Being media again

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 47 comments

I’ll be in Wellington from the 4th to the 7th for the Labour party congress on the 5-6th. I’ll be on a media pass again which will relieve me of the duties that I have usually had to undergo as a delegate, like having to think too much. This will be the first congress I have attended as media. I’m expecting to have a lazy time watching others work. If you’re around Wellington, come and see David Cunliffe’s speech on Sunday. He is promising a big speech about what he and Labour will be taking to the voters this year.

Smith plans sale of trees to fund DOC

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 135 comments

Nick Smith is proposing to introduce under urgency legislation which will allow the removal of felled trees from conservation areas on the West Coast. The sense of cynical politics involved in this measure is strong …

Tales from the underbelly of John Key’s NZ

Written By: karol
Date published: - 114 comments

The underbelly of John Key’s “rockstar economy” is mostly kept in the shadows, but every so often more tales emerge from the growing numbers of homeless. Vote left & vote the bastards out, this election!

Reverse ferret bites PM on arse.

Written By: Guest post
Date published: - 83 comments

PM John Key has performed a backflip by now suggesting Donghua Liu should front up with evidence to support the NZ Herald’s unsubstantiated claim that he donated substantial sums to Labour. This is a world away from his previous position that it was up to Labour to show that no donation was made. It’s increasingly looking like it simply not true and the Herald has been played like a fiddle. And two, the fiddle planter is Cameron Slater, the PM’s bestie from way back.

NRT: The Jones appointment

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 45 comments

When I first heard of this appointment, I commented that if McCully had offered Jones a briefcase full of cash rather than a specially-created high-paying job to resign, we’d call it what it is: Corruption and bribery of member of Parliament. From what I’ve seen in this release, I stand by that.

Updated:  It looks like this appointment either violated the Cabinet Manual or is in violation of the State Sector Act. Whatever way you look at this, the appointment appears to broken some laws. Perhaps some journos would like to look up from bullshit from National’s dirty tricks blogger and care to investigate a real story?

Polity: TPP deal on rocks. Surprise!

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 10 comments

John Key is abandoning hope of a TPP deal. As it stands at present there is nothing in it for New Zealand. Of course the usual ugly swamp that is US internal politics is making the deal descend into a mire.

Expect nothing to happen for another year or two, and maybe the damn thing will never happen.

The spirit of ’35

Written By: karol
Date published: - 50 comments

Jan Logie’s post: “Work  and Income – stories from hidden people” is a must read:  stories from a divisive society, under a callous government that benefits the few at the expense of too many. We can do much better than that.  Vote for change this election!

Why the left despair about NZ’s main stream media

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 257 comments

The media seem to be mesmerized by John Key.  He can start a media beat up by talking publicly about a rumour then get a sympathetic headline when stating that Donghua Liu should reveal his evidence, even though it was Key who made the claim publicly.  Yet after a week of bad press for Labour over a claim for which there is no real proof Key’s role is not scrutinised and he seems to get away with it.

NRT: Our misogynistic political media

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 44 comments

In previous elections, the major parties have submitted lists heavily dominated by men, and this passes without comment. This year, Labour has submitted one with a slight imbalance (53:47) towards women. The reaction is sadly predictable. Misogynist reporting. Also incorrect, there is no gender rule. Not mentioned: Labour’s list is gender-balanced up to position 40; that slight imbalance comes from the bottom, unelectable end of the list and will not translate into caucus places.

Polity: Colin Craig confused

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 27 comments

This morning’s news from the Fairfax/Ipsos poll is that 81% of New Zealanders hate coat-tailing and want it gone. I agree with them. So does Labour. So do the Greens. So do Internet MANA. National, of course, relishes coat-tailing. So – to the 81% – if you want 2014 to be the last election with any coat-tailing, vote for a change of government. In the meantime of course, we have Crazy Colin Craig who thinks that Key’s job is to give just him a seat, entirely of his own accord, with no “insipid” discussions about the quid pro quo. Good luck with that.

John Key: a tale of two ‘truths’

Written By: karol
Date published: - 34 comments

John Key claimed he didn’t know about the big shift in the US-NZ surveillance relationship in 2009.  Now he claims he always likes to be fully briefed on intelligence matters. Robert David Steele points the way from  such anti-democratic governance & misinformation, to an open source everything revolution.

Local Bodies: Politics, Sharks and Voter Apathy

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 10 comments

I had a conversation at our farmer’s market this morning about how my election campaign was going and the person I was speaking to had the view that all politicians don’t actually do much, apart from talking. I find that this thinking is actually fairly common, many people talk about the nonsense that goes on in Parliament and how all politicians are as bad as each other, “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, nothing really changes.”  I find this view really frustrating, but at the same time I can see why people may feel this way.

The middle of Queens birthday weekend? Yeah right!

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 225 comments

Ok, so according to the NZ Herald Donhua Liu is alleging that a fund raiser was held on Sunday 3rd of June 2007.

