Your Brighter Future: Burn.
“I just utter one fear…”
Remember that?
politicans
Judith Collins
Will DunnoKeyo Lead National into Next Year’s Defeat?
Te Reo Putake starts speculating on when, how, and by whom John Key will be knifed in the back by. The question of if it is before or after the losing the next election. So far only Keith Holyoake has managed to retire as a leader of National, so after Labour’s tidy leadership changes we’re all looking forward to the political splatterfest that only National can provide.
Return of the Hollow Men
With Cunliffe’s Labour in the ascendance, NAct and/supporters pull out their bag of dirty and deceptively manipulative, Hollow Men, tricks. Adviser to John Key & Boris Johnson, Mark Textor, will most likely be used again: ruthless attack politics, playing on fears & prejudices.
Collins & Key go head to head over Henry Inquiry
Judith Collins is making a play for support among her fellow National ministers and trying to turn them against Key following Key’s contemptuous attitude to their privacy in the Henry Inquiry. At the Privileges Committee hearing into the Henry Inquiry yesterday, Collins and sidekick Anne Tolley asked why Henry thought he could look at their emails without their permission. Why indeed.
Idiot tweet of the day – Collins
Brooking vs Clarke43
The dispute over Judith Collins’ Wikipedia page has made it into an NZ Herald article, with both Brooking & Clarke43 accused of political bias. Team Collins claim they just edited out defamatory entries. The Herald is looking for Clarke43, who surely does poor PR – praising Collins’ twitter performance.
Collins sanitising wikipedia
Wellington alcohol and drug counsellor Roger Brooking has revealed a campaign by Judith Collins’ staff to sanitise her Wikipedia page and the pages on various issues related to New Zealand justice issues. References to facts that National doesn’t want to acknowledge – such as its links to the Sensible Sentencing Trust – have been purged by Collins’ team.
Post Key leadership struggle goes mainstream
The simmering leadership struggle in the National party doesn’t get a lot of attention in the mainstream media, but here’s an exception. Judith Collins will not be pleased.
On party membership
Been having a look around the question of party memberships. Turns out there was a good investigative package in The Nation last year. We really need to tighten this stuff up. From alleged National’s “raffle ticket” membership to the incompetence of our revenue minister’s party being unable to locate their members, it seems like an awful lot of money flowing around with little accountability.
Out of the shadows
Well, its not taken long for the counter-strike. After Judith Collins’ main brain, Simon Lusk (better known as the cogent Whaleoil) went public last weekend threatening backbenchers that their careers would be short if they didn’t back Collins’ leadership bid when Key goes. Now, documents by Lusk talking about a ‘party within a party’ have been leaked.
That Lusk article
I’ve been meaning to write something on Andrea Vance’s very good piece on Simon Lusk. It tells us a lot that we already know: Lusk is the brains behind Slater; Lusk was involved in the demolition of Gilmore; and he’s very tight with the Collins camp. What’s interesting is why he has come out in the public light now. And the messages he is sending to National MPs. The leadership battle is heating up.
Labour on MMP “consultation”
According to Labour: “Judith Collins has claimed that she ‘consulted’ with political parties but was unable to reach consensus. There was absolutely no consultation.”
Judith Collins, MMP, “consensus” & democracy
Holly Walker dragged out of Judith Collins that the government will not implement the Electoral Commission’s recommendations for MMP. Collins argues there is no “consensus” between all political parties on possible changes. The Greens say National has not kept the promise of changes, out of self interest.
Nat leadership speculation
I didn’t see Key’s Q+A interview on Sunday, but it seems to have been an interesting one. Speculation about the leadership of the Nats appears to be growing.
Security: social, financial, personal, digital
Yesterday more planks in the NAct raft amounting to major changes, were before the House. These undermine democracy, fairness, the security and rights of individuals, and increase hardship for those on low incomes. Ardern on Social Security. Cunliffe on child support, privacy breaches & trust.
Look over there!
John Key needs some cover for his being caught out lying / incompetent / omitting stuff (/ insert your interpretation), so today the government is making sure it is Doing Something. More importantly Doing Something about Bad People.
The Sexing of Politics
Today, Fran O’Sullivan argues that Key has lost his edge & his ministers are using dubious tactics in dealing with Rio Tinto over Tiwai Point. O’Sulllivan implies that sharp, savvy and successful deal-making & leadership are masculine qualities.
NRT: Was Devoy’s appointment unlawful?
No Right Turn asked an interesting question yesterday about how the appointment of Susan Devoy was made.
