Standard questions: David Parker

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, November 14th, 2014 - 59 comments
Categories: david parker, labour, leadership - Tags: , ,

A couple of weeks ago we asked readers to suggest questions for written answers from the candidates. We chose / edited six questions, and sent them to the four campaigns. Previous posts cover answers from Grant Robertson and Andrew Little. David Parker’s answers are below.

(1) Can you outline your strategy for winning the next election.

Unify around giving greater emphasis to fairer economic outcomes for all NZ’ers, starting with fresh conversations with working people.

(2) How prepared are you to work with the wider left, with the other parties of the left? Would you form a coalition with the Greens, before the next election – why or why not?

I believe I have a good & trusted relationship with the Greens, which I will draw upon. Alongside the Greens, I often represent Labour on green issues, including climate change, renewables, energy efficiency and water. I am determined to better contest the party vote with all our competitors, including the Greens, but not so as to cause the public to lose confidence in a possible Labour-Green government.

(3) How will you combat the attacks that will most certainly come from National and their fronts such as the “Taxpayers’ Union” and blogs? How do you shift the narrative so that “middle New Zealand” stop believing propaganda and start engaging with the real issues going on in New Zealand?

A more coherent message about what Labour stands of is an important ingredient. The linkages between the TU, National, Act & Whaleoil should be more actively exposed.

(4) Rural communities and towns have been declining for many years. What’s your plan to stop urban drift and the loss of vital services to these areas?

NZ cannot prosper with only a few large cities thriving. Our economic policies – which encourage productive investment, rather than speculation, are a key to regional success. So is government procurement, and the fair distribution of public services.

(5) Do you intend for Labour to develop policy specific to Work and Income beneficiaries? (as opposed to policy directed towards low income people in general). Do you recognise that many WINZ beneficiaries have vulnerabilities not being addressed by other Labour policy?

Housing policy, the Best Start package for kids are important steps, but there is more to be done.

(6) Do you have the courage to acknowledge the predicament presented by Anthropogenic Global Warming and take the bull by the horns? Do you agree with the statement: “Coal mining is an unacceptably dangerous and ecologically unsustainable industry in the 21st Century”, and if so what are the implications for NZ?

I am on record as saying lignite development should not occur, as we fry the planet if the world goes coal to liquids. I am also responsible for much of the push toward renewable electricity, and for emissions pricing (which has been neutered by National, but can be easily fixed). In terms of hard coal used for steel & aluminium production, NZ steel & aluminium production using renewable electricity is amongst the cleanest in the world, but still uses carbon. I do not propose closing down existing bright coal mines, only to see dirtier substitutes used overseas.
See: http://business.scoop.co.nz/2014/05/06/labours-alternative-to-nationals-environmental-destruction/

59 comments on “Standard questions: David Parker ”

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  1. karol 1
    14 November 2014 at 10:37 am

    A lot of wriggle room.

  2. just saying 2
    14 November 2014 at 11:26 am

    I don’t think David is seeking votes from Labour Party members who frequent this site, by the looks of the above. But he should we aware of the many Standard readers who don’t participate in the conversations here.

    • r0b 2.1
      14 November 2014 at 11:43 am

      David put the most effort of any candidate into the live Q&A session. I suspect that there is a certain amount of question fatigue at work in these answers…

      • weka 2.1.1
        14 November 2014 at 11:47 am

        He probably shouldn’t have bothered with this one then, because it comes across as casual and unimportant. I thought the whole point of this format was to give the MPs time to consider answers and thus answer the questions more in depth than could be done with the Q and A.

      • Tracey 2.1.2
        14 November 2014 at 1:00 pm

        Dont these folk have helpers?

      • Manuka AOR 2.1.3
        14 November 2014 at 2:25 pm

        “David put the most effort of any candidate into the live Q&A session.”

        I thought he did, and it was appreciated. Regardless of who takes on the leadership, Labour winning the next election will be the result of a team effort. Within that team David has a vital role, and in my opinion Labour is lucky to have someone there with his particular strengths.

      • leftie 2.1.4
        14 November 2014 at 5:25 pm

        @rOb.

        Your bias is showing.

