By Bernard Hickey
Imarda Chief Executive and Endace co-founder Selwyn Pellett has called on Labour leader Phil Goff to stand down to allow Labour to strengthen its opposition to the policies of the National-led Government.
Pellett is an economic policy activist with links to the Labour movement, having spoken at the last two Labour Party conferences about the need for economic and monetary policy reform.
Pellett said voters had stopped listening to Labour under Goff and it was time for the opposition to renew itself cleanly before an election wipeout.
“Labour is likely to lose the election no matter who is leading it, but with Phil Goff at the helm it could be a devastating result. People have simply stopped listening," Pellett said.
"It’s sad as Phil is a very nice and sincere man, but now it’s time for him to go," he said.
Pellett made the comments in a comment thread under a blog post on Productive Economic Council (PEC) , a business lobby group co-founded by Pellett.
They also follow a decision by various front benchers not to challenge Goff last week after the resignation of Darren Hughes.
"Be it National or Labour we need real leadership, not poll sniffers. If you want to just “manage” a bunch of like-minded people then sniff polls, carve out a suitable bunch and manage them. If you want to make a difference and change the country then lead," Pellett said.
"Sell your vision, educate the population, build your support and implement your policies. It’s kind of old fashioned these days but that’s what we need. Phil Goff should stand down and the party should go through a process to elect a new Leader and front bench. It’s the process that didn’t happen when Helen Clark stood down and now it shows," he said.
"A good democracy, like good law processes requires checks and balances. Without a strong opposition the incumbent gets lazy and takes easy options. A strong opposition is essential and Phil Goff can’t deliver that so he should stand down."
Pellett said the Labour caucus already knew who the contenders were to replace Goff.
"I personally hope Phil will just stand down and avoid splitting the caucus and the party. People's instincts are that greed and lack of appropriate market regulation caused the global financial crises and lost them their jobs and savings," he said.
"They may not understand the intricacies of what happened but they understand it was wrong and now they need credible political advocates to champion their corner. Phil Goff hasn’t delivered that for our country and we need it."
29 Comments
Wolly - go see a shrink - you're changing into something less than pleasant.
Besides - the man has something to say, said it politely, and I, for one, think he's dead right.
But - Labour have to decide whether the stuff that arrived in my email from Chauvel this morning (I'm not a Party member) or Goff's 'grow the economy', is their stated stance.
Can't have both.
Cunliffe is stuck in the old groove too. Parker probably 'gets it', but hasn't the persona.
But it may well be that this new era sees both major Parties simply left behind. Or is that right behind. Whatever.
Actually its not to strengthen an anti National camp but to make sure there is a viable opposition. I dislike policies in both camps and that’s life but week opposition means policies are not debated as well as they should.
Specifically I am talking about tax policies under National (or the lack of some) and which assets are partically privatised.
We need to grow this country and that means massive changes and they are not happening. Best we deabte the HOW.
"We need to grow this country and that means massive changes and they are not happening. Best we deabte the HOW".
Actually, Selwyn, we need to get this country onto a sustainable footing. Not sustainable growth, you understand - that's an oxymoron. I mean: something that can be maintained essentially indefinitely. Or as close to it as we can get.
Any other approach is stuffed.
It's legitimate to use technology, research and efficiencies to get there (I do those all the time) but not 'grow'.
We do indeed need inspired new leadership - but (and note the tense) growth-touting was not it.
Go to buggery , Selwyn ....... oh , you're already supporting them . ..
..Goofy , Klinger & Cunny are as much fun as head-less chickens around the farmhouse . ...
.... After a thrashing in the November election , a good old knock 'em down / drag 'em out fist fight between Cunny and Andrew Little will do Labour alotta good .
For all his faffing nonsense about rejuvenating the party , Goofy only added two newbies to his shadow cabinet ...... .
.... another 3 years , Selwyn , 3 more years ......
Perhaps Selwyn P a U.N. strike on his Three Kings office to serve as a warning as I understand he is never there.....which oddly enough is reflected in the maintenance (or lack of it) in his electorate of Roskill a grubby poorly kept suburb nestled between Mt eden and Mt Albert where better roads footpaths shops utilities are to be found......I had always wondered whether this was coincidence or a fair reflection of his abilities to influence Council.......... after all Auntie Helens infuence on Albert /Sandringham became apparent in her first three year reign............
While this may seem to all to be a side issue.......it may be a genuine reflection of the man's inability to influence outcomes......and on that basis alone a non contender....unsuitable for the job.
National were absolute rubbish in opposition , to Herr Helen , 1999-2008 ..... Call it as it is , KW John . .... And now it's Labour's term .
..... that smooth smiley happy little hand-shakey transition from Clark & Cullen to Goofy and Klinger really ticked me off ..... after all that they did to us , the populence , I wanted to see a real bloodletting in Labour , an admission of failure , some contrition for having screwed us over ...... but nada , zip .... they pottered on as if nothing much had altered , just a change of seats at the next sitting of the kindergarten ....
I'm as happy as a pig-in-poo to see how buggered Labour currently is ..... Brilliant !
KW John : The entire party political process seems to be the root of our problem .
A system of independent members being elected on individual ability , as Walter Kunz expouses , has immense merit .
........ I gather that under such system the populence participate in numerous referendums . And isn't that the basis of a true democratic system , rather than just ticking two boxes every third year ,as we do .
"The entire party political process seems to be the root of our problem."
Very true. Our politicians have bastardised the political system to suit the entrenched parties rather than the public.
