Below are some of the tweets over the last day relating to Clare Curran MP’s allegations of dirty tricks and homophobia in the Labour leadership campaign – which eventually led to Jenny Michie being stood down from the David Cunliffe campaign. The tweets are presented in (roughly) reverse chronological order. [Read more below]
"It's gonna be Cunliffe's butchery in the caucus room next Tuesday if he gets the job!" - @PatrickGowerNZ
Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
Yes, if Cunliffe wins, the Labour Caucus room will be re-named "Cunliffe and Sons Butchers - since Sept. 2013" @RadioLIVENZ
Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
Like Cosgrove, nervous times for Clare Curran. Career in serious trouble if Cunliffe gets the job.
Steve Braunias @SteveBraunias
. @patrickgowernz Excellent news. All the more reason why I'm supporting Cunliffe.
Labour hopefuls stress unity, focus on common enemy (that's John Key by the way, not Clare Curran) http://www.3news.co.nz/Labour-hopefuls-focus-on-common-enemy/tabid/1607/articleID/312715/Default.aspx …
Clare Curran was just taking the Michie...
New Zealand Snapper @SnapperFishNZ
I snigger everytime someone tells me Clare Curran was a communications expert.
Like it or not the woman "stood down" from @DavidCunliffeMP's campaign team had a valid point. It would be "naïve" to think otherwise.
@unsung75 @DavidCunliffeMP Well, as a gay woman I KNOW discrimination exists. Not brave. Just real.
Coley Tangerina @ColeyTangerina
I'm still stumped as to how someone gets stood down for replying to a question about Grant's sexuality with the fact some members are jerks.
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery
National must be in fits. They don't have to get their hands dirty and make GR's sexuality an issue. Clare Curran will do it for them.
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP
@RobFromNZ Clare attached one of Cunners' supporters for something she said 17 days ago and blew apart any thought of unity. #Clare4Deputy
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP
@southernscoop @clarecurranmp Well Labour caucus will be a pleasant affair on Tuesday. A leader they hate,name calling by MPs vs colleagues
Not sure I can see what was wrong with what Jenny Michie said. An opinion of NZ opinion expressed by many Curran looks foolish IMO
I might have to take the rest of the day off, to work out what it was that Jenny Michie said that was so wrong http://www.frontpage.co.nz/stories.php?storyid=308&download=true …
While the party is involved with liberal identity policy and engineering, the people starve, live in cold damp houses, unloved isolated
Just when the party needs unity and a positive spin on the democratic election we have a side show and downslide...discipline and unity..
Great so Clare Currans outburst has backed the party into a corner and polarised the leadership candidates into camps, there goes unity.
Chelsea Torrance @tripthestation
Oh Jenny Michie.
Andrew Dickens @andrewdickens2
#Labour Jenny Michie. Hope you learnt your lesson. Don't tell the truth. Is saying "
Not 1st time that Jenny Michie has put people's backs up. #nzpol @clarecurranmp right about best for @nzlabour to avoid #dogwhistle politics
Michie gets the shove that dare not mention its own name.
Does the team cunliffe member getting chucked for old comments on GR's sexuality do anything but ensure another headline on GR's sexuality?
to the Labour Party faithful, PLEASE vote For David, his fire at will for stating the bleeding obvious will have his MPs shitting themselves
EARLIER TWEETS:
Woah, this whole Jenny Michie thing was over those comments on The Nation? Really? Really, people? I'd assumed she'd said something else.
Clare Curran's post Parliament career prospects look bleak. Can't exactly claim to be a communications expert..
I think Michie's comments are far from innocent. There is the fact she hadn't joined the campaign yet though.
That Clare Curran smear has to be the worst example of what has been wrong with Labour. Politics of failure coming from Team Robertson.
@ImperatorFish I think the probability of that is pretty high. I don't imagine that Jenny Michie will get a job in his office either
Imperator Fish @ImperatorFish
I think we can assume that Clare Curran won't be on the Labour front bench if Cunliffe wins the leadership contest.
Ok, now that I've seen it. Jenny Michie's answer is pretty clear and well-specified and I reckon she's been hard done-by.
So Jenny Michie was fired for just saying what Brook Sabin, Duncan Garner, Paddy Gower, John Tamihere and Willie Jackson were all thinking?
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery
Whoever pushed her (and I assumed she was) has worked an injustice. Those who called her on being homophobic have also overstepped the mark
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery
I have a low tolerance for discrimination, but I can't for the life of me find any homophobia in Michie's comments
The Nation transcript with Jenny Michie remarks is here: http://www.frontpage.co.nz/stories.php?storyid=308&download=true …
This is @clarecurranmp's second big scalp after Erin Leigh
Next question: will Cunliffe rule Michie out as a staffer if he wins? #notthatIcare
Cunliffe for Leader @cunliffe4leader
@NZStuff Will Grant Robertson discipline Clare Curran and Chris Hipkins for running smear attacks on David Cunliffe? #stuffhangout
Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
Cunliffe won't sack Jenny Michie for Robertson sexuality comments. Says she wasnt on campaign team at time. Joined couple of days later.
@DavidCunliffeMP oookay, I was undecided before I read Clare Curran's unhelpful & divisive whining today. My vote is now for you, David.
@ImperatorFish Dont give a fig about sexuality & was undecided till I read Clare Curran's unhelpful & divisive whining today. My vote is DC
Between Clare Curran and email from Grant, Robertson campaign has gone all out negative tonight. Goodbye great unifier.
So our beloved Clare curran once again make national news but for the wrong reasons...we need a stronger party
I also love how @clarecurranmp complains about people politicising sexuality, then calls Georgina Beyer a "former trans-sexual MP"
@clarecurranmp is not talking further not awkward given you raised the issue? plus don't think commentators have been saying it's a problem
..sexuality is not, and never should be, used as a measure of whether someone is the best person for the job 2/2
I stand by what I've said today. Won't be commenting further because not helpful to the leadership contest. other than to say that in NZ 1/2
@sjparis Just the tip of iceberg. Thre's an epidemic of Labour people calling themselves "left" using this phrase 2 dissuade Robertson votes
@sjparis Former trans-sexual MP Georgina Beyer. At least one union (and prob at least 2) secretary who is backing David Cunliffe.
@sjparis Numerous political commentators. More importantly former party pres Mike Williams, a former party staffer workng for David Cunliffe
@clarecurranmp who said that?
The "NZ's not ready for a gay PM" is prob the biggest dog whistle I've ever heard. Extraordinary that it's also coming from within the Party