In a typical display of their usual chickenshittedness, Labour has dumped its proposal to allow all-women shortlists:
Labour has dropped its controversial plan to hold some women-only selections after its leader David Shearer asked for it to be withdrawn.
Mr Shearer said the NZ Council had agreed to withdraw the proposal, dubbed the 'man ban', which would have allowed some electorates to block men from seeking selection as a candidate.
However, he said the party still hoped to move toward ensuring at least 45 per cent of its caucus was female after 2014, and 50 per cent after 2017.
So apparently they remain committed to equal representation, just not to any specific measures for achieving it. Which is pretty much the same position as the National Party.
Meanwhile, its a bad day for Labour's internal democracy when proposals from the members get squashed arbitrarily by the leader. It smacks of dictatorship. And if there's a way for members to revive the proposal on the conference floor, I urge them to do it, simply to ensure that it is the membership, rather than Shearer, which decides this.
The other alternative, of course, is Exit. And if Labour won't stand up on gender equality, voters who feel strongly about it will simply transfer their support to the party which does: the Greens.
