Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Dirty Politics

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  • Tom Johnson,

    Why do we allow trusts?

    Aren’t they relics of privilege, against all the ideals of signal driven perfect capitalism, that is a movement of last years gains invested fast and energetically to keep the market healthy and buoyant. Investments in capital and paying your fair due of your success back to a game that holds us all up, dignity wise.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report

  • izogi, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    That's really interesting, but I didn't quite follow the last few paragraphs. Is the implication meant to be that George Speight's coup was somehow connected to the publication of his article in Pacific Islands Monthly a month earlier? Or is he just noting the correlation in times for no particular reason?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report

  • Brent Jackson,

    Great cartoon on money-laundering a few days ago.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Alfie, in reply to Brent Jackson,

    Great cartoon on money-laundering...

    And another one.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Alfie,

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    The way today's smear of Mihingarangi Forbes by her former employers came together bears the hallmarks of #dirtypolitics - convenient timing, targeted OIAs, photos provided. Easier to spot now, thankfully. Here's the more balanced Herald story, rather than Fairfax's gutter version.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Alfie, in reply to Sacha,

    Thanks for the link Sacha. I read the Fairfax story this morning and thought, 'What a grubby little hatchet job'. It's good to see that the Herald story is less biased.

    When I was working for TVNZ News, Maramena Roderick and Jodi Ihaka were great friends. So it's surprising to see Maramena in her role as interim head of news and current affairs for Maori TV on the wrong side of this affair to Jodi, who tweeted:

    kia kaha: we know who has integrity & honesty & who doesn't. That attack is utterly shameful.

    While Mihi Forbes revealed corruption within Maoridom and the subsequent coverup by Maori TV was publically exposed, there is no need for them to sink this low. Whatever happened to mana?

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Alfie,

    Whatever happened to mana?

    It gets eroded from the top when you appoint shonky Ministers, Board members and CEOs. Shame for all the good people who still work there, tarnished by cowards.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • izogi, in reply to Sacha,

    I'm confused. Was it Fairfax that made the request? It'd be helpful to know what it actually asked for and just how targeted the question was.

    Meanwhile, section 16(2) of the OIA states that the agency should only make information available where it's not contrary to a legal duty of the organisation.

    Is there not some kind of legal duty here on the part of Maori TV, where it's effectively defaming her character or alleging she committed a crime (without any process) with the release? That's a genuine question. I get that there's probably also a public interest aspect to this, but it's essentially an employment dispute with an individual employee, right?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report

  • izogi,

    Also, from the Herald...

    Further drama played out when Forbes was invited to take part in a discussion on the BSA decision on Media Take - a Maori Television show - and then was uninvited for reasons yet to be disclosed.

    Which episode was this? I've lost track.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report

  • Alfie,

    Paul Mason was formerly the economics editor at Channel 4 News in the UK. During the Grexit he and fellow BBC-trained journalist Theopi Skarlatos gained inside access to the Tsipras government and produced a 4-part crowdfunded doco series called This is a Coup.

    That's his credentials... he resigned from Ch4 in February and now writes on Medium. While this story relates to Tata Steel, Mason blogs on neoliberalism in general and suggests that while journalists are fed the odd tidbit, most generally know very little about what is really happening in the world.

    Steel crisis: they do not give a shit
    You’re about to get a textbook lesson in neoliberalism

    Interview with Mason - The Intercept
    The four part doco is available free at the bottom of this page.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to izogi,

    it's essentially an employment dispute with an individual employee, right?

    If that were the case, they would have deal with it quietly then, not wait a year and use media rather than lawyers. It's Maori establishment politics playing out in a really undignified fashion.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to izogi,

    Which episode was this?

