Last week I posted on news that Matt McCarten is leaving his Labour Party Auckland campaign job to run a campaign to get non voters out to vote – see Matt McCarten leaves Labour.
I called bull on his claim it would be a non-partisan campaign.
Yesterday more detail on his new role was detailed in a press release: New Zealand launches ‘Campaign for Change’
With less than 100 days until the 2017 election, New Zealand launches ‘Campaign for Change’
1 million people did not vote in the last election. 250,000 people who were required to register did not. These numbers represent a crisis of democracy. This group overwhelmingly consisted of young people, workers in low paid occupations, as well as Māori, Pacifica, and other ethnic communities.
“The Campaign for Change will channel the energy and passion of New Zealander’s who want to see a change of Government this election.” says Director Matt McCarten.
This non-partisan campaign is being created in order to get people engaged and involved. The disconnect between a million citizens and political participation is a threat to our democracy.
The Campaign for Change is directed by the goal of full political participation. Through this campaign, we will aim to have 1 on 1 interviews with 100,000 New Zealanders who are not enrolled or who did not vote at the last election to not vote. We want to turn the issues these citizens care about into a campaign.
“We are launching our push for volunteers next week. If you want to be part of a campaign that promotes political participation, we want to hear from you!”
So the ex chief of staff for both David Cunliffe and Andrew Little, and ex campaign manager for Labour in Auckland, claims to be heading a non-partisan “Campaign for Change’.
“The Campaign for Change will channel the energy and passion of New Zealander’s who want to see a change of Government this election.”
Of course ‘change of Government’ means it must anti-National and pro-Labour.
That’s about as non-partisan as McCarten is being upfront about his political associations.
The programme is independent of any political party but is supported by progressive organisations in Auckland. The focus of political activity is voter enrolment and participation.
Facebook: Campaign For Change NZ
Twitter: @ChangeforNZ
Instagram: @CampaignForChangeNZ
Matt McCarten
Campaign for Change Director
This couldn’t be more blatant bull. “The focus of political activity is voter enrolment and participation” – and then Change is mentioned four times in succession, showing a highly partisan agenda.
This is not new. Unions tried to organise a ‘get out the vote’ campaign in 2014 and that turned out badly for Labour.
From a speech by First Union President, Syd Keepa, in 2014.
John Key has announced the Election date, which will
be Saturday 20 September; in six months’ time.
FIRST Union will be working hard to get its
members who are not enrolled to enrol, and will
encourage them to vote.FIRST believes that the political parties that support
workers and people on the margins of society would be
the most practical political parties to vote for. However,
the CTU and FIRST Union campaign is not going to be
based around encouraging citizens who to vote for, but
around changing the government.FIRST UNION PRESIDENT SYD KEEPA
879,000 eligible voters did not vote at the 2011
elections. Maori non-voters had the highest percentage
of non-voters at 25.9%, followed by Pacific Island non-
voters at 25.4%. Therefore to have a chance at a change
of government the job of FIRST Union is to get people
enrolled and out to vote. If 150,000 of those non-voters
had voted for a change of government in 2011, the
current National government would not be in power.
FIRST Union will be appealing to its membership to
enrol and vote, and will encourage its members to get
their whanau to do the same. With our members’ help,
we will hopefully be able to lock this government up
and throw away the KEY.
McCarten was secretary of the Unite union from 2005 to 2014, when he took over as chief of staff in Labour’s leader’s office.
Not long ago (last month) Labour was openly talking about similar campaigns to last the one last election and to what McCarten is now doing.
Newshub: Data key to Labour’s campaign strategy
Opening a session on Labour’s campaign strategy at its congress on Saturday, the party’s campaign chairman and general secretary Andrew Kirton went for an understated introduction.
“The good news about this campaign is we’ve got a strategy – and we’re going to use it.”
That was perhaps a relief to delegates, given Labour’s disastrous showing in 2014.
But the party’s plan to turn out voters is more comprehensive than that sounds – demonstrated by the fact it invited media to a briefing the day before to proudly discuss its strategy.
Based on its current polling, Labour estimates it would get 720,000 votes out of the 2.4 million on offer, presuming an 80 per cent voter turnout (up from 550,000 votes in 2014).
Kirton said the party planned to grow its vote in two ways – trying to win over the 240,000 voters who backed National in 2014 but were open to supporting Labour, and the 200,000 voters “who we think like us” but didn’t vote at the last election.
The main focus at present was “growing our volunteer army” through its Community Action Network.
There is little difference between the unsuccessful get out the vote campaign in 2014, Labour’s strategy, and McCarten’s campaign.
I think that calling the Campaign for Change non-partisan is quite deceitful.
Will it work? Perhaps they have learnt lessons from the failure in 2014, but they may be deceiving themselves if they assume that if all the4 non-voters decided to vote they would back Labour.
Your NZ 
Blazer
/ 18th June 2017how can something glaringly obvious…be deceitful?
