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Newsroom
2 days ago
- Politics
- Newsroom
Alas, demonised Cunliffe
Would the devil please step forward. Grant Robertson's new political memoir Anything Can Happen trashes his former Labour leader David Cunliffe with the same loathing and even some of the same language as Jacinda Ardern in her book A Different Kind of Power. The word they both choose to describe him is 'inauthentic', meaning a phoney, a fake, more interested in power than Labour principles. Their various attacks position Cunliffe as vain and toxic. 'The disastrous Cunliffe saga,' writes Robertson, thinking back to his 2014 campaign; 'For the first time in a long while, I felt relieved,' writes Ardern, when he stepped down. ReadingRoom reached out to 10 parliamentarians inside the Labour camp during Cunliffe's leadership. All were asked the same question: 'Was Cunliffe as bad as Ardern and Robertson say he was? What did you make of him?' Each were offered anonymity. Five ran for the hills, including the MP who remarked, 'This feels like kicking him when he is down.' Muldoon once famously responded, 'What better time to kick someone?' And so it was that one former colleague of Cunliffe's said, 'He was a man of overweening and largely unjustified self-confidence, from the time he entered Parliament. 'A clue came at a campaign launch at Auckland Town Hall, at which DC asked his local electorate supporters to wear red wigs … in honour of his own ginger self.' The parliamentarian remembered an exchange with Grant Robertson after Cunliffe had been deposed as leader. 'How's David doing, Grant?' 'Increasingly unhinged.' Robertson's section on Cunliffe in Anything Can Happen also somewhat comes off its hinges. As well as the extract that appeared in ReadingRoom on Tuesday, he claims Cunliffe pushed the line that Labour could not have a gay leader, 'was not burdened with modesty', had no EQ, created an atmosphere that he describes as 'toxic', and writes of Helen Clark promoting him as Minister of Health, 'I vividly remember him becoming Minister of Health and announcing to the House like some kind of sheriff that there was a new kid in town running the show. I wanted to crawl under my desk.' But another contemporary in the Cunliffe years was more favourable. 'I liked David a lot. He was bright and capable. He wasn't perfect, who is? 'I personally was disappointed that Helen Clark anointed Phil Goff and Annette King as her successors after the 2008 election as it felt like it was going back to the past instead of allowing the party to go forward. We will never know what would have happened. David was blamed for the loss of the 2014 election – unfairly in my view.' A third colleague tried to take the long view. They emailed, 'With the benefit of hindsight I'm a little more charitable than I might have been if you asked me 10 years ago. I think David didn't really know himself and was broken rather than malicious. In his own mind I believe he meant well, but he was fundamentally lost and seemed to be forever seeking the approval of others. As we later found out, he was also going through some significant personal issues at the time which would have been a distraction. 'This all played out in ways that were harmful to those around him and which weren't conducive to effectively leading a political party. It was a horrible and traumatic time for all involved, but there's no benefit in dwelling on the past. It happened, we've all moved on, and I try not to hold on to bitterness or resentment. I only hope he's found some stability and happiness in his life outside politics.' (Cunliffe was also contacted. He replied by email, 'After careful consideration, I must respectfully decline your offer of an interview. As with previous requests regarding Jacinda's book, my decision is based on differing recollections of events, the fact that the issues discussed were not brought to me directly, and my desire to move beyond reactive political discourse. At this time, I do not intend to participate in further interviews of this nature. I hope you understand my position, and I thank you for your professionalism in your approach.') A fourth colleague gave an interview on the phone on Tuesday morning. 'Oh gidday Steve. I've actually just read the excerpt from Grant's book that you published at ReadingRoom.' And? 'And I absolutely recognised the bit about Grant saying he had a habit of disappearing from important events to go and spend time on his phone. I experienced a couple of examples of that myself. My abiding memory is hosting him in my electorate, having him scarper from an event exactly the way Grant describes in his book. You know, which isn't great when you're trying to win your local community over. 