        • weka 2.1.4.1
          14 November 2014 at 9:40 pm

          I think everyone’s bias is showing at this point 😉

          • Anne 2.1.4.1.1
            14 November 2014 at 9:44 pm

            I waited until all the hustings and ‘meet and greets’ were over. 😎

            • Olwyn 2.1.4.1.1.1
              14 November 2014 at 9:54 pm

              I did the same, and voted that evening. But the hustings meeting only confirmed for me what I already had in mind, so I could have voted earlier.

              • weka …
                14 November 2014 at 10:02 pm

                Do either of you know when the announcement is?

                • Olwyn …
                  14 November 2014 at 10:10 pm

                  2pm, Tuesday the 18th.

                  • weka …
                    14 November 2014 at 11:22 pm

                    ta, not too long now then.

                    • the Pink Postman …
                      15 November 2014 at 1:29 pm

                      not long at all Weka but whatever the result the Tory Dirty Tricks Brigade will already be looking to smear and denigrate the next leader ,It is up to members like us to make sure the Crosby-Textor led campaign is answered each time .We must not allow a repeat of the attacks we have had on our past leaders by this
                      well organized company.
                      Also watch the Right-Wing press and media attack none -stop
                      I bet Rougham and the other right-wing Herald lot allready have their copies waiting ,

                    • weka …
                      15 November 2014 at 8:16 pm

                      Good points PP. I think we also need to support Little*, both as leader, and in his efforts to sort the internal issues within Labour and take a stand on being a left wing party. Not just leave it up to him or the inner circle.

                      *not sure what we should do if Parker or Roberston win.

        • Kiwiri - Raided of the Last Shark 2.1.4.2
          14 November 2014 at 10:07 pm

          Nah, I don’t purport to know r0b that well but from the tone of the stuff he writes, he is a mild, polite, even-handed guy who supports and gives anyone and everyone a hand.

  3. weka 3
    14 November 2014 at 11:44 am

    Epic comprehension fail on the WINZ questions.

    • just saying 3.1
      14 November 2014 at 12:05 pm

      Do you think he gets how bad the above actually is?
      Could the bubble really be that impenetrable?

      • weka 3.1.1
        14 November 2014 at 12:35 pm

        pretty shocked tbh, not quite sure what to make of it. Has the voting just about finished? Maybe he thought this was a waste of time.

    • leftie 3.2
      14 November 2014 at 5:39 pm

      @weka.
      Epic fail, full stop.

    • Once Was Tim 3.3
      14 November 2014 at 8:47 pm

      Exactly! WINZ, and a number of other corporatised government departments need a rocket under them such that there is a complete ‘corporate culture’ change. Even if it means systematically dismantling, disestablishing senior and middle management positions and starting again.
      That answer to (5) really is pretty bloody woosey!

  4. greywarshark 4
    14 November 2014 at 12:29 pm

    I like this quote from Chris Trotter on post election Labour and the next round of leader election.

    In the early-1930s, the Italian socialist, Antonio Gramsci, observed, in his Prison Notebooks, that: “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”

    My question is, in the light of this quote, is David Parker ready to be a good midwife with clean, sterile hands helping with the rebirth of Labour, or will he try to push the juvenile back into the warm and comfortable place that it has been gestating in for these last few years?

  5. felix 5
    14 November 2014 at 12:50 pm

    Oh dear.

  6. Tracey 6
    14 November 2014 at 1:03 pm

    This is a shame. It speaks of fatigue. Even if voting has closed or is closing, this contrasts starkly with Robertson and Little who managed to engender some connect and passion, whether I agreed with the stances they took or not.

    I dunno, read like someone answering asurvey they wanted to get to the end

  7. Ad 7
    14 November 2014 at 1:05 pm

    Succinct to the point of gnomic.

    Is there enough of him to sell?

  8. just saying 8
    14 November 2014 at 1:16 pm

    Goffesque with subtle tones of Shearer.
    He’s gotta be a shoo-in for the caucus vote.

