Labour Party

Note to Kate Wilkinson and David Carter from Ruth Dyson, Labour Conservation spokesperson: There are only 55 Maui's dolphins left, in total, on the planet.

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Labour acknowledges the police decision not to lay charges against RadioLive for the Prime Minister’s pre-election radio stunt but we continue to agree with the Electoral Commission that the programme broke electoral law, says Labour’s Deputy Leader Grant Robertson.

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David Shearer Grey Power, North Shore 24 February 2012 When I stood for the Labour leadership, I promised change and renewal, and I stand by that.

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Labour is backing calls by Auckland’s Marceau family for a review of the bail system.

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Housing New Zealand is the latest victim of National’s love affair with call centres, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Annette King.

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Local Government Minister Nick Smith has been working up a case over the past few weeks to undermine local government in New Zealand, but a leaked document obtained by Labour shows his campaign is based on bodgie figures, says Labour’s Local Government spokesperson Annette King.

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The National Government appears to have conducted a secret and possibly illegal sale of a Crown asset by allowing Mediaworks to reduce the local content on the KiwiFM frequencies and move to become commercial, says Labour’s broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran.

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John Key needs to clarify why official correspondence is bypassing ministers’ work email accounts and going to private email addresses, which lack both the security and accountability required for government business, says Labour’s State Services spokesperson Chris Hipkins.

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Addressing fundamental drivers of crime --- including alcohol abuse --- in a comprehensive and non-partisan way would do much more in the long run to fix the justice system than tinkering with the operation of courts, says Labour's Justice spokesperson Charles Chauvel.

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Waikato DHB has today described what is probably happening in all DHBs right now as they try to fit new government directives into their baseline funding, says Labour’s Health spokesperson Maryan Street.

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Local Government Minister Nick Smith should spend less time obsessing about his own legacy, and more time on ensuring older New Zealanders get the assistance they need now to pay their rates, says Labour's spokesperson for Local Government Annette King.

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The Government’s mishandling of Defence Force restructuring has resulted in troop morale hitting an all-time low, Labour’s Defence Spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway says According to the latest NZDF On-going Attitude Survey, morale is worse now than at any time since the survey began eight years ago.

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WELLINGTON — The Government must take its share of responsibility for figures released today that show unemployment has hit a sixteen year high in the Wellington Region, says Labour Deputy Leader and Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson.

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Labour’s Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford says Auckland Council is dreaming if it thinks it can squeeze a 12 per cent return out of the Ports of Auckland.

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New ICT Minister Amy Adams’ disregard of pleas to introduce a shared regulatory environment across the telco and broadcasting sectors is a slap in the face for Kiwi consumers, says Labour’s ICT and Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran.

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Bartering for economic gains and playing favourites with corporations is not the role of responsible government says Labour’s Internal Affairs spokesperson Ruth Dyson.

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Actor Stephen Fry should be congratulated for putting the cat among the pigeons at the same time this country’s leading stakeholders are meeting to discuss the future of ‘high speed’ broadband in New Zealand, Labour’s Communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran says.

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WAIKATO — Confirmation that Waikato DHB will have to cut $25m from next year’s budget is further evidence that Government under-funding of the health sector is set to have an impact across the country, says Labour’s Health spokesperson Maryan Street.

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Slashing budgets without looking at the impact it has on frontline services for Kiwis isn’t smart and restructuring just for the sake of it can create more cost and inefficiency, says Labour’s State Services spokesperson Chris Hipkins.

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John Key today tried to downplay his role and the role of his office in the Radio Live show "The PM’s Hour" despite emails that show his office decided who would be on the programme, re-wrote the brief for the show and provided the language seeking an opinion from the Electoral Commission on the legality of the show, Labour’s Deputy Leader Grant Robertson says.

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Confirmation by Justice Minister Judith Collins that the same legal standard should apply to on-the-job assaults against all emergency first responders, not just a select few, will ease the concerns of many working on the front line, Labour’s Justice spokesperson Charles Chauvel says.

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News that New Zealand’s first deaf MP has been told that she will have to pay for technology that will allow her to fully participate in Parliament is totally unacceptable, Labour’s Disability spokesperson Clare Curran says.

