A year in opposition teaches you a lot of things. Any commentators who might like to think that Labour does not understand that it lost can rest assure that it feels very real. Most especially for me it feels real when I see things like this and this.
In these circumstances there is an understandable desire from supporters or would-be supporters to hear from Labour ” what we would do”. This refrain also comes from those on the other side of the spectrum, usually when we criticise the government and they know that their guys have stuffed up and they can’t think of anything else to say!
The reality though is that, for now, we don’t get to make the big calls. The government gets to decide what to do. They won, and they are the ones who have to come up with the ideas. Our immediate job is to hold them to account, challenge the assumptions and ask the questions.
Its tempting to want to respond to every issue and say we would not do that, or we would fund that, but we aren’t at this stage in the process. We will be definitive on some things- eg restoring the Adult and Community Education cuts or not sending the SAS to Afghanistan. But for some other things we are going to take some time. This means that we may not have a definitive alternative to articulate on every issue.
This is in part because we have to take the time to re-assess where we got to in government, and what needs to stay and what needs to change. We also have to deal with issues that cut across geographic and policy boundaries. Traditional assumptions about how we create sustainable wealth are no longer tenable. Practically we have to focus on how we support people as they pay their bills and seek to improve their and their families lives.
Labour will have much more to say in terms of definitive policy in time, but we have to be patient, and we have to be open to new ideas. This does not mean that we are silent, nor does it mean we are open to any old idea. Phil Goff puts it this way- we face new and different challenges, but our values endure.
Our values are based on a belief that we are stronger when we act collectively, that for a good days work you should get a good days pay, that we need to invest in people and redistribute wealth in order to create opportunity for all and that we must always act to protect and support the vulnerable.
What Labour has been doing is listening and talking to groups and individuals all over New Zealand about their ambitions and how we can create policy to support that. The Party policy committees are hard at work. As we move into next year we will have more to say about some of the big themes and where we stand and some more detailed policy. By 2011 you will see a comprehensive programme and a plan. But for now, its the job of the current government to provide those, and from all sides, the question is being asked, where is that plan?
