What’s bigger news? Little’s missed invoice or $45m Novopay costs, ACC fraud & Charter School failures?

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TV News was dominated tonight by Andrew Little’s missed invoice to a right wing advisor. It’s a headline story because it implies Little is a hypocrite. We love to hate on hypocrites.

As fun as that is however, surely the major stories of the day were that the deeply flawed Novopay fiasco cost an extra $45million, the Government is hiding the failures of Charter Schools and that ACC levies were artificially inflated so that English could create the illusion of a surplus for political management.

Some none event missed invoice story is a bigger political issue than $45m in Novopay extra costs, ideologically driven Charter Schools failing and the Finance Minister fraudulently rigging ACC levies so as to pretend NZ will be in surplus?

I mean, for fucks sake right?

The mainstream media is why we can’t have nice things like accountable politics. With journalists like this, National don’t need whaleoil.

 

61 COMMENTS

  1. Yip – NZ media are corrupt and bias – its the one thing that discourages and drives good people fighting for justice to give up more than anything. How can you fight for justice if the people who are supposed to be telling the truth lie and censor what is happening.

    The other thing is watching Bill English, John Key, Stephen Joyce, Anne Tolley, Amy Adams and others lie in the house during question time. If they can stand up there and lie without guilt or repercussions then no wonder this country is in such a bad way.

    Oh yeah and Martyn – this secret society you are involved in Transparency International, any chance you could find out why they returned my cheque when I tried to join and refused me an explanation?

    The woman on the phone was very strange. I am assuming the group want to know about corruption – or is it just corruption outside New Zealand and they are in complete denial of the corruption going on in this country.

  2. “Missed invoice” not really Martyn try “ignored invoice” . The guy tried to collect several times and got promised payment and got ignored . Dumb move really!

    And let’s not forget who introduced Novapay !

    • Yeah let focus on who’s fault it is right? Cause that’s real productive. Blame Novopay on the previous government. I mean this govt has only had six years to fix the system.

      I guess you didn’t get the update on the invoice story. The guy tried to collect from a party volunteer. Little didn’t get the invoice until recently. It seems the timing and release of the emails came to down to smearing Little before he got around to paying it.

      You can’t really throw that weak story around any more without looking foolish.

      • Is Matt mcCarten a party volunteer now ? I has understood he was Chief of Staff ! Andrew Little simply did not pay his bill which looks really bad ! Surely they can afford a software package (Xero for example is pretty cheap) to get this stuff done efficiently and on time and save Labour these embarrassments ? And there were promises to pay ! Not too flash to blame a volunteer for this one .
        And re Novapay – it’s a dog foisted on MOE by Labour and no amount of fixing can fix this particular dog mate / this boils down to an appalling lack of due diligence by prev government .

        • There is a timeline there if you care to look for it. McCarten was only contacted in December! Sure the guy should’ve been paid. The problem is media implying that it took Little four months, which is absolute bollocks. McCarten only raised it with him this month!

          It’s a poltical sting pure and simple. National are laughing all the way to the bank on this one, because as everyone knows taking a few months to pay an invoice is standard business practice in this country.

          • Of course the unpaid invoice issue does not look good, but it must be seen in context. The issue with the unpaid invoice arose before Christmas, and as we all know, much of NZ goes off on leave for a few weeks, starting right then.

            Parliament also closes until February, and many politicians, including Andrew Little, went on holidays also, same as their staff and advisors. So things do get put down for later to do, and are sometimes forgotten, especially after all the stress and turmoil after a lost election.

            And as Martyn shows above, there were lots of other much more important “stories” that diligent, responsible and professional journalists could and should have focused on. TV3 made Little’s invoice debacle one of their leading stories, TVNZ only mentioned it about 25 minutes into their news. That shows what Gower is like and about, he is just out to dig dirt and throw dirt, wherever he can find it.

            Indeed who needs Whaleoil when you have Paddy the slap on the back media hack ready for the go, when alerted. Dirty Politics has never ended and sadly Nicky Hager was too friendly and considerate towards the MSM, not including them in his book.

            Truth is, many MSM hacks are as deep in the “Dirty Politics” business and Whaleoil was and is!

            But attacking the media gets them all join together and close ranks, I fear, then they ignore or attack the attacker, so you get left out in the cold, hence Little’s awkward moment in front of the running cameras.