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Ross Robertson, Labour MP for Manukau East and Assistant Speaker, will attend the Justice for All (10 Year Review of the ICC) Conference in Sydney this week, in his role as President of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA).

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A robust debate on the funding of Auckland’s transport infrastructure is long overdue, but must not be undermined by petty nitpicking, says Labour’s Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford.

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CHRISTCHURCH — Latest zoning decisions announced by the Government leave families in Southshore in limbo again, says Labour’s Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Lianne Dalziel.

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CHRISTCHURCH — The awkward ‘make-up, break-up’ relationship between the Government and the Christchurch City Council is putting unnecessary stress on Cantabrians, says Labour’s Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Lianne Dalziel.

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Any perception of government interference in broadcasting is an abhorrence, says Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran.

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The death today of Wellington businessman, philanthropist and campaigner Lloyd Morrison is a significant loss to the city and New Zealand at large, says Labour’s Deputy Leader and Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson.

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John Key should be held accountable for his decision to host an hour long pre-election radio show against advice from officials who warned extreme care should be taken, says Labour’s Deputy Leader Grant Robertson.

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National is continuing to distance itself from a party official’s involvement in programmes with political implications, despite admitting that the Broadcasting Minister is in fact accountable for the inappropriate behaviour of NZ on Air board members, Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran says.

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The involvement of a National Party official, closely linked to the Prime Minister, in making decisions about a taxpayer-funded documentary on Whanau Ora - a controversial government initiative - demonstrates high level political cronyism and interference, Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran says.

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In a feeble attempt to bolster National’s half-baked efforts to recover costs over the grounding of the Rena, Nick Smith has clearly breached the Resource Management Act, says Labour Deputy Leader and Environment spokesperson Grant Robertson.

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Billions of dollars allocated to state highways is now confirmed as ‘poor quality spending’, says Labour’s Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford.

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The unlawful targeting of aircraft by reckless laser users is endangering the safety of both pilots and travellers, says Labour’s Transport Safety spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway.

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The Treasury has caught the Government out once again with its briefing paper revealing that National is considering plans to increase class sizes, says Labour’s Associate Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins.

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The role of NZ on Air is back in the spotlight with intense public scrutiny expected over the appointment of its new chair, and questions about its ability to perform its statutory functions being raised, says Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran.

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The annual Lantern Festival should be a time when the Asian community rejoices, yet this year’s celebration looks set to be anything but with the spotlight on the rising numbers of unemployed, says Labour List MP Raymond Huo.

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The Government’s ‘roads of national significance’ are tipped to become increasingly insignificant as high oil prices take their toll on road use, Labour’s Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

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Extraordinary secrecy surrounds decisions new Information Technology Minister Amy Adams faces in the next six months, calling into question her judgement and her Government’s arrogance and lack of transparency, says Labour’s ICT spokesperson Clare Curran.

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The Treasury’s briefing paper underlines the poverty of National’s ‘recipe’ for economic recovery in New Zealand, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

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A plan by John Key to entice corporate and foreign buyers into snapping up shares in our power companies and Air New Zealand has been exposed in an accidentally-released Treasury document, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

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National is already caving into the interests of potential foreign buyers of our power companies by removing Treaty of Waitangi and social responsibility clauses from legislation designed to protect Kiwis’ interests, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

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It’s time for families in Mana to get waterwise and to utilise the help that is being offered in our community to ensure we are all safe in the water, Kris Faafoi MP for Mana said today.

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The Police Minister’s preoccupation with cost cutting will threaten front line Police officers’ ability to prevent and investigate crime Labour’s Police spokesperson Kris Faafoi said today.

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Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe can take immense pride in his seven years running the airline, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

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A claim by Prime Minister John Key and Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson --- that National had to allow the sale of the Crafar farms to Chinese interests because of the NZ/China free trade agreement which Labour had negotiated --- is plainly wrong, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

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Kiwi consumers will pay the price for National’s ill-conceived plan to sell off our power companies, says Labour Energy spokesperson Moana Mackey.

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The ‘LanzaTech model’ is the key to building a more competitive and productive economy while keeping our best brains and assets in New Zealand hands, says Labour’s spokesperson for Land Information, Raymond Huo.

