November 28, 2015
Labour reshuffle
Labour reshuffle
WILLIE JACKSON
The reshuffle this week of Labour’s front bench by leader Andrew Little will be the making or breaking of the party and a guide of just how successful they will be at the next general election.
With Prime Minister John Key hogging the headlines at firstly the Rugby World Cup and then at APEC – where he was given a glowing reference by US president Barrack Obama and new Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull – it has left Labour with little to feast on.
But what Labour has going in its favour, I sense, is voter discontent. Add to that Key’s flippant arrogance over Kiwis being deported from Australia and issues that affect average Kiwis, and there is a feeling that the tide could be turning.
On my Radiolive talkback show, the flag debate is another issue which could come back to haunt the Nats. The consensus among many of the callers is the millions spent on road shows and now the two referendums would be better spent on feeding or housing low income families. A repeated theme is who wanted to change anyway? This smacks of when Helen Clark’s mob decided to do away with the British Honours System, which have been reinstated.
I managed to catch the Labour leader a couple of weeks ago on Parliamentary TV. The speech he gave lambasting the Key government for its un-compassionate stand on human rights and then his verbal annihilation of Paula Bennett, showed he is more than capable of going toe-to-toe with National.
To follow that up, Little’s new look Labour front bench must reflect where the party are heading to and just who will be leading their charge.
MPs, like Kelvin Davis and Phil Tywford must be given more space and freedom to attack the government, and also be recognised for taking the battle to National over Housing and institutionalised racism within New Zealand.
Jacinda Ardern must also be promoted for not only the work she is doing, but also because it makes political sense to have a young, good looking female on the front line.
That’s not sexist – just politics.
With Phil Goff set to take over as Mayor of Auckland, Little must also find a way of infusing young and old, Maori and Pakeha, as well as appeasing the many other nationalities who make up the Labour mix.
Little’s only problem is many in the team are inexperienced, so much will fall on the shoulders of the old timers like Annette King, Trevor Mallard Grant Robertson and Nanaia Mahuta who must nurture the younger inexperienced MPs along.
Labour has the time to mount a formidable challenge on National and it has to start with the reshuffle of the labour front bench.
If that’s managed correctly, it could be the kick start Labour need. If not, it might be similar to changing the deck chairs on the Titanic.
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