        • Oh dear, We’re reduced to rehashing the old Cunliffe tactic again… A right wing(journalist?) goes public at exactly the right time to give the barking dogs of the tory propaganda machine an excuse to deflect attention away from what is becoming an awfully familiar pattern… Namely the true extent of just how appallingly badly we are being served by a government that has never had any intention of actually governing for the betterment of New Zealanders… What is so utterly reprehensible about the whole system of deliberate misinformation, and misdirection that forms the base philosophy of NZ’s “fourth estate” is not so much that it’s being done. But the fact that this time, the long term damage caused by the actions of this obviously corrupt, and disloyal government is going to be worse than any previous national party government ha sever inflicted… This collection of neo fascist demagogues makes Muldoon, at his worst look tame….. And all made possible the blanket protection of the Corporate owned “fourth estate”…. What was that I hear? A minor “operational” matter is more important than our country fading away before our eyes? One learns something new every day ,, it seems.

    • A missed invoice by a staffer, not Andrew Little. Little paid it when he heard about it.

      How does this compare to John Key knowing about Mike Sabin being under police investigation and doing nothing?

      I rest my case.

  3. Oddly the propaganda of the MSM has now driven out a lot of people to blog sites like this. Probably not what they are expecting.

    MSM is actually on the decline. They are just helping push it along by their outright bias and lack of reporting.

    The other day I spend 5 minutes watching TV 1 news. They actually had a story on Cadbury reducing their bar size. I was fascinated.

    • That Cadbury shrinking bar story was actually what they feel really matters to people!

      So many out there have been so brainwashed with consumerist commercial advertising, that is what many have on their minds. Easy, short, stimulating “messages” sent out by way of incessant commercials “massage” the brain, so the cells and areas responsible for more emotive functioning get stimulated, while the logical thinking part gets neglected. And as what you don’t use loses strength and function, the thinking starts to change and focus more on eating, drinking, being merry and enjoying stuff, or on the opposite at times reacting in disgust.

      Rational thinking has become neglected, so by this conditioning, the willing listeners, viewers and readers are geared to act as the product and service selling businesses want them to act. Forget politics and cold data, there is a sweet, calming and enjoyable chocolate bar to have fun with. And with the news that Cadbury wants to reduce the size, that really matters to the “massaged brains”.

      Try winning an election with that prevailing mindset out there.

  4. The qualities that a leader shows are actually very important. Key is constantly being attacked, and rightly so , for the lies, half truths and brain fades that he regularly has. Likewise Little can expect to be put under the microscope for clues as to the type of man he his and the type of prime minister he may be.

  5. Why is it that NOBODY in New Zealand understands that you say “you are biased”, not “you are bias”?

  6. I was talking to a big, old, Maori guy at his place of work the other day . He had a face that spoke about his life louder than a book , film or play could have . He told me that he’d done three tours of duty in Vietnam which was clearly character building .
    He was a sweetheart from what I could tell and as we talked, we got on to politics . The results of that were quite revealing .

    He went on to say he’d never heard of The Daily Blog though he was ‘ on line ‘ .
    He only knew what the MSM told him and he ” didn’t believe a word the bastards said . ”
    More sinisterly , he’d given up trying to work out what was going on re politics .
    @ Martyn . Please .

    MARKET YOURSELVES !

    GET YOUR MARKET SHARE !

    I’ve been listeing to RNZ of late . They are abysmal and they were all we had .

    Time to fill the market gap .

  7. Yip have to agree Bomber. I was at Parliament yesterday and what I saw from our journos was pretty disappointing.

  8. Charter school failures? What about Charter schools successes? Or non-charter school failures? And what are you talking about with ACC levies? Look, face facts, Little made one simple mistake, and it nothing to do with a late payment, it was keeping on McCarten.

    • Charter School successes* in America are mostly due to 1) more per pupil funding, 2) getting rid of academically weak students, English language learners, disabled students, 3) harsh discipline**, 4) constant test prep and 5) longer schools days.

      They are turning into real estate scams where the school pays a related party exorbitant rents and management fees (both paid for by taxes) to a related party.

      *Success in American education has turned into how well schools do on standardised tests as American’s politicians obsess about how well they perform on PIRLS and TIMSS league tables.

      ** Suspension rates of 69% of students are not unheard of.

      • Oh my Goodness! Discipline and test preparation! What next…actually making students learn! But you’ve completely missed the point of my post. Charter Schools will fail, because non-Charter schools fail. The point is are they doing a better job with at risk kids. The evidence is they are.

  9. The matter of Little’s unpaid bill is an unfortunate case of poor financial management. What’s of more relevance is why it has made headlines now. This is so obviously a ‘story’ created and pushed by National to distract from the bad press their Dear Leader John Key is getting over the corrupt Sky City deal. Add to this the issues with Novopay, ACC and others that are conveniently not getting the attention they deserve and you have a clear-cut example of media bias corrupting the political process.

