The Chauvel valedictory
A rather extraordinary valedictory speech by Charles Chauvel which makes clear how fragmented and divided Labour is.
Before we get to that, also amused by this statement:
Journalists working in much of our undercapitalised, foreign-owned media are under constant professional pressure. This comes from many quarters, including the constant need to sell newspapers and air time, and also the need to compete with instantly available online sources. In the case of the two better-known right wing blogs, those online sources are proxies for the present Government, and much copy is supplied to them directly out of Ministers’ offices at the taxpayer’s expense.
I tweeted in response that having Charles accuse people of planting information with the media is akin to Jim Jones warning people against drinking the kool-aid!
Some on the left always have these conspiracy theories about supplied copy. If only it was true. I recall once I did a comprehensive rebuttal of a Labour press release 60 minutes after it came out with links to all sorts of official sources. A blogger said I must have had the info supplied to me, and I facebooked my browser log for the last hour which showed my Google searches and references.
I am the only person who writes copy for Kiwiblog, unless I indicate it is a guest post.
I blogged at the end of last year links to several dozen blog posts where I criticized or disagreed with the Government.
Anyway enough with Charles’ conspiracy theories and accusations under parliamentary privilege. Let’s look at what he said about Labour:
Secondly, it is unproductive to keep trying to locate and exclude the supposed enemy within.
The enemy within! What a phrase. I suspect that Charles is someone that his colleagues have used that phrase about!
Instead, in order to avoid history repeating, it is time for an honest, open, and overdue assessment of why the 2011 campaign produced Labour’s worst ever electoral result. Those responsible for it should make dignified exits
That is a stunningly provocative statement for a valedictory. The four MPs he must be alluding to are then Leader Phil Goff, then Deputy Annette King, campaign manager Trevor Mallard and campaign strategist/spokesperson Grant Robertson.
You expect a statement like that at The Standard, not in an MPs valedictory speech. No love lost there!
and all the undoubted talent and diversity of the caucus should be included in the shadow Cabinet.
A plea to stop excluding Cunliffe and the Cunliffe faction.
To put it another way, in Gough Whitlam’s immortal words, the party must have both its wings to fly.
Remember that when next a Labour MP tries to tell you the caucus is not divided, and there are no factions!
I can’t recall a previous valedictory speech which so obviously ripped open the factional feuding, and called for four senior MPs to leave Caucus.