Hamish McCracken - Labour's candidate for apostrophe abuse

Hamish McCracken has Labour's number 50 spot, he is also the candidate for Northcote.

Now for Hamish to get elected, Labour has to do a bit better than in 2005, which is a bit optimistic, but not out of the question. He has a profile, photo and a website.

That's when the learning begins. Hamishs’, Hamishs, Hamish’s’s, I mean Hamish’s profile lets Labour down with a fine example of educational failure “I want a society that values it’s people and demonstrates this through first class public health and education.” Well Hamish you need that education to have a promiscuous apostrophe inserting itself where it isn’t wanted.

You see Hamish has no idea how to use apostrophes, which of course makes him qualified to be a university lecturer despite saying on his website “Education policy for me remains the backbone of all else.”

I found where he stole the apostrophe from: “Tomorrows Choice”. Grrr, first class education he has and he’s still failing reasonable literacy standards! Click the annoying policy link and you’ll also find “Workers rights” which doesn’t link to anything at all, like most of the policies where appear non-existent. He also has “many NZer’s lives”, “many of Labours policies”. More illiteracy with “New Zealand has a special role in the pacific” the world’s biggest ocean not deserving of a capital. “one of the worlds first sustainable economies” arrgh when will it end!

How damned hard is it to get your material proof read, or are all those around you a bunch of leftwing unionist grunts?

Well don't worry, Hamish doesn't just lack in literacy.

“I am proud also that in championing sustainability Labour is extending the logic of egalitarianism, not just across society today but down through the generations to come. I want to be part of a government that will lead the world on this issue.” The “logic of egalitarianism”? What is that? It is “logical” that everyone be the same? Yes the Khmer Rouge thought so. “Lead the world on this issue”? Go on Hamish, raise the red flag to egalitarianism, you need it given your poor literacy.

The profile on the Labour website gets the link to his website wrong, but I worked it out. His website says “Hamish also has a passion for Economic Policy. He lectures at the Auckland University of Technology Business School.” Yes, spot the rot in education when the lecturers stand for Parliament. He has been a unionist too (Labour is SO diverse). He channels Tony Blair with “Labour has been tough on crime but more importantly we have been tough on the causes of crime.” Yawn.

He thinks taking money from families to give money to, families is an “investment” “Working for Families package – benefiting 370,000 families and worth $1.1 billion per annum. This is a logical step in encouraging people from welfare into work and an investment in New Zealand families” Yawn. He wants taxpayers to be forced to pay for – Tai Chi! “In times of record house prices” obviously in touch isn’t he?

“Labour supports greater democratisation of the United Nations and strengthened powers for the General Assembly. The current veto power of the five permanent members of the Security Council should be abolished.” Oh really? What should the General Assembly be doing? More resolutions against Israel, but none against Zimbabwe, Iran and North Korea? Nice to see another cultural relativist in Labour. Nice to see such enthusiasm for an organisation that treats Libya, Cuba and China on a par with Europe and New Zealand on human rights.

“In Michael Cullen we have a finance Minister who has given significant assistance to kiwi families but who also has carefully shepherded our financial resources” Whose financial resources? Oh that’s right, everyone elses. Oh Hamish, your literacy deprived ravings are interesting, but that’s about it.

Carefully shepherded!

Surely though this has to be the best disclaimer:
“The Labour party has a rigorous policy process whereby we debate ideas and establish the eventual party manifesto. It is the party manifesto that represents the official party policy. While unsurprisingly as a participant in this process I support the manifesto, on this site I have endeavoured to give my own personal views and thoughts so you will know where I stand on issues. In the majority of cases these will be in line with party policy, if however you want official Labour party policy please visit http://www.labour.org.nz”

So it could all be his views, just to protect Labour.

Now Northcote is fairly marginal. National’s Jonathan Coleman took it off Labour’s Ann Hartley by 2383 votes last time, and he should remain fairly comfortably ahead, but it is clearly a seat to watch. National got 43% of the party vote in 2005 against Labour’s 39.1%, so it is a battleground seat for the party vote in particular. Hamish lets Labour down, as a lecturer who can’t use apostrophes or capitalisation where relevant, as a unionist who thinks Michael Cullen “carefully shepherded our financial resources”, this should give his opponents plenty of fuel to fight him over. Thankfully, Hamish has a low chance of getting elected.

3 more Labour candidates - 1 without profile

To continue my series, I thought I'd countdown from numbers 53 to 51 on the Labour Party list.

Chris Yoo – list only- number 53: No profile, no photo, no website, no interest, no chance. Even he doesn’t think Labour will get far over 40% of the vote. This you see, is where you wonder how ambitious Labour is being? If it seriously thinks it is getting this far, why is this candidate without any profile at all?

Errol Mason – Te Tai Hauauru – number 52: Profile and photo. Errol has a long familial link to Labour, and says “It is important for Maori to have a united voice in Government. This Labour Government has delivered great opportunities. More Maori in employment, working for families’ package and affordable health care to name but a few.” Setting aside him wanting to sit in one of the racist seats, his profile is nothing special, but not mindlessly awful either. He has a considerable battle on his hands though. He is up against Tariana Turia who gained 63% of the electorate vote last time, against himself on 33.5%. Party vote in the seat remains mainly Labour with 53.1%, and the Maori Party second on 31.7%. He wont win the electorate, but I kind of wish he would. Turia after all is far away with the fairies.