    Not sure whether the editor of the NZ Herald is too ignorant or prejudiced to notice. In either case they’re not fit for the job.

    • The editor of The NZ Herald is just plain straight out thick combined with a neo liberal DNA. The worst of both worlds.
      The word rag is an ideal description of that paper.
      I have just hosted some Danish friends who happen to take an interest in politics and they were aghast at the lack of quality and balance in our journalism.
      I think they went away thinking what a beautiful country NZ is to look at , but that’s about it !

      • Actually, I think the problem is the editor’s not thick. They know that readers love a scandal, and they know that most of them aren’t interested in finding out the facts for themselves, and will swallow whatever they are told. The real problem is, their readers are thick.

        • I take your point , but the short termism approach adopted by the thickos ,ie, ramping up the scandal and moving away from substance is about as dumb as you can get.
          End result is a diminishing circulation. Your classic “race to the bottom.”
          On the other hand, even in these days of the internet, the ‘New York Times’ and ‘The Guardian’ who both still deal in quality journalism, have increased their circulation.
          Quality in the long run will always win out.
          I still maintain ‘The Herald’ is a dead paper walking,(the only thing missing is a ‘page 3 girl’), run by short sighted thickos !

          • I’d say the way that their (and most other paper’s) readership levels are dropping probably says they think they know what their readership wants more that they actually do.

  10. Little must be whiter than white with our media otherwise…………

    Still he had quite a day of it from the MSM and TDB slagging him off. Who needs Whaleoil indeed!

    • Little needs some constructive criticism before the training wheels come off next election and some sort of strategy to win it. Labour MP’s have a sense of entitlement and just think they can win because of the ‘Labour’ brand. But the behaviour means that they are losing votes big time from their once supporters due to the policies and fighting they indulge in, instead of listening to what people are saying.

      What a joke with the unpaid invoice scandal, why would Labour be asking a right winger about policy – umm at least get some sort of expert or do some research. The result 25% votes and lots of angry ex supporters.

      • I truly do not think Labour have any sense of entitlement after 3 general election defeats and especially the last one. I would really like to know the true reason behind ditching the Greens off the Security committee because I don’t think we’ve heard it all.

        Besides all of this minor sideshow Nationals incompetence continues to show up daily, the latest been the mass loss of the NZ Super scheme investment in Portugal. A shocking disgraceful loss worthy of an independent audit far away from National Party hands!

  11. I am waiting for the smiling twits reading the news to actually get up and walk out saying they won’t read that bullshit any more. But no they keep being cute reading the bullshit news, having a big laugh at the end with some pathetic joke. They are actually to revolting to watch any longer, it is totally ridiculous. I am amazed they can take themselves seriously, and do they know they are reading rubbish, do they care? Maybe the Womans Weekly can ask them next time they put them in the magazine. Actually they are spreading propaganda and should actually be asked if they feel like they have any blood on their hands. Things that cross my mind while watching the spews news.

    • I actually think the egos that read the news or front its political parts on TV think they are celebrities who doing an amazing job at the cutting edge. They are not and they would be far more use to society wrapping fish and chips with the thing pretending to be yesterdays newspaper.

      Who watches that 3rd rate crap anymore?

      • Save NZ,
        We need to invest in rail to get half these monster trucks off our congested roads killing six people in three separate crashes this week alone!

        Martyn this NatZ attack on Little is the start of the dirty Politics saga all over again.

        Time for opposition parties to combine and force a court injunction to take over half of our public TV and Radio networks.

        • Guys I was being sarcastic about more roads:)

          in reply to

          Also reading the herald splash page online, there were x4 stories about car accidents…f.f.s!!!

  12. One doesn’t watch the news to be informed, but to be poorly entertained by their pseudo journalism.

    Hardly surprising considering the quality of television in this country. I find discussing television with people, and the scorn they express for it, infinitely more entertaining than anything on it.

  13. Don’t watch news now Paddy Gower making a mountain out of a very small molehill is the reason. Who cares if Little was late paying Simon Cohen he’s now paid him nothing more to say.When I can I watch Sky News Australia.Despite it being well represented of right wingers they are not afraid to climb into Abbott apart from Alan Jones who is Aussies version of Karl Rove and Paul Murray is a righto as well at least most of their political commentators can spot a numpty when they see one unlike the retards over here.

