AE MARIKA! 17 JUNE 2014 If I’m ever down doing constituency work in either Waitakere or on the North Shore on the weekends, I always pop into either the Otara or the Avondale flea markets to get a feel for how the community is rolling because there’s always heaps of Tai Tokerau folks down there! If I’m in Whangarei I’ll catch everyone up at a hui, if I’m in Kaikohe I’ll just cruise the main drag and talk with everyone, and if I’m up in Kaitaia, I’ll hit the local fleamarket. People are always wanting to talk about the issues that mean a lot to them or just wanting to say hello, and it’s one of the best ways of finding out what’s happening. And one of the hottest topics has been MANA and the Internet Party. Now I know there’s some rather mean-spirited folks out there being nasty on the alliance, but I can happily report that scientifically based “flea-market polling” has revealed an intense and positive interest in the alliance that MANA has struck with the Internet Party that has skyrocketed with the announcement of Laila Harre as their party leader. Laila holds degrees in Law and Political Studies, completed an internship in Geneva, and came back to work for the Human Rights Commission, the NZ Minister for Disarmament and then as a trade union lawyer. She entered parliament as an Alliance MP in the late 90’s and served as Minister for Women’s Affairs, Youth Affairs and Statistics and Associate Minister of Labour and Commerce, in the 1999-2002 Labour-Alliance coalition government, during which she led a successful campaign for the introduction of paid parental leave and championed many other labour causes. After 2002 Laila took on senior roles in the trade union movement, eventually working in Suva for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Pacific-wide work priorities, returning in 2012 to take on a role as Issues Director for the Greens, before resigning to take up the appointment as leader of the Internet Party. Broadcaster and political commentator Willie Jackson applauded Ms Harres appointment, saying it was great news. Ive always admired her politics, shes a woman of principle and shell be a great advocate in terms of working-class people” said Jackson. “I think its a very smart and strategic move by both sides.” It really does give them a lot of credibility because people were thinking some nut was going to end up in the position. National confirmed how important Laila’s appointment was by attacking her before she had even been announced as Internet Party leader! And as the founding leader of MANA, I can confirm that the leadership of the Internet Party was absolutely critical to the alliance being signed off. While I was always comfortable with the prospect of MANA and the Internet Party working together, I knew that the leadership of the Internet Party would be hugely influential to the integrity of the relationship. We had worked with the Internet Party executive on policy issues, party list rankings, structural arrangements and other matters pertinent to the building of a political alliance, but essential to a positive relationship was always going to require the Internet Party choosing a leader who we could work with. Laila Harre fitted that to a ‘T’. I’m pickin’ Internet MANA to be a serious player at these upcoming elections, with positive results for both MANA and the Internet Party, which will make for a very interesting new term of parliament. Oh yeah, and many thanks to the “flea-market polling institute” for their survey data …
Posted on: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 05:21:45 +0000
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