Andrew Little’s speech to Conference

David Talbot | 16th September 2009 | 8:44 pm

Labour Party President Andrew Little addressed the Labour Party Conference in Rotorua on Sat Sept 12. The full speech is reproduced below.

Let me begin by saying on behalf of our members and delegates gathered here as well as Labour Party members nationwide thank you to the representatives of Ngati Whakaue and iwi of Te Arawa for the welcome today.

With you we will live, work and have some fun during our time here very aware of the strength and spirit of the land you welcome us to and the special beauty of the lakes and mountains of the Rotorua district.

With you we remember and respect our forebears from all over this land and from many other continents and islands who have gone before us in this life and shaped our lives through the gifts of their knowledge, their labour, their wisdom and their love. In the spirit of the welcome you have given us we will work diligently and in harmony to continue our service to the land and all our people as that is the Labour Party way.

This weekend is an important one for the Labour Party. It is not the first time the party has met following an election defeat but it will be the first time we have met following an election defeat after 9 years in government, after redefining the political landscape under an outstanding leader, after a smoothly-established and equally outstanding new leadership in Parliament and after an election that has produced a caucus bursting at the seams with talent.

So, we meet in good heart and good shape. This is the first opportunity since last year's general election for the party to meet in its national form and for its many parts to come together. Conferences are a chance for us to bring together representatives from every town, every city, every sector, every sphere and every dimension in the great celebration of diversity that is the New Zealand Labour Party.

This is when the party truly comes to life. We only need to look around to see that we are truly a party of all New Zealand. In the past 10 months last year's election result has been discussed and debated at every level of the Party - branches, LECs, regional committees and conferences and at the New Zealand Council. We can't - and we won't - avoid a discussion about it this weekend.

The general election result is the obvious back-drop to this weekend's conference. But it is not where this conference starts and stops. This weekend is about celebrating and reflecting and about looking ahead to a very bright future. We are celebrating the achievements of the fifth Labour government.

We are reflecting on the lessons of that 9 years of government, and we are drawing deeply from the values and principles that have been at the heart this party for nearly 100 years. And we are looking ahead. And, of course, not just looking but engaging and committing and preparing to act.

As we look back on the 9 years of the fifth Labour government we have much to celebrate. By 2008 we had reversed some of the most iniquitous aspects of previous National government. The practical achievements of the fifth Labour government were many.

Better employment rights (whether workplace rights, holiday rights, other leave such as paid parental leave, and health and safety rights); important economic measures like the New Zealand Superannuation fund; like KiwiSaver, that has given hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders the opportunity to build savings in a painless way; through important measures like Working for Families that evens out some of the unfairness in the tax system and gives many families a financial boost.

All of these measures, and many more, mean that New Zealand, after 9 years of a Labour government, is one of the few countries in the world that can say it has reduced levels of income-inequality and social-inequality amongst its citizens.

This is a Labour achievement. This is what Labour stands for. This is what Labour governments do.

On the jobs front, we invested in industry training and apprenticeships and we made it a priority to maximise employment opportunities and cut unemployment. And Labour did cut unemployment - to one of the lowest levels in the OECD.

This is what Labour stands for. This is what Labour governments do.

We put money into schools and into hospitals and health services; investment that not only improved these services but also started to reward our health workers and teachers for the critical work they do.

Beyond our own shores, ours was a government that stepped up to important international challenges - such as refusing to be drawn into the illegitimate war in Iraq; and addressing what is surely the most pressing social and economic challenge of our time, climate change. Because on this issue nothing less than the survival of the planet is at stake.

Under Labour New Zealand took its place on the world stage; we saw a talented and bolder but just as friendly Kiwi personality being asserted. And we won respect from our international neighbours and friends around the world.

All of this was Labour in action. This is what Labour stands for. This is what we do.

History might not yet have had time to fully judge the contribution of the fifth Labour government, the Helen Clark government, to the nation's story but it is almost certain it will be judged as a transformational period for New Zealand and for Kiwis.

There are some who express nervousness about us making continuing references to the fifth Labour government, to Helen Clark and to Michael Cullen. But I - and I know all of us in this room - are proud of that time. It has been a defining time not only for New Zealand but for this party.

And if ever there is one thing that is testament to the quality of that government, surely it is that even in an election in which the party was voted out of government, we managed to have elected 13 new MP's. We had already welcomed two talented new MPs between the 2005 and the 2008 elections - Charles Chauvel and Sua William Sio. And since the 2008 election, we have won yet another enormously talented MP in the form of David Shearer in Mt Albert.

The truth is that we have a caucus now that is surely one of the most talented ever of any major party at any time in the New Zealand Parliament.

But it is equally true, if I might invoke the leader we loved and respected, and continue to from afar - and I am sure even she would implore us to do so - we must also move forward.

And so we are. The successes of our past are to build upon, not to rest on.

So amidst the celebration we are entitled to have together this weekend, let's also reflect.

