Portfolios not in the shadow cabinet
February 25th, 2013 at 4:17 pm by David FarrarAn interesting list of portfolios that have not been assigned to someone in the shadow cabinet.
- Earthquake Recovery (one of the four major priorities of the Government)
- Conservation (leaving it to the Greens)
- Revenue (hey, who needs to worry about how we get the money we spend)
- Maori Affairs (yet they claim they want to win all the Maori seats)
- Transport
- Police
Not all portfolios can be held by someone in the shadow cabinet, but you expect the more significant ones to generally be there.
Matthew Hooton writes on NBR on what he sees as the shape of a Labour/Green Government.
February 25th, 2013 at 4:24 pm
How about Energy? Where does that sit in terms of our export earners? #5 IIRC.
And it doesn’t even make the top twenty. Yet Labour would have us believe that their ‘hands on’ government would make real improvements to our economy.
Hell, even Economic Devleopment could only make #12.
It looks like their ‘hands on’ government is nowt but a Shane Jones midnight special
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 4:31 pm
Or a subtle signal to Peter Dunne that they’ll save him a seat in a Beemer?
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 4:34 pm
I’m all for the Greens getting mired in the operational intracacies of the Revenue portfolio – While Peter Dunne may disagree, tax Policy (with a big “P”) has always been within the purview of the Minister of Finance.
The most concerning of all of these is abandoning transport to the Greens. It effectely abandons any aspirations we have towards an efficient network that gets people to work and freight to market with minimum of fuss. Under this logic, why not give them Primary Industries and Energy as well?
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 4:35 pm
@James,
More likely that they’ll offer that to Russel, along with Associate Finance.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 4:41 pm
The mere thought of these dangerous imbeciles, socialist Labour and the Luddites, winning the election and gaining political power send shivers down the spine of any rational person.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 4:46 pm
I would guess Energy Conservation and Transport are all being saved for the Greens so why waste a high ranking cabinet minister. They are going to have to trade off a lot in exchange for not giving them Finance (and I just don’t see them doing that – Russel will get Deputy PM and Associate Finance)
Revenue – As both Clark and Key have shown, it’s an unpopular, relatively low profile and technocratic portfolio – you give to to the hard working policy boffin who’s skills you don’t want to waste but who you can’t really bear to be in the same room with – and Cunliffe takes the prize.
Earthquake Recovery will be less relevent in 2014.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 4:58 pm
Richard29, They are not Cabinet Ministers FFS, they are schoolyard wannabes playing at being politicians. As such they should be all over these areas of ministerial responsibility.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
“Rainbow Affairs”? Oh, that’s right. moved offshore to the UN.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 5:39 pm
As said above – Dunnie is the permanent Minister of Revenue – no mtter who is in power..
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 6:36 pm
No mention of any of our major exports anywhere. Nor any social development options.
Vote:Now that’s “funny”
February 25th, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Hooton’s article doesn’t make any sense. He’s failed to allow three positions for NZ First MPs (Peters, Williams, Prosser?) and one for Hone.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 7:26 pm
I imagine a Labour-NZ First Government is more likely, with Green support. Very unlikely for NZ First to be in a Government with Russel Norman as Deputy PM (outranking him) and unlikely for him to not use his balance of power position to wag the Labour dog.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 8:03 pm
I notice also they don’t have a Shadow Minister for Common Sense. Coincidence? I think not.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Trev will make a bloody good speaker though.
He just needs his mouth rearranged!
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 9:23 pm
Revenue and Maori affairs aren’t in the current cabinet.
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
maori affairs is different to maori development? ffs
what other race based ministries are there? *throws up*
Vote:February 25th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
I think a good number their ministers prefer the shadows.
Vote:February 26th, 2013 at 1:34 am
@ bhudson -
“It looks like their ‘hands on’ government is nowt but a Shane Jones midnight special”
Do you mean “Gargling Deep Throat 69″ or “Sheryl does Hollywood, edition 2013″?
Vote:February 26th, 2013 at 1:36 am
@ James Stepehson:
“Revenue” has been given to Cunliffe, as a “bait” to catch him out and deal to him in finitum, I suppose, but he is not part of the closer “cabinet circle (or “circus”"), as it looks. Now putting the best bullet for economic policies in charge of vague “revenue” and “fisheries”, that is a kick in the back, is it not?
Vote:February 26th, 2013 at 1:44 am
This reshuffle does only slightly improve what is not a good line-up for Labour, and leaving Cunliffe on the back-seat, while he is the only one there, who can actually hold real “speeches”, and who has been overseas to learn about how things get done there, who has a clue about alternative economic policies, who also has been a fairly successful minister of portfolios in the past, that leaves Shearer as the wannabe PM that never will be PM.
It is my conviction, that the centre left need a new party, to be founded very soon, to get a team together that actually has alternative ideas, that gets the best from what has worked overseas, that learn, that do not just talk, mumble and “fumble” with “hands on” talk, but that present a real opposition, which the useless lot governing at present deserve.
Shearer is NOT it, cannot be IT, and he has missed his very last chance to prove he has the clout and skill to offer an alternative to an increasingly questionable, dubious, and incompetent government running NZ into 3rd world status.
Apart from this, almost all else NZers can do is: Pray, pray, pray, that someone and something better may come about, that someone capable may appear, with a solution and team to get this country on track again.
Oh so grim this all is.
Vote: