0 A flip-flop on the u-turn

You couldn't make stuff like this up; check out Gerry Brownlee's presser, via Scoop:

Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Transport
17 July 2014 Media Statement

Another Labour U-turn on Puhoi to Wellsford – that’s a 360!

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says Labour’s Northland list MP and candidate for Te Tai Tokerau, Kelvin Davis, must be alarmed at what a pernicious viper’s nest his party has become.
“Three days ago it seemed Labour had seen sense on the $1.38 billion Puhoi to Wellsford State Highway 1 upgrade, one of the Government’s seven Roads of National Significance,” Mr Brownlee says.
“Their transport spokesman Phil Twyford clearly told The New Zealand Herald Labour would no longer axe the road, merely postpone its construction.
“This was a huge change of heart from Labour, but a sensible one, as the road is supported wholeheartedly by every regional authority from Auckland to Cape Reinga, and the vast majority of the people who live in the far north.
“It was also a big boost for Mr Davis, who had bravely spoken out in favour of investing in greater resilience for Northland’s infrastructure following this week’s damaging storms.
“But 72 hours later Labour’s Auckland-centric powerbrokers have told their plucky upstart from the sticks to get back in his box.
“In an interview with Duncan Garner on Radio Live this afternoon Phil Twyford made it clear that when he says postponed, he means never – under Labour the roading lifeline to the north is a goner.
“The message for the people of Northland is clear: with $1.66 billion worth of roading projects already committed to the far north, the only major political party offering the sort of first-world infrastructure that will see you deliver on your abundant potential is the National Party,” Mr Brownlee says.

Apart from the good folk of points north of Puhoi, the big loser here is Kelvin Davis. Labour has just pulled the rug out from underneath Davis, almost guaranteeing that Hone Harawira will retain Te Tai Tokerau, and almost guaranteeing that MegaMana will be in the 51st Parliament. But the way that Labour is polling at the moment, Mr Davis may struggle to get in off Labour's list.

This flip-flop followed by a u-turn is a slap in the face for the people of Northland. The latte-drinking academics in Labour don't care about them, regardless of their platitudes about regional development. Instead, they will continue to make snide comments about the "holiday highway", forgetting that this is a vital link for Northland to Auckland and points south. 

Is it any wonder that Labour holds no electorates whatsoever north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge? When push comes to shove, Labour doesn't care about the roading needs of the people of Northland.

This is Labour's reaction to two dreadful poll results; a complete 360* two-step turnaround in the space of just four days. Can you imagine what a disaster it would be if they somehow won the Treasury Benches in two months time?

0 Holiday Highway, Holiday Highway, Holiday Highway, Great Idea!

Is the no policy that Labour will not flip-flop over? It would seem not.

And the latest flip-flop is over the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade to State Highway One north of Auckland; that piece of road known by opposition parties as the Holiday Highway. Here's a potted summary of Labour's opposition:

• 2011 - Phil Goff wants it scrapped
• 2012 - Phil Twyford calls for the Government to "take a hard look" at the road, because it doesn't stack up.
• 2013 - Labour continues to oppose the road, and Holiday Highway bashing continues unabated

Since before the 2011 election Labour's opposition to Puhoi to Wellsford has been constant. What you see above is only a small sample of "anti" stories.

But now, led by renegade List MP Kelvin Davis, Labour has done a back-flip, prompting this presser from Gerry Brownlee:

Gerry Brownlee

15 July, 2014

Labour’s panicked U-turn on the road from Puhoi to Wellsford

Backed into a corner and on the wrong side of public opinion, Labour is making up major policy on the hoof with its announcement it now supports the Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says.
“The brave but sensible stance of Northland list MP Kelvin Davis to stand up to the Labour leadership and state the obvious – that most people in the north support the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade of State Highway 1 – has led to an immediate U-turn by his party today with the statement by Labour Transport Spokesman Phil Twyford that Labour would no longer cancel the road, but postpone its construction,” Mr Brownlee says.
“This is a spectacular U-turn for Labour, and as with all such maneuverers there is significant risk, and the potential for unintended consequences.
“For Labour it now raises the huge question of where the money is coming from for its commitment to immediately begin building Auckland’s City Rail Link.
“National is committed to co-funding construction of the rail link on a schedule that will see it delivered ahead of when Auckland City’s own research says it’s required.
“Labour was going to fund construction of the link from next year with money the Government has committed to building the Puhoi to Wellsford highway.
“Now it has to tell the people of Northland how long they’ll have to wait for their much-need highway upgrade, and where the $1.38 billion will come from to build it.
“That’s assuming Labour is still committed to beginning construction of the City Rail Link next year.
“Or does Mr Twyford have as big a surprise for Aucklanders today as he just delivered to the people of Northland this morning?
“Labour’s policy processes are woefully inadequate and clearly reliant on knee-jerk reactions,” Mr Brownlee says.

