Bearded Git 9

   9 October 2015 at 12:53 pm

   From memory I think Goff came out against the silly “single wharf” Auckland Council compromise. That makes him a considerably better bet than Brown.

   The whole wharf-thing fell apart in the High Court anyway. Does anyone out there know what is happening now on the wharf issue?
   • dukeofurl 9.1

     10 October 2015 at 1:28 pm

     Ports has dropped the whole thing now. The board and management who pushed it a few years back have moved on.
10. Sanctuary 10

    9 October 2015 at 1:11 pm

    I would have thought having a Boag-aligned faction of the Auckland National party endorsing a Labour politician for mayor rather than the possibility of allowing the sort of creature the dirty politics Whaleoil/Collins faction might come up with run with any sort of a chance of winning says volumes about how hopelessly split the National party is in Auckland than anything about Labour in particular.
    • tracey 10.1

      9 October 2015 at 1:21 pm

      Fair comment. I hope Goff takes advantage of their support and then proves them (and me) wrong by being a mayor that isn’t beholden to economics/business alone.
      • Sacha 10.1.1

        9 October 2015 at 2:55 pm

        I’d rather the left get behind a credible, strong local candidate who wins instead.
    • Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 10.2

      9 October 2015 at 2:12 pm

      Agreed. It could be worse. Maybe even Phil Goff is a Trojan Horse for the left playing a long game to finally undermine Neo-Liberalism in Auckland. Please don’t too many people laugh…
    • tc 10.3

      9 October 2015 at 2:42 pm

      Or how powerless the mayor actually is under nacts supercity structure and also consider that on his day (not that he’s had many lately) Goff is very effective against the gov’t so potentially removes him from that theatre.

      This is national we’re talking about here where it’s look after your mates and keep your enemies closer.
    • Stephen 10.4

      9 October 2015 at 3:28 pm

      The Collins faction heading right. Everyone else heading centre-left
11. Stuart Munro 11

    9 October 2015 at 3:10 pm

    I always thought he was foreign affairs – and like McCully, better seen from a distance. Cleaner than McCully – but that’s not much of a recommendation
12. Tory 12

    9 October 2015 at 4:10 pm

    Nats endorsing (perhaps) Goff?, so what. Mayor only has 1 vote and is only a mouthpiece for council. Why do I not hear voices of support for Len from this site, is it the philandering was even too much for the Left?
    • One Anonymous Bloke 12.1

      9 October 2015 at 4:20 pm

      At least he isn’t held in quite as much contempt as ratfuckers Slater, Wewege and Palino. They’re all yours.
    • Tiger Mountain 12.2

      9 October 2015 at 4:23 pm

      not sticking up for the wharfies at POA did it for this voter, Len has straddled the left/right divide on council and been substantially captured by the shadowy Auckland business lobby, his personal life actually turned into a plus–exposing Pallino, Wewege and Slaters senior and junior for the sleazes they are
      • Atiawa 12.2.1

        9 October 2015 at 10:24 pm

        Brown has as much politics as Goff. But Goff needs to exit. Jacinda would be a great mayoral candidate & Auckland Mayor. Was it Kitts who held Wellingtons Mayoral chains and was Centrals MP?

        Jacinda for Mayor.
13. Penny Bright 13

    9 October 2015 at 5:29 pm

    Where does Phil Goff stand on the, in my opinion, mechanism for the corporate takeover of the Auckland region, unelected Council (Corporate) Controlled Organisations (CCOs)?

    Where does Phil Goff stand on citizens and ratepayers lawful rights to ‘open, transparent and democratically accountable’ local government?

    I’ve put my freehold home on the line, to defend citizens and ratepayers LAWFUL rights to transparent and democratically accountable’ local government.

    What’s Phil Goff done?

    In my opinion, Phil Goff might keep his pants on in the Ngati Whatua room – but apart from that, nothing will fundamentally change in this ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%).

    Penny Bright

    Confirmed 2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate
    • Naki man 13.1

      9 October 2015 at 10:29 pm

      “I’ve put my freehold home on the line, to defend citizens and ratepayers LAWFUL rights to transparent and democratically accountable’ local government.”

      Do you know what “freehold” means???
    • alwyn 13.2

      9 October 2015 at 11:14 pm

      “What’s Phil Goff done?”
      I believe he has paid his rates.
      • Ad 13.2.1

        10 October 2015 at 10:00 am

        And has a chance of winning rather than ranting about political war-wounds.
14. Penny Bright 14

    9 October 2015 at 6:37 pm

    Where does Phil Goff stand on the TPPA?

    Penny Bright
    • Sacha 14.1

      10 October 2015 at 8:42 am

      What power does the Auckland Mayor have over the TPP? Or the supercity legislation which decreed CCOs, for that matter? Wrong target.
15. mpledger 15

    9 October 2015 at 8:00 pm

    As if Geoff is ever going to forgive the right for the way the Nats and the GSB screwed him at the second to last election.

