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10 11th March 2018
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| Marama Davidson. |
1. On Thursday the 8th of March at 7.30pm 2018 Julie Ann
Genter and Marama Davidson addressed a crowd of Green members and supporters to
convince them of their abilities to become a Green Co-Leader. Green Party rules
require that there will be two Co-Leaders one female and the other male. This
of course is revolutionary for the political parties here in New Zealand and
even worldwide.
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| Julie Ann Genter. |
As I listened to each of the
candidates the realization of just how amazing this process was in this day and
age. How democratic, how open and honest. It was and is democracy in action,
for real people by real people with real people outcomes.
In the last three plus months all
the major parties have replaced their leader or deputy leader, so let’s look in
turn at each party processes used to achieve this leadership change:
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| Bridges, the man who fails to build them. |
Firstly National…Do they have co-leadership,
the answer is no because in reality it would offend their more conservative
supporters.
In practice it would seem to get a male / female balance they [the caucus] opted under pressure from Green copy cats among its caucus, for Paula Bennett to fill this role. Bill English resigned and a new leader was needed: Their process was to call for nominations and then to discuss within their caucus and decide on a winner. The winner only needed 29 votes for victory and Simon Bridges won after at least one or possibly two ballots. There was little time for the wider membership to get involved or to evaluate their so-called quality for the role of leader. It would appear that Nationals interest in its actual members or supporters only extends to Election Day [time]. Maybe this is the reason for their lack of friends in the political world. And as we are all aware once NZ First opted for Labour, National stood alone, its supporters Act almost completely wiped out, the United and Maori Parties actually in a political sense wiped out. If National finds it unnecessary to offer democracy to its paying members think of how they treat their supporting parties.
In practice it would seem to get a male / female balance they [the caucus] opted under pressure from Green copy cats among its caucus, for Paula Bennett to fill this role. Bill English resigned and a new leader was needed: Their process was to call for nominations and then to discuss within their caucus and decide on a winner. The winner only needed 29 votes for victory and Simon Bridges won after at least one or possibly two ballots. There was little time for the wider membership to get involved or to evaluate their so-called quality for the role of leader. It would appear that Nationals interest in its actual members or supporters only extends to Election Day [time]. Maybe this is the reason for their lack of friends in the political world. And as we are all aware once NZ First opted for Labour, National stood alone, its supporters Act almost completely wiped out, the United and Maori Parties actually in a political sense wiped out. If National finds it unnecessary to offer democracy to its paying members think of how they treat their supporting parties.
Next on my list is New Zealand
First it has just appointed a yet another unknown as its Deputy, Fletcher
Tabuteau is the new one, he replaces Ron Mark who had only just replaced Tracy
Martin.
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| WP latest pick. |
According to Winston Peters the NZF
management board selected Tabuteau. But the political media as well as most
observers considered that Winston said who he wanted and the NZF Board simply
complied.
I have not been able to find a
single NZF member who knew that a change was in the wind. So if democracy
played any part it was so deep that it was unrecognized by not only the party
but also by the public.
I left Labour till last, because
it seems to have drifted from democracy into autocratic mode and are now
attempting in install an inkling of democracy, Roger Douglas assisted by weak
union leadership saw Labour bit by bit destroy the processes that had served
them well since the 1930’s. An annual conference that once was politically
active and creative was replaced by leadership addresses with canned clapping.
When the ex PSA leader becomes leader of the FOL you realise just how beaten down the once proud union movement has become. Coming back to electing a leader, using the three legged process, Membership, unions, and caucus consensuses is somehow achieved, but this time around Labour claimed that because of time factors it was left to the caucus alone, so much for democracy.
The TPPA is yet another example of
saying one thing and doing another.
The government has "bamboozled" voters over plans to sign
the revised Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, a Wellington solicitor says.
"They are laying the foundations for exactly the
same deal they said was so terrible for New Zealand; they said was so
anti-democratic," he said.
"It's funny how now they're in government they've
changed their tune."
Trade minister David Parker had "bamboozled"
voters by failing to honestly discuss what the TPP would mean for New Zealand,
Mr Hailes said.
"He has made such a big deal about the 22 [items
suspended from the original agreement] as if they're absolute carve-outs,
whereas they're not.
"Any school teacher knows a suspension is not an
expulsion."
The decision to sign the new TPP meant people were
beginning to lose "their blind faith in the shiny new government", he
said.
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| PN Its Our Future well represented in Wellington. |
So the Labour caucus
ignore their membership over TPPA and they did the same over the leadership
selection…but they were lucky, National had no friends and the Greens and NZF
gave Labour a free ride into government, such is fate with a little
manipulation.
The neoliberalist core of Labour still rules in favour of the rich few. But their contribution to long term democratic change for their hard pressed members is still a long way off. We shall see in 2020.
2. Preston is located
in England, they hit rock bottom and needed to lift themselves out of their
deep hole; this item is absolutely worth a read…here is but a small taste:
“Small cities trailing big histories rank among the flotsam of
21st-century capitalism. With a big enough dowry (some subsidies, perhaps, or
free roads and cheap labour), they might catch the eye of a passing
multinational bearing some dubious inward investment; A distribution warehouse,
say, with poverty-pay jobs, or a high-street killer of a retail park. That was Preston at the start of this
decade – and it’s several other places still.
“There is much talk of a “Preston model”, of this place being Corbynism
on Earth. But what’s most remarkable is how somewhere so beaten-up – with its
streets a mix of empty shops and rough sleepers, and having the highest
suicide rate in England – got itself off the floor. How a council that only
a few years back hugged multinational Lendlease now espouses localism. How a
place that has been on the wrong end of the past 40 years mustered the confidence
to strike out on its own? The answer each time has something
to do with Matthew Brown.”
To see more go to:
3. What makes our neoliberal Trade Minister believe
that trickle down will work this time around, it has never worked in the past,
and the people effected most are those at the bottom of the heap and our
pensioners.
Roger Douglas fed that bullshit and Ruth Richardson continued to
shove it down our throats…John Key dressed it up with a bit of hair pulling and
now David Parker dribbles rubbish words, how much of the so-called three hundred
billion gained in theory by this so-called trade deal will trickle down to those in greatest
need.
Remember he won’t even look at income tax increases for the top ten
percent until after the next election [2020] and they are the ones who always
gain always have and always will! Till you and I stop them...
Cheers
Cheers
Peter J Wheeler
1 comment:
This from Peter Grove:
More than right on this time, The Greens have it just about right, re democracy. How many National, Labour, NZF, other political leaders would hop into the drink on a matter of principle as did Russell Norman in his protest against undersea Siesmic Blasting. Which stopped the planned progression dead in its tracks. If you look back you will see the Nats welcomed Big Oil here with subsidies and open arms on their journey of exploration, even to the extent of outlawing legitimate protest at sea.
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