Mon 22 Sep 2014 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Chris Carter now works for the UN in Kabul. Picture / Facebook A gay former MP who was expelled from Labour for speaking out against its then leader, believes the party needs to unite behind David Cunliffe. Chris Carter points out that in 1996 Helen Clark was in a bad situation when Labour got a bad result, but three years later she won the election and went on to be Prime Minister for nine years. “David Cunliffe has an opportunity for that to happen if he can hold on against the people inside the caucus who want the job as well, if he can hold on – and I think he deserves to hold on – then I think he has a reasonable chance of winning in three years’ time,” he told Newstalk ZB this morning. Listen to the full interview here Carter was New Zealand’s first openly-gay male MP and spent 15 years in Parliament, and left as an independent after being expelled from Labour for speaking out against then-leader Phil Goff. After some time to reflect while working for the UN and Kabul, Carter says believes Labour’s caucus needs to unite behind Cunliffe and focus on 2017. He says unity is crucial – owning partial responsibility for this for speaking out against Goff before his own departure. He says Labour’s caucus hasn’t been unified since Helen Clark left, “but has to become one if it wants to win.” Carter also believes MPs like Trevor Mallard, Phil Goff and Annette King need to move on over the next three years so new talent can come through. Carter is working for the UN in Kabul and posted this on Facebook after Saturday night’s result:
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 22nd September 2014 - 12:11pm