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The labelling of any Kiwi who opposes the sale of productive New Zealand assets to foreigners as anti-Chinese or ‘bordering more on racism’ is unjustified and wrong, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

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Gutless, unpatriotic and unproductive is how Labour’s Primary Industry spokesperson Damien O’Connor is describing the decision to sell the Crafar farms to foreigners instead of New Zealanders.

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DUNEDIN — The future viability of Dunedin’s Rotary Park School is increasingly in doubt as more parents enrol their children in other schools, Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran says.

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The Government’s decision to allow the Crafar Farms to fall into foreign hands opens the way for more New Zealanders to become tenants in their own land, Labour Leader David Shearer says.

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Controversial plans to extend Auckland’s container port 250m into the Waitemata harbour should not proceed in the absence of a Government strategy on the future of the country’s ports, says Labour spokesperson for Transport and Auckland Issues, Phil Twyford.

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The National Government’s low expectations for the New Zealand economy, including flogging off precious state assets at below valuation, won’t help recovery, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

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The Government’s Rena recovery plan leaves the unanswered question of whether the ship’s owners will be held to account or whether New Zealand taxpayers will be footing the bill, says Labour’s Environment spokesperson Grant Robertson.

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John Key’s state-of-the-nation speech today is about managing economic decline, not economic recovery, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

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An investigation into the implications of fracking in New Zealand should be a priority when Parliament resumes, says Labour’s Environment spokesperson Grant Robertson.

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Vulnerable Kiwi children caught up in custody disputes will be the real losers from National's latest round of legal aid cuts, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General Charles Chauvel says.

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The diagnosis is right but the cure would kill us – that is the reaction of Labour’s Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford to the just-released annual Demographia survey on housing affordability.

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Changing gambling laws in return for casino giant Sky City funding a national convention centre in Auckland is not the way the Government should be doing business, says Labour’s Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford.

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Two National Party office holders are implicated in the NZ on Air controversy, suggesting political interference is ‘alive and sick’ at the country’s public broadcasting funding agency, says Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran.

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Strategic assets like the Ports of Auckland should not be privatised, Labour Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

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Ross Robertson, Labour MP for Manukau East and Assistant Speaker, has been elected as the President of Parliamentarians for Global Action.

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The sale of a cutting edge, taxpayer-owned research company to an overseas buyer means that Canada, not New Zealand, will reap the benefits of Sirtrack Limited’s innovation and scientific expertise in the future, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

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Skills shortages in agricultural science --- where New Zealand should lead internationally in growing talent --- shows National still failing to recognise the need to develop a skills-based economy, says Labour’s Deputy Leader and Tertiary Education, Skills and Training spokesperson Grant Robertson.

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Revelations that oil exploration company TAG Oil plans to aggressively pursue mining on New Zealand’s East Coast and turn it into the "Texas of the South" shows that National’s ‘drill it, mine it, sell it' approach to economic development is well underway, says Labour's Energy spokesperson and East Coast-based MP Moana Mackey.

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Plummeting morale in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and disillusionment with its leadership and direction will damage New Zealand’s interests, says Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesman Phil Goff.

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New Zealanders are set to become tenants in their own land under the Government’s policies despite John Key saying two years ago he didn’t want it to happen, says Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Cunliffe.

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The Productivity Commission’s draft report on international freight transport is a gift from former cabinet minister Rodney Hide who established the commission, and would have made him proud, says Labour’s Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford.

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The Kiwi dream of home ownership, affordable housing and security in older years can be and must be kept alive, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Annette King.

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The National Government is beginning 2012 the same way it finished its first three years in office ---- with no real idea about how to create jobs and grow the New Zealand economy, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

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Labour is seeking clarification from the National Government over the implications of its wide reaching food safety bill, Labour Primary Industries spokesman Damien O’Connor says.

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Plaudits being heaped on Air New Zealand by the Prime Minister suggest he is either suffering from sunstroke or that his tongue is stuck firmly in cheek, Labour MP Chris Hipkins says.

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Free-to-air broadcasting in New Zealand has been dealt another blow with the shock announcement that Auckland-based Stratos Television is to close, Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran says.

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Labour leader David Shearer has conveyed his deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the 11 people who lost their lives in this morning’s tragic ballooning accident.