..it is highly doubtful that Devoy meets that statutory criteria for the office she has been appointed to. The advice on her appointment should make very interesting reading…
Bain files against Collins
David Bain has filed a claim against Judith Collins. Here’s The Herald’s / APNZ quick announcement.
John Key’s Summer
While John Key spends the summer in Hawaii, he will need to make some decisions about the future of his cabinet. Parata’s future is poised in the balance, and he is looking to move Tim Groser on later next year.
The dark side
Fran O’Sullivan & Audrey Young are awestruck by Judith Collins as ruthless Force. FO’S does a fan-girl rave, slipping into fanfic mode.Was the Binnie episode a daring bid to become the next Nat leader? Will English & Joyce respond with callous, socially-destructive manoeuvres?
Bad news govt: it must be recess
The House went into recess yesterday. Today there is a rush of stories that are bad news for the government. Collins and the Binnie report, unsuccessful boot camps, and counter-productive anti-union and anti-worker policies. What else?
Campbell on Collins
Gordon Campbell on Judith Collins and the Binnie report (go read the full article on Scoop). “This is banana republic stuff from Collins”…
Caption contest
Explaining is losing
David Shearer had Key on the back foot today in the House over Labour’s housing policy. Even Speaker Lockwood Smith sat Key down for going on too long and off the point. He had to be rescued by Chief Whip Michael Woodhouse with a patsy question, but the leadership crack it was designed to bring out fell flat too.
Politicians of the year
On Q+A, Russel Norman and Judith Collins were named politicians of the year. It’s as much about what they have done in this past year as where they are going. Norman has cleverly positioned himself as the voice of the Left on the economy – the economy is the issue and will continue to be so. Collins has softened her image to set herself up to replace Key.
Crushless Collins drops lawsuit
Judith Collins pledged to take Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little to court for defamation after they suggested she was involved in leaking Bronwyn Pullar’s name via Slater-Lusk. Today she dropped the suit after a letter from Mallard and Little in which a) don’t concede defaming her and b) deny intent to do so. A huge back down from Crushless.
Collins folds
And so Collins’ “defamation” case against Mallard and Little ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.
Oops – doubled up posting with Eddie – read both posts!
US Justice and Dotcom’s birthday
Judith Collins is going to the US and isn’t going to raise the Dotcom case we are told. I’ll bet the US Justice Department is though. They knew for a year Dotcom was going to be arrested on his birthday.
Collins’ faction tries to magic up an ally
It’s been interesting to watch the Collins Faction of National talk down the Conservative Party all year. It’s not hard to see why – they occupy space/take votes that a Collins-led National would want for itself. What the Collins Faction would like is a decent liberal-right party. That would allow National to swing conservative and give up liberal votes to an ally, rather than to the Left.
Know when to run
Key has gone for a gamble again; but not the gamble some of the pundits were expecting. On the asset sales, he’s chosen flight over fight. But the real problem the asset sales face now isn’t Maori action, it’s the state of the economy.
Collins crushed by booze lobby
What a craven cave-in. Lobbied by big booze, Collins has given in. Alco-pops will be left to the industry to regulate. It’s not a good look. Key wants to give the pokie industry free rein, and Collins wants to give the booze industry free rein, which means more families suffer, and more hospitals are overrun. As leaders they both get a fail.
Collins’ Bennett problem
I look forward to Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little calling Paula Bennett as a witness in their defamation suit with Judith Collins. Bennett openly admits doing what Collins has sued Mallard and Little for accusing her of doing: using ministerial powers to leak the private details of a political opponent. Bennett even says she’ll do it again. She obviously doesn’t see doing it as hurting her reputation.
They eat their own
Anyone else taking a perverse pleasure in the Pullar-Collins-Boag-Judge affair? They’re all Tory villains. And they’re eating each other alive. Judge was handpicked to privatise ACC. Now, Collins is trying to stick the Boag email leak to him, Did he do it? Who knows. The other most likely option is Collins. So implicating Judge serves Collins’ purpose.
Above the law
Ha ha ha! Wasn’t it funny when Judith Collins brandished a TASER at the National Party conference and said she wanted to use it on Trevor Mallard. I guess it’s alright for me to whip out an airgun or a knife next time I’m at the pub. You know, as a joke. Oh? It’s only OK when Ministers are using to further their phony tough guy brand? Must have missed that section of the Arms Act.
Trash talk
So the first car has been crushed. While ministerial grandstanding abounds, a criminologist describes it as “vindictive, malicious, petty and an undignified way of dealing with the problem”.