Goff apologises for Labour's past

Published: 5:44PM Sunday September 13, 2009 Source: ONE News

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Sorry for the smacking laws, sorry for changes to campaign funding, sorry for the Winston Peters saga and sorry for digging dirt on John Key.

Phil Goff has used his first conference as leader of Labour to apologise for the perceived sins of the party's past.

Sorry is a word we don't hear from politicians very often, but Goff has called on the party faithful in Rotorua to forgive the party for the mistakes of tha past.

A new leader, bright lights and more than 600 party faithful equated to a presidential style welcome for Goff and his wife Mary.

And Goff is longing to be back on top.

"We were voted out because they thought we were getting distracted by sideshows. The Winston Peters' funding saga, the Electoral Finance Act, errant MPs, smacking, lightbulbs, showerheads," said Goff, but now he was apologising.

"On occasion, we got it wrong and I am sorry for that. We weren't listening enough."

Goff used his speech to rule a line in the sand, moving away from the era of Helen Clark and the election defeat in 2008.

The man who was deputy leader then, Michael Cullen, joined in the applause for the apology.

"It's very important for a leader, after you've lost an election, to recognise the public is making sure there are lessons to be learned from that'" says Cullen.

Goff is trying move on, starting with drawing back working class voters by targeting hefty power bills.

"Labour can and will stop price gouging. We will not demand excessive dividends coming back into state coffers above what is needed for investment in new generation," said Goff.

On Saturday Goff likened himself to Graham Henry. One news asked him about that after last night's All Black defeat.

"I think the important lesson from last night is don't leave your run too late," was his reply.

A run he says he'll be up for promising he'll be good to govern in two years, two months time.

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