 

Gerry Brownlee is right; this is knee-jerk politics from Labour and especially from Phil Twyford. Alfred Ngaro will be looking forward to Mr Twyford telling the good folk of Te Atatu they won't be getting better train services any time soon.

 

Whilst we welcome this particular u-turn by Labour, it is a u-turn nonetheless. But with Labour v2014, that's par for the course. Why would we expect anything else?

0 They call him Flipper...

We get sent lots of internet memes, photoshopped images and the like. Some of them are unprintable, some are arguable actionable, some are in poor or borderline taste and there is the occasional gem; like this one:

It's not just the Maui's dolphin policy that has seen a flip-flop from David Cunliffe. This is just the latest in a series of botched policies from the Labour leader.

And Labour's Rotorua candidate Tamati Coffey has gone into damage control after having the rug pulled out from under him by his leader. He's posted this on Facebook:

Mr Coffey may have an assurance from David Cunliffe today, but will he have the same assurance tomorrow? With David "Flipper" Cunliffe, anything is possible!

0 Imperator Fish on fishy confusion

Scott at Imperator Fish is confused. In the wake of David Cunliffe's Maui's dolphin flip-flop, IF has posted this plaintive cry:

As a Labour Party member, I’m becoming increasingly confused about the party’s position on the Maui’s Dolphin.

I thought we were for the dolphins, but now I’m wondering if maybe we were against them all along.
I don’t mind either way. I’m a loyal party man and I’ll do what I’m told. If it’s decided that the Maui’s Dolphin must be sacrificed on the altar of progress, then that’s fine. I’ll just tell myself that they’re only glorified fish. But I do need to know one way or the other, in case I’m asked by someone what Labour’s policy is.
Are we for saving the Maui’s Dolphin? Or is our policy, like National’s, to drive those cetacean bastards to extinction?

We understand Scott's frustration, which will doubtless be shared by a league of dolphin-loving aspiring Labour MP's, including Tamati Coffey. Party members and candidates don't deserve to be blind-sided by sudden u-turns from the leader when he holds his finger up to the winds of public opinion. 

Then again, could this be such a cunning plot from Mr Cunliffe and his confidantes in the War Room that you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Is this a way of getting Donghua Liu off the front pages of blogs and newspapers?

Perhaps, but we doubt that Mr Cunliffe has the smarts to do something like that. Anyway, could he be sure that Donghua Liu isn't a secret fan of marine mammals?

0 So; what IS Labour's policy?

Another day, and Labour is hopelessly confused over another policy. This time, it's Maui's dolphins, and Taranaki oil exploration; 3News explains:

Labour leader David Cunliffe has had to perform a U-turn after this morning announcing Labour was against oil exploration in the Maui's dolphin mammal sanctuary, when it actually approves.

National has jumped on the gaffe, saying Labour is hypocritical because it allowed 13 wells to be drilled in the area.

The Government has opened up 3000 square kilometres of a marine mammal sanctuary for oil exploration on the North Island's west coast – home to the Maui's dolphin. The Green Party obtained documents revealing that last week.

This morning Labour came out opposed, aligning itself with the Greens.

"I don't see any need for the exploration permits to overlap the sanctuary, so yes, I'm opposed to that," said Mr Cunliffe.But this afternoon saw a U-turn from Labour, because the last Labour Government approved 13 wells to be drilled in the area.

The Greens continued their criticism of the Government today.

"His legacy to this country will be to drive the Maui's dolphin toward extinction," said Green Party co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

However John Key dismissed the complaints as "a load of mumbo jumbo".

"He wants to close down Taranaki, the thousands of jobs that are supported there, and what is incredible is that David Cunliffe […] wants to do that as well," said Mr Key.

But it turns out Mr Cunliffe is open to exploration in the dolphins' home if "done responsibly".

It looks as though Andrew Little is the winner here. Earlier in the year, he and Shane Jones were the lone voices of sanity in Labour over oil and gas exploration in Taranaki.

And once again, David Cunliffe has been exposed as a wavering duffer who hasn't got a clue what side of the issue he's on. It hasn't helped that Tamati Coffey, #30 on Labour's list, but already with a profile higher than his leader's was the centrepiece of a Maui's dolphin protest outside Simon Bridges' Tauranga office on Saturday; check these out:

From the pictures, the Labour Party flags, the political rhetoric and the many other comments on Tamati Coffey's Twitter feed, it is patently obvious that he was representing the Labour Party on Saturday, and was protesting Simon Bridges' decision not to exclude the area inhabited by the dolphins from exploration. 

That sends a pretty good signal that, right up until the moment that David Cunliffe flip-flopped this evening, Labour was opposed to oil exploration in the dolphin sanctuary. We actually feel sorry for Tamati Coffey; allowing his profile to be used for this protest on the basis that his party actually did stand against the Government on this issue. Who would blame him for feeling totally disillusioned this morning?

 

David Cunliffe can't manage simple, straightforward policies, and doesn't seem to have a clue what he and Labour stand for. How on earth could he be expected to make the decisions needed to run the country?