Open mike 22/10/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step […]
Cam Slater: politely being called a lying arsehole
I’ve been trying to think of a way of expressing my complete and utter distaste for the arsehole of the local blogs and politics. But someone beat me to it. Hamish Price has been attacked in the usual way by Cameron Slater. Here is his facebook statement in response.
This rings quite true to me from what I know of the people and timelines.
KiwiFund: nationalisation or competition?
Winston Peters’ KiwiFund proposal would nationalise KiwiSaver. Russel Norman supports it, but in competition with private schemes. Cunliffe is open to negotiation. Key is dismissive, but says Peters is so untrustworthy he is likely to back down & form an alliance with National anyway.
National’s Civil War
It is clear that there is significant concern within the National Party with the behaviour of Cameron Slater and there is worry that a New Zealand version of the Tea party is forming. There is an interesting battle developing between the civilised cautious wing of the Party and the Tea Party take no prisoners approach of Slater and Lusk. The future of the National Party is at stake …
Random impertinent questions
Who says the ‘threatening texts’ in the Brown/Slater/Palino came from Brown’s camp? Didn’t the threatening text push Chuang into the affidavit, after weeks of being pressured by Palino advisor, Wewege? Doesn’t that make those texts awful useful for Slater/Palino? Do you believe Palino knew nothing of the affair, as he claims? If the purpose of the affidavit had been to present it to Brown quietly and get him to resign, wouldn’t that be blackmail?
Open mike 21/10/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step […]
Tat Loo: Viper Pilot
You can get buried in the minutiae of policy detail, House speeches and daily news cycles, thinking that success there will win an election. Outside the Thorndon Bubble however, nothing is further from the truth. A reconnected Labour Party presenting gutsy alternatives using a narrative quite different to the old neoliberal consensus is starting to get serious voter attention. Now is the time to press ‘turbo boost’.
The red tide rising
National led the combined Labour+Green vote for 76 successive Roy Morgan polls. But how times have changed. The Left’s led 10 of the last 14 polls, and all the last five. With solid vision, policies, and a credible candidate for PM, the Left finally has the goods to win. Watch for the cracks to appear in the Nats as they position for a post-Key future.
Open mike 20/10/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step […]
Playing dirty: The politics of contradiction
Slater’s track record speaks for itself. As the Brown-Chuang-Wewege-Palino story unfolds, his angle on the story shifts, and the contradictions abound. On The Nation this morning, Slater lays it out: politics is a dirty game, and that’s the game he’s playing.
Open mike 19/10/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step […]
Palino and Slater have to be joking
Of course John Palino did not know about the Len Brown Bevan Chuang relationship despite Chuang’s boyfriend who knew of the relationship being on his campaign team and despite Cameron Slater’s father being Palino’s campaign manager. Update: The Herald this morning has reported that Chuang claims to have met Palino for 90 minutes two days before the news of the affair was made public where the disclosing to Brown of the news was discussed.
TPPA: Kelsey vs Mapp debate
Last week there was a Fabian debate between Wayne Mapp and Jane Kelsey about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that New Zealand started originally as a free trade agreement. Bearing in mind the short notice there were a quite credible audience. However to enhance the audience, Lyn Collie was inveigled into filming and editing the debate. Here is the film of the debate..
Weekend social 18/10/2013
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
The “cabbage boat” defence.
It’s starting to look pretty shredded. Increasingly, it seems that John Banks has “got nothing to hide” – behind. The key question is what Banks knew when he signed a declaration recording known donations as anonymous. Paul Holmes did put the question directly to Banks on Q+A last year. He didn’t get a straight answer; Banks tried the cabbage boat defence.
Note to Labour leader: Rudimentary thoughts I
In a series of short opinion pieces The Black Rod examines the road to victory for Labour in 2014.
“It may upset some Labour members who position themselves to the Left in the Labour camp, but in broad terms Labour should seek to target and capture the support of those who generally consider themselves centrist. And those who would consider themselves to be an intermittent Labour voter. This is the real ground to be captured in 2014.”
The NBR and Editorial Independence
The NBR has fired long time senior reporter Jock Anderson for writing a sympathetic Len Brown editorial. This apparently was against instructions even though the comments appeared to be balanced and fair. This raises concerning issues about NBR’s editorial independence and the control over content that management has.
Stopping casinos hurting our communities
Imagine if cigarette makers gave out free packs to target groups to get them hooked and if you were trying to quit smoking and you had a ‘loyalty’ card with your cigarette maker then, when they noticed you had stopped making purchases, they sent you a free pack. That’s what casinos do. Freebies are used to hook people into gambling and keep them hooked. The Greens will stop them.
Open mike 18/10/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step […]
Bridges over troubled waters
Simon Bridges rose to John Banks’ defence in today’s snap debate in Parliament. For one of National’s supposed bright hopes, a leader of the future we are told, I thought he was pretty pathetic. Watch and contrast it with Grant Robertson’s superb speech. I think the tide is running out for National.
