1. Two guilty approaches after Dirty Politics

    There are two approaches to being a star of dirty politics and not wanting to answer questions about it. Both were displayed on Campbell Live last night by Jason Ede and Cameron Slater. And Andrea Vance has details on taxpayers paying for Slaters legal bills.

  2. Dirty political money – why isn’t it illegal?

    The Greens have released information that shows National having 77% of their donations in the last 3 years ($3.375 million) funnelled to them in non-public quite large donations. What are they providing for that? Well amongst other things it pays for sleazeballs like Jason Ede. But what legislation?

  3. Key in for the long term?

    John Key’s election as chair of the International Democratic Union is significant. Key succeeds John Howard who has led the IDU for the past 12 years. Key’s acceptance signals that like  four-time winner Howard, Key plans a long career as Prime Minister of New Zealand. This news should be a wake-up call for the Labour Party’s review of its election organisation and party structure.

  4. Polity: Income mobility

    David Farrar seldom seems to actually read the reports fully before he starts inventing meaningless canards. A theoretical equality of opportunity is irrelevant when your parent’s lack of disposable income is the major determinant of your own education and opportunities. We waste the opportunities from peoples abilities because of income inequalities.

  5. Who needs $4.8 billion anyway

    Yesterday a report from the NZ Super Fund (the Cullen fund) provided further evidence of National’s economic “genius”. We could have used the $4.8 billion that they just chucked away.

  6. Moving away from the politics of fear

    Politics from a position of fear is never going to be successful. Politics based on conviction and the ability to put forward a sound argument is a much better strategy. Yes, anyone selected is going to be subject to attack. But there’s no point in allowing that to cloud our judgement.

  7. Bat Bean Beam: Dirty journalism

    Giovanni Tiso on Bat Bean Beam is pulling at the threads of the connections between National’s dirty politics and journalism.

  8. Slater sued

    Radio NZ has a post up “Tribunal hears blogger privacy case”. A prosecution of Cameron Slater under the Privacy Act for breaching Matthew Blomfields privacy. I suspect that over the next 3-4 days Slater will ponce around acting out courtroom fantasies that have little to do with the law. And will probably get hammered. Good. (Updated)

  9. All Things Being Equal…

    Assuming that all four contenders for leadership of Labour are equally worthy, there is a defining factor that ought to be considered…vulnerability to attack.

  10. Labour day – thank a unionist

    Today is a day to celebrate the rights hard won by workers and unions, past and present. There’s a reason it’s called “Labour Day” not “Free Market Day”…

  11. Hager vs police – suppressing debate

    The police and Hager are in the process of initiating legal proceedings against each other. The police action against Hager was and is designed to intimidate, to suppress debate. Rod Oram calls shame on dirty politics and the people who perpetrate it.

  12. The 4th estate & its pretenders

    Some journalists continue to try to fulfill the fourth estate ideal of pursuing truth & speaking truth to power.  Others, with powerful links to corporate media & governments, work to suppress debate and democracy, often using threats, abusive nastiness & fear mongering.

  13. Let them go to war

    Back when I was a teenager, a mate of mine decided that he was going to give up on school and would get in some combat. So he worked his way into the Rhodesian Light Infantry. A few years later I heard that he’d been killed in action. Other young men going overseas with similar excitement issues have came back a lot less interested in excitement. Sounds safer to me than letting them have a car.

  14. Check the polls – we’re off to war!

    Categories: uncategorized

    “It all depends on the question  you ask” – this was John Key’s resp0nse to a question as to whether he had concerns about the SAS identifying air-strike targets that might kill civilians. Farrar/Curia will no doubt be in the field now asking questions to find out how to make New Zealanders comfortable as off to war we go.

  15. Dirty attacks on academic

    Another dirty hit, this time on an Otago academic. It features most of the regular cast of Dirty Politics, and stars Jordan Williams of the “Taxpayers’ Union” (aka a front for right-wing spin and political attacks).

  16. Jackal: The truth will out

    Cameron Slater is a complete arsehole. He gets paid to exercise these talents as was exposed in Dirty Politics. So the question is who is paying him to attack researchers in public health? Do we have a National Minister of Health yet? Or is it the junk food industry or the tobacco lobby? And does he declare his earnings to the IRD?

  17. Dirty Kiwiblog

    Dr Jarrod Gilbert was the victim of a typical dirty politics smear campaign via Kiwiblog. In the last couple of days he has done some interesting posts on the subject. Expect dirty politics, and personal attacks on critics of the government, to escalate even further over the next three years.

  18. Clean it up

    Action Station has a full page ad in today’s NZ Herald, asking to clean up dirty politics. Dirty Politics is not any isolated attack politics or criticism of those in power.  It is a relentless two track strategy, an orchestrated smear machine, aimed at moving politics rightwards & disengaging (left wing) voters. Update: Hager comments on the election.

  19. Flashback post: Poetic justice

    Irish Bill originally posted this on 1 December 2007. For no reason at all we thought it warranted a reprint, with a guest comment from David Farrar.

