Am I the only one who can see the hypocrisy in Phil Goff’s carping of Melissa Lee as John Key’s preferred candidate for the Mt Albert by-election? Goff’s claims that that Lee has been parachuted into the Mt Albert candidacy at the behest of the PM -- and at the expense of previous candidate Ravi Masuku -- would have more currency if he had not done exactly the same thing. Was it not Phil Goff who ruthlessly cut off the ambitions of long time Mt Albert resident Phil Twyford from standing in this seat so he could parachute in his friend and former staffer David Shearer to be his chosen candidate for the by election?
Actually, I think it is a good thing for political parties to head hunt, high quality candidates to stand – even if they do not come from the seat they are contesting. Just because someone lives in a geographical area should not be a prerequisite for selection. Surely this will ensure a better quality of MPs representing us in Parliament.
Much like the idea of having at large councillors on the new Auckland super city, rather than ward only candidates. Hopefully this will see a better quality of Auckland councillors and mayors in the future, than some of the muppets the region has presently got. (The name Andrew Williams springs to mind for some reason)
Meanwhile, can Phil Goff please stop the insincere weasel words in the accusations he levels at John Key for promoting his favoured candidate in Mt Albert (Mind you, after Melissa Lee's gaffe-prone performance this week, John is probably thinking the rather ineffectual Ravi Masuku might have been a better bet). Surely, what is good enough for the goose is good enough for the gander. Or is this another case of Labour’s all to practised hypocritical “do as I say”, but don’t dare “do what I do” attitude that saw them so heavily thrashed at last year’s general election?
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