That is the Sunday in the middle of Queens birthday weekend. To say that is hardly credible is an understatement. No-one schedules fund-raisers on Sunday. They certainly don’t do it in a long weekend. And can’t the journalists at the Herald read a calendar?
Updated: This mornings Herald story looks like being more about face saving than accuracy, and the interview on Morning Report make the journalistic process at the Herald look even more dodgy.

Does a ‘news medium’ consist of spreading defamation, lies and rumours?

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 45 comments

The Whaleoil blog is in court on Monday. There is a full day session in the High Court in Auckland looking at the appeal by Cameron Slater against Judge Blackie’s decision in the District Court that the blog is not a news medium. Therefore Slater was not a journalist, and was therefore not able to protect his sources who provided stolen material to allow him to apparently defame Matthew Blomfield. The decision will probably provide case law about the status of blogs in the law and the responsibilities of news mediums.

NZ Herald – again that curious lack of detail

Written By: lprent
Date published: - 112 comments

I’ve been around the Labour party campaigners for a long time. I’d have expected to hear of auction sales of near to $100,000 by rumour if nothing else. It is possible that I didn’t. But then so is time travel. Quite simply the NZ Heralds reporting of Liu’s letter without any corroboration or details about where and when isn’t what I expect from journalists. It is what I expect from Whaleoil – a simple smear. I hadn’t realised that the Herald was that desperate.

The Purpose of Government

Written By: Mike Smith
Date published: - 7 comments

Bryan Gould writes on this in the latest post on the AUT Briefing Papers website. Gould quotes from Senator Elizabeth Warren’s classic speech “Nobody got rich on their own. Nobody.” Gould’s conclusion – A renewed debate about the purpose of government is well overdue – amen to that.

Kia Kaha

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 132 comments

David Cunliffe’s message to members and supporters (repost from email) It’s been a tough couple of days for everyone in Labour, but I […]

Hamstrung

Written By: Zetetic
Date published: - 46 comments

David Cunliffe forgets an eleven year old pro-forma letter. John Armstrong calls for him to resign. Then it turns out this was a […]

Turn out and vote National out

Written By: Guest post
Date published: - 110 comments
At the last election, the high non-vote spoke to one important truth – many voters saw no reason to turn out. The media had told them that National would win by a landslide and they either didn’t mind or thought that one vote wouldn’t make any difference. This election is radically different. It is rapidly becoming clear that we are losing control of our country.  Vote on September 20, and vote against this Government.

NRT: An abuse of the OIA

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 39 comments

So it turns out that Immigration released letters from David Cunliffe and Chris Carter in support of Donghua Liu. However, the Department of Internal Affairs refused to release the letters sent by Mr Williamson and Mr Banks under the privacy and commercial provisions in the Official Information Act.  This looks like a blatantly political release decision to advance the interests of the government of the day.  Transparency of official information applies to everyone, not just the government’s enemies.

 

Is the $15,000 even true?

Written By: Bunji
Date published: - 214 comments

John Key’s alleging that hundreds of thousands flowed to Labour from Donghua Liu, but as the Nat’s smear campaign unravels, even the $15,000 can’t be found. Who do we trust – an unnamed ‘party source’ in the Herald, or Party records? $15,000 is a sizeable donation that is likely to be noted or remembered. And where’s Donghua himself in all this – surely he could clear this up very quickly…

Local Bodies: National’s Campaign Strategy Stinks

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 25 comments

We all know from reading Nicky Hager’s The Hollow Men (or watching the documentary) that the National Party actually advocates for a small section of society. Their policies rarely support most New Zealanders and after each period of a National led Government we have costly messes like leaky buildings and dead miners as the aftermath. This isn’t to say that Labour shouldn’t take responsibility for not repealing dodgy legislation, but National has always stood for less regulation, fewer protections for workers and the environment and an upward flow of money to the already rich.

Polity: The game is the game

Written By: notices and features
Date published: - 24 comments

Rob Salmond offers some advice to the National smear team. When you screw up and start contradicting each other’s stories, you look like a pack of low-rent numpties. And it reveals your tactics for all to see, which is what you were trying to avoid in the first place. Bill English and John Key should really communicate so they don’t trample over each others stories. And the  spectacle of Michael Woodhouse changing his mind within hours about when he first saw the letter, and what he did with it? Pure comedy

The anatomy of a smear campaign

Written By: mickysavage
Date published: - 322 comments

David Cunliffe does not recall signing a letter 11 years ago which did not advocate for Donghua Liu’s application for residence yet gets pilloried by the media for stating that he did not advocate for Mr Liu.  Michael Woodhouse denies telling John Key about the letter, then says officials from his office briefed Mr Key’s office on the letters and then his office admits that he told Key’s office about the letter yet there is no media criticism of what clearly is an attempt to hide a smear campaign.  Is this yet more evidence of media bias?