  20. VRWC rises from the grave

    They’re at it again. David Farrar has a guest post from fellow VRWC member Charles Finny about FiveEyes, arguing that it’s kept us safe in foreign wars and Labour did it too. Which of course is not the point of the current debate about massive government surveillance of innocent citizens. Farrar then gets himself tangled in knots – if Dotcom is right Labour did it too – but he’s not of course says Farrar.

  21. Jackal: A coalition with Winston Peters

    Jackal has compiled a number of the reasons why NZ First and particularly Winston Peters are unlikely to form a coalition or even to support National and John Key. Probably the way that National through their sockpuppets Act, David Farrar, and Whaleoil attacked with spurious charges  in 2008. That he came back must have been a shock…

  22. Jackal: Spin Hooton spin

    The Jackal cleared up some more strange tweeting behaviour from Matthew Hooton. It appears that he has been tweeting that he has heard from a “left source” that The Standard have the last whaledumps. Yeah right…. Perhaps he should ask before making a fool of himself.

  23. Nat two track strategy – March to Sept

    Nicky Hager has exposed the two track strategy of the Whale Oil, Kiwiblog, Nat smear machine.  Why is it allowed to continue?

  24. Donghua Liu Letter: More Dirty Politics

    Frank Macskasy at the Daily Blog has produced a timeline on the 11 year old David Cunliffe – Donghua Liu letter that shows some more seriously dodgy Dirty Politics

  25. Poverty a National disgrace

    Advocacy groups are calling for action. People are marching for action. The parties of the left are ready to take action. Only National stands in the way.

  26. Is National’s sleaze unit feeding the Slater again?

    Cameron Slater, National’s attack blogger has written a sleaze post on Martyn Bradbury. This shows far too much intelligence for the ever lazy Cameron to have researched it. Has National’s research unit (into dirt) resumed using that sock puppet again? We should be able to look and find out which blackmailed journalists they touch up as this story progresses. Time to follow the dots.

  27. Where is Jason Ede?

    Jason Ede’s disappearance from public view suggests a cover up in response to Hager’s Dirty Politics.  The book implicates Ede (past PM staffer) in a coordinated black ops smear machine working with blogs like Whale Oil. Key may need to come clean soon about some of Ede’s activities.

  28. Airbrushing the VRWC

    In today’s Sunday Star Times, is an article on a Matthew Hooton & the VRWC (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy). Hooton criticises John Key, does a couple of mea culpas, but ultimately, airbrushes the whole disgusting mess of dirty politics. [Updated: comment from Bill]

  29. The Big Lie in action

    This morning Rob Salmond did a great post about the “big lie” – the spin coming from the Right that Labour hasn’t concentrated on policy, just dirty politics.

    Like clockwork, David Farrar has a post up about the latest polls, suggesting “Their focus on hacked e-mails instead of policy  is backfiring.”

  30. National’s sockpuppet is trying to muzzle press?

    Cameron Slater looks like he is the front person for National’s attempt to muzzle the press over their dirty politics for the next few weeks. How else can someone who has been pleading poverty in court seeks a High Court injunction against reporters writing about whaledumps of his emails? Updated with a offer to keep feeding and publicising the whaledumps.

  31. Blogging isn’t the problem Mr Key

    John Key has been pushing the “they blog on the left too” line, but he’s deliberately missing the point.

    It’s ethics that matter.

    lprent: I add my little bit at the end about pseudonyms

  32. “VRWC” exposes rift at top of National

    There is a self-appointed “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” in New Zealand. Odgers and Slater are key members. Search VRWC on Slater’s website and you’ll find their activities.  After Pansy Wong’s forced resignation from Cabinet for misuse of her travel perk the VRWC thought the National Cabinet needed “some serious steel going forward.” You can read the minutes of their virtual white-board session on post-it cards – the rifts at the top are deep and nasty.

  33. ‘Malevolent males’, ‘Mistress Collins’ & a ‘free press’

    Dirty Politics shows the need for a reformation of our media, broadcasting and related online content. It’s about democracy.   Lucy lawless agrees. Laila Harre and Colin Craig have been added to the line up for Sunday’s Broadcasting Debate in Auckland.

  34. When will they ever learn?

    How did @peace’s offensive song from 2013 suddenly become topical news? Why the usual suspects of course…

  35. Condemning the obvious

    Of course I (and other Standard authors) condemn lyrics that incite violence, and any and all threats to the children of politicians (who are completely out of bounds). Does this even need saying? But – Farrar, his little fan club, and the moral high ground? – it is beyond hypocrisy. There is no equivalence between the actions of a disenfranchised, angry few and the systematic abuse of democracy and decency undertaken by National’s dirty politics.

  36. Tapping the media: subverting democracy

    Dirty Politics shows why we urgently need a revitalised public service broadcasting & online media. The domination by corporate media is poisoning democracy, providing openings for ruthless manipulators like Cameron Slater.  An article by David Fisher provides some insights.