The House’s Man
How is Trevor Mallard doing as speaker? Early signs are good.
trevor mallard
Bouquets for the new government
Mining, big data, social investment, paid parental leave, and pēpi in the House. The new government’s not mucking around remedying some of the previous government’s plunder and pillage policies.
The days of National dick waving
The spin that National are running is that they are unhappy with the move to reduce the MPs in select committees. That their dick size opposition party is the largest make me see teenage boys being idiots. Because there is no substantive difference to parliament from when this was recommended and now.
New Zealand needs a new Speaker
David Carter’s refusal to rule John Key’s “backing the rapists” comment out of order raises issues about his ability to properly do the job of speaker.
Brassneck
The release of the candidate donation returns has shown us that the National Party are still rorting the system. However, there are issues for the NZ Labour Party as well. Four MP’s have taken money from sources that do not have the interests of the Labour party or, indeed, the majority of Kiwis at heart. Brassneck or bought and sold?
Mallard’s moa idea is not going to fly
Trevor Mallard’s comments today about Moas is obviously tongue in cheek but have succeeded in engaging social median in a way that the designers of #TeamKey can only dream of.
Fight you bastards fight
At least one MP if not the whole of National’s caucus knew that the news concerning Len Brown and Bevan Chuang would break soon eight days before it did. Slater’s and Palino’s claims are becoming more and more difficult to believe. And in a comment yesterday Bad12 sums up why this is such bad news for National.
Our boat is faster than theirs
In the wake of the astounding victory of the NZ team in San Diego, Scott at Imperator Fish offers these words of sage advice to those on the left looking at recent polling. For those of you convinced by the current winning trend, some of us hope that you will take his advice (so the rest of us can carry on with the work that needs to be done).
Hatin’ on the left
So Trevor Mallard thinks it’s smart to stick the boot in to Russell Norman for linking to an article about using the printing […]
Mallard wtf?
Is an absurd public endorsement by someone as politically damaged as Trevor Mallard actually an endorsement or is Trevor trying to undermine his leader? That’s a question I’m asking myself after reading Audrey Young’s piece on the caucus vote today.
Foolish games
As I indicated would happen in my post this morning on the Labour reshuffle, Mallard made a run for speaker today.* He and the Labour leadership tried to keep the fact he was running secret right to the last moment. Why not run an honest, open campaign? Because a vote on speaker can only be made by MPs physically present in the chamber. No proxies. Let me explain.
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!
The job ahead
The latest Roy Morgan poll bodes badly for Labour.
If they are to take the government benches in 2014 they need to get their house in order.
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.
Collins rates her reputation worthless
Judith Collins has tried to go for a lower bar in her defamation suit against Andrew Little and Trevor Mallard to get it over with quicker. But asking for a declaration, rather than damages, doesn’t reduce the legal test. There’s just no way Collins is going to be able to show she was legally defamed, let alone rebuff the defences Little and Mallard have.
Pride cometh
Judith Collins has finally filed defamation action against Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little. She’s waited until close to the Budget so that the story would be quickly overshadowed and then forgotten. You see, Collins had foolishly got herself between a rock and a hard place. Suing wasn’t the optimal choice but she’s too prideful for the alternative.
Still no law suit from Collins
For all her bluster, Judith Collins still hasn’t sued Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little for supposedly defaming her by saying she was behind the leak of the Boag email identifying Bronwyn Pullar as the leaker of 6,500 ACC clients’ details. I’m not sure how you can argue its defamatory for a minister to be accused of leaking private information when Paula Bennett did it.
Nat Civil War: Crushed’s last day
Key says Defamation Act requires a plaintiff to sue within five working days. That makes today Crushed Collins’ last day to sue. What will she do? Drop it and look like a blustering fool unfit to be Justice Minister let alone PM or pursue it, open up all her secrets during discovery, lose, and pay costs? Oh yes, Key suckerpunched her good.
