By Bernard Hickey
Imarda Chief Executive and Endace co-founder Selwyn Pellett has called on Labour leader Phil Goff to stand down to allow Labour to strengthen its opposition to the policies of the National-led Government.
Pellett is an economic policy activist with links to the Labour movement, having spoken at the last two Labour Party conferences about the need for economic and monetary policy reform.
Pellett said voters had stopped listening to Labour under Goff and it was time for the opposition to renew itself cleanly before an election wipeout.
“Labour is likely to lose the election no matter who is leading it, but with Phil Goff at the helm it could be a devastating result. People have simply stopped listening," Pellett said.
"It’s sad as Phil is a very nice and sincere man, but now it’s time for him to go," he said.
Pellett made the comments in a comment thread under a blog post on Productive Economic Council (PEC) , a business lobby group co-founded by Pellett.
They also follow a decision by various front benchers not to challenge Goff last week after the resignation of Darren Hughes.
"Be it National or Labour we need real leadership, not poll sniffers. If you want to just “manage” a bunch of like-minded people then sniff polls, carve out a suitable bunch and manage them. If you want to make a difference and change the country then lead," Pellett said.
"Sell your vision, educate the population, build your support and implement your policies. It’s kind of old fashioned these days but that’s what we need. Phil Goff should stand down and the party should go through a process to elect a new Leader and front bench. It’s the process that didn’t happen when Helen Clark stood down and now it shows," he said.
"A good democracy, like good law processes requires checks and balances. Without a strong opposition the incumbent gets lazy and takes easy options. A strong opposition is essential and Phil Goff can’t deliver that so he should stand down."
Pellett said the Labour caucus already knew who the contenders were to replace Goff.
"I personally hope Phil will just stand down and avoid splitting the caucus and the party. People's instincts are that greed and lack of appropriate market regulation caused the global financial crises and lost them their jobs and savings," he said.
"They may not understand the intricacies of what happened but they understand it was wrong and now they need credible political advocates to champion their corner. Phil Goff hasn’t delivered that for our country and we need it."
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