Labour's course too far to the Right

Here's a good anti-Labour Party polemic from John Minto published in The Press a few days ago. Although Minto might have some vague illusions in the Labour Party of the past, he suggests that  Labour's current role is 'to keep working New Zealanders quiescent and pliable'. The context of this criticism is Michael Cullen's recent call for 'wage restraint'. Yet as Minto points out, wages have only increased recently by 3.1% while the inflation rate has been 3.4% - 'In other words, working New Zealanders continue to go backwards and suffer cuts in their real take-home pay.' He says that ' the average wage has decreased in real terms by 20 per cent in 20 years.' It's also good to see him singling out the seven ex-Service and Food Workers' Union officials in Parliament for criticism (as well as Carol Beaumont of the CTU). Minto says that ' their union work seems to have been simply a stepping stone into Parliament, with their commitment to the low-paid left on Parliament's steps.'