Posts by Russell Brown
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"Why would Bill English receive 50,000 private emails between Don Brash and others?"
Where'd you get that number from? Did obtaining it . . . hurt?
It may be a frequently used conduit, so probably not.
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I'm thinking "The Great New Zealand Ass-Whipping," but I'm open to alternatives.
Don't forget David Slack's Bullshit, Backlash and a Bunch of Other Stuff I Didn't Know About at the Time of the First Edition and Graham Reid's Postcards from Parliament: Probably Safer Than Emails ...
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I feel left out. I wrote a book once, you know. Well, I wrote some of it ...
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Hum, does that include the Prime Minister who (quite understandably) took very strong exception to the Hagar co-authored allegations that, on her watch as the responsible Minister, the SIS was spying on her political enemies, including an MP?
As I've pointed out elsewhere, the official report on the Operation Leaf fiasco made it clear that it wasn't Hager's story, or his sources, and that he was drafted in very late in the piece (offering a "cautionary" voice, according to Cate Brett), shortly before publication. There may be many reasons to hang Nicky Hager but that's not a great one. And there was no attempt to prevent publication of those claims. On the contrary, they were made subject to independent inquiry.
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Then it also strikes me as a perfectly legitimate follow up to ask why Hagar didn't recast the book without the injuncted material, and ithe response was equally legitimate.
And then Plunket helpfully suggested to Brash that Hager "couldn't be bothered" having his entire book re-edited, re-paginated and re-printed to satisfy an injunction that shouldn't apply anyway. It was a ridiculous comment. I have a small book publishing business, and I'm well aware that the bulk of the cost is in precisely those activities.
And National doesn't get to pick and choose what someone can say about it either.
Labour responded to the Corngate allegations by making a huge document dump, including a great deal of correspondence. That was a form of spin in itself - obfuscation by volume - but it's a more defensible response than trying to gag an author in the courts.
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Come on, noizyboy. You really don't think Pete Hodgson had copies of the emails?
It's irrelevant. The question is whether the claims in the book have merit, and the rest of us can't know that until the book can safely be published.
I guess posturing about the emails is inevitable, but it wouldn't be hard to list the occasions on which National - like any party of Opposition - has made use of leaked material.
The book, like every other one Nicky Hager has written, is likely to be coloured by his political views - less in what information it includes than in how that information is characterised. Again, this is hardly unusual or unprecedented. It's probably the case with most political books.
You're impugning someone as a conspiracy theorist by alleging another conspiracy, and missing the point in the process.
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From reader Paul De Spa, this video depicts the community life of Christchurch's Cashel Mall, a city precinct under threat of being re-opened to traffic. We're assuming Trinity Roots will consider it an appropriate use of their song.
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Send him back!
To the North Shore!
Oh, hang on. He seems to have political asylum in the Republic of Grey Lynn ...
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Dumb question I know, but why is this so?
As a journalist, if I screw up, then it's my editor's job to deal with it, and to be accountable to management. Getting management involved in editorial issues is a risky path.
OTOH, management getting directly involved in editorial is something of an unfortunate trend these days ...
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i support the waterfront stadium but thought the choice of Dobbyn unnecssarily divisive. He's become a poltitical activist and many NZers disagree with his politics.
I really think that's nonsense, Neil. The majority of New Zealanders don't care a fig about his politics (although the reception for the Dudes tour suggests an enduring affection for his music) and, as noted in this morning's Hard News, HM the Queen approved the song before it was performed. It's a complete and utter non-issue.
Moreover, I find the idea that his work as an artist should be muzzled because he has opinions and participates in civil society to be odious. You wouldn't like it if it happened to you.
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