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The fiscal responsibility of the last Labour government has allowed New Zealand to support countries afflicted by economic crisis, rather than being forced to ask cap in hand for assistance itself, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.

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CHRISTCHURCH — Labour’s Earthquake Recovery spokesperson and Christchurch East MP, Lianne Dalziel, says today’s swarm of earthquakes were a terrible way to end a terrible year.

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CHRISTCHURCH — Labour joins with the rest of New Zealand in sending heartfelt thoughts to the people of Christchurch who, at a time when they should be relaxing with family and friends, are once again having to deal with the effects of more earthquakes, Labour leader David Shearer says.

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Today’s announcement that Wellington’s Miramar South and Strathmore Community schools are to be merged will end months of speculation and uncertainty for both staff and families, Rongotai MP Annette King says.

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A record number of New Zealanders are fleeing the country under John Key’s watch despite his bold promise when elected that he’d stop the exodus and close the income gap, says Labour MP Darien Fenton.

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Mr Speaker, I acknowledge you, and congratulate you, on your return to the role of Speaker.

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A $100 million ratepayer bailout of NZTA raises serious questions about the Government’s budget and planning abilities, Labour’s Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

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Labour’s Racing spokesperson Ross Robertson is calling on the thoroughbred racing industry to set aside internal differences and work to resolve its pay increase dispute.

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David Shearer today announced Labour’s new line-up that promotes new faces and focuses on Labour's priorities for a clean, green and innovative New Zealand that supports strong families and communities.

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The Department of Labour’s failure to appoint a senior inspector to the new High Hazards Unit is a sign that underground mine safety is still plagued by a culture of risk, West Coast Tasman MP Damien O’Connor, says.

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The revelation that the Psa crisis may have been caused by allowing imports of kiwifruit pollen sends another clear message that our Biosecurity system is substandard, says Labour’s Biosecurity spokesperson Damien OConnor.

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Like more than 80 per cent of Kiwis, Labour is prepared to fight tooth and nail to stop National’s state asset fire sale, Labour’s spokesperson for SOEs, Clayton Cosgrove, says.

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Bill English’s claim that the success of the Government will be measured by the number of Kiwis who buy shares in our state-owned assets is disingenuous at best, Labour’s West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O’Connor says.

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A sexual abuse helpline in Auckland could be forced to close next month despite Social Development Minister Paula Bennett being warned that funding was exhausted, says Labour’s spokesperson for Victims Rights Carmel Sepuloni.

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“We wish to offer our wholehearted congratulations and support to Labour’s new Leader David Shearer and to his Deputy, Grant Robertson,” New Lynn MP David Cunliffe and Hauraki Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta said today.

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David Shearer says his election as Labour’s new leader today signals a fresh start for the Party and the beginning of the journey from Opposition back to Government in 2014.

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After each election Stephen Levine, Professor of Political Science at Victoria University, invites many of the main political players and commentators to contribute to a book about the campaign.

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John’s Key’s sudden about-face on the need for an official poverty measure is being driven purely by cynical politics as he cobbles together a deal with the same parties who have ignored the issue for the past three years, says Labour’s Social Development Spokesperson Annette King.

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John Banks’ assertion that he will hand-pick ‘like-minded’ people to implement the controversial charter schools trial is proof the proposal is about political ideology, not educational achievement says Labour's Education Spokesperson, Sue Moroney.

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The inevitable trumpeting of huge financial savings that has accompanied news of further public service job cuts deserves scrutiny, Labour’s State Services spokesperson Ruth Dyson says.

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Labour’s Shadow Attorney-General David Parker says he is disappointed that National will not move to curb Serious Fraud Office powers that have been described as ‘draconian’ by one media organisation.

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United Future’s first fishing expedition as a coalition partner has all the hallmarks of a Monty Python sketch, Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson, Clare Curran says.

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The effectiveness of sea lion exclusion devices (SLEDs), which are designed to keep sea lions out of trawling nets in peak squid fishing season, are in the spotlight following the government’s proposal not to set a ‘kill quota’ for this year’s squid fishery, says Labour’s Conservation spokesperson Ruth Dyson.

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John Key has used a bogus agreement with ACT to bring in education policies promoting bulk funding and privatisation that National were working on before the election, but did not tell voters about, Labour’s Education spokesperson Sue Moroney says.

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