Since when does the Prime Minister get to give one of his friends the inside running for the top job at our main spy agency? Or any other job for that matter.
It wasn’t common knowledge that the entire shortlist for the GCSB role, prepared by a recruitment agency, was rejected by the State Services Commission but the Prime Minister knew and he got on the phone (“I knew his number”) to call his friend Fletcher and invite him to apply.
What followed was in itself unusual with only one candidate being interviewed and this was – no prizes for guessing – the Prime Minister’s friend who then got the job.
Key did a similar thing when he gave the inside running to Skycity for the building of a national convention centre in the now infamous pokies/convention centre trade-off proposal.
In that case despite a field of contenders Key changed the rules and quickly manoeuvred his favourite (Skycity) into pole position. The race was over before the other entrants even knew it had begun. Similarly now with the Prime Minister’s friend elevated to a top job after Key’s direct intervention.
Key’s supporters like to excuse such behaviour as the Prime Minister’s propensity for “doing deals” – a hangover from his currency trading days for the now defunct Merrill Lynch. Pick up the phone, cut to the chase and shortcut the process. One could possibly mount some sort of defence of this behaviour in some situations if any of these deals were half-way decent but they aren’t. They might be good for Key and his cronies but they are bad for the country.
Then we get to Key’s “lie by omission” last week.
He was asked by parliamentary reporters what part he played in Fletcher’s appointment. Key’s response was “Only that the State Services Commissioner came to me with the recommendation. That’s normal.”
A week later and the truth emerges that Key had in fact called his friend Fletcher and invited him to apply.
“I forgot” is just not good enough.
The stench of cronyism is high. An inquiry is essential.
An inquiry wouldn’t achieve much i fear. Stacked by judiciary that are also fervent law makers and assisting the current crop of yes men in Parliament to achieve their agenda of selling us out as a nation to their pre-selected buyers. The casino was one example , the others are becoming evident , Banks and Keys amnesia as well as the callous indifference to real issues .Mighty Rivers sell off Tiwai Point rescue package as yet unresolved for the people of Bluff and Invercargill to hang by their fingernails while the power brokers play live chess with peoples lives. Indeed this current crop of apologist yes men are a weird bunch , yet hog the limelight on issues that are irrelevant to mainstream NZ . The possibility of offshore oil exploration with a threat of environmental suicide with armed response on protestors , God almighty have Petrobras already bought off the elite of the National party? Seems likely considering the new law about to be tabled to stop any and all resistance to the oil lobbyists
This government is an odd alliance of people with different agendas whose differing aims are served by coalescing together – old school Nat conservatives, neo-liberal monetarists, representatives of the farming lobby, property developers, beneficiary haters, party pill poopers, education sector privatisers, lead by a PM who is driven by what? – they are all on the same train but I’m not sure most of them know where the train is heading. They’re just content in believing that it will stop at their station along the way.
Restrained writing John considering the facts. Lie upon lie from ShonKey. Certain NZ cartoonists got a good old ‘anti semetic’ toweling for depicting our flabby toupee wearing PM with a huge snozz. This is further reinforcement of the real reason for that long nose.
‘ . An inquiry is essential . ‘ Why , yes it is John . But an inquiry by whom ? And ! If that inquiry were to discover that Jonky was not only a financial nail bomb thrower , throwing financial nail bombs into the Child Care Center that is the average New Zealanders heart , hearth , home and work place then so ( and please , I mean no disrespect when I write this ) what ! ? The world’s turning into a frightful dawn and the Rich and Privileged now have drones and Lawyers ! Imagine the day when drones start dropping lawyers onto our homes , schools and workplaces ! Oh ! The horror !