    • Whaddya mean “who cares if Little was late paying”'”

      Lionel – if your wages/salary/benefit came in THREE months late I am reasonably certain you would care! Especially if you repeatedly A) asked for them and B) you were assured they were coming.

      Any worker/contractor is entitled to be paid on the DUE DATE for wok done. End of.

      Paying late is inconsiderate and possibly illegal so this apparent oversight by Little/McCarten was a major own goal – why give the opposition a free shot?

      Your comment beggars belief!

      • Again, this guy was a contractor. He did not expect payment within a week or even a month.

        Two months to pay an invoice is standard practice across the board. And the actual timeline here was much closer to two months than the four months bandied around by the media.

        How is this so hard to understand?

        • “Two months to pay an invoice is standard practice across the board”

          Easy to understand and hard to stomach, particularly if you’re supporting an overdraft. And the ‘big players’ are often the most shonky – simply because of the power imbalance.

          Not acceptable, and McCarten needs to tune up his office systems.

      • Dirty politics at work again- that story would have come from the blubber boy! Let’s refocus again: John Key prepared to use $140 million of Taxpayers money to cover the ‘shortfall’ in the pokies for convention centre ‘deal’. He only pulled out when his buddy Farrar’s daily (hourly?) polling found overwhelming public opposition to the $140 million corporate handout.

        Let’s just think about that in contrast to this Governments systematic assault on social welfare and then draw some conclusions.

  14. Not surprising really. The National Party’s Goebbels department, aka the NZ MSM, have been desperately seeking a story that will take the heat off their buddies. They couldn’t get a proper one so they spun one out of a thread. I often wonder how they can get any more stupid and irrelevant and then hey presto! – they do!

  15. Many of the modern day “journalists” (or rather “wannabe journalists”) are working with little resources, are not interested in putting in efforts to present real stories, have also become lazy, and rather do a short dig for some nasty revelations, that gives them a change to generate maximum attention for a short hit.

    So when someone hears something, about unpaid bills, about some other failures, about a scandal of whatever proportion, they jump at the opportunity. Particularly if it is re a person from the “left” or “extreme left”.

    And Paddy Gower seems to love such opportunities, he dresses such side stories up and makes them “big” ones.

    Slap, bang, pop and thump, hey, gotcha, is is way. The harder the better is his motto. And always with a slimy smile at the end.

    With all this, the MSM are simply speeding up their demise, to become even less relevant for intelligent, alert minded people.

    It is a downward spiral, like down the drain, pull the flush, and flush then down deep, all of them, the sooner the better.

    Use the brush and give the bowl a good rub and rinse afterwards, thanks, you have done the world a favour, once that is done.

    And press the aerosol for a bit of better odour, and do not forget to turn off the light also.

    Taa

    RIP media!

  16. David I am a contractor I very rarely have to chase up payments I have very good clients.Any dodgy ones I move on from them appreciate not everyone can pick and choose I can and do. My point is this issue was blown out of all proportion

  17. It is not right to miss a payment – but who hasn’t. And then linking the number of hits on a missing dog Facebook page to Little’s Facebook page hits – it says more about the intelligence (or lack of) of our media.

  18. It really makes the MSM look a laughing stock, when a few days after the ‘SHOCKING, look at me, unpaid $950 dollar invoice story’ – the ‘Oh and by the way we lost 200 million from the superfund, oops a daisy story’, turns up.
    Oh when will our suffering end with the tragic MSM!

    • Kim Dandy, you mention the lost $200 million super fund.

      Funny how this one hasn’t attracted too much attention from msm isn’t it? Yet I have lost count of the number of times Little’s invoice late payment has cropped up in media! It’s still hovering there in the background.

      But we are talking about NZ msm here, the same msm which gives the distinct impression it’s in Key’s pocket!

      Joyce, Key, English et al had a ball with Little’s invoice in Parliament last week, but soon shut up when Winston Peters threw it back at them, when he mentioned the fact of a member of Key’s caucus has an unpaid debt for much more than that of Little’s invoice! This caused the Speaker to leap to his feet, defending his boy Key, stating the PM has no responsibility for the personal details of his caucus! Hello … !!!!

      If anything, a strong credible msm should be pursuing that lost super fund and who took responsibility for investing it! Oh hang on …. no accountability is there?

      Interesting that finance minister is keeping quiet about this, having nothing to say about it, but had plenty to say about Little’s invoice!

      This is a situation where msm should be earning its keep, by doing its job chasing the missing super fund issue, keeping it up front in the headlines!

      I hope opposition hammers this one in Parliament this week.

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