FiveAA Australia: Is NZ’s PM a Liar? + Kim Dotcom Says He’s Broke

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5AA's Peter Godfrey and Selwyn Manning.

5AA's Peter Godfrey and Selwyn Manning.
5AA’s Peter Godfrey and Selwyn Manning.
In this week’s Across The Ditch bulletin on FiveAA.com.au Selwyn Manning and Peter Godfrey discuss how allegations of dirty politics continue to dog the Prime Minister John Key’s third term in government. Also, internet tycoon Kim Dotcom says he’s broke!

Recorded on 27/11/14 – Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/multimedia-investments-ltd

ITEM ONE:
The Prime Minister John Key’s credibility and truthfulness has once again become an issue after he misled Parliament yesterday stating that he had not spoken to an attack blogger about an embargoed intelligence report.

Within hours Key had to return to the debating chamber to make a personal statement, in essence to point out his answers to questions from the Labour Party opposition were incorrect.

Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn.
Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn.
Labour had asked the prime minister whether he had had any contact with Controversial blogger Cameron Slater about one of two reports: the Government Inquiry into whether former Justice Minister Judith ‘Crusher’ Collins had acted dishonourably to undermine the Serious Fraud Office boss; or a report by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security.

Cam Slater was earlier this year alleged to be the main recipient of information leaked by the Prime Minister’s office, information that was acquired through the extensive powers of government, then formatted and released in a way so as to destroy the reputations of the National Party’s opponents.

On Monday, information began to surface in mainstream media, details of what was about to be released on Tuesday by the Inspector General into her inquiry into allegations that the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service had become politicised by the Prime Minister’s office and selectively provided documents to Cam Slater so that he could attack and undermine the reputation of then Labour Party leader Phil Goff.

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As it turns out, Goff discussed in Part the findings of the Inspector General’s report while bound by confidentiality conditions.

The Prime Minister hit out at Goff on Wednesday for breaching his obligations to maintain secrecy prior to the report being released.

So when the Prime Minister was asked in Parliament whether he too had discussed the report, by saying ‘no’ John Key was able to assert the moral high ground and to continue to attack his opponents.

But his answer became untenable after Cam Slater had forwarded screenshots of a txt exchange to another blogger, who published redacted screenshots on the internet.

So John Key returned to the House and said: “On Monday the 24th of November I received an unsolicited text message from Mr Slater with a reference to the IGIS report. There was a very short exchange where I briefly acknowledged that text message.”

Here’s the background:

john-key-and-cameron-slaterOn Tuesday, Key was asked by Press Gallery journalists when was the last time he had spoken to Slater. He replied: “I don’t know, I can’t recall,” and added: “I haven’t spoken to him on the phone for months and months and months on end. He sent me a text once, but I can’t recall when that was.”

As it turned out, the Prime Minister was in a txt exchange with Slater the night before.

The issue has once again elevated the question whether New Zealand’s Prime Minister is a liar, when it suits his interests.

For the record, the Inspector General’s inquiry was highly critical of the NZSIS criticising the former Director Dr Warren Tucker for providing misleading redacted documents to Cam Slater, documents that were then used to attack the reputation of Phil Goff. The report also confirmed that a senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s office, tipped Slater off and assisted him with the specific wording of his information request. This occurred after the senior advisor was briefed by the Prime Minister’s deputy chief of staff of the existence of the intelligence information and suggested Slater be used to attack Goff.

On Tuesday, the NZSIS apologised to Phil Goff for its part in the smear campaign. The Prime Minister John Key was asked to also apologise for the role his staff played, but he refused.

ITEM TWO:
Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom stated this week that he is broke.

kim-dotcom_1After three years of fighting in the courts against USA extradition applications, living the high-life while on bail from alleged mass copyright infringement charges, alleged money laundering charges connected to the Megaupload site business – Kim Dotcom says his lawyers have abandoned him after he ran out of money to defend himself.

He said while taking part in a live video exchange that he may be forced to go back to jail today (Thursday) as he was running out of options.