Party constitutions are such that anyone stepping out of line can be dumped from the party, and dumped from parliament if they are list MPs. But we have been too lazy to respond to that system with new political parties that encourage independent thinking (at the moment you effectively have to have a political party).
Would anyone be interested in working with me on the principles/constitution of a protest ("none the above") type party of independents?
Its time to do away with the career politicians and bring in some real leaders. Goof et al. should have left with Helen. What a waste of two and a half years! The yay sayers surrounding Goff have also demonstrated their lack of gall, courage and leadership by continuing to support him. Self preservation is a disgusting trait for any politician, its even worse when it is at the cost of a well governed country, and the disadvantaged. So in my book the hangers on are even worse than Goff.
Agree totally. While we're at it lets hire them based on their qualifications/ability to do the job and that goes for all MPs. A bunch of academics who have only ever studied theory along with dental nurses, teachers and farmers (no offence to those that work in these industries either) are not qualified to be in charge of finance, education, justice etc.
I think quiet a few are lawyers who have franky are over-represented....and personally having a selection of MPs from all walks of life is the idea IMHO, they should be representative of the people in order to represent the people.
Techers not in charge of education? then who FFS? like duh.
Finance? Gorden Brown was in charge of finance and he has a so called first class economics degree and look how buggered the UK is after he promised no more busts....one mega bust, world wide...
Qualifications? um.....
Ability just look at the mess the US is in, if hires ex-bankers and they do nothing to fix the problem.
regards
I neglected to include economists and bankers on my list.
The teachers in parliament aren't in charge of education.
I agree that we need representatives from all walks of life and if they have decent experience then qualifications aren't as important, but the experience and/or qualifications needs to be matched to the area they take on in parliament.
A corporate will only hire an employee that has the skills to do the job and my point was that the majority of our pollies don't have the skills to do their jobs.
It's good to see some high quality debate on this piece ;-).
I think the problem for Labour is that Andrew Little is the next leader, but he hasn't been elected yet. The other problem is that any _other_ potential leaders would be foolish to challenge before the upcoming election because it would tarnish their reputation to take a large hammering.
Rhys, thats exactly my point. When did leadership become just about reputation. A good leader should do whatever it takes whenever it is required regardless of the personal cost. My point is that there is no one willing to stand up for the good of the party and the country in the face of potential personal loss. Ipso facto there doesnt seem to be any good leadership potential in the front bench lot.
Iain... u said.. "Wally, lets look at the area of interest rate inflation targeting since 1990 supposed to increase or decrease the demand for debt based money supply by targeting what is a quantity of money issue with a cost of money solution of raising or lowering the Official Cash Rate (OCR) based on the rise and fall of the price of a number of goods known as the Consumer Price Index (CPI)."
U have said a mouthful there... It is not that polititians should undersatnd this...BUT that Economists should understand this.
The vast majority of Modern economists ( most of those in Treasury, RBNZ, and Banking system) don't agree with what u say. They largely believe that quantity of money is irrelevent. They put quanity of money issues into the "monetarist" scrap heap.
There is no way that politicians will get there heads' around these things , until there is a fundamental shift in the beliefs of economists.
I find it amazing that we place so much power and reliance on economics... when it is a field of study with such incredicble differences in views and theories. It becomes an easy field of study for special interest groups to hijack and twist to suit their own ends.
The start for me was to understand Money and Monetary systems... I have come to a different undersatnding than u... There are a lot of half truths and misinformation out there.... It is not easy to get a philosophical understanding of this.
I kind of hope that some day the Maori party might seek the knowledge of the likes of Michael Hudson.. National and labour are dineasours.... and if will take a severe change in economic weather for them to change their ways.... Thou with guys like Selwyn, who has a voice that gets heard, maybe there is hope..??
cheers Roelof
Well said Selwyn. There needs to be a strong opposition.
Thought, how about you stand, maybe Epsom say, as an independent, or XY Party, or whatever?
Cheers, Les.
Goff IS serving his party.. as a caretaker leader of the opposition...he'd know as well as the rest of his caucus that no-one else wants or could do his job as caretaker....so i would think he feels that just holding it together until they can reshuffle after the election is all he actually wants to achieve....after the election, he'll just peacefully step down and retire from politics all together.
remember ...you heard it here first!
Kunst that’s the issue here. Phil is a lovely man (he really is) and I really like him (im sure thats no longer recipricated). He has so many positive attributes. However in my career I have liked and respected many middle managers but very very were suitable to be the CEO. It’s not a reflection on them as person any more than it’s a reflection of the average Singaporean that they are not suitable for International Rugby, There is a lot of DNA issues that come into play.
Many people confuse competency and managerial skill with leadership and they are just not the same thing. Labour has some great people, some great policies (brewing) and some great issues to debate with National but sadly for them Phil just can’t get any cut through with the public.
The media has pushed us all into presidential style politics and that basis Phil’s weaknesses are exposed and no one hears the policies, good or bad. He is still a great guy, with good political skills but just not a leader for this time in New Zealands history. Just my opinion and was expressed that way.
Colin Riden is on the money. We went, unforgivably, from a right wing leader, Clark,
directly to an even more right wing, Goff, without any input from the rank and file.
This is a watershed moment for the movement. We need to re acess and rethink where we go from here.
Think the hitherto unthinkable. The Cosgraves and the Cunliffes, et al are YESTERDAY MEN.
We need to renew and rebuild the party from the bottom up.
Throw out the bathwater, even if that means a few babies also.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.