Summary of Phil Goff on The Nation
- Will increase income tax
- Will not decrease GST
- Happy to work with Winston again
Wow, that’s a winning compeition.
What I found interesting was that Goff offered up that he was happy to work with Winston again – this was not in response to a question on NZ First.
I wonder if we are going to see Labour start to lend assistance to Winston, hoping that he can get them back into Government.
Goff also told one fib:
BARRY But didn’t Winston Peters embarrass you in government? I mean there were many things that he did behind the scenes as I know that you would have probably gone along with, and one was this Declaration on Indigenous Rights, now as I understand it was Winston that basically said no you’re not going there and the Labour Party swallowed it.
PHIL Not so, that is absolute…
BARRY Well I was told by a very senior member of the Maori caucus.
PHIL Well the very senior member is wrong, and I’ll tell you why it was wrong, was we made that decision long before Winston was a coalition partner of the Labour Party.
Now this is contradicted by Charles Chauvel who blogs:
It’s well-known in Labour circles that I thought we should have acceded to the Declaration when we were in Government. Around the time that the new ALP Government was deciding that Australia should do so, I spent time with Rob McLelland, Australia’s Attorney-General, and Stephen Smith, its Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussing the mechanics of their intended accession, and the statement of reservations that would be made at the time on Australia’s behalf. It seemed to me that we could do something similar in New Zealand, so that accession could take place, in an honest and forthright way, preserving the paths already taken here in an attempt to redress past historical wrongs. The Labour cabinet here received strong official advice to the contrary, and in the end that advice prevailed.
So let us look at the dates here:
- 19 October 2005 – Winston becomes Foreign Minister in Labour-led Government
- 29 June 2006 – DRIP finalised and adopted by UN Human Rights Council
- 13 September 2007 – UN General Assembly passed DRIP
- 3 December 2007 – Rudd Government takes power
- 3 April 2009 – Rudd Governments endorses DRIP
So when Goff says Labour made their decision long before Winston was a coalition partner, he is clearly and absolutely wrong. Chauvel makes it very clear that in late 2007 or early 2008 Labour were still considering the issue.
The only way Goff could be telling the truth is if Labour decided its vote on the declaration two years before the UN General Assembly vote and eight months before it was even finalised!