A 2011 press conference video has cast further doubt on John Key’s claim that he did not know about the release of sensitive information to Cameron Slater.
Updated: The recollection of Tucker doesn’t match what John Key said in 2011. What spaghetti explanation will Johnnie give today.
Some improved versions of National’s opening commercial [update: pic added]
John Key’s told media they don’t need to talk to him about Judith Collins and her Cameron Slater choices, they should talk to her as she’s no shrinking violet…
But Radio NZ, The Herald, TV3 and I imagine all other media have been trying to contact her for days.
Cut Your Hair has some great analysis of who is the “policy free zone” that Key is claiming the left is…
Poor John Key must think he is in the movie Groundhog Day. The media clearly do not accept his explanation for Dirty Politics. And each day further information comes out which casts more and more doubt on the veracity of what he has been saying.
Just Wow. Morning Report failed to get hold of Bob Harvey to offer balance on their coverage of National/Labour’s opening ads this morning, […]
I trust that the media will be interested to know which senior Nats Slater was working with on the release of data hacked from Labour servers.
In 2008 National breached copyright by using a song suspiciously like Coldplay’s Clocks. The DVD had to be withdrawn. It may not have learned as its latest campaign video has music that sounds suspiciously like an Eminem song. Has it learned and does it have permission?
Pot pourri, grab bag… Nicky Hager’s sister’s response, Media Take, John Key’s wanting to talk about policy, political passion, at the end of the day…
How slippery is John Key? Part one of transcript of Key’s press standup last Thursday. On accessing Labour’s website private details, OIAs to the SIS, Dirty Politics, Nicky Hager and Mr Slater. [Updated]
Simon Collins has published a very good article comparing various parties policies on social security. As is the current trend, he doesn’t fully examine the deep and lasting contribution good child care & education make towards society & the economy. It’s about material and social well-being.
Five months ago John Key gave Judith Collins a final warning regarding her Ministerial Career after misleading him and the media about Oravida. Following the release of Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics and the allegations, backed up by emails, that Hager has made against Collins her last chance must have now been used up.
I think it’s likely that the emails leaked to Nicky Hager for “Dirty Politics” have everything to do with the National Party. Nicky Hager identified the main source for his previous book “The Hollow Men” as six people from the National Party. He thanks “the National party staffer who first suggested he work on this subject” in the preface to “Dirty Politics.” It may well be that the both leaks come from the same source, and for the same reason. There will be many people in the National Party who will be disgusted at what is now being done under their name.
A video montage of Key’s denials to recent reporter questions about Dirty Politics.
John Key is sticking to his defensive strategy: deny everything, label Hager’s book a smear campaign, and – when pressed on specific allegations – say he doesn’t know the details. There is of course a very easy way for Mr Key to become acquainted with the details, which he doesn’t seem keen to do, and that’s to simply ask the right people….
Revulsion. That’s what’s coming out from a range of people who have ploughed through the inner thoughts of Slater, Farrar, Ede, Collins, Lusk, Odgers, Jordan Williams – they’re all repulsive. It’s the strength of that gut feeling in response that will sink their plot. Despite all John Key’s efforts to move as quickly as possible to the end of the day, …it’s still not ok. Key’s try at cover up is pathetic, and doomed to be futile. But what it shows is that he has chosen the moral low ground with the rest of them. TeamKey indeed.
Helen Kelly tweeted an image of an extract from Dirty Politics, highlighting some very nasty misogynistic writing by Slater and Jordan William. Williams replied.
Guyon Espiner’s interview on Radio NZ today, exposes the moral failings of John Key’s leadership -as Key attempts to divert, & justify the dirty game that NZ politics has become under his watch. Partial transcript of the interview: to be continued Updated: Transcript completed
Andrea Vance has reported that as late as last week Jason Ede still had access to the Beehive. And Key’s replies to her questions concerning this suggest that there is a lot that he does not know. It makes you wonder why he can be so insistent that Nicky Hager’s allegations are wrong when he has such little information.
Occasionally erudite disagrees with one part of rocky’s analysis of the legality of Cameron Slater and Jason Ede’s accessing and copying the data from the Labour party’s computer. However he still thinks it is likely to be criminal.
The Herald is reporting that the first of Key’s denials about the allegations in Dirty Politics has been refuted. National did hack Labour’s crippled server in 2011 and even apologised for it but Key claims National had no involvement.
Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics tells of the “two track strategy” of John Key’s leadership of the National Party & the country: a smiley nice front, & vicious, covert black ops behind the scenes. Key has overseen one of the darkest, nastiest periods in NZ politics. Vote Left for necessary, democratic change, for people-centred governance.
Some interesting comments on Hager’s book by John Armstrong and Danyl McLaughlan and the nagging question of who is responsible remains …
How private are communications on social media platforms such as Facebook? It is claimed that the GCSB law’s definition of “privacy” leaves a loophole for warrantless surveillance of messaging by Kiwis on platforms like Facebook.
Two days after Nicky Hager’s book has been released and National’s response has been interesting. They are doing everything from attacking the author to the means of obtaining the information, to saying that it is politics as usual and Labour does it too. But John Key’s recent response to TV3 looked desperate. And the veracity of what he said needs to be checked.
Cameron Slater expresses his thoughts on Christchurch and the effects of the second Christchurch Earthquake. John Key thinks that he is a “pretty colourful character”. What do you think?
National’s standard response is to ridicule – other political parties, Jon Stephenson, scientists etc have all had it. It slots nicely with Cameron Slater’s style. Now they’re ridiculing Nicky Hager, but they need to be taken up on each allegation.
The use of clandestine SIS files as a weapon of partisan politics is needs to be investigated. John Key or his office discovered classified SIS files that were embarrassing to Phil Goff, got them declassified, then immediately told a right-wing blogger to seek those same newly-declassified files under the OIA, all as a means of smearing a political opponent.
I have foolishly never taken Cameron Slater very seriously except when his attacks have been obviously for the benefit of the National Party. I actually believed that the misinformed and bigoted viewpoints that prevail in his posts were his genuine opinions. It fits his character to drone on about “The Breastapo” “Sucking on the Taxpayers’ Tit”. To discover that such posts were actually written and paid for on behalf of Fonterra actually shocked me.
I do so want to read this book right now. I can hardly wait. The preface is online… http://dirtypoliticsnz.com Nicky Hager is way way more of a gentleperson than I am. Explaining the material that is not in the book – “The fact that Slater and his associates have made a career of exposing the very private details of other people’s lives does not make it right to do that to them.”
I haven’t read the Nicky Hager’s book “Dirty Politics” yet. But I’m not surprised that Cameron Slater is up to his neck in dirt provided by John Key’s dirt merchant Jason Ede. That he has been given information sourced from the SIS is extremely surprising. I had not thought that John Key was quite that stupid.
So the book is an expose of the Slater-Ede-Key Dirty Politics machine, based on data acquired and leaked to Hager. Will Update: Update: Hager to be on Campbell Live tonight.
Dave Kennedy (bsprout) looks at the increasingly parlous current state of the smaller parties. He is also looking forward to the Green party campaign launch this weekend in Auckland. Updated with Green campaign launch details.
It’s been interesting to watch the nats and their busy little helpers working away at branding the election campaign as a nasty one.
It’s been disappointing to watch the media falling for it so hard.
On the right there’s one big party who have the lion’s share of the vote, and a smattering of odd little parties at the kids’ table fighting for scraps and key electorates. It’s one of the reasons National continues to poll so highly: if you’re a rightwing voter, you don’t have any other viable options.
