Editorial: No shortcuts for Labour's sinners

OPINION: Some things are just plain wrong.

It is wrong for political pollsters to lie about who they represent and wrong for a politician to pretend no knowledge of activities he is orchestrating from his parliamentary office.

A politician who cannot see that he has outlasted his use-by date. The politician concerned is former Labour Cabinet minister Rick Barker.

His sins, putting aside the questionable use of parliamentary resources for party political purposes, are threefold.

He instructed volunteers conducting a phone poll on behalf of the Labour Party to say they worked for a company called Data Research. No such company exists.

He suggested the volunteers use false names when making the calls, and, when questioned by a reporter about the operation, he said: "I don't know what you're talking about."

It was only when the reporter revealed a thorough knowledge of the subterfuge that Mr Barker admitted its existence and his role in it.

That is not acceptable. Truth is not a negotiable commodity.

To the credit of Labour Party president Andrew Little, he dissociated himself from the phoney operation and is seeking a meeting with party leader Phil Goff to discuss it.

The same cannot be said for senior Labour whip Darren Hughes, who is fast building an unwanted reputation for himself as an apologist for indefensible behaviour on the part of his colleagues.

"I'm sure that half the people who try to sell us things on telemarketing aren't giving us their real names," he said by way of justification.

He could have added that noms de guerre are commonly employed in several other professions – prostitution and pole dancing being just two – but he and Mr Goff would be advised to consider what sort of company they and their colleagues wish to keep.

The subterfuge raises obvious questions about Mr Barker's moral compass, but his conduct also hints at a deeper malaise within the Labour Party. It is a malaise composed, in equal parts, of arrogance, bitterness and sloth.

Labour's MPs know the public have lost faith in them but they don't know why. So they set up a phoney polling operation to find out what voters are thinking.

The polling was unnecessary. The very fact it was contemplated should have been enough to indicate to Labour's strategists what the problem is.

The party's MPs have lost touch with the voters who elected three straight Labour-led governments.

If they were doing their jobs, the MPs would know, from their daily contact with constituents and interest groups, what the pressing issues are.

Labour's MPs resemble grumpy, disinherited members of the landed gentry who have been turfed out of their comfy gentlemen's club for not paying their subscriptions and are trying to fast talk their way back in past the doorman.

But there are no shortcuts. If Labour's MPs want to regain the good opinion of the public, they will have to earn it.

Voters are drawn to politicians who seek to serve their (voters') interests. They are repelled by politicians who seek to serve their own interests.