Mt Albert win - the fight back begins

Jenny Michie | 25th June 2009 | 4:15 am

David Shearer's emphatic win in Mt Albert is a great boost for Labour.

I would like to offer a huge thank you to Labour Party members and supporters who gave up their time on behalf of David Shearer and Labour.

The scale of the win - 12,613 votes for David against just 3426 votes for National's Melissa Lee - speaks volumes. Labour listened to and National ignored the local community's needs and concerns. This reflects Labour's wider ongoing commitment to build stronger ties with communities across New Zealand.

National thought it could win, or run Labour close. The gap between the party votes at the 2008 election was just 2300. John Key set the date as early as possible to capitalise on post-election goodwill and he personally chose as a candidate Melissa Lee, put forward as a rising new star on National's back benches.

Mr Key's non-appearance at Melissa Lee's election night event gives us an insight into how the Prime Minister operates. Instead of supporting his team during a difficult night he was at the exclusive Huka Lodge in Taupo. His excuse that this was a prior engagement he could not break frankly does not wash. He chose the election date. It would be staggering to believe he would have passed up the celebrations should Ms Lee have looked like winning.

National's woeful Mt Albert campaign and John Key's election night no-show cap a horror month for National.

Labour will build on this win and will redouble its efforts to engage with voters across New Zealand. We will continue to reflect the concerns of the community and hold the Government to account.

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Labour launches public Supercity meetings

David Talbot | 7th June 2009 | 4:57 am

Labour is launching 'have your say' meetings on the super city - promoting discussion and debate.

Labour MPs are hosting a series of public meetings across Auckland over the next two weeks to help people prepare submissions to the select committee on the super city. The meetings will include briefings on the issues, as well as practical advice on how to prepare a submission. All are welcome and of course there will be time to discuss and debate.

Mt Albert - 5.30pm Tuesday 9 June, Owairaka District Primary School, 113 Richardson Rd, Owairaka, hosted by Phil Goff and David Shearer.

Waitakere - 7.30pm, Wednesday 10 June, Kelston Community Centre, Cnr Great North Road and Awaroa Rd, hosted by David Cunliffe, Lynne Pillay and Chris Carter.

Auckland Central - 7pm Thursday 11 June, Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn, hosted by Phil Twyford.

North Shore - 7pm Thursday 11 June, North Shore Events Centre, Silverfield & Argus Pl Entrances, Wairau Valley, hosted by Darien Fenton.

Waiheke - 1pm Sunday 14 June, Morra Hall, Oneroa, hosted by Phil Twyford.

Manukau - 5.30pm Monday 15 June, Papatoetoe Town Hall, George St, Papatoetoe, hosted by Ross Robertson, Su'a William Sio, George Hawkins, Ashraf Choudhary.

Maungakiekie - 7.30pm Monday 15 June, College of Chiropractic, 6 Harrison Rd (off Ellerslie-Panmure Highway) Mt Wellington, hosted by Carol Beaumont.

DOWNLOADABLE MATERIAL:

Powerpoint presentation [.ppt 200K] (Right-click link and choose "Save as" to download) 

Guide to making a submission [.pdf 100K] 

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