Roy Morgan – easy win for Labour/Greens?
The latest Roy Morgan poll has Labour 37%, Green 12.5%, and National down to 41.5%. As Roy Morgan says, this is the closest Labour has been since 2008. Morgan’s comment: “If a National Election were held now the latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows that a Labour/ Greens alliance would win easily.” The Conservatives have dropped from 2% to 0.5% – no help there.
Point of order, Mr Speaker!
The Speaker’s ability to do his job is being questioned strongly after Metiria Turei was thrown out of the debating Chamber after calling the SkyCity deal “sleazy”. How can John Banks provide an impartial vote on the SkyCity Bill? It should be delayed! [Update: Video]
NRT: More police crime
No Right Turn reports on a case that is symptomatic of just how out of control the police in NZ are getting. The response of Wellington’s Tactical Policing Unit was both completely disturbing in its use of violence to try to create the type of incident that they were expecting. The police lying, not only to the public, but also to themselves about the actions is even worse. If there are no prosecutions and stiff sentences for the officers involved, then it is time to start actively initiate a program of private prosecutions of individual police.
Double Dipton’s doublethink
Bill English praised the Cullen Fund on its 10th anniversary yesterday. He noted it has achieved an average return of 8.84%, well above its target. He failed to mention that he opposed the Fund being created and that he suspended contributions to the Fund at the worst possible time. And he still doesn’t want to resume them for 7 years.
The two legs of Banks’ defence trip each other
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. Let’s take a look at the two lines of defence Banks has argued, and how they contradict each other.
In defence of Bevan Chuang
We have two politicians in trouble in New Zealand. One is facing two years jail. The other is facing opprobrium for inappropriate moral behaviour. Of course the politician who breached the moral code is facing the most examination. The character of the other woman has also been heavily scrutinised and commented on and she has gone into hiding. Perhaps it is time that her wish for privacy is respected.
The sick state of the right
The Herald reports today that John Palino’s campaign team were up to their eyeballs in the Len Brown dirty digging (or should that be “pantie sniffing”) with Bevan Chung releasing evidence that it was a calculated political move.
Open mike 17/10/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step […]
The fish rots from the head
Today’s decision that John Banks will stand trial for signing a false donations return signals the beginning of the end of the Key government. Increasingly it resembles the last days of the Shipley government only worse, as corruption replaces shambles. The decision also puts the famous tea party conversation between Key and Banks, where they stitched up the deal to provide the present Government’s majority, into new perspective.
John Banks to stand trial
John Banks is to stand trial for allegedly filing a false electoral return for his failed 2010 Auckland super-city mayoralty bid. It appears that the issue will be did he intend to treat the Dotcom donation as anonymous when clearly it was not. And John Key needs to reconsider Banks’ presence in cabinet as it is becoming increasingly untenable.
Update: Banks has stood down from his Ministerial portfolios.
Making sense of the census: regional decline
Yesterday John Key, some MSM journos and a few Standard commentators were gloating that recently released Census 2013 data showed David Cunliffe was wrong in his concern with regional decline. The evidence shows Cunliffe is correct.
What’s the play?
No-one’s happy with the revelations about Len Brown’s private life, apart from Slater (himself also an adulterer) who is wallowing in all the details that Chuang seems only too happy to provide. But what’s interesting is that this is clearly a political play. Who’s behind it and what do they have to gain? The players: Slater, Slater snr, Chuang, and Palino.
The Land of the Free
The Republican majority in the US House of Representatives changed their standing orders to remove the right of any Representative to move that a Senate resolution be adopted. Watch Rep Chris van Hollen explain it. If his motion was allowed to come to the floor, there would be enough moderate Republicans in the House who would support the Democrats, and the gridlock that threatens the world economy would be removed. No wonder the Republicans are tanking in the polls.
Operation 8: Te Putatara
As the resulting court battles die away and the suppression orders lift, the level of sheer dumb stupidity and outright silly paranoia of the police and other agencies involved in Operation 8 becomes clearer. It is time to start examining the officers in the police who brought so much dishonour and disrespect to their force. And where better than Te Putatara who has a post up which details a raid who had a court examination of the validity of the bloated and illegal search warrant to court – while a raid was in progress.
The attack on Auckland’s Democracy
With Tea Party type zeal Cameron Slater is trying to bring down Len Brown’s mayoralty. What has happened is a tragedy for Len’s family and himself. But as Mayor of the super city we need him to move on from this.
Where did Mighty River get that spare $50m?
So, Mighty River Power has so much spare cash at the moment that it just doesn’t know what to do with it. Rather than pay out a special dividend, they’re going to buy back some shares. This, naturally, has raised eyebrows because these shares were only just sold to ‘mum and dad’. But the bigger question is: where did Mighty River get a spare $50m in the first place?