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John Banks' lawyer David Jones QC has consistently argued that Banks could not have signed a false declaration of election donations because he did not read it before he signed it. He simply signed it relying on the assertion of his campaign manager that it…
act election funding john banks john key local body elections national national/act government
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It's looking pretty shredded. Increasingly, it seems that John Banks has "got nothing to hide" - behind. The key question all along has turned on what John Banks knew when he signed his declaration recording donations from Kim DotCom and Sky City as anonymous. Banks'…
act john banks local body elections national national/act government
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John Banks is to stand trial for knowingly submitting a false electoral expenses return. He's charged, thanks to the private prosecution after the Police failed to act, with breaching s134(1) of the Local Electoral Act (National and Banks have since repealed that section, but without…
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The decision in the Auckland District Court today that John Banks will stand trial for signing a false declaration of his donations signals the beginning of the end of the Key government which increasingly resembles the last days of the Shipley government, only worse as…
accountability brand key election 2014 election funding john banks john key same old national
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The District Court is hearing evidence in Auckland today as to whether John Banks should stand trial for signing a donations return that he knew to be false. Kim Dotcom has given evidence - the Herald reports that when he agreed to give Banks a…
accountability act corruption election funding john banks john key local body elections national national/act government
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So the Key-Dunne spying Bill is now law. The privacy of your electronic communications now depends on the favour of an untrustworthy PM, and the best efforts of a legal system (much derided by said PM) in interpreting a confused mess of a law /…
accountability john banks john key national peter dunne Spying
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John Key may make promises about how future Prime Ministers will issue warrants, he may make promises about how the law will be interpreted - but he's not in a position to make those promises. Similarly his promise that he'll resign if there's mass surveillance…
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Last night the filibster of the Government Communications Security Bureau and Related Legislation Amendment Bill - Committee Stage - Part 1, delayed the passing of the Third reading until at least 20 August. Last night's speeches put the hypocrisy of John Key and Peter Dunne under…
accountability capitalism david cunliffe democracy under attack john banks john key labour national peter dunne slippery Spying telecommunications united future winston peters
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At the moment there are plenty of racists trying to accuse Labour of racism. I might put together a post on the Iwi/Kwi Orewa Nats later on, but in the mean time I give you - John Banks: ACT leader John Banks is accusing Labour…
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Patrick Gower's report on TV3 6pm News tonight, shows what is wrong with commerical TV news (in contrast to public service TV). He gets tonight's award for Jonolism. Here's hoping the Campbell Live tonight will show Gower how it should be done. However, in contrast…
broadcasting david shearer democracy under attack housing john banks john key overseas investment russel norman slippery tv
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John Key's government hasn't been kind to large numbers of women, especially those on benefits, and those working in relatively powerless low paid jobs. For them the top jobs mostly go to men, with women largely fronting on lower status and less powerful portfolios/positions. Jan…
act activism capitalism child abuse class war democratic participation education feminism greens internet john banks Metiria Turei spin the praiseworthy and the pitiful workers' rights
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This speech follows Metiria Turei's (previous post). In which John Banks (facilitated by Eric Roy) indulges in some good old fashioned Parliamentary sexism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt2WyqhbucY
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Peter Dunne's already been caught out being inconsistent around the leak of the GCSB report. He said all ministers were interviewed; but only he was. He said the leak happened while he was overseas (note: not a direct denial); but it happened the day he…
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John Banks has announced that he will stand in Epsom again at the next election. That is, of course, always assuming that he doesn't get chucked out of Parliament first: I haven't committed any offence': ACT leader Banks faces a charge of filing a false…
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Key hid his Tranzrail shares while asking questions about Tranzrail because he's a sneaky, avaricious bastard. Banks filed a false election return keeping his big money donors secret because he's corrupt. Shearer forgot to declare his UN Bank account because he's a bit of a…
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John Key is keen that the ACT party is "regenerating". Apparently a weekend bash at super-rich Alan Gibb's Randian paradise means they can now put baby-name stealing, Brash takeovers, internecine coups, Banksian donations and memory failures behind them. That's if a party that registered 0%,…
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I was just looking at today's edition of the (Auckland) Western Leader and came across a full page notice by the PPTA saying that Charter Schools are a failed idea. It says that submissions for the Education Amendment Bill (2012) close on the 24 January,…
act equality greens john banks national Privatisation treasury
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The hearing into the private prosecution of John Banks over his 'anonymous' mayoral donations begins today. That the private prosecution has got this far shows the judge believes there is a prima facie case - which puts the Police to shame for failing to take…
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Remember how Banks' Police report came out and the statement he gave to the Police was blanked out? And remember how Banks said it was the Police's choice, not his? Yeah, well that was a lie. Even on the most generous reading of Banks' words,…
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People don't just vote for politicians because they like their policies. Just as important are trust and perceived competence. Key's policies were never popular. He won on the other two - particularly trust. That's why the Dotcom saga is so ruining for him. As more…
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Watch this video of John Key being interviewed by the media on January 24th - four days after the Dotcom raid. First point: Key is clearly well-briefed on Dotcom. Second: he knows that Dotcom is a resident, so why didn't he raise that a month…
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John Key refuses to accept any responsibility for what his spies get up to. The only point of democratic responsibility for our spies doesn't monitor them and won't take the blame for failing to do so. He won't fire a corrupt, lying minister, either. The…
bill english corruption Gerry Brownlee Hekia parata john banks john key police
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John Key put on a scary display of incompetence - like resignation-level incompetence - in the House yesterday over the Dotcom spying affair. He claimed not to know a laundry list of basic facts that, if he didn't know them before, he bloody well ought…
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There's a lot of it about in right-wing parties at the moment. For John Key, John Banks and David Cameron it appears to be becoming the strategy of choice. It's not working very well for any of them - Banks and Key have become walking…
brand key john banks john key same old national slippery uk politics
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"Ignorance gets us nowhere", it's National's new slogan and it certainly applied with Key's feigned ignorance in answer to questions on Banks' corruption last week. Key's behaviour is jeopardising our reputation as a democracy that doesn't tolerate corruption. And he's got a lot of questions…
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Great Body cartoon in the Herald today:
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I'm puzzled by the timeline on the Banks scandal. The police report is dated 03 July 2012 (end of the Executive Summary, page 10 of the pdf). Details were available to the media on 26 July. On 31 July there was an interesting exchange in…
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Another great Tom Scott cartoon today:
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David Clark's private member's Bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 / hour was voted down at its first reading in Parliament last night. The Nats are repeating the lie that increasing the minimum wage costs jobs - no it doesn't. The vote was…
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I think that Kim Dotcom is actually a very savvy operator. Turning up to Parliament on the second day of questions (not today, when Key won't be in the House) was inspired. It ensured another day of coverage. Then, his words: "It's a very fragile…