Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Cameron Slater
,
Clayton Cosgrove
,
David Cunliffe
,
Grant Robertson
,
Hone Harawira
,
Inside job
,
Labour Party
,
Political bastardry
,
Roy Morgan poll
,
Trevor Mallard
Whilst David Cunliffe is crying foul, Hone Harawira reckons the Donghua Liu revelations are an inside job from within Labour; Stuff reports:
HARAWIRA: IT'S AN INSIDE JOB
Mana leader Hone Harawira believed someone within the Labour Party, rather than the Government, was running a smear campaign against Cunliffe.
He admitted he was concerned about the impact of Labour's latest troubles on the chances of Left-wing parties attracting enough votes to form a coalition government at the next election.
"I'm in the game of trying to change the government. To do that requires Mana and the Internet Party to get stronger without adversely affecting the Greens and Labour and for the Greens and Labour to also get strong with their own constituencies. Any threat to that is a threat to us overall."
It's not often that Harawira and Cameron Slater would be singing from the same song-sheet, but we read this earlier today on Whaleoil:
Sources inside Labour having been consistently saying that Grant Robertson knew all about Donghua Liu and his donations to Labour.
I know he was specifically warned over attacks based over Donghua Liu.
When he was attacking National over this he was setting his leader up for a fall.
This was known for a couple of months, as Robertson was able to deny any involvement in fundraising as he wasn’t an MP until after the 2008 election.
What will be more troubling for David Cunliffe supporters is the same sources are saying that Robertson couldn’t believe his luck when Cunliffe made statements saying he hadn’t advocated on behalf of Donghua Liu.
Then here comes the clincher:
Apparently Robertson knew all about the letter and didn’t warn Cunliffe. This kind of low political bastardry has to be admired.
Grant Robertson has shown he has the mongrel to be leader of the Labour Party, and the finesse as well.
His set up of his leader was absolutely brilliant, and he has effectively sandbagged the Labour campaign so he can have a shot at being leader.
Let's not forget that Grant Robertson served his political apprenticeship in the office of Helen Elizabeth Clark, with her formidable chief of staff Heather Simpson. So close was Robertson to H1 and H2 that the urban legend reports his nickname at the time as being H3. To have received the Whaleoil Seal of Approval for Political Bastardry suggests that Robertson was a very good student of the Dark Arts.
So if this is indeed a set-up and an "inside job" as Harawira describes it, Grant Robertson would unsurprisingly be high on the list of suspects. But then again, so would the co-chairs of ABC, Trevor Mallard and Clayton Cosgrove, neither of whom is beyond getting down and dirty.
The Labour Party doesn't look especially happy or united at the moment. Labour registering at 28% on the Roy Morgan poll that has just come out this afternoon won't do much for the mood either as the caucus disperses for the weekend. How will they be when they reconvene after a weekend of BBQ's?