Ours is a party forged decades ago out of the violent clashes of history and of social and economic forces, out of times of transformation from antiquity to modernity, times of new understandings about humanity, and a time when long-stated visions and dreams of freedom and dignity began to be more than the fine words of the privileged and the elite, but were ideas that began to mean something to the poor, the dispossessed and to those dependent on their ability to offer nothing but hard work and talent to survive.

Ours is a party whose foundation stone is justice - just workplaces, a just social order, a society and economy built on mutual respect and the dignity of humankind.

Ours is a party that draws on the liberal and progressive forces that were active in the late 19th century and which did so much to build this nation. The Labour Party was born when unions and other labour organisations galvanised their own and other strands of progressive movements at the beginning of the 20th century when they realised that improving standards of living, improving incomes and achieving a just social and economic order needed not only hands on the levers of the economy and the state, but a coherent platform from which to do it.

We can say three things about the origins of the Labour Party.

It is driven by clearly understood values and principles - that people matter; That looking after each other, looking after our mates and neighbours, is what makes good families and good communities; that healthy communities means declaring war on poverty and privation so families can live in dignity; that the freedom to chase our dreams and ambitions, to speak and worship as we wish, is not a claim to selfishness, self-absorption and greed but a claim to be part of a society made richer by difference and diversity and people fulfilled; that the freedom of the individual is not the same as the freedom to exploit and demean; that collaborating - working together - to improve communities and society as a whole does not diminish any one of us but enriches us all.

The second thing we can say is that ours is a party built on the pragmatism that goes with bringing diverse interests together around a common cause and common values. We were born out of a coming together of disparate interests. We believe in agreement to achieve common goals.

And thirdly, ours is a party grounded in practicality; in an understanding of people's basic needs and the need to give each person the chance and the means to achieve the best they can according to their abilities, regardless of their origins of birth, their sex, race or gender. Even whether or not they are in receipt of a benefit.

This is what Labour stands for. This is what we do.

Ours is a party that was propelled to government for the first time when the need for the expression of these values was greatest.

And ever since our party was first in government, ours is the party that has steered this country through periods of great and progressive change:

In 1935, we answered the call for security and personal dignity, the alleviation of hardship, the bringing together of a people downtrodden and demoralised by poverty and degradation with a Cabinet whose leading personalities were drawn from the great struggles for justice decades before and who would dominate the Party for generations to follow (Savage, Fraser, Nash, not to forget Semple, Hickey and even John A Lee). They introduced comprehensive social security and universal benefits; they got New Zealanders out of the demeaning and dehumanising poverty camps and back to work;

In the 1940s it was a Labour Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, who in his time created the foundations of the modern education system and on the international front played such an important role in the creation of the institutions that have been so crucial to sustained international peace;

In 1957, we produced in Walter Nash a prime minister who faced declining economic conditions (inherited from the do-nothing National government before him) and was forced to make the hard decisions;

In 1972 it was Labour Prime Minister Norm Kirk who started the long and difficult process of restoring the mana of the Treaty of Waitangi and of reconciling and redressing the deeply felt longstanding hurts of Maori as our first people. It was Norman Kirk who stood up to the powers of the world and asserted our independent foreign policy whether over Vietnam, protesting against French nuclear testing or opening a dialogue with China;

In 1984 it was the Labour government at that time that took the difficult and controversial steps that led to some necessary economic change for New Zealand, and it was a government that also asserted our international independence and led the world in nuclear-free policy. This was a difficult and divisive time - for New Zealand and the party.

And then the latest Labour government under Helen Clark showed, by contrast to 1984, that it is possible to have a well functioning economy built on fairness and justice.

Ours is the party of ideas. The party more willing than any other to step up to the real challenges of the day. The party to make change. The Party prepared to make a real difference to the lives of people.

And amidst all this, even as ours is the party of positive change, it is also the party that has historically understood the need for rules, shown respect for the constitution, for the rule of law and for our democratic institutions.

We are the party of values and of principles and of people.

We are the party of practicality and pragmatism, because it is these things that have brought us to life and have guided our governments.

And we respect the need for rules and for order as the basis of great collective and individual achievement.

The Labour Party knows the extraordinary power of the State - the power to make a difference, to lift people, to change people and their communities for the better. And we also know the power of the State to crush, to destroy. And it has been Labour's role to make sure that citizens benefit from the positive the State can do and are protected from the harm it can do.

So, as we reflect on this party's contribution to this great country throughout its many governments let's also be bold enough to reflect on where even on in our most recent time in office we might have got it wrong.

We might ask ourselves if sometimes in the last 9 years we got the priorities wrong; whether we gave as much attention to those things that lift standards of living, that sustain productive businesses (rather than the speculative ones) and give economic security.

We might want to acknowledge that in all of the political calculus undertaken over the foreshore and seabed issue, depriving Maori of the right to test their claim in court was the wrong thing. It did not respect legal rights and the rule of law.

As we seek to win back the confidence of those who abandoned us, including those who could just not bring themselves to vote last year - for any party - we might recognise that an acknowledgement that we could have done better in some respects, that we could have acted differently, is called for.