    It’s a pity he didn’t do a Jon Stephenson to them.
16. Mike the Savage One 16

    9 October 2015 at 8:02 pm

    The present situation in this country, and also in Auckland, leaves me close to despair. Now I read this that the Nats are inclined to support Phil Goff as new mayor for Auckland. This proves to be the quiet alliance that we have, between the farcical “left” in Parliament and the government we have. There are only some differences, and when looking at the right wing of Labour, where Goff has clearly been for many years, the lines of division are very blurred. Goff I once felt inclined to support as MP when I once lived in his electorate, that is very many years ago.

    Many years have passed, and I now consider him to be an utter hypocrite, hence he not surprisingly led Labour to their defeat in 2011, as few gave him much credit.

    He is now a senior, on the back benches so to say, and so he is looking for a nice pre-retirement job, and that one as mayor would just suit him nicely, as it is also a chance of running the city he lives in and claims to care about.

    After the Rodney Hide created Super City, that was though already planned and anticipated by Labour before the Nat government of 2008, we have a situation here that resembles more of a dictatorship than a true democracy. I follow Council affairs and the PAUP hearings, and what I see and read is shocking and dreadful. The agenda is dominated by business and developers, in cooperation with Council, more or less, to create the city of the future, ordinary citizens getting little voice at all.

    So Phil wants to take over the heritage of one failed Len Brown, the mayor of dominance of Council, of the Supercity, hell bent on growth for growth’s sake, well connected to big and middle business, happy to work with the Committee for Auckland, also full of pro business and private enterprise, laissez faire supporters and lobbyists, and I can really see where that journey will take us.

    The ordinary citizen is already very disconnected, has no trust or hope, or otherwise simply sheepishly follows the idiocy propagated by Council and the developer and business lobby. We have no democracy, as the ones that are supposed to make up Auckland have no real voice anymore, yes most do not even bother anymore, they simply let others make decisions and they are just focused on their personal affairs and advantages or whatever interests.

    A new report has proved that the present Auckland population and way the city is run, with industry, transport, and much else, is polluting water, rivers, lakes, streams, the air, and is putting resources under stress. The RMA is planned to be under further review by Central Government, and with endless growth, we can say goodbye to “the most lieveable city in the world”, I guess. But who cares, it is all about growth, business, population, no matter what, we are told, we need growth, as when growth stalls, there will be disaster. Tell me though about the damned disaster we will have with this damned unabated, relentless growth agenda?

    But as I read many comments on this blog, most seem only concerned with side issues or rather personal feel good issues or with ridiculing John Key.

    Perhaps it is time to get damned serious about the future of this country and Auckland, and put all this political scheming aside, as I cannot see how Auckland will do any better with Goff, the front fighter for globalisation and free trade all over. He was one of the supporters of the disaster that has come to NZ, and that will yet bring the greater consequences to us, but signing all these FTAs, that will make us “better off”, they say, really?

    Any candidate for Auckland supported by Matthew Hooton must immediately be disqualified, due to this association, it is idiocy, if any of the so called “left” give Goff their support or vote.
    • Smilin 16.1

      9 October 2015 at 9:41 pm

      of course all this keeping up with the Joneses is costly just to have basic infrastructure always in need the greater the city expands and we always need a new concept of governance that is nothing like any of the old ,new spin that keeps the now in vogue whether in the long run it will suffice, work in progress, but we must keep those damned lefties in check change their defiance of the inevitable adherence to the dream of of the right
    • Atiawa 16.2

      9 October 2015 at 10:31 pm

      Mayor Jacinda. Jacinda for Mayor.

      I enjoyed your post Savage.
17. North 17

    9 October 2015 at 8:57 pm

    Persuasive, Mike The Savage. Hope not too much. Sad if so. Our institutions do not serve…..can’t say I don’t share your fear.
18. Smilin 18

    9 October 2015 at 9:30 pm

    Seems we live in an age where everything is happening and there’s never enough time money and energy to do what is required to address the issues in full so et moves like giant amoebae absorbing et and leaving partial results after devouring the most significant points of progress
19. Tory 19

    9 October 2015 at 9:56 pm

    MTSO, what a load speculative drivel, one minute newspapers like the NZH or the NBR are the devil incarnate, next minute you are lapping it all up as it suits your agenda. Why not stick to the Socialist Worker and save yourself all this angst?
    • Mike the Savage One 19.1

      11 October 2015 at 1:50 am

      ???What are you on about??? I do not get it, when did I declare NZH or NBR “the devil incarnate”? I think you have lost oversight over your physical and mental capabilities, as somehow it does not quite make sense, what I read, and what you direct at me and my comment.
20. savenz 20

    10 October 2015 at 9:47 am

    Is there any ‘left’ candidates to vote for?

    The so called ‘left’ councillors are voting to cut down the Kauris’s and give away our Harbour.

    Phil Goff is not left. Although if the Nats are talking him as one of their own could be a strategy to lose him votes so someone even worse sails in.

    It’s like the 2014 general election again.
    • millsy 20.1

      10 October 2015 at 4:02 pm

      He will be no different from Brown then, giving the right 90% of what they wanted. Why else could the right only find a has-been diner owner from NYC to take him on in ’13?

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