Posts by izogi
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Hard News: UPDATED: Media Take: Election…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
This one is a picture of a politician masquerading as an All Black, wearing their uniform, and flanked by real All Blacks.
You mean he hadn't actually been selected??
LIARS!
I knew something was up when he didn't run onto the field.
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to Dismal Soyanz,
It would be nice if at every electorate candidate meeting this year, someone asks each candidate if they would promise not to engage in negative attack politics whether by proxy or not.
Maybe, but I don’t think that’s enough, personally. If they were asked last election or the election before, then everyone would have promised that. Most probably would have been truthful, too, and anyone actually planning to use these types of tactics wouldn’t have been expecting to be found out.
I’d rather know what candidates intend to do so this can’t happen to the same extent in the future, no matter who’s elected.
I like the tone of Anne Salmond’s writing, though. An Inquiry or a Royal Commission? Sure, as long as it’s given power to actually investigate what needs investigating without political intervention, and as long as its findings are treated seriously instead of the government of the day just picking and choosing what it likes.
Sometimes politicians define the terms of reference on these things so that they exclude whichever lines of inquiry might reflect badly on those politicians, even though that seems to be a significant part of the issue here. Even if National’s voted out, you can bet there will be MPs in other parties with a few things they’d prefer weren’t “discovered”.
This is really a constitutional thing. Ministers and their staff, as a rule, need to have accountability that goes beyond the election cycle and is immune to political conflicts of interest. I get that they need a certain amount of freedom and privacy to do their job effectively, but only being accountable to others with political motives is a recipe for bad judgement and failure to follow the rules and expectations (wherever they even exist) to be encouraged or overlooked, instead of dealt with above board.
Saying that it’s up the the public to vote them out isn’t enough. The public has so many conflicting issues to consider when choosing who to vote for, plus it’s dependent on a suitable alternative presenting itself as an opposition.
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Hard News: In The Green Room, in reply to Myles Thomas,
In the wake of Dirty Politics
Also in the wake of Dirty Politics, and the claims that MPs, Ministers and their staff have been employing "dirty" tactics for a long time:
(a) Where should the line be drawn on what's acceptable and what isn't?
(b) What's the policy for making "unacceptable" behaviour by MPs, Ministers and their staff more easily detectable in future? Especially given that the latest stuff has apparently been happening at the highest levels for years without anybody, PM or otherwise, taking notice of it and dealing with it?
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to nzlemming,
And, if you’d read the book, you’d know that Hager didn’t say they blackmailed Hide but that they discussed doing it and planned for it.
Which, as Danyl also pointed out, would count as Conspiring to Commit an Offence, punishible by a maximum of 7 years in jail. And if police in the course of their investigation, came across evidence that these people actually did go ahead and blackmail Mr Hide, it becomes a maximum of 14 years in jail.
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to Stephen R,
Video of John Key
Hey, you bet me too it. I should reload more frequently.
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
But, but, (my butt) he was on holiday now. say Harold
And now Fairfax has dug up a video from days after the release, where John Key refers to having been briefed.
"What happened is Warren Tucker didn't come to me, he went to his legal adviser and his legal advisers told him this is the process they have to follow and when he was going through that process it was at that point he told me he'd release it because he has to tell me that under the no-surprises doctrine," Key says on the recording.
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to Kumara Republic,
Just heard the podcast below*
Sheesh. That whole Morning Report interview could have been a National Party ad in itself. Suzie Ferguson might as well have just given him a podium.
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to Konrad Kurta,
I’m mystified as to how ‘the general public’ don’t seem to give a shit about blatant lies being told to their faces. Key, Slater, Collins et al have been lying non-stop ever since the book came out. Is anybody keeping a tally? It’s unbelievable that people would actually swallow any of this.
But it’s easy enough to find a trusted commentor (like Hosking or Henry or Key… not one of those commie ones like Campbell), who will explain why it’s all inconsequential. Once you have that, there’s really no need to even bother reading the book.
I expect it’s a lack-of-perceived-alternative thing. If people really don’t want Labour+misc, whether for policy reasons or just because they don’t trust someone with Cunliffe’s face, they’ll justify to themselves why it’s still okay to excuse whatever’s going on in National’s tent. I’d love to see the National Party just clean out all its crap and get rid of the factions that have invaded it recently, because there are many involved in it who I think would have much higher ethics and are really being let down by others. Doing so probably isn’t trivial (or possible) though, and doing it now would probably mean a big hit on the election.
Many people still forgave Clark’s government for a lot in its latter years. The alternative option was likely to be a government run by Don Brash!
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to Mikaere Curtis,
Where’s the section in the cabinet manual that says you can be a pathological liar ?
But wait, isn't there something in common law about the honesty of a king out-ranking the honesty of a knight, who out-ranks the honesty of a peasant?
Problem solved.
If that's too bad for Tucker, he could maybe consider a trial by combat, even if that means throwing globs of jelly at each other by today's standards.
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Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to James George,
her alleged emails about getting Hager hurt or even killed by angry Chinese business people are illegal
Is it known if she'd have been in Hong Kong at the time of writing that, and would it have relevance if NZ Police investigated? I suppose Hong Kong agencies might be able to take an interest if NZ Police couldn't, but exact interpretation and consequences might vary. I've been trying to browse HK law just now, but haven't resolved anything clearly.