'I mean – he was very disappointing. You know, he had a lot of support across the party and he had backers in caucus who kind of put their neck on the line with caucus colleagues to support him. And I think a lot of those people felt very let down by his leadership. 'He was a very high IQ individual, but had very, very low EQ. He just had no idea how to go about managing people, working with people. Of course he was working with a group of people who were somewhat hostile to him and had no idea how to deal with that. 'Some of his decision making was very haphazard. He would make major decisions apparently on the fly. But when he actually sat down and worked through policy detail, he was great at thinking things through. 'But he just didn't have the attributes required either to manage his caucus or to be a spokesperson for the party and to win people over on an emotional level.' The final interview was a change in emphasis: rather than asking about Cunliffe, questions were asked about Robertson, and Ardern. The parliamentarian said, 'Their obsession with demonising him is odd. David did his very best to get Labour elected to government. But when he was the leader, he was consistently undermined by parts of our caucus. So that made life difficult. He was always watching his back because of the kind of vitriol that you are seeing now.' They meant the memoirs by the former Prime Minister and her deputy. They continued, 'I've always taken the view that whoever the leader is of my party, my job as a caucus member was to back them 100 percent so that we could get a Labour government elected and we could address the issues that New Zealanders needed addressing. But that wasn't a view held by all my caucus.' Including Robertson? 'Not that I'm aware of. But certainly, you know, people who he was closely associated with were. There was a lot of commentary from within the Labour Party caucus that was undermining David Cunliffe at the time. To me that is indefensible as it is with any of our leaders.' What does it say about Robertson and Ardern that they are singling out Cunliffe to trash him? 'It looks defensive to me. Like they have a need to demonise someone who was actually doing his best for the things that we all believed in and giving those policies over the line. 'It was publicly known at the time, you know, leading up to David Cunliffe's election as our leader, that there was a group within our caucus who chose to tell the media that they called themselves the ABCs and that stood for Anyone But Cunliffe. 'That's not collegial and it's not collective and it's not unified. That undermining continued through his leadership. I mean I'm not going to say that he was the perfect leader, but he was a very good leader. He always stuck to the principles and policies that we were promoting as a party. And he was, you know, really good at communicating those ideas and that information. 'David was a great communicator. I mean it was widely regarded that he got the better of John Key in the leaders debates. But the defeat that we suffered at that election was recognition from the voting electorate that we had a caucus that was working against itself. 'And I think that there's been an attempt over the years to create the narrative that David Cunliffe undermined David Shearer. David Shearer undermined David Shearer. I mean he couldn't say a sentence straight whenever he spoke in front of the media. That was the basic problem there. 'What happened is that parts of our caucus circulated a petition calling for him to step down as leader. David Cunliffe was not involved in that petition. It was people associated with the ABC group. History is kind of being rewritten of David Shearer being forced to stand down as something that David Cunliffe and his supporters brought about. But the record will show that it was actually people from within the Grant Robertson camp that actually executed that pressure and that petition.' Was Grant Robertson – later the deputy Prime Minister and finance minister, and now the author of Anything Can Happen, which tells his version of events during his political career – the leader of that camp? 'Grant wasn't the ringleader,' they replied, 'but he was quite careful not to be the person carrying the message'. ReadingRoom has devoted most of the week to coverage of the former finance minister's book. Tomorrow: the memoir is reviewed by Tim Murphy.
Business Wire
05-06-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
ZOLL's Anything Can Happen Campaign and Simon's Heart Donate AEDs to 32 Youth Organizations Across the U.S.
CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In recognition of CPR and AED Awareness Week (June 1-7), ZOLL ® Medical and Simon's Heart announced today that they will be providing 32 youth organizations in cities across the U.S. with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and training to respond to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the leading cause of death among young athletes. The initiative is part of ZOLL's Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help. ™ education campaign, featuring pro football player and SCA survivor Damar Hamlin. The 32 AEDs will be placed in community-based nonprofits, including 25 Boys & Girls Clubs. 'This is exactly what I've been fighting for—getting AEDs to the places and people who need them most,' said Hamlin, a 2024 inductee of Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Alumni Hall of Fame who credits his local Pittsburgh-area Club as life-changing. Each organization receiving an AED was selected based on need and the absence of existing AED access, ensuring that youth organizations are better equipped to respond in the event of a cardiac emergency. "Every young person deserves access to lifesaving resources,' said Alexis Simchak, Senior Program Director, Simon's Heart. 'Equipping youth organizations with AEDs isn't just about being prepared for an emergency. It's about building confidence, leadership, and community safety from the ground up.' "ZOLL is delighted to make these donations, knowing that together with Simon's Heart, we're expanding the network of citizen first responders,' said Elijah White, President of ZOLL's Acute Care Technology division. 'When an AED is nearby, anyone can help save a life. ZOLL AEDs provide real-time coaching and feedback to help bystanders to act decisively." Gear to Safeguard Communities Each organization will receive a ZOLL AED 3 ®, complete with a backpack for portability. In addition, ZOLL will provide guidance on AED placement, maintenance, and educational resources to train staff, volunteers, and community members. The effort reinforces the 'Chain of Survival,' empowering the public to recognize signs of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), call 911, begin CPR, and use an AED within minutes—actions that can dramatically increase the chances of survival. 'These AEDs will help protect our children and families and also educate our community that every bystander can make a difference,' said Michael Belcher, National Vice President of Child Safety and Quality Assurance Officer at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. 'We're proud to make Boys & Girls Clubs a place where safety and readiness go hand in hand.' Donations and Training Expand the Potential to Save Lives ZOLL will donate an AED to Boys & Girls Clubs in the following cities: Glendale/Phoenix, AZ; Atlanta; Baltimore; Charlotte, NC; Chicago; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Jacksonville; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Minneapolis; New Orleans; New York; Pittsburgh; Seattle; Tampa Bay; Nashville. ZOLL will donate an AED to youth football teams in the following cities: Buffalo; Denver; Green Bay; Indianapolis; Foxboro, MA; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Washington, DC. Spread the Word: With an AED, Anyone Can Help More than 100,000 sudden cardiac arrests happen in public each year. Yet, nearly half (46%) of Americans are surprised to learn that AEDs do more than deliver a shock, they provide real-time visual and audio instruction and feedback on CPR, empowering anyone, regardless of training, to step in and help save a life. Launched in 2024 with pro football player Damar Hamlin, ZOLL's Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help. ™ campaign educates the public that AEDs aren't just shock devices—they're life-saving tools anyone can rely on in an emergency to help save a life. Learn more at About ZOLL Medical ZOLL, an Asahi Kasei company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and cardiac monitoring, circulation enhancement and CPR feedback, supersaturated oxygen therapy, data management, ventilation, therapeutic temperature management, and sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, as well as lay rescuers, improve patient outcomes in critical cardiopulmonary conditions. For more information, visit About Simon's Heart: SIMON'S HEART is a 501(c)(3) founded in memory of 3 month old Simon Sudman who died suddenly from an undetected heart condition. The organization is committed to a future in which parents and communities don't lose children to detectable and treatable heart conditions. Simon's Heart raises awareness, provides education, and advocates for heart screenings, CPR education and the placement of AEDs where kids learn and play. Learn more at: About Boys & Girls Clubs of America For more than 160 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America ( has provided a safe place for kids and teens to learn and grow. Clubs offer caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Boys & Girls Clubs programming promotes academic success, good character and leadership, and healthy lifestyles. Over 5,400 Clubs serve more than 3 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. The national headquarters is located in Atlanta. Learn more about Boys & Girls Clubs of America on Facebook and LinkedIn. Copyright © 2025 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. ZOLL, AED 3, and Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help. are trademarks or registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Asahi Kasei is a registered trademark of Asahi Kasei Corporation.
