Is Barnett being set up as the fall guy?

Richard Harman reports at Politik:

Labour’s Caucus will next week discuss the proposal by the party’s General Secretary, Tim Barnett to deny Working for Families tax credits to people who don’t enrol on the electoral roll.

The proposal was made to Parliament’s Justice Committee’s Review of the Election.

It appears to have caught the Parliamentary wing of the party by surprise and has angered some.

A spokesperson for Leader Andrew Little said the first he heard about it was in the media. …

The submission itself claims that it was “lodged on the authority of the New Zealand Council, the governing body of the Labour Party.”

I may be wrong, but I think it is highly highly likely that the submission would have been circulated to the NZ Council in advance. It certainly would be inappropriate for a submission from a political party not to have been approved or circulated to the rulong body.

I am almost certain Barnett would have had the submission circulated to the NZ Council. The NZ Council includes three MPs – Andrew Little, the caucus secretary and a further caucus rep. So if so, the question should be why didn’t Andrew Little read his NZ Council papers? At a minimum, his staff should be reading these, and highlighting any papers which might be politically sensitive – such as a submission proposing cutting off welfare benefits to those not on the electoral roll.