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The new Labor Secretary General, Rob Salmond.
The Labor Party has appointed Rob Salmond as the party’s new general secretary.
Salmond has worked for the Labor Party in a variety of roles for many years, but is best known for his role in the Chinese-sounding name controversy.
He takes on the role after his predecessor, Andre Anderson, was removed from office earlier this year. Things understands. Anderson was general secretary during a troubled moment for the party when a member was alleged to have sexually assaulted another member. An investigation by a QC could not find sufficient evidence to support that accusation.
Salmond takes on a much happier party that revels in a massive election victory.
He said Things his job would be to help party MPs stay connected and visible in the community, and prepare for the 2023 campaign.
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“Our opponents didn’t have a great choice this time, but we know they will come back really strong in 2023 and our job is to be more than ready for them,” Salmond said.
He said the party was always fighting the long-term global trend of people not joining political parties, but that there were a lot of people signed up to help online who weren’t full members.
“Every election cycle that I have been involved in there has been an increase in terms of professionalism. We are in a better position to increase membership than we have been for quite some time. “
He said the party was on a path of continuous improvement on how to deal with complaints from members about the conduct of other members.
Ross Giblin / Stuff
Labor Party Chair Claire Szabo, center, said Salmond won the job after a rigorous interview process.
Salmond has been involved with the Labor Party since the late 1990s, but first formally worked for the party in Helen Clark’s prime minister’s office in 2004, along with employees Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson.
He was working for the party’s investigation unit in 2015 when he generated a lot of controversy by analyzing the names of home buyers in Auckland and counting those who “sounded” Chinese. At the time, Labor was trying to show that foreign buyers were helping heat up the housing market.
This caused a huge outcry at the time, and has followed Labor MP Phil Twyford and Salmond ever since.
Salmond said Things who regretted the incident and apologized to the Chinese community, albeit with some reservations.
Blechynden, Kent / Stuff
Salmond has been working with Jacinda Ardern, center, since the mid-2000s.
“The important part that I regret is helping put that together. I did not appreciate the way some people who did not share our values could interpret what we did and use it to harm members of the Chinese community, ”said Salmond.
“I apologize to the Chinese community in New Zealand for the damage our analysis helped to cause, even if the people who made claims about the community were different from us.”
Salmond, who has a doctorate in political science and has experience in US political campaigns, said he wanted to be a modernizing force for the party.
“I want to be a modernizing force, I want to be a robust analytical force. I want to make sure that we understand the environment in which we operate, ”Salmond said.
“We are making our decisions based on the world as it is and not the world as we would like it to be.”
He said the current Labor pollster UMR had performed very well during the election campaign.
Labor President Claire Szabó said Salmond won the job after a rigorous interview process with the board.
“Rob brings a long history of supporting Labor to the position, including positions in the Prime Minister’s Office, as a senior consultant, as Director of the Labor Leader’s Office and as Acting Secretary-General. Labor are multiple, ”said Szabó.
“We are looking for a candidate with unquestionable technical ability in all aspects of management. Someone with a well-honed political radar to guide the Party through the inevitable twists and turns. A strategist with an eye firmly on the future. Labor values will continually shape the Party’s culture into a safe and welcoming space for all. “
The general secretary essentially acts as the chief executive of the party, while the president is more like an elected chairman of the board.
