Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Iraena Smith
,
Katie Bradford
,
Labour Party
,
Shane Taurima
,
Stitich-up
,
Tamaki Makaurau
,
TVNZ
,
Will Flavell
Labour's Tamaki Makaurau nomination farce gets even more farcical. TVNZ's Te Karere reporter Iraena Smith reports (read the bottom tweet first):
If this isn't a clear signal from the Labour Party's council that Shane Taurima is no longer persona non grata, we don't know what is. That is reinforced by these tweet from Katie Bradford:
In bending over backwards to apologise to Mr Taurima, Labour is effectively saying that him breaching an undertaking to his TVNZ managers not to get involved politically after his failed Ikaroa-Rawhiti bid is all ka pai.
Labour also seems to have forgiven, on behalf of TVNZ and the taxpayer, Taurima's unlawful use of TVNZ resources and facilities for Labour Party purposes. That is outrageous.
With Julian Wilcox having ruled out a bid for the nomination, and with the way seemingly clear for Taurima to be put forward, it would seem that Labour's Tamaki Makaurau candidate selection is a fait accompli, and a third former TVNZ staffer will stand at the General Election. We reckon that is deeply flawed.
Will Flavell through his hat in the ring for the nomination some time ago. We've lost count of the number of times nominations have closed and then been reopened, but Mr Flavell ought already have been confirmed as Labour's candidate. Dark forces however (where have we heard that phrase this week?) seem to be conspiring against Mr Flavell, and there is now a real issue of fairness and due process if he decided to challenge the nomination process.
Here's our advice to the Labour Party, for what it's worth. As Will Flavell was the only nominee at the time nominations most recently closed, give him the Tamaki Makaurau candidacy. Then let Shane Taurima take his chances on the Party List.
That won't happen, of course. In its indecent haste to rehabilitate Shane Taurima and restore his reputation, the Labour Party seems to have forgotten about the reputational damage it is inflicting on itself with this stitch-up.
UPDATE: The hashtag on Newstalk ZB political reporter Laura McQuillan's uppermost tweet also gives an insight into what's going on in Tamaki Makaurau. But if Shane Taurima doesn't sue the Labour Party, Will Flavell should!