The Neo crook and liar scarcely care if they’re caught out or not . John Key is so used to intellectual conflict he can parry his way out of anything . That must mean he’s so used to lying , cheating , sneaking and generally being a shitbag that he knows he’s , and not wanting to use this parlance , sweet as . Not long ago , Martyn Bradbury said that Jonky could eat a live kitten then blame the cat for being too tasty . Some fools argue that women who dress alluringly ask to be raped . If you leave your house unlocked you deserve to be robbed . Does Jonky ponder ” Well , if they can’t figure me out and see that I’m a liar they deserve to be lied to ” . That would be the methodology of the psychopath would it not ? I wonder what an inquiry along the lines of psychiatric might reveal ? John Key is in it for the power . He’s our Prime Minister because he craves power and well understands the psychological methodology needed to achieve that goal , clearly . He has no need for the relatively paltry Prime Ministers salary either and has absolutely no interest in us poor bastards so I can only conclude , based on the evidence , that our Prime Minister is very likely technically insane . Unfit for Office perhaps ?
I guess the Security Servce would be a sore point for Minto. If he and his co-horts had any say they would dispose of it! Wasn’t it Minto who so fiercly opposed the 1981 Springbox Tour due to South Africa apartheid and segregation and now stands as a candidate for the “Racist” Maori Party. A party wth a hidden agenda of Racsim and segregation – something Minto supposedly opposed in 1981. Perhaps, that was just an occassion where he could cause civil unrest as he appears in so many causes it appears to just create Civil Disobedience. that that cry’s hard done by all the time. A Maori party that wants separate laws for “Our People” because they are black!! Well that is the harsh reality. That is tearing NZ apart and it is time the Maori seats are abolished, teh Treaty of Waintangi is disbanded, the separate maori priviledges are removed and we move on as ONE NATION – ONE PEOPLE. Everyone with equal right and privildges doubtless of colour or race. If the Maori’s were white they would never get away with the BS they do now.
The Head of the GCSB directly reports to the PM and it is only right they he has the opportunity to have an input into his appointment if and when he has confidence in someone very capable of doing the job and that the PM can work with.
Clark lies in her term of PM were many and varied. That is history.
Minto has no credibilty.
At least get the name of the party right before embarking on your ugly ignorant ill-informed rant you utter chump.
Please please do just a little research before you blast off. True Minto was at the forefront of the anti apartheid movement something most Kiwis are now proud that we took a stand on and by the way the reason in the end that NZ won the rights to hold the world cup here. Minto stood for Mana NOT the Maori Party. Mana is not a Maori party, it is a party for the poor and disenfranchised, if it was a Maori party I woud like to suggest he being white wouldn’t be a member and couldn’t stand for it. On the matter of Clark, Minto repeatedly criticised her and her government numerous times, he has a website and their are articles on it showing his criticism. I am sure he is well aware of the lies that they all told. You seemed to have missed the point really, it is totally irregular and wrong that the PM rang a mate to get him to apply, why didn’t he suggest to the state services commissioner his name and then the commisioner could follow it up. I am all for the retention of the Maori seats so long as Maori wish to retain them. The piddling amount that has been paid out in treaty settlements by the way is less than the sum the government spent bailing out South Canterbury finance I expect Minto’s name will go down in history as someone who stood up for the poor and marginalised and your name well…………….
Do tell me if you could choose, would you choose to be Maori? With all those great privileges you think they have.
Oh and another point tell me when and how you have stood up for anything, marched either against or for anything signed a petition or in fact taken action on anything other than your own personal wants and needs. Or are you one of the many who sit on the sideline and criticise.
Good one, Graeme. You have provided us all with a spectacular example of the profile of the semi-literate, undiscerning, redneck ignorant and unquestioning constituency that keeps this sorry pack of bastards in power. Cheers mate. Now shut the fuck up.
Well Minto is kinda like Kimble Bent.
Does the left in NZ have anything to say that will engage the broader NZ public? Because spending every single waking moment obsessing about Key and his behavior is not going to do it. All this spluttering indignation about Key is not going to bring about electoral change because the ordinary NZer see’s it as a storm in a tea cup.
Where are the big ideas? Where is the leadership? Where is the skill to communicate an alternative vision on the big and important issues?
The seemingly tireless interest in every tiny thing that Key does or says and the need to criticise him personally at every opportunity borders on obsessive hero worship.
