It Is Labour

As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to get off my backside and do something about this useless government.

I had not expected much from the Budget, and just figured it would be business as usual for a government lacking any courage or vision.

But it was worse than than. The only plan this government has is to rely on a boost from the Christchurch rebuild, and the continuation of high commodity prices.

Neither of these things will last.

Meanwhile, the attack on Kiwisaver threatens to actually increase the size of our national debt. The myopic obsession with government debt is a distraction from the larger issues.

So I got fed up and joined Labour. I haven't been happy with some of the things the party has done in the last couple of years, but when I look around the political landscape I don't see many other options.

If you're a regular you'll have read a few of my rants about Labour's lack of focus, so this may seem like a bit of a u-turn.

But my many years of following New Zealand cricket teams show that you can be infuriated and exasperated by the ineptitude of a group of people and yet still support them.

I haven't quite worked out how my joining Labour will lead to the downfall of the Key government (my decision probably won't give rise to too many crisis meetings within the National leadership team today), but I'm going to take things one step at a time, and I am still thinking through the level of involvement I will seek.

Will it change anything on this blog? It's hard to imagine I'll suddenly fall in love with the party's strategy and attack only other parties, but if this does happen and I end up making a complete arse of myself by cheerleading the indefensible please, call me out.

In the meantime, to show how truly independent and fearless I intend to remain, here is a graphic I haven't updated for a while. Previous versions can be found here and here.