Last week Jordan Carter made a contribution on the future direction of the Labour Party which I shared on Red Alert.
Kaine Thompson has put his Grassroots post onto facebook so it is out there for debate. Worth a look.
Last week Jordan Carter made a contribution on the future direction of the Labour Party which I shared on Red Alert.
Kaine Thompson has put his Grassroots post onto facebook so it is out there for debate. Worth a look.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 8:39 am and is filed under Labour Party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
excellent posts. One point several people (not NZLP members) have made to me is that different talents are needed for opposition as opposed to government. That is obviously a problem when you do win again but maybe it is one of the (few) advantages of the US system, that the party leadership is separate from the electoral figurehead. Though of course having two potentially conflicting centres of power is another problem…
Excellent? Sounds bitter and frustrated to me.
Worst suggestion had to be the one about tax. Surely anyone with smarts knows Kaine T’s proposal is playing directly into Key’s hands. He wants Labour to attack the GST change now so that when he delivers a Budget that doesn;t have it but does have huge tax cuts for the rich, he looks all nice and moderate. Being in opposition, like so much in life, is about timing. Labour need to get that right and stop panicking.
Wait for the Budget to attack National;s tax plan. Don’t focus on the Brash-report or the Buckle-report. Both are terrible but they are traps laid by Key for Labour to fall into – and Mr Thompson seems to want Labour to dive head first into them
@Ernie – strategy is everything – and timing is important, agree, but we also need strategic vision – and this is what is missing and a part of what Kaine was also stating.
ps hi spud!
Welcome back spud!!
Ernie – Are we more worried about the health of the NZLP or the health of the nation. Opposition is all about stopping the bad changes one by one so that when the left coalition get back in they have something left to work with (ie no more overpaying for rail that should never have been sold). The left gaining power comes second, as demonstrated by historical lack of a super coalition (NAT & LAB)
An important point from Kane is that Labor is the party of change, innovation, and radical new ideas. The Lange Govt certainly changed NZ but when they imploded with dogma the Boldger govt didn’t change much, just a meaner version of Labor. Conservatives seek to preserve society remember, Radicals seek to change whats wrong.
This time JK appeared to be cool calm and in charge, while HC looked tired and out of fresh ideas. Did NZ vote for more of the same (without some of the PC edges)?
Just remember Labor represents workers and their families. This is the majority in NZ. Labor has taken the mantle of a lot of specialist groups/causes, as these are groups also fall within the working family. All strategic vision can flow from this. Lets not forget that highly paid employees are still employees, and many (think doctors) are highly unionised.
@Paul – Hi
@ Kaine T – Thanks
Kaine T – while I’m sure your comment is made with the best of intentions not sure that it is helpful Jill Trevor
@Jeremy – opposition is about stopping bad changes – but Kaine’s proposal around tax is wrong because it will make it HARDER to stop bad changes.