Labour Cabinet – Jack-in-a-box or National’s Pandora’s box?
Talking about hitting the ground running! The newly promoted Labour Health Spokeswoman Annette King took a shot at Health Minister Tony Ryall within in minutes of being given her new portfolio. She claimed that he had created a false sense of calm around the area and that beneath it lurked a “climate of fear” which dissuaded people from speaking out. King is only one of many that were repositioned during Labour’s portfolio shuffle on Monday. Coming out of the Labour caucus victorious again the other David (Cunliffe), David Shearer is finally gearing up for battle.
Shearer’s new army is, as he described, made up of “new talent and experienced hands,” having promoted three of the four first term MPs into the opposition, shadow cabinet – Megan Woods, David Clark, and Andrew Little. Clark got the best deal being moved to number 12 with economic development which puts him squarely against one of the heavyweights of the National cabinet, Steven Joyce. Good old faithful, Phil Goff, has been given the opportunity to shine with his portfolio expanding from just Foreign Affairs and Trade to include Defence, and State Services. This move and Annette King’s, are the two best moves Shearer has made. I have always believed that Goff did his best work for the party in his tenure as the Minster of Trade (1999 – 2005), and was rather disgruntled when he was switched out of the position. King, a former Health Minister and Deputy Leader under Goff, is a firework who has already shown Shearer made the right decision by coming out swinging!
Another big gun, Grant Robertson, Labour’s deputy leader, was also shifted around and given the employment portfolio. By making this move Shearer has shown the public that he believes it is arguably the most important policy area at this time – assigning it to his right-hand man. With redundancies still being announced, Telecom and Mainzeal as examples, jobs are up front and centre as a hot election topic.
Among others that have moved up are Phil Twyford, from 11th to 8th having been given the housing portfolio. Sue Moroney is now back in the shadow cabinet with ACC and early childhood education and Chris Hipkins has moved up to 10th with Education. The latter has two options, having an easy first few months as he just basks in the light while Hekia Parata, Education Minister, fumbles around trying to mop up the Novopay mess, or to follow Annette King’s lead and come out swinging to show the people what Labour can offer in the midst of the debacle.
The not so sweet side of politics however hit a few Labour members hard as they were moved out of their high ranking positions. Lianne Dalziel has slid from 14th all the way out of the Cabinet. The same story goes for Trevor Mallard, though he claims to be pleased with the move as he has his sights set on Speaker post-2014. The other David, has been let back into the finance team though he is still unranked. Shane Jones is really the one with the story here as he has a reserved shadow cabinet seat while he waits for the Auditor General’s report on his decision to grant citizenship to a Chinese billionaire. It is tipped that he will be given the Maori Affairs portfolio pitting him against Maori Party Co-Leader and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples. Dr. Sharples has not had an easy time with his leadership being challenged for the next election leading him to fight a battle on two sides, with his co-leader, as well as potentially Jones.
The Opposition really has to achieve two things. One, to rattle the present government through, as the NZ Herald puts it, trenchant and telling criticism. The secondly, and arguably most importantly, to show how they could do it better. To present a united front with convincing policies slowly leading the voters to lose confidence in the current government.
While no cabinet is perfect, Shearer’s get rather close. With trusted hard hitters, young eager faces, and a mix of races and sexes, the new Labour shadow cabinet could very well be National’s nightmare. All I am hoping for is the Shearer has taken some media lessons, and presents a charismatic, strong persona – one that could lead such a cabinet, and a country.
Talking about hitting the ground running! The newly promoted Labour Health Spokeswoman Annette King took a shot at Health Minister Tony Ryall within in minutes of being given her new portfolio. She claimed that he had created a false sense of calm around the area and that beneath it lurked a...
Talking about hitting the ground running! The newly promoted Labour Health Spokeswoman Annette King took a shot at Health Minister Tony Ryall within in minutes of being given her new portfolio. She claimed that he had created a false sense of calm around the area and that beneath it lurked a “climate of fear” which dissuaded people from speaking out. King is only one of many that were repositioned during Labour’s portfolio shuffle on Monday. Coming out of the Labour caucus victorious again the other David (Cunliffe), David Shearer is finally gearing up for battle.
Shearer’s new army is, as he described, made up of “new talent and experienced hands,” having promoted three of the four first term MPs into the opposition, shadow cabinet – Megan Woods, David Clark, and Andrew Little. Clark got the best deal being moved to number 12 with economic development which puts him squarely against one of the heavyweights of the National cabinet, Steven Joyce. Good old faithful, Phil Goff, has been given the opportunity to shine with his portfolio expanding from just Foreign Affairs and Trade to include Defence, and State Services. This move and Annette King’s, are the two best moves Shearer has made. I have always believed that Goff did his best work for the party in his tenure as the Minster of Trade (1999 – 2005), and was rather disgruntled when he was switched out of the position. King, a former Health Minister and Deputy Leader under Goff, is a firework who has already shown Shearer made the right decision by coming out swinging!
Another big gun, Grant Robertson, Labour’s deputy leader, was also shifted around and given the employment portfolio. By making this move Shearer has shown the public that he believes it is arguably the most important policy area at this time – assigning it to his right-hand man. With redundancies still being announced, Telecom and Mainzeal as examples, jobs are up front and centre as a hot election topic.
Among others that have moved up are Phil Twyford, from 11th to 8th having been given the housing portfolio. Sue Moroney is now back in the shadow cabinet with ACC and early childhood education and Chris Hipkins has moved up to 10th with Education. The latter has two options, having an easy first few months as he just basks in the light while Hekia Parata, Education Minister, fumbles around trying to mop up the Novopay mess, or to follow Annette King’s lead and come out swinging to show the people what Labour can offer in the midst of the debacle.
The not so sweet side of politics however hit a few Labour members hard as they were moved out of their high ranking positions. Lianne Dalziel has slid from 14th all the way out of the Cabinet. The same story goes for Trevor Mallard, though he claims to be pleased with the move as he has his sights set on Speaker post-2014. The other David, has been let back into the finance team though he is still unranked. Shane Jones is really the one with the story here as he has a reserved shadow cabinet seat while he waits for the Auditor General’s report on his decision to grant citizenship to a Chinese billionaire. It is tipped that he will be given the Maori Affairs portfolio pitting him against Maori Party Co-Leader and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples. Dr. Sharples has not had an easy time with his leadership being challenged for the next election leading him to fight a battle on two sides, with his co-leader, as well as potentially Jones.
The Opposition really has to achieve two things. One, to rattle the present government through, as the NZ Herald puts it, trenchant and telling criticism. The secondly, and arguably most importantly, to show how they could do it better. To present a united front with convincing policies slowly leading the voters to lose confidence in the current government.
While no cabinet is perfect, Shearer’s get rather close. With trusted hard hitters, young eager faces, and a mix of races and sexes, the new Labour shadow cabinet could very well be National’s nightmare. All I am hoping for is the Shearer has taken some media lessons, and presents a charismatic, strong persona – one that could lead such a cabinet, and a country.
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