    None. Natural justice meant the story was canned by the show's producer rather than only have Willie Jackson appearing.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    re The Panama Papers
    As usual Key goes looking for someone who will give him the answers he wants rather than accepting the advice he has already received from IRD and the NZ Law Society - 'Policy-based evidence making' rather than the infinitely saner 'Evidence-based policy making'.
    Having the 'independent' inquiry run by an ex-PricewaterhouseCoopers' boss (John Shewan, a former chair of accountancy firm PwC) does not reassure me one bit - they are no stranger to controversy in this area - just ask Willie Nelson or look at 2014's Luxembourg Leaks...
    see:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_Leaks

    Luxembourg Leaks (sometimes shortened to Lux Leaks or LuxLeaks) is the name of a financial scandal revealed in November 2014 by a journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It is based on confidential information about Luxembourg’s tax rulings set up by PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2002 to 2010 to the benefits of its clients. This investigation resulted in making available to the public tax rulings for over three hundred multinational companies based in Luxembourg.
    The LuxLeaks' disclosures attracted international attention and comment about tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg and elsewhere. This scandal contributed to the implementation of measures aiming at reducing tax dumping and regulating tax avoidance schemes beneficial to multinational companies.

    and

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PricewaterhouseCoopers#Controversies

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Rob Stowell, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    former chair of accountancy firm PwC)

    PWC specialise in tax 'minimisation'. They're expensive, but that's what they do: make sure you pay a lot less tax. (It has to be a lot, because they charge a lot, and if you're not saving money, you're losing out.)
    I'm hearing a lot on the news that we have to sort out these foreign trusts for the sake of our 'international reputation'. Or because they might be hiding 'corruption' or money laundering.
    Again I think: they're just not getting it. I'm not pissed off that our reputation is being tarnished, though that's not good.
    I'm angry the wealthiest on the planet are not paying their fair share. They get wealthier. Government struggles for money and cuts services and borrows and we get told 'we can't afford it'!
    And everyone else pays their tax.
    Reputation be damned. It's not our tax system that's missing out, but that's not the point.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    and in true ‘dirty politics’ style the ‘leaker’ of the Luxembourg papers was prosecuted…
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-15/ex-pwc-auditor-charged-in-leaks-of-luxembourg-tax-cases

    Luxembourg charged a Frenchman with stealing confidential documents revealing sweetheart tax deals arranged for multinational companies by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
    Antoine Deltour, a former auditor at PwC, said he appeared before a Luxembourg judge on Dec. 12 to detail his involvement in the case.
    “From the start, I have acted according to conviction for my ideas, not to appear in the media,” Deltour, 28, told French newspaper La Liberation in an interview published last night. “I am just one element in a more general movement.”
    The revelation of thousands of pages of leaked secret tax deals with companies from around the world has shaken Luxembourg and Jean-Claude Juncker, the nation’s former prime minister who is now president of the European Commission. More than 340 companies have transferred profits to Luxembourg using complicated tax arrangements, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said last month. (Dec 2014)

    Just before he resigned from PwC in 2010, Deltour said he “copied documents” and also discovered “the famous tax rulings. Without any particular intention, I copied them as well, because their content startled me.”

    here’s the Guardian’s take:
    http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/05/-sp-luxembourg-tax-files-tax-avoidance-industrial-scale

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Alfie, in reply to Rob Stowell,

    There's a certain irony that the man who expressed a desire for NZ to be the Jersey of the South Pacific hand picks the man who will run the inquiry, then defines the terms of reference so narrowly that the result is predetermined. A whitewash in plain view.

    And hey, that technique worked for Judith Collins. She was "completely vindicated", wasn't she?

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Alfie,

    She was “completely vindicated”, wasn’t she?

    'Completely vindictive' did you mean?
    ;- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Alfie,

    Prominent New Zealander not guilty to all 12 charges.

    No further comment.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to ,

    Skating on thin ice there, Rich...
    ...best to not risk action against Russell and the site.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Yeah. Not helping. Thanks for the heads-up Ian.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Sorry. Andrew Geddis is being rather bullish on Pundit, I notice, but then he is a leading lawyer and knows where the line lies.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Alfie,

    Duncan Greive on Maori TV's shameful and misguided attack on Mihi Forbes.

    Everything about the story stank to high heaven: the dresses were purchased for her, and had a book value of less then $800. Not only that, but she had a letter authorising her taking the clothing in lieu of overtime payment through the (notoriously overtime heavy) general election of 2014.

    (My bold)

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • John Farrell,

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 499 posts Report

  • izogi, in reply to John Farrell,

    That reads far too long, complicated and detailed for anyone to care about.

    It needs to be clearly expressed in about 10 words. Preferably as a haiku.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report

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