Erin Ebbor-Gillespie – Wigram – number 51: Profile and photo. “I was motivated to join the Labour party in the late 1990s. I remember the “Mother of All Budgets,” state asset sales and restructuring. It was a dark time in our social history.” Took her a while, since the “Mother of All Budgets” was 1991, asset sales started under a government that included Helen Clark and Michael Cullen, and “restructuring” has happened on a grand scale under this Labour government (look at transport). Silly bint doesn’t understand history or economics, puts her in good stead to run against Jim Anderton though! She’s a family lawyer, which begs the question why she wants to control people’s lives? She concludes “If the self determination of the people is strong, the well being of the people is assured”. Yes Erin, but Labour takes much of the proceeds of people’s “self-determination” and spends it how it sees fit. She’s probably good at her job, but not much sense beyond her own experience.

As long as Jim wants to hang on, she has no chance in Wigram, where Labour comes third behind National in the electorate vote with 19.1%, (Anderton got 47.6%, National 22.2%). For party vote it is different, Labour led in 2005 with 48% of the party vote, so that’ll be what she is chasing. Fortunately it isn’t likely to be enough to get her in.

Less local government

It's only a start for me, but a good one. Stephen Greenhalgh in the Sunday Telegraph reports how he as leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council has:
- Cut council spending by 4%;
- Cut council tax by 3% each year, the past three years;
- Cut council employees by 18%;
- Cut council debt by £20 million;
- Introduced round the clock beat policing resulting in less reported crime;
- Increased satisfaction by residents in council provided activities by 11%.

It was done and continues to be done by seeking "lower taxes, less waste and better services" according to him. Frankly in a UK devoid of interest in dismantling nanny state it IS a great leap forward. Maybe this Conservative Party led council can show some others what that party ought to be about?

National Maori Affairs policy - me too again?

National's Maori Affairs policy (pdf) is no revolution, it talks of the Treaty of Waitangi being the founding document of New Zealand. It talks of continuing to support (read - use your taxes to spend money on) Maori broadcasting, Kohanga Reo and the like which, if you believe in state education, healthcare and broadcasting, can hardly be argued against (you see I'd argue against the lot). However, what is most disconcerting is the euphemism attached to what is the appalling violence, abuse and intergenerational criminal underachievement of the underclass of predominantly Maori families, failing again and again, and worst of all breeding children in a climate of fear, abuse and neglect.

National says "Despite recent achievements, there remain a number of Māori whose ability to participate in the economy and New Zealand society has not enabled them to realise their aspirations". That's telling it like it is - you could say that about everyone of course. My aspiration to be a concert organist isn't matched by my ability.

Oh and if you thought Te Puni Kokiri was a large bureaucracy that employed far too many people with mediocre qualifications and a lack of understanding of economics and hard headed public policy analysis, don't worry National will make it worse!

"TPK has a wide knowledge and understanding of Māori communities, and a regional presence which places it in a strong position to influence and monitor policy. We believe that, in the key areas of health, education, and housing, TPK can help achieve National’s objectives for a growing economy, and Māori aspirations for economic independence and self reliance."

How, by spending more taxpayers' money?

Now I didn't expect anything magic, and there is hope with the statement:

"The National Party believes it shares many values with Māori:
• The recognition of property rights and personal responsibility.
• Economic independence and choice rather than dependency on the state.
• Less state involvement in Māori lives and a preference for community provision of government services.
• The nurturing of strong families, whänau, and communities.
• Engagement in wealth creation, business, and enterprise."

However the policy does little to achieve that, the Nats wont allow education funding to follow the child, they don't allow health funding to follow individual choice, and the notion of reducing state spending seems invisible. Is it, like the Treaty Settlement policy, about keeping the Maori Party happy? Certainly Dr Pita Sharples - friend of convicted Cuban government sponsored murderers - thinks so.

National Treaty Settlement policy - support the Waitangi Tribunal

National's Treaty Settlement policy is back to the past, before 2005 that is, with a promise to conclude settlements by 2014. If this was full and final then that might be a cause to celebrate, but it is just an aim.

It seeks to "Appoint independent settlement facilitators to chair negotiations, keep the process moving forward, and ensure both parties act in good faith." a small step forward, although you may wonder who represents taxpayers in all of this.

However what's most disconcerting is its faith in the Waitangi Tribunal. The Waitangi Tribunal is little better than a kangaroo court, but it wants to provide "more support" to it.

This is a nonsense, as former Waitangi Tribunal member - ex. Labour Cabinet Minister Dr. Michael Bassett might testify:

"the industry doesn’t want the Tribunal process ever to end. After 23 years, no decision has yet been made to close off new historical claims. The major parties dither. Labour wants the party vote of Maori; National isn’t sure they mightn’t need the Maori Party’s support after the coming election. Both major political parties know that what is happening is wrong, and that ordinary Maori in whose name the claims are made, aren’t getting a cracker out of the money being spent on lawyers, researchers and Tribunal staff."

Previously he wrote "Existing claims must be settled as quickly as possible. Stopping fresh historical claims means that full and final settlements already made have a chance of working longer term. The Waitangi process was never intended as a permanent career for lawyers and under-employed “researchers”. It was to assist ordinary Maori whose interests, sadly, are too often over-looked."

National could do worse than listen to a man intimately involved in this process for years, but no - it wants power - it wants to broker a deal with the Maori Party to break Labour's stranglehold on the Maori vote - it will do that by continuing to feed the new Maori state funded aristocracy. National may not do a deal with NZ First (largely because it expects the party to disappear), but it will do one with the Maori Party.

I'll leave the final verdict on that to Dr Bassett:

"When politicians settled on land grievances as the cause of Maori problems they made a mistake. It would have made better sense to examine welfare and the huge damage it has done to Maori society. The Waitangi Tribunal should be scaled down. The industry is of no use to 99% of the people it’s meant to serve. "

Sadly the Maori Party seems unlikely to agree.