If this is the only strategy that the left in NZ has it will continue failing to engage and motivate the NZ electorate.
Just returned from a visit to Australia, and I was saddened to see how much better the ABC television coverage was. Much more in depth and intelligent. No advertisements, good discussion and analysis. The public radio was the same high standard. How much have we lost! We are totally unaware of just how trashy and commercial our national media has become. We are impoverished and sliding towards trivia and business interests. You must go to Oz or try to go online and judge for yourself. This is very bad for our Demockary. We deserve better, and must keep striving for it.
And how powerful is the CSGB? If Donkey has control of that (through a long forgotten son of his mother’s bestie, with whom, by the way, he didn’t have much to do with even though their mothers were BFF – yeah right!) how more powerful will that man be. No wonder the polls are always in national’s favour.
The GSCB who are above the law unless they get found out oh and then they can manipulate the law. How scary is that?
The ‘I forgot’ line I don’t buy for a second. Key fibbed. Key told porkies. Key lied. If his memory really is so porous, then he is not competent to hold the Prime Ministerial office.
Michal say “The piddling amount that has been paid out in treaty settlements by the way is less than the sum the government spent bailing out South Canterbury finance.”
Yeah! What’s that a Tui line. $3.24 billion is paid out to Maori’s and Pacific Islanders every year in benefits! Sickness Beneficietary, unemployement, DPB etc etc. EVERY YEAR.
The contribution ot tax take from the Maori’s does not even cover the money they are ripping off the system. So what happens if they want their independants. I say go for it. we’ll take back KFC, McDonalds, the TAB the and the Health System, the Social Services etc. You could end up in the mess of many other Pacific Nations like New Guinea etc with their bribery and corruption. The white man has given you a paradise. The Treaty gave you protection under British Law which if you read history gave you EQUAL rights with the other settlers be they white pink or green, whatever. They gave us all the rights as ONE PEOPLE. Made very clear by Bishop Williams at the signing. Incidently that signing was bought forward by several days on the insistance of the Maori leaders as they wanted it signed as soon as possible. Originally there was reference to the seabed and Foreshore and Forestery. Consider the work of the Missionaries. Was it not the missionaries who educated many Maori’s and reduced the impact of the tribal wars. Between 1800 – 1850 it is thoguht there were between 50,000 and 100,000 Maori’s masacared in the Maori wars. The figure more commonly quoted is 85,000. If it had not been for the white settlers the Maori’s casualities could have been far worse. Again if you read history instead of listening to the “lefty stirer’s” that have a hidden agends. People who continually find new interpretations of the Treaty to suit their pockets. Mana? Thats BS! It is the bottom line – dolars! – another hand out. Nothing to do with their Mana! It is time to say NO. ENOUGHT IS ENOUGH! Stop the bludging and work as ONE NATION for the good of all. NZ can never go ahead until we all work in unison.
NZ can never go ahead until we all work in unison…….
How can anyone work ‘in unison’ with one so ignorant and prejudiced in views as your rant shows you to be?
A textbook example of laissez faire racism. The sheer hot-headed hatred and ignorance expressed here accounts for the blatant inane drivel presented here as “facts”.
This disgruntled diatribe directed at Maori and Pacific Islanders has all the hallmarks of a rabid racist. It’s amazing how a mere fraction of the population featuring in the worst statistics and the most impoverished, is in your mind so destructive to this country. If you are so productive and self-righteously superior, why do feel so insecure and threatened by them?
The “One Nation” you advocate sounds eerily like the one my father fell victim to decades ago, working twelve to sixteen hour days for a pathetic small bowl of soup and slice of bread.
No matter how productive or brilliant Maori, Pacific Islanders or any other minority may be, it will never be good enough for you and your ilk. The hate that dwells in this nation is its downfall and undoing.
No sensible person would want to fall victim to your “One Nation”.
Oh, the Seabed and foreshore – the Forestry. Well that was originally in an early draft