Up to $50million in assets and wealth have been exhausted since he was arrested in an FBI driven raid on his north Auckland mansion in early 2012. Much of those assets have been acquired post-arrest and transferred to a family trust, the beneficiaries being his estranged wife and children.

Dotcom was celebrated by Kiwis and the media while he took on the government and big wheeling Hollywood movie moguls. But he says, since founding the Internet Party and entering politics, since then the public has turned against him, as have the media, especially after the Prime Minister began, as Dotcom says, to demonise him, refer to him as a Nazi, and brand him as manipulating the political campaign to serve his own needs.

If Dotcom is correct, it does seem like the Kiwi tall poppy syndrome, the great down under clobbering machine has struck a heavy blow against this once celebrated Internet freedom hero.

Across The Ditch broadcasts weekly live on FiveAA Australia and webcasts on LiveNews.co.nz

8 COMMENTS

  1. John Key misunderstood the question okay? It was mind searingly complex! Because Megan Woods asked “if he had been in contact with Whale Oil blogger Slater between November 23 and 25 over reports released on Tuesday”. Dear God that is a hard one isn’t it, have I communicated with Slater between those dates? And she went even further and was specific as to what reports.

    How about this for a scenario; Key punted that opposition parties would not know he communicated with Slater so he lied because to admit so, especially to the blogger at the centre of the SIS leaks was as untenable as it was repulsive, a one fingered salute to Cheryl Gwyn by carrying on the dirt trawling.

    But then Cam had to tell him that he had told a left wing blogger that he had told Key and that if they didn’t know already then it was only a matter of time. Game over John. Did he misunderstand or just lie? Damn thats a toughy!

    So how many times over the past few years has a question been asked of the PM, that was met punt and a denial. The mind boggles!

  2. “Is NZ’s PM a liar?”

    Umm …

    Yes! Absolutely! You bet he is!

    Now we wait for Key to be penalized for the offence of misleading Parliament, as applies to MPs!

    Oh wait … this is John Key we are talking about here …. the exalted one …. he who must be obeyed and never questioned ….!

  3. Kim has been royally screwed over by both NZers and our so-called Government. We should all be deeply ashamed. You always knew the strategy was to bleed Kim dry – this is what always happens when you challenge the powers that be, and it doesn’t matter how much money you have. The Government always has the deeper pockets, and when push comes to shove they can simply buy off your legal representation and/or freeze your assets so you can’t pay your legal costs. It doesn’t matter if your innocent or guilty – if the Government wants you gone, you’re gone. The rule of law doesn’t apply to our lawmakers (or its enforcers for that matter). “Some animals are more equal than others”.

    • dont forget the money coming in from other sources as well. But the power comes from the govt and its friends. Yes, cutting off reliable access to lawyers and doctors is one of their ploys. So Drs and lawyers, anyone actually, as far as national security is concerned, can be above the law. With no recourse for the victim. How sad is that.,

  4. I am ashamed to be living in a country where enough people elected as leader a person who is morally bankrupt. He should never have got this far. He needs to resign!

  5. Dotcom and his massive ego and pathetic grandstanding pretty much cost the left the election in my opinion, so i struggle to find any sympathy for him in his current plight, they have recently caught and jailed one of the founders of Pirate Bay another file hosting and sharing site so i would say Kim should have reason to be extremely worried

  6. The PM is most definitely a liar. To such an obvious degree, in fact, that reporters should be asking him the question, “Have you told any lies today Prime Minister”? The opposition should be consistently branding him as a liar in the hope that litigation to counter these claims will ensue. That will lead to a full commission of inquiry and then we will finally, officially learn that JOHN KEY IS A LIAR!

  7. The story goes … while Rome burnt for 6 days Nero played the fiddle. Some say he started the fires to rebuild Rome the way he wanted. Nero blamed the Christians for setting the fire and he persecuted them with much brutality, he tried to deflect, detract and obfuscate, but the Masses were not to be fooled and saw Nero for the bad man he was. If fiddling is a metaphor for incompetent and incapable, then john key would fit right into the toga of Nero.

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