Alan Wilkinson
/ 18th June 2017Anything sufficiently stupid is indistinguishable from malicious.
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Incorrect. In fact some might argue that, in relation to Trumpy, according to those of his supporters with TBS, anything sufficiently stupid is, in reality, brilliant! Somehow. 🙄
Alan Wilkinson
/ 18th June 2017Winners write history, G.
Blazer
/ 18th June 2017until the internet….came along.
traveller
/ 18th June 2017Stating this is non-partisan is deceitful. EOS
Blazer
/ 18th June 2017bit like repeating there is no housing crisis…there is EOS.
John Schmidt
/ 18th June 2017A crisis a time of intense difficulty or danger.
A shortage a state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts.
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017From the Press Release:
“1 million people did not vote in the last election. 250,000 people who were required to register did not.”
Ambiguous turn of phrase. Registering’s not compulsory yet. Assume he just meant: ” … to be eligible to vote.”
Non-partisan my arse.
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017“Registering’s not compulsory yet.”
Are you sure? Genuine Q.
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Yes. Although, to clarify, people who are entitled to vote in our general elections must register to be able to vote. If they are not enrolled, they cannot vote. But enrolled electors are not by law compelled to actually vote. You can stay @ home & do the lawns or sit in front of the telly & get pissed or stoned or have sex or whatever instead – that is your right.
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Actually, come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind doing all of those, and also going & voting somewhere in between.
Pete George
/ 18th June 2017It would be a challenge to mow the lawns or have sex from 9 am to 7 pm, and using another activity as an excuse for not voting is even harder now advance voting for nearly two weeks is encouraged.
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017(Maybe for you … it’s really just a just question of scheduling, pacing yourself, & having breaks to get your breath back 💪)
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017http://www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/new-zealands-system-government
“Citizens and permanent residents who are aged 18 years and over are required to enrol to vote. Voting is not compulsory.”
Can’t see the practical distinction between registration and enrollment in terms of compulsion G?
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Fair enuff.
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017If you meet the criteria to vote, i.e. you meet voter registration requirements to register on the general or maori electoral roll, you HAVE to register if you want to vote.
But you are not required by law to register as a voter whether you intend to vote or not. You can be someone who could register, ie you meet the requirements, but you are not forced to do so.
You can stay off the roll & whistle dixie every election day, all day. They will not come for you & take you away from your ducks & pookies for some hideously cruel & unusual punishment. I shall speak no more of these things.
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017yiou have to enroll G. Wheather ‘arrested’ or not is another matter. People have been charged by the way. Not sure most recent case of ‘example setting’. Go to Mass! (Actually to late for our region – have a Kit Kat)
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017I don’t believe that’s correct. If I am wrong, show me where the law says that, or where someone has been charged for not enrolling who could have done so, but didn’t, because they didn’t want to bother voting?
dave1924
/ 18th June 2017https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/enrol-and-vote-in-an-election/enrol-to-vote/
Seems to same its compulsory to be registered Gezza…. but inlike Aussie not compulsory to vote…
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Ah oui. See below. (And ignore the repeated “will”, like it never even happened.)
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017“If you don’t enrol to vote
You could be fined $100. This goes up to $200 if you’ve been fined once and you still don’t enrol.”
https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/enrol-and-vote-in-an-election/enrol-to-vote/
kiwi dave
/ 18th June 2017can stay @ home & do the lawns or sit in front of the telly & get pissed or stoned or have sex – Ok, but fat chance on lawns – don’t have any
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017You can come & mow mine, I’d be happy to spend a bit more time on those other activities, tbh.
Pete George
/ 18th June 2017Compulsory voter registration:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0087/latest/DLM308853.html
I haven’t been able to find any examples of anyone being fined.
There are an estimated 88.34% of eligible voters who are registered.
http://www.elections.org.nz/research-statistics/enrolment-statistics-electorate
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Well I never. I shall speak once more on this matter. But listen carefully, I will will say zis only once.
Apologies Mr Kane. I sit corrected.
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017And Mass?
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Definitely against it Mr K. Totally opposed to cannibalism.
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017Hope Susan Devoy isn’t monitoring YNZ (she might have been tipped off by now).
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017Hope she wasn’t injured by the fall.
Alan Wilkinson
/ 18th June 2017Can we presume Mr McCarten will be issuing police complaints against all those he finds failing to register?
Gezza
/ 18th June 2017He should. It might increase the liklehood those people would vote, but most probably definitely not for any of the parties he’d like after that!
Bob
/ 18th June 2017This looks like a pathetic and transparent attempt to get around spending limits, calling itself independent and non partisan so as to not have its spending allocated to Labour.
It could be a worry if not for McCarten running it, hes about as successful as Bradbury!
Pete Kane
/ 18th June 2017Good point. I’m assuming they have had to register with the Commission as part of this ‘third party player’ status? Can’t recall the first election that applied?
Zedd
/ 18th June 2017as i had forseen.. ‘onya Maaaatt’