  9. fisiani 9
    14 November 2014 at 1:54 pm

    If Parker is the answer then someone is asking the wrong question. Still no one with star quality. Ah well, must make do with what’s available. Has to be Little. He has charisma and is a great speaker. Should be able to drag Labour up from 25% to 30%.

    • b waghorn 9.1
      14 November 2014 at 3:22 pm

      I ‘d have a beer with Little were as I’d rather remove my eye’s with a rusty spoon than have a beer with key I bet he’d dodge his round.

    • DoublePlusGood 9.2
      14 November 2014 at 5:48 pm

      You know, for the first time I think I agree with a comment of yours on here. Well done!

  10. Michael 10
    14 November 2014 at 2:38 pm

    Ehh. Little’s answers were so much better.

  11. felix 11
    14 November 2014 at 2:55 pm

    Well I’m going to go out on a limb and say Parker is never going to be Labour leader.

    Of the other three, any of them is capable of doing a good job.

    Robertson I’m a little concerned about, and that’s because although he seems decent himself, he has a team of royal scumbags and fuckwits lining up behind him: Hipkins, Mallard etc.

    Having said that, even he should make a good fist of it.

    The Labour party will be in good hands. Just watch out for the elbows.

  12. greywarshark 12
    14 November 2014 at 3:03 pm

    About –
    (3) How will you combat the attacks that will most certainly come from National and their fronts such as the “Taxpayers’ Union” and blogs?
    How do you shift the narrative so that “middle New Zealand” stop believing propaganda
    and start engaging with the real issues going on in New Zealand?

    There are two separate parts in that question, it’s a bit like the referendum question on crime!

    How to stop middle NZ believing propaganda and getting dealing with the real issues is important. The answer is not to recite Labour policy to them. It is to talk about the real issues first and explain them, in three different ways, to use one accepted way of reinforcing a message. After that then explain Labour’s policies to ameliorate, or eliminate.

    The actual answer – A more coherent message about what Labour stands of is an important ingredient. The linkages between the TU, National, Act & Whaleoil should be more actively exposed.
    (TU – I suppose this isn’t the Trades Union? Ah the Taxpayers Union? Ah hah. Pity that the Maori Womens Council wasn’t given equivalent status considering its importance and the great status of its members,)

    Chris Trotter wrote: David Parker: the frustrated entrepreneur, who shows every sign of wanting to substitute New Zealand’s whole fragile economy for the little businesses he very nearly went broke setting-up in Dunedin.
    http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2014/11/morbid-symptoms-can-labour-be-born-anew.html

    Don’t know about that. CV might know. But Chris T seems to like Andrew Little and thinks positive about Nanaia Mahuta.
    edited

  13. chris73 13
    14 November 2014 at 3:03 pm

    For what’s worth I thought Nanaia answered the questions better than anyone else in that she gave more definitive answers whereas the others seemed to say a lot without saying anything of substance

    My 2 cents

    • mickysavage 13.1
      14 November 2014 at 3:09 pm

      So you are going to join the party then Chris?

    • leftie 13.2
      14 November 2014 at 5:35 pm

      @Chris73
      Personally, I think Little is going to win, but I would like to see Mahuta elected as deputy leader, far more a better team and more honest, than the Grant & Jacinda jack up, that put me right off. For me Nanaia Mahuta is the only one who has been honest and upfront about Labour and what it needs to do, this is reflected in the following email.

      Teenaa Koe
      We finished the membership husting meetings in South Auckland last night and it is clear that we need to make necessary changes to become Government. Members have identified a number of issues that must be addressed to restore trust and earn the confidence of voters.

      We must commit to getting out House in order:

      Under my leadership there will be a clear expectation that our sole objective is to promote the values and policies of our Labour Party. We need to utilize the diverse skill set of our caucus and continue to modernise our party organisation and fundraising capacity to be campaign ready for 2017.

      The perception of factional interests is not helpful to our cause and it is my view that greater accountability between that Parliamentary and Party Wings will be required in order to achieve greater discipline. Our LECs may well have a constructive role in this process. We will need to change the way in which caucus operates and the external response should be that we are fresh, energized and reaching out to people, communities and stakeholder groups in different ways.

      The benchmark for success should be a change in external perception about the way we are presenting as a Party that is in step with the lives of ordinary New Zealanders who seek a fair go.