The biggest task we have as we reflect and start to reshape ourselves ready for 2011 is to look at what we have to offer. And to look at how we will get there in 2011.

We have some obvious things going for us.

I have already talked about a caucus that we now have in Parliament, its talents and skills; its energy and its drive.

Foremost in that caucus is our leader, Phil Goff. The reality is, there is only one MP in our caucus who can provide the leadership to take us to victory, and that is Phil.

Phil brings an extraordinary depth of knowledge, skills and experience both as an MP and as a Leader of the Labour Party. It is one thing to have a highly talented team with ideas and enthusiasm. It is quite another to lead that team and turn it into a force that every day fronts up to this government under the full glare and scrutiny of the media.

So far this year, Phil has led the charge on the issues that matter most to our supporters - jobs, decent wages and support for those facing the stress of redundancy and unemployment. And Phil, as is the nature of true Labour leaders, has been principled and unrelenting in his pursuit of these issues.

This is Labour in action. This is what Labour stands for.

And, we are a party of new ideas, as we have always been. We have no shortage of them. We have a policy council process now, originally spearheaded by Phil Twyford, and now coordinated by Jordan Carter, that seeks out the best ideas from throughout the entire party, at every level. And the reason why this conference is so vital for our fightback in 2011 is that this weekend is our chance to debate new ideas for this party, the new ideas that will take New Zealand forward again.

We have the current circumstances that we all find ourselves in. Not just the economic conditions in New Zealand today, but around the world.

The world is demanding change. Social democratic parties around the world, even conservative parties around the world, are looking for alternatives to the madness that has governed our economies over the last 30 years.

The idea that banks and finance houses will act in the public interest has been shown up for the fantasy it was. The idea that taking rights and conditions off working people will help the economy, and conversely that shoring up rights and improving incomes will wreck it, has been exposed for the contempt that underpins it.

The idea that the only thing that matters in an economy is control of inflation, even when doing so systematically destroys the productive sector - this idea has surely had its day. Here in New Zealand those attempts to control inflation have led to an unprecedented volatility in the exchange rate. Ask the export sector - it can't go on.

We have another factor in our favour. This current government.

Compare our government today with what we stand for. This is not a government for all the people. Look at the people it has been systematically removing from public boards and organisations - for example, Ross Wilson, arguably the most knowledgable New Zealander on ACC and someone who has made a lifelong commitment to its continuation and improvement, unceremoniously dumped from chairing the ACC board.

Look at this government's group looking at productivity, chaired by Don Brash. Apparently productivity doesn't involve the 2.4 million working people who daily keep our firms and services operating, and they do not have a voice on this crucial topic.

Look at what this government's doing to the boards of polytechnics. It now wants to gut them of sector representatives.

Look where they've taken the knife to education - adult and community education. The very thing that gives so many a small opportunity to pick up on life opportunities they might otherwise not have had access to.

And what of people who stand up decisions like removing the training incentive allowance that helps those on benefits to get help learning new skills to regain their independence? The deliberate and cynical attack on the two women who spoke out against this decision should have outraged the nation. When a minister of the Crown acts in this way, those women become the victims of a bullying State, the power of the State to crush and destroy.

What is more disturbing, however, is the fact that at least three major daily newspapers - remember these great defenders of free speech - editorialised in support of the government. This doesn't just expose how fragile genuine freedom of speech is here, but what we are up against in balanced media commentary today.

All of this gives us the opportunity to start afresh; to look at the next generation of ideas and to reassert our principles and our values as a part of progess.

But we have other challenges too. Foremost amongst those are lifting our membership and meeting the need for fundraising. These challenges are not new to us. We need to rebuild, but we have rebuilt before. We need to step up our fundraising, look at new ways of fundraising, and to build a long term stable financial base. We will talk about these challenges this weekend. Meeting these needs will be the priority for the new General Secretary, when endorsed.

In conclusion, let's be clear. There is only one party capable of coming up with new ideas, real ideas, that address the real issues of today and in the future. There is only one party committed to transformation, to positive change, to improving the lives of the ,many not the few. In New Zealand politics today, there is only one caucus with the breadth of talent, ideas and skills to make a difference. And the there is only one leader who can deliver.

It is Phil Goff. Leading the Labour caucus. Leading the next Labour government.

This is what this Labour Party needs to do.

It's our job to make this happen. We start this weekend.

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Labour Conference welcomes Chris Flatt

Dianna Snaddon | 16th September 2009 | 12:04 am

The Labour Party Conference held in Rotorua last weekend farewelled and thanked Mike Smith for his hard work and dedication during his time as General Secretary of the Labour Party and confirmed and welcomed Chris Flatt to the role.

Labour Party staff and the wider Party are looking forward to working alongside Chris and supporting him as the Party gears up towards a Labour victory in 2011. Chris says he wants to thank retiring General Secretary, Mike Smith for the outstanding contribution he has made to the Labour Party over the last eight years. He says Mike Smith leaves the Labour Party in great shape and heart.

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