John Key: Berlusconi of the south pacific
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john key
Small target
Outraging families of suicide victims. Insulting the Police as layabouts. Declaring war on the media. Negative teapot stories every day, now spreading to over coverage. The Nats are spinning this was planned; that they decided to go nuclear on the media as a vote winner. What a joke. They were successfully running a small target campaign until a week ago.
International Federation of Journalists condemns Key’s suppression of media freedom
The International Federation of Journalists has condemned police demands for media organisations to hand over information about the tea tapes.
Much as some of us have enjoyed watching Key squirm, this has gone too far. Time to call off the cops and release the tape.
Unbridled power
Kazakhstan police have ordered four media organisations to hand over evidence of an alleged illegal recording of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The police said they would carry out searches to get the material. Opposition politicians have accused Mr Nazarbayev of trying to gag the media in the run-up to an election next weekend.
Spare time
John Key says that it’s OK for the Police to waste time trying to intimidate the media on his behalf because they have “spare time” with the drop in crime. There were 220,000 unsolved crimes last year including 8 homicides. The cops solved 15,000 fewer crimes than the previous year. Don’t tell me they’re sitting around waiting to do the PM’s bidding.
Key loses plot under election pressure
John Key has a history of choking under pressure but this time, calling on the police to raid the premises of our national broadcasters TVNZ and RNZ, and our major privately owned newspapers – he’s cracked under the pressure of the campaign and the spectre of losing it all. There’ll be no knighthood if Key becomes the first National PM to lose after just one term.
Search warrants against the media
Interesting looking at the current law on getting and using search warrants on media organisations. There are some quite clear guidelines from a 1965 case.If the guidelines are adhered to it is hard to see how warrants could be obtained. Reading and publishing the search warrants and the supporting materials looks to be the only way that the public will be able to decide if John Key is walking down the path of close cooperation between the police and the current prime minister used by other ‘democratic’ countries.
Peters leaking everywhere
Winston is leaking details of the teapot tapes. Plenty of other rumours doing the rounds, including a TV1 poll tonight that shows no damage to the Nats on voting intentions yet.
Leave John Key Alone
Whenever the PM is talking politics, that is a matter of public interest. If he doesn’t want to be embarrassed when private conversations become public, the solution is in his hands…
Also a hugely funny video by a distraught supporter of John Key, or so it seems.
Key declares war on the media
This headline speaks for itself. Tea tape: TVNZ, RNZ to be searched – “Four media outlets, including Radio New Zealand and TVNZ, are to be searched for any material they might have in their possession that relates to the tea pot tapes”. Outrageous.
National Election agenda setting fail
This is just from one news outlet. Stuff, the Herald, RNZ, TVNZ – they’re all focussing on what’s making Key looking like a fool. They aren’t interested in hearing what National has to say about anything until they fess up. Nine days from an Election, now that’s a spectacular agenda setting fail. Who’s advising Key’s campaign, Melissa Lee?
Caption Contest
Interesting poll results
Minor Leaders’ debate: Winston Peters 36%, Hone Harawira 27%, Don Brash 14%.
Fairfax Epsom poll: Paul Goldsmith 45.5%, John Banks 29.1%.
Impact of Key endorsement: More likely to vote Banks 23%, Less likely 30%.
Taranaki Daily news debate exit poll: Andrew Little 64.5%, Jonathan Young 28%.
“Anyone who is innocent has nothing to fear”
Key would have had slightly better grounds for opposing the release of the teapot tape if he hadn’t led a government which trampled on civil rights in its determination to strengthen search and surveillance powers. I wonder if his “anyone who is innocent has nothing to fear” line is sounding quite so good to him now…
A matter of integrity
The Right’s crying we should be talking about policy, not certain tapes. Funny, until recently they were mocking Labour for putting out so much policy. Fact is, we don’t elect policy implementing automatons. We elect leaders for their policies and because we trust them to act with integrity on our behalf. The tea tapes matter because they go to Key’s integrity.
Did Key “stage” the teapot tape tantrum?
There’s a theory going round that Key deliberately “staged” his walkout from questioning over the teapot tape fiasco. 3 News has a version, and Tracy Watkins really goes to town with it. I don’t buy it. It looks like what it is, a panicked reaction from a PM trapped by his own hubris.
[insert tea-related pun here]
The teapot tapes story (seems that’s the name that’s been settled on, despite the story involving neither teapots nor tapes) has evolved two distinct strands: the contents of the Key-Banks conversation, which is gradually coming out through the media, and the very aggressive, poorly conceived response of National which is making it worse for them.
Update: According to Fairfax reporter Danya Levy on Twitter, Key has just “stormed out” of a press conference after further questioning on the tapes. He’s losing it. Now The Herald has the story.