Resignation-watch: Suit cash a confidence vote on Collins
Cabinet today will decide whether the Crown will pick up the tab for Judith Collins’ defamation suits. The suit against RNZ, whose offence was to do live interviews, is particularly egregious and calculated to chill media comment. It will be unprecedented for the public to pay for a minister to take defamation suits. But we will. Anything less will be a vote of no confidence in Collins by her colleagues.
Confused? A guide to the letters & leaks in the Nats’ Civil War
The ever-growing list of letters, emails, and leaks in the National Party Civil War, that started off as an apparently apolitical privacy breach by ACC, is getting hard to follow. Here’s a summary of the various documents and their ramifications – so far.
Beached as bro
Within minutes of Simon Lusk’s name being linked to the leaking of the Boag email, a message came through on the tip line – Slater is going feral over Lusk’s name being mentioned. And well he might, Lusk is Cameron Slater’s meal ticket. After a stunned silence on Whaleoil for a few hours – Slater/Lusk were back with all the dirt they could sling.
An afternoon excursion.
About now or very shortly, Trevor Mallard and Cameron Slater should be dismounting from the cycling race that has obsessively awaited by the right on the blogosphere. I’ve been aware of that this ‘political’ event was going to happen because of the frequent waffling that shows up on posts from the right. But it was nice day – I went along to exercise the car and to see the start.
Update: Trevor won..
FFS
It’s bad to have a senior frontbencher attack the media.
It’s really really bad when that frontbencher is in charge of your election campaign.
Anatomy of a lie
Hone Harawira left himself open to attack with his comments on Te Karere.
But that doesn’t excuse the disgraceful beat-up executed so well by the right’s smear machine.
If this is how the election is gonna play out it’ll be no good for anyone.
Get well soon, Trev
As you know, Trevor Mallard is a keen cyclist. He touched wheels with another competitor in the R&R sports tour on Saturday. 3 cyclists went down at 40km/hr. Trev broke his femur and shoulder blade. It looks like he’s dealing with it OK. Maybe he should stick to leisurely rides on the John Key Memorial Cycleway in future.
Brownlee in gun for misleading the House
Mallard has laid a Privileges complaint over Brownlee’s Hobbit lies. Good. Brownlee and Key deserved to be hammered for their part in the Warners/Jackson shake-down that cost just $34m and work rights. Lockwood won’t uphold the complaint though. He hates Brownlee. Not enough to severely embarrass his party in election year though.
Key: up to Labour to stop us rorting
With Pansy Wong in hiding on John Key’s orders, rort-buster Pete Hodgson laid the blame her corruption and all the other rorts squarely on Key yesterday. In question after question, Key couldn’t make a serious defence of his record. Then, he made an extraordinary admission: his ministers will keep on rorting – it’s up to Labour to catch them.
Public holiday on All Whites win?
Asked if a win against Paraguay should warrant a public holiday, John Key replied “Damn fine idea. I want the country to enjoy this. They’ll be dancing all over the place”. Trevor Mallard has taken up the cause and will ask Parliament’s permission for it to debate a Bill that will create a one-off public holiday on Friday if the All Whites win. There’s strong public support.
Petitioning for education
Good to see that the Greens presented to Parliament today a 37,000 signature petition expressing concern about the Government’s National Standards policy…
‘Oh, oh’: sound of a minister floundering
Which minister will be next to go? Rodney Hide or Anne Tolley? If competence was a condition of keeping their job, both would […]
Trev nails Tolley, other Lab MPs fail
Success for Opposition frontbenchers largely consists of embarrassing their opposite number by forcing them to answer questions they would rather not. Labour showed both how to do that and how not to do it in the House yesterday.
Signs of a more confident Labour
Labour is a pretty risk-adverse organisation. Making those two unorthodox attacks on those two ministers, and pulling it off both times, shows that Labour has got the measure of Key’s drop-kick ministers and is feeling more confident in itself.
Pansy Wong bids for worst minister award
When you’ve got a Finance Minister who can’t get stats right, a Social Welfare Minister who can’t define her flagship policy, and an Education Minister who can’t explain her flagship policy, it’s easy for an incompetent Women’s Affairs Minister to slip through.