If National wins ...

[BlackPeter]

I happens every time with Labour. They form a committee to work out which is the head and which is the tail of their dog. Then, as soon as they have explained to the public which end is which, the tail starts wagging the dog and they are back in the confused state again. Now it seems that the collar might be a better fit on Davis. Although highlighting the nasty side of NZ prisons is hardly new. It was going on under several Labour regimes as well in the last few decades. Fortunately the voters are likely to prefer a proven winner in the money markets.

Hi Craic, great process description ... certainly made my day!

Just one additional observation: the committee they form to work out head or butt ... its not part of Labour itself. They ask some other people (the unions - who may or may not be sympathetic for the goals of Labour) to help them to find their head ... and if these people actually support some other party, than the returned judgement call might not be that constructive. I think this explains how Cunliffe as well as Little managed to become temporary heads of the said dog

[Daytr]

National generally form a committee to investigate stuff ups. Its a nice way of side tracking the issue. They must have a lot of committees...
At least with their latest major stuff up they have acted quickly. Pity it took a labour MP to raise the shocking performance of SERCO running Mt Eden.
The Government is now forced to take back the management of the prison. I like this bit though from the minister. "He denied the move was one of no confidence in Serco, who would continue to run the Wiri prison." Yeah right!
This is a major backflip by National & should send a warning to the electorate of National's plan to further corporatize government services.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...Mt-Eden-prison

I wonder if they will form a committee to investigate why its costing $3M & taking 5 years to rehouse three documents to the National Library!

National = incompetence.

[elZorro]

Kelvin Davis. I was thinking he might be the man to turn Labour's fortune around

But he being a real plonker the last few days. No longer on my radar as a Labour leader after his performance on Radio NZ this morning

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/pr...serco-contract

(Disclosure: don't really know what plonker means but it sounds a neat word)

W69, I don't see what you mean, I thought he'd been swearing or something. He's saying there are more revelations than he can deal with in a few spare hours. What's wrong with that? In any case, his work produced a result, National has had to take back control of Mt Eden, at least temporarily. No smoke without fire.

[elZorro]

your not wrong there winner... he was terrible. Totally unsubstantiated and insinuations all round. I think its a union driven probe and unfortunately Kelvin Davis is the fall guy..

You're making stuff up, BC.

[elZorro]

Hi Craic, great process description ... certainly made my day!

Just one additional observation: the committee they form to work out head or butt ... its not part of Labour itself. They ask some other people (the unions - who may or may not be sympathetic for the goals of Labour) to help them to find their head ... and if these people actually support some other party, than the returned judgement call might not be that constructive. I think this explains how Cunliffe as well as Little managed to become temporary heads of the said dog

You're dreaming if you think the unions are in control of Labour. They don't fund it very well on a per person basis, very low in fact, and they don't offer much campaign foot-soldiering either. It's done by older party faithful, by and large. So this story about the tail wagging the dog, who started that off (C-T?). Give us some good examples to prove your point, if you can find any.

[craic]

Impossible! Labour have been trying for years to work out which is the head and which is the tail. Last two election they managed to present the tail with a collar on it. As to the unions, you are right. The unions have lost their power and the drivers are the teachers and radical academics. Sooner rather than later, Labour are going to have to look in the same mirror that social credit used a few years back. Maybe a suitable new name would be The Peoples Party, with a picture of Fidel Castro and a picture of the Pope, hung prominently on the wall behind the leaders deskand a small chalk board on the front of the desk with the legend "Todays Leader" on the top and the current name chalked underneath.

[Daytr]

EZ, National are in the pockets of big business & the wealthy, so they can hardly take the high ground.
When did unions become a bad thing? Its similar to when people say you're a 'greenie' with negative connotation.
Why is it a bad thing to care about the environment? Its not & its a disgrace that it has come to that.
I have never belonged to a union so am certainly not a unionist, however they have their place to keep a balance.
We would still be in the days of serf labour or Victorian work conditions without them.

[winner69]

W69, I don't see what you mean, I thought he'd been swearing or something. He's saying there are more revelations than he can deal with in a few spare hours. What's wrong with that? In any case, his work produced a result, National has had to take back control of Mt Eden, at least temporarily. No smoke without fire.

He was not in control of that interview when he should have been

If he had all that new stuff he should have been more convincing and explicit instead of mumbling on in vague terms.

Maybe a bad day in the office but didn't do much for me. I am trying to see good in your people but honestly struggling a little.

[BlackPeter]

When did unions become a bad thing? Its similar to when people say you're a 'greenie' with negative connotation.
Why is it a bad thing to care about the environment? Its not & its a disgrace that it has come to that.
I have never belonged to a union so am certainly not a unionist, however they have their place to keep a balance.
We would still be in the days of serf labour or Victorian work conditions without them.

Hi daytr, I don't think I questioned the value of the union movement - I just indicated that they, while not being part of Labour, seem to dictate whoever is leading Labour at the day (both Little and Cunliffe have been forced on Labour against the will of its caucus). Not a problem for me, I just questioned the wisdom of this selection process ... but if it works for Labour, than this is fine with me . Long may this process continue .

Totally agree with you - the unions had their place in history, and their role was essential during the industrialisation. Wouldn't want to know how the world would look like today without a strong union movement at this time. The problem with them is like with every other human based organisation ... they learned to use their muscle, managed to overcome resistance and than started to use their power not for the good of the country, but to satisfy the desire of a few. Just look at the US, who still have a strong union movement - many unions over their are basically legalised criminal organisations living of blackmail and corruption.

Not saying that NZ is that far down the same track, but I don't think this is for the integrity of its union leaders, it is just that they never had the opportunity here to take that much power. Lets keep it that way.

Looking at the Greenies - I used to be one of them and certainly treat the environment with respect. Unfortunately here in New Zealand the Green party has been taken over by a bunch of (very left wing) people who just try to push their socialist agenda under the cloak of the Green party brand. Some of them (e.g. Russel Norman) first tried their luck in marxist political groups (Australian DSP). Many of them came from New Labour and other colourful Alliance-branches. Nothing against socialists and communists (well, I don't question their good will, even if I think that their proposed methods don't work), however there is a problem if they hide under the Green brand because they realised that they get nowhere while working with an open agenda. This is what tarnishes the Green brand, not any desire to protect the environment.

The disgrace you are talking about should target the people who undermined a once honest environmental movement.

[elZorro]

BP, you're a great stirrer, but again, no substance behind these allegations. Your posts are designed to keep National-Act in power, but what are you really scared of, new tax policies for example? Why not just be honest about that?

In a week where Labour MPs and support staff did their job well, quite a few posters have come on here and tried to undo that. Just making stuff up, as per usual.

This National Govt is being exposed for being poor operators of crown assets, and I hope it keeps happening at the rate it's going. While we may have come through the GFC and the earthquakes (with a lot of help from Labour's previous terms of course), our next challenge is to have a broad-based economy that doesn't rely on rapidly rising house prices for nest eggs for a few, because like the dairy cheque, that could all disappear. It's not real enough, not good enough for NZ, it won't improve our ranking on the OECD scale.

Is deficity a word?