      We must review our Policies:

      Our Party has a robust policy development process. We need to define the ideas that will help make New Zealand a better place to live, raise children and support economic growth.

      I believe that our point of difference is that in standing up for a fair and decent society we champion the need to reduce inequality. We will advocate towards an inclusive economy that will go hand in hand with caring for the environment and working for those who are most vulnerable. We can show that our point of difference is that in upholding the value of fairness, we will ensure that the ladder of aspiration and opportunity is there for everyone as they move from one rung to the next and we will not pull it up or leave anyone behind.

      We must put People and Communities First

      Our strength has always been connected to our working class origins and our grass-roots approach in relating to people. We have a proud legacy and we can redefine our relevance to workers and people in the productive sector as we seek to earn the confidence of more New Zealanders.

      We can utilise the next three years to get alongside and engage with community, business, iwi, industry, education, health and social sector organisations to listen and respond to the issues that require new solutions.

      We must be a strong and constructive voice in Opposition

      Members were unanimous in their expectation that we must be relentless in holding the Government to account. We need to push for accountability and transparency in decision-making and not associate with the tactics that have brought all politicians into disrepute.

      I believe that we cannot be distracted by the politics of personality and must be focused on the issues that will lift outcomes for ordinary people.

      The measure of our success will be when people are talking about our ideas and solutions and criticising the lack of action by the Government.

      The Way Forward

      I have discerned that members are confronting the choice of leader with sober reflection. We are in unchartered waters, our Party vote has declined since 2005 when Labour was accused of no longer listening and therefore could not be trusted. While I have some personal insight into this time, like the effects of decisions in the 1980’s we either learn from past mistakes or we are doomed to repeat them.

      I believe that we can make the necessary changes to clear the way and move forward. Your support means that you have determined to change from the old style of politics towards this approach.

      Thank You

  14. Ad 14
    14 November 2014 at 4:08 pm

    Still trying to make a General out of four Corporals.

    • les 14.1
      14 November 2014 at 6:02 pm

      When I saw the big announcement about ISIS from the Natz with Key flanked by Finlayson,McCully, and Brownlee ,it certainly crossed my mind how little talent their front row has if anything ever happened to yanKey doodle.

  15. adam 15
    14 November 2014 at 5:08 pm

    Yawn – the dish water was less dull.

  16. lurgee 16
    14 November 2014 at 9:26 pm

    Certainly smells like Parker is unofficially bowing out. Not much effort in his answers at all. Still, at least he’s given up on the “I am REALLY passionate underneath my bookish facade” routine.

    Little or Robertson? Robertson or Little? Which way will will fortune smile? Robertson’s probably the more effective candidate, but Little seems to be the one more likely to win support as other candidates drop out. Those who don’t vote for Robertson in the first round probably won’t do it in the second or third. Little in the third round of voting, I reckon.

    At which point, I think RObertson will realise that, twice denied, it isn’t ever going to happen for him, and will really knuckle down for Labour. Here’s hoping, anyway.

  17. Dorothy 17
    15 November 2014 at 11:04 am

    I think that they are clear concise and honest answers. David Parker has a good grasp on policy.
    The important point is in 1.
    ” giving fairer economic outcomes for ALL NZers.”

    There was plenty of passion at the meeting I attended [from all the candidates ]
    and all people willing to work for a better NZ/Aotearoa had the opportunity to vote.

  18. Dorothy 18
    15 November 2014 at 11:26 am

    Since when has Chris Trotter been a friend to Labour ?
    Critique has a place, but certainly we will only get a better country by electing people
    who will make changes that improve all NZers lives. They will be bright positive and
    most of all HONEST people.

    • leftie 18.1
      15 November 2014 at 9:58 pm

      @Dorothy.

      Chris Trotter is definitely no friend of Labour’s. He appears to be a big fan of John key.
      I am sick and tired of these so called commentators being labeled “left’ when they are not. Trotter is not the only one like that.

  19. Clean_power 19
    15 November 2014 at 12:52 pm

    Not very convincing, and another reason why Grant Robertson will be the next leader.