‘Dying off’?
Winston Peters is suggesting that in the transcript of the PM’s meeting with Banks, John Key made some derogatory remarks about the older New Zealanders that tend to support New Zealand First, along the lines of “not to worry [about Winston’s support] they’re dying off”. Slagging off older New Zealanders (ie. the ones that always vote) is a sure way to lose an election.
Could Key really be so clueless? Well yes, when you look at the excuses he’s trotting out – probably.
Key’s second credibility downgrade
A lawyer representing victims of the News of the World phone hacking scandal says that Key’s comparing that event to the recorded conversation with Banks is a “cheap shot”, and the recording should be released. (Good work from 3 News.) How’s Key going to justify gagging the media now?
Once a bully always a bully
Key is now using the police to intimidate journalists at The Herald and at 3 News to keep the “game changing” teapot tapes from being released. What a surprise! Not. John Key and the Nats have a long, long history of bullying their critics and intimidating the media.
Transcript Contest: Johns’ Magical Teapot Tapes
John: “I hear you might be able to get your hands on something to get me through the Election?”
Key & Banks chatted about rolling Brash?
The tea tape didn’t interest me at first. Nats’ reaction seemed over the top but would Key and Banks be so stupid to discuss anything sensitive in a public cafe metres from the press mob? But then Key went to the cops. This said the Nats were really worried. It can only be something that cuts to the heart of Brand Key’s greatest weakness: Key’s honesty.
Key calling in police over tea tape
Key says he’s “not bothered in the slightest about the tape”, but he’s laying a complaint with the police. Meanwhile the contents of the tape are being described as “potentially game-changing”…
Epsom: spit or swallow?
Oh to be an Epsom voter – what an enviable menu of options you have. A National candidate who cares so much about the electorate that he goes to extraordinary lengths to discourage people from voting for him, or a racist former National politician soundly rejected by all of Auckland after a dismal ‘Supercity’ mayoralty who’s actively campaigning to undermine his own racist former National politician party leader.
What a shonkey farce!
Three lies in one
Wave goodbye to higher taxes. Not your loved ones.
Choose a Brighter Future. Derp de derp.
This is what John Key was promising last election – before he came to power, raised GST, and record numbers of kiwis left New Zealand permanently for a brighter future in Australia.
Key bullies HoS on ‘cup of tea’ recording
So, John Key and John Banks have a meeting in a cafe, full of members of the public. They get the photo-op, then usher the media out. A HoS cameraman accidentally leaves his audio recorder. Key and Banks talk. In public. Anyone in the cafe could hear. The recorder gets the conversation. Key bullies the HoS into not printing it. The HoS caves. Disgraceful.
A cold cup of tea
Well, that was a let down. The much-hyped ‘cup of tea’ climaxed in Key saying that he would be voting for Goldsmith but he “wouldn’t be unhappy” if other Epsom voters back Banks. A double negative? Hardly a ringing endorsement. I think it’s too little, too late, for a man and a party that are too unpopular. All Key has done is tie his brand to extremists.
Banks – in his own words
Brand Key is now tied to John Banks. Interesting decision, could backfire – most of us don’t want Banks, Brash, or ACT back. Here’s a sample of why…
Democracy in action
A cup of tea and a lie down
Phoney Charisma
Emmerson in the Herald has a good take on John Key’s campaign style. As he continues to fail to front up to debate on actual policy.
Was it a full moon?
Oh hell. My worst fears have been realized. John Key is a wereperson. He is morphing into an incantation of the countries biggest ever political disaster. And talking of other story lines from True Blood. John Banks has been wandering around with the decapitated head of Don Brash.
The greatest threat to Banks: Brash (& that story)
John Banks says the brand he is campaigning for in Epsom is ‘Brand Key’, not ACT. Epsomites don’t want three-time loser Don Brash but it’s unavoidably true that a vote for Banks is a vote for Brash. This is leading to a further unattractive debacle as Banks tries to distance himself from his leader, who he’s trying to get into parliament.
Disrespectful
Why did Key keep talking through a minute’s silence for Christchurch quake victims?
200,000 children abandoned so already rich can get richer
How many children is 200,000 in the context of New Zealand’s population? Statistics New Zealand says between June 2008-2011 around 62-64,000 children were born each year. So 200,000 amounts to every single child born in this country since National came to power three years ago, plus another 10,000 or so.
The Recovery is here, it’s coming, it’s…
National want it both ways. They’ve brought us economic recovery through their brilliance (we’ve just not felt it yet), but also the lack of a recovery is not their fault and is in fact why all the stats are so bad. Here’s a reminder of what they’ve said…