"Labour's moved away from me, I've never moved away from Labour."

The words in the title line for this post are in quotation marks because they are indeed a quote. They're a quote from former Labour MP and Minister Dover Samuels who will not be giving his party vote to Labour this year; the Herald reports:

Former Labour minister Dover Samuels says he won't be voting for the party at the election.
He cited the party's opposition to the Puhoi to Wellsford extension and Leader David Cunliffe's "prima donna grandstanding" over the issue of sexual violence.
The former Maori Affairs Minister who now serves on the Northland Regional Council confirmed the Herald this morning he did not intend giving his party vote to Labour.
"Labour's moved away from me, I've never moved away from Labour. I'm as staunch of the principles of Labour as I ever was, since the days of Mickey Savage."
He indicated he would be voting for NZ First.
"Winston Peters has been somebody that certainly has been an advocate of the regions and I'm a regional councillor and I find that spokespersons for the Labour Party have really turned their backs on some of the initiatives that the Northland Council have been advocating."

He pointed to Labour's plan to indefinitely postpone the Puhoi to Wellsford extension which it derides as "the holiday highway".
" I don't know where they got that from but the Puhoi road is integral to Northland's economic future."

The Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance is a no-brainer. The events of the last ten days have shown how vulnerable road access to Northland is. And the section of road between Puhoi and Wellsford is one of the worst sections of State Highway One in the North Island. A major upgrade is years overdue.

Labour and the Greens do themselves no favours with their "holiday highway" bleats, an obvious reference to John Key owning a beach house at Omaha. But for the people anywhere north of Puhoi, the road is their lifeline to New Zealand; especially those who are in the business of getting their products to customers.

Dover Samuels is going to give his Te Tai Tokerau electorate vote to Labour's Kelvin Davis, who also supports the Puhoi to Wellsford RONS. So he should, especially if Labour has been sending out coded messages that voters should ensure MegaMana should be a part of the 51st Parliament. But instead of wasting his party vote on Winston First, we reckon Dover Samuels should give it to National; the only one of the major parties that already has a plan and a timeframe to build Puhoi to Wellsford. This will create jobs in the construction phase, and along with other roading initiatives announced a few weeks ago, greatly improve Northland's roading network.

And Dover Samuels, who told Mark Sainsbury on RadioLive yesterday that he has talked to David Cunliffe about his decision had some sensible advice for the Labour Party:

Holiday Highway, Holiday Highway, Holiday Highway, Great Idea!

Is the no policy that Labour will not flip-flop over? It would seem not.

And the latest flip-flop is over the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade to State Highway One north of Auckland; that piece of road known by opposition parties as the Holiday Highway. Here's a potted summary of Labour's opposition:

• 2011 - Phil Goff wants it scrapped
• 2012 - Phil Twyford calls for the Government to "take a hard look" at the road, because it doesn't stack up.
• 2013 - Labour continues to oppose the road, and Holiday Highway bashing continues unabated

Since before the 2011 election Labour's opposition to Puhoi to Wellsford has been constant. What you see above is only a small sample of "anti" stories.

But now, led by renegade List MP Kelvin Davis, Labour has done a back-flip, prompting this presser from Gerry Brownlee:

Gerry Brownlee

15 July, 2014

Labour’s panicked U-turn on the road from Puhoi to Wellsford

Backed into a corner and on the wrong side of public opinion, Labour is making up major policy on the hoof with its announcement it now supports the Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says.
“The brave but sensible stance of Northland list MP Kelvin Davis to stand up to the Labour leadership and state the obvious – that most people in the north support the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade of State Highway 1 – has led to an immediate U-turn by his party today with the statement by Labour Transport Spokesman Phil Twyford that Labour would no longer cancel the road, but postpone its construction,” Mr Brownlee says.
“This is a spectacular U-turn for Labour, and as with all such maneuverers there is significant risk, and the potential for unintended consequences.
“For Labour it now raises the huge question of where the money is coming from for its commitment to immediately begin building Auckland’s City Rail Link.
“National is committed to co-funding construction of the rail link on a schedule that will see it delivered ahead of when Auckland City’s own research says it’s required.
“Labour was going to fund construction of the link from next year with money the Government has committed to building the Puhoi to Wellsford highway.
“Now it has to tell the people of Northland how long they’ll have to wait for their much-need highway upgrade, and where the $1.38 billion will come from to build it.
“That’s assuming Labour is still committed to beginning construction of the City Rail Link next year.
“Or does Mr Twyford have as big a surprise for Aucklanders today as he just delivered to the people of Northland this morning?
“Labour’s policy processes are woefully inadequate and clearly reliant on knee-jerk reactions,” Mr Brownlee says.

 

Gerry Brownlee is right; this is knee-jerk politics from Labour and especially from Phil Twyford. Alfred Ngaro will be looking forward to Mr Twyford telling the good folk of Te Atatu they won't be getting better train services any time soon.

 

Whilst we welcome this particular u-turn by Labour, it is a u-turn nonetheless. But with Labour v2014, that's par for the course. Why would we expect anything else?