0 Rudman on coat-tailing

Brian Rudman doesn't hide his contempt for coat-tailing in his latest Herald column. But under the headline Cut off the coat-tails and end MMP rorts he's not exactly kind to the Labour Party and David Cunliffe either; he opines:

Labour is promising to abolish within 100 days of taking office the MMP coat-tail rule that enables a minor party electorate MP to bring party list mates into Parliament regardless of the 5 per cent entry threshold.
The joke is that, barring a miracle, there seems little chance of Labour leader David Cunliffe and his Green allies forming a government without the aid of the Mana-Internet "party", whose existence depends on gaming the coat-tail provisions.
And having exploited the system for all it is worth - and spent more than $3 million of internet millionaire Kim Dotcom's cash - to get back into Parliament, it seems unlikely that Hone Harawira and Laila Harre will turn around and vote to end the fun.
The stitch-up between embattled Mana Party leader Mr Harawira and Mr Dotcom, the millionaire refugee from American law enforcement agencies, is not the first attempt to game the MMP rules. It's just the most egregious.

Rudman is dead right. The deal between Dotcom and Harawira is the rort to end all rorts, and everyone knows it. John Key may invite minor party leaders for a cup of tea, but on the rort scale, the MegaMana one is a five course dinner with wine matches, and port and cigars to follow.

Of course, that won't stop David Cunliffe, if that is what it takes. Faced with a choice of governing and reaching some sort of deal with MegaMana, and facing another three years in opposition, we all know what David Cunliffe will do.

And we all know that Labour has form; read on:

In 1999, in the second MMP election, Labour leader Helen Clark encouraged Labour supporters in Coromandel to support Green candidate Jeanette Fitzsimons to ensure the defeat of the National incumbent and bring in several Green list candidates on her coat-tails.
Ms Fitzsimons narrowly won - but in the end the Greens' party vote just sneaked over the 5 per cent threshhold, entitling them to six seats anyway.

Of course, that's not Labour's only coat-tail rort. From the first MMP election in 1996 to his retirement at the 2011 General Election, Labour stood a series of Neville Nobodies against former Labour Party president and MP Jim Anderton in Wigram. By the time he retired, Anderton was back to being a Labour MP in every way except his self-named political party.

So Labour knows all about coat-tail rorts. But make no mistake; David Cunliffe, for all his pontificating now will reach out to Dotcom and Harawira if that's what it takes after 20 September. Then he will ask the MegaMana MP's to close their eyes, block their noses, and like turkeys, vote for an early Christmas. Labour's hypocrisy is galling. 

0 Idiot/Savant on Labour's Electoral Act flip-flop

Idiot/Savant from No Right Turn has ripped into the Labour Party over its plans to outlaw coat-tailing:

On Firstline this morning, Labour's David Cunliffe promised to introduce legislation to scrap the "electorate lifeboat" provision of MMP within his first hundred days in office:

“The incoming Labour-led government under my leadership would, within our first 100 days in office, initiate moves to repeal this part of the Electoral Act.
“National has supported a widely discredited electoral rule which skews the democratic process to its own political ends. The New Zealand public can see through that,’’ said David Cunliffe.

I think this is a terrible change. The one MP rule is a vital safeguard which ensures representation of smaller parties. Without it, our Parliament would be much less representative than it is at present (unless it was balanced by a removal of the 5% threshold) - and therefore much less democratic.
It doesn't help that there's the usual enormous helping of hypocrisy from Labour on this.Despite their claims to have been "principled and consistent" on the issue, they quietly gifted Coromandel to the Greens in 1999; their opposition is more recent, and based entirely on a desire to rob National of potential coalition partners. And in order to do that, they're willing to make our Parliament less representative and rob their fellow citizens of a democratic voice. It is immoral and undemocratic - but its what happens when you get professional politicians who view the electoral system as a game to be rigged to their advantage, rather than a framework to maximise democratic representation and responsiveness.

I/S is dead right about Labour's hypocrisy on this issue, even though he downplays it by only mentioning Coromandel. Labour of course gave Jim Anderton a leg-up in Wigram election after election after election by standing a series of Neville Nobodies against the former Labour Party president. Here's a potted summary of how that dirty deal worked:

By the late 1990s, Labour under Helen Clark had largely purged itself of the influence of Roger Douglas. Realising that the cost of a split in the left-wing vote was a continued National government, the two parties agreed to form a coalition for the 1999 elections. Anderton became Deputy Prime Minister after National lost the election. He was also given the newly created post of Minister of Economic Development, which had an emphasis on job creation and regional development initiatives.
Towards the end of the parliamentary term Anderton came into conflict with the Alliance's administrative wing. Party president Matt McCarten and his allies claimed that the Alliance had become too close to Labour, and that it should take a less moderate path; Anderton replied that some moderation was required for the Alliance to accomplish any of its goals. There were complaints that Anderton was too dominant in the party's decision-making and over the fact that he supported the government's stance on the bombing of Afghanistan, while the executive and wider membership opposed it. Eventually, Anderton and three other MPs left the Alliance, establishing the Progressive Coalition, later renamed the Progressive Party. In order to get around the Electoral Integrity Act, which had been passed largely because of Anderton's complaints about waka jumping, Anderton technically remained the Alliance's parliamentary leader until the writ was dropped for the 2002 election.
In the election, Anderton was returned to Parliament, and the Progressives took the Alliance's place as Labour's coalition partner. Although Anderton won his electorate, the small amount of support the Progressives received (1.4% of the party vote) was enough for only one other Progressive – deputy leader Matt Robson – to enter Parliament. Anderton gave up the deputy prime minister's post to Minister of Finance and Labour deputy leader Michael Cullen. He remained Minister of Economic Development, and also held other ministerial portfolios. He ranked third in Cabinet, behind Clark and Cullen.
In the runup to the 2005 election Anderton renamed his party "Jim Anderton's Progressive Party". However, he was the only Progressive returned to Parliament by a narrow margin after many left-wing voters voted for Labour to prevent a National government from being elected due to a split on the left. He became Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Forestry, Minister Responsible for the Public Trust, Associate Minister of Health, and Associate Minister for Tertiary Education.
The 2008 election saw a swing to the right, with National winning approximately 45% of the party vote to Labour's 34%. Anderton retained his seat but the Progressives' share of the party vote remained low, at less than one percent.^[3] In a move described as "unorthodox" by the New Zealand Herald, Anderton announced that he would remain in coalition with Labour in opposition. He said that a priority for the Progressives would be to support better access to dental care.^[4]

Yes; even in Opposition, Labour and Anderton were joined at the hip and were one in everything but name. We remember well the farce in 2002 when the Alliance split (to be led by none other than Laila Harre), and Helen Clark used every excuse in the book plus a few more to justify Anderton's position, and to avoid an early election. It was a farcical time.

But wait; there's more. There was also a time when Peter Dunne was useful to Labour, so Labour's candidates in Ohariu didn't try too hard. Dunne was rewarded with Ministerial roles when he supported Helen Clark and Labour in the post-election wranglings after the 2005 General Election, even though his supporters were expecting him to support National, and have nothing to do with Winston First.

So Labour has been more than happy to deal with coat-tailing MP's in the past, and based on present polling, it will need coat-tailing MP's this year if David Cunliffe is going to form a government. Then, of course, he's going to use the majority accorded to him by the dirty deal with coat-tailing MP's to change the Electoral Act to outlaw coat-tailing.

Idiot/Savant is dead right. This is indeed an "enormous helping of hypocrisy" from Labour and its leader. But why would we expect anything else?

0 Tweet of the Day - 30 May 2014

Do we have psychic powers? Do we what! Check this out:

It was just this morning that we predicted a return to politics for Pam Corkery. Within eight hours, it has happened!

Now we wait with bated breath for the triumphal entry into the Promised Land of Dotcom Dollars for Jim Anderton; surely it's only a matter of time. That'll really bring the yoof voters flocking to MegaMana!

0 We can't help but wonder...

It's been an interesting week in left-wing politics. The Internet and Mana Parties have merged to become MegaMana. Laila Harra, former Labour Party member, New Labour and Alliance MP, Green Party staffer and trade unionist has been appointed leader of the Internet Party, and will be at #3 on the MegaMana list.

Take a look at MegaMana's Top Four; Hone Harawira, Laila Harre, Annette Sykes and John Minto; they're all not just from the political Left, but the extreme Left. Quite how they fit alongside their moneybags "founder" and "visionary" and his four million bucks (more on that later in the day) is anyone's guess. It would seen that even hard-core left wingers have their price, and Dotcom is paying it.

And then we hear that Willie Jackson has categorically ruled out standing for Labour in Tamaki Makaurau, but has NOT ruled out standing in the same electorate for MegaMana. It's a veritable Alliance Party reunion!

So we can't help but wonder; who's next? Is the door of the political crypt about to be rolled open, and Jim Anderton dusted off and wheeled out? Alamein Kopu is no longer with us, but there are still the likes of Frank Grover, Pam Corkery, Sandra Lee and Phillida Bunkle (to name but four) who could be recruited to fatten the ranks. After all, Dotcom has promised to pay their salaries, and the Left loves Other People's Money!

The Internet Party is supposed to be forward-looking and visionary, but Laila Harre's speech yesterday took us back to the past. If that's where MegaMana wants to mire itself, then dredging up recycled politicians from a generation ago is the perfect starting point.