What you need to know about your Labour and Green Party candidates in the local body elections

John from Island Bay

Citizens, you have or will shortly receive your local body election voting papers and I hope you are going to take the time to vote. Perhaps you are planning to vote for candidates standing under a Labour or Green logo or who are standing as independents but are endorsed by the Labour or Green party. But what does that mean?
What the public are never told is that the Labour Party exacts a high price from candidates who use their trademark.

It will surprise most people to learn that the Labour Party requires that candidates using the Labour logo sign a pledge to support and implement Labour policy irrespective of the views of local residents. Further, all Labour candidates pledge to block vote on issues of Labour policy.

The rewards for this abdication of local loyalty are political career opportunities and campaign assistance – databases, email systems, door knocking volunteers, billboard teams and social media support. One recent bauble was Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry’s appointment to the Labour Government’s Three Waters review taskforce, a body that reported back very recently with, no substantial changes to the policy opposed by the majority of Lower Hutt’s residents.”

Full details of the constraints on local body candidates running under a Labour banner can be found on the Party’s website under Constitution and Rules.

Rule 1.3.1 (a) confirms that Labour’s primary objective in supporting candidates is to ensure their policies are enacted: “to elect competent men and women to… local bodies through free elections for the purpose of giving effect to Party policy and principles.”

Rule 4.2.1 makes it clear that support for Labour’s policies is non-negotiable: “The Policy Platform is binding on… all Labour Party members elected to public office who describe their affiliation as ‘Labour’ or ‘Labour Party’ on the ballot.”

Rule 12.4.1 outlines the pledge that Labour candidate must sign to cement their absolute commitment to the Party: “Having been nominated as a Candidate for… [position being sought] I hereby accept nomination and declare…

(b) I will wholeheartedly support the duly selected candidates of the Party...

(e) I will faithfully observe the Constitution and Policy Platform and Policy of the Party.

(f) If elected, I will vote on all questions in accordance with the decisions of the Caucus of the Parliamentary Labour Caucus or, in the case of Local Body questions, a duly constituted meeting of Party representatives on such body…

(l) I understand that if I fail to comply with this candidate pledge that I could be subject to disciplinary action…”

These rules make it clear that local body candidates elected under the Labour banner are expected to obey Party directives. Any failure to comply, could result in suspension from the party.

Green backed candidates operate under similar constraints.

Here’s an example. When councils were voting on Wellington’s Spatial Plan: “Grant Robertson expressed his ‘expectation’ that its councillors would vote for an ‘ambitious’ plan (code for removing planning controls). They duly toed the party line, demolishing character protections from at least 75% of Wellington’s inner heritage suburbs.

Labour supports candidates as ‘independents’, when that’s seen as an advantage: “In Tawa’s Northern ward, it suited the party for Councillor Jill Day (a Labour Party member) to be ‘Labour endorsed’ (supported by) but not ‘affiliated’ (ie an official representative). That allows a brand-blur for the likes of Labour mayoral candidate Paul Eagle who is campaigning with yellow billboards.

Many of you will be aware that WCC has just voted to drop speed limits on 80% of city streets to 30kph within a few years on the premise of ‘safety’ and to get people out of private cars and also to proceed with the controversial Newtown to city cycleway. Those who voted for this were all from the left block of our councillors (Condie, Day, Fitzsimons, Free, Foon, Pannett, O’Neill, Matthews). This despite an overwhelming number of people who do not want this. In a NewstalkZB interview by Heather du Plessis-Allen about the decision with Councillor Iona Pannett she replied “That is not how we make decisions”. The arrogance is telling but tells me that Green and Labour supported candidates aren’t interested in the views of citizens who elect them but in the doctrine of their party to whom they are accountable. Do we really want people like this holding the reins of decisions that affect all of us who live here? Will cycleway expansion and reduced speed limits drive people away from obtaining services and products in Wellington because it’s just too hard to operate in the city?

So dear citizens, I implore you to think very carefully about who you vote for this election. In particular do you want Labour or Green party doctrine riding roughshod over the majority of what us as citizens may want. Think about those that are truly independent (and not endorsed by a party as Paul Eagle and Tory Whanau are) and hopefully we can attract some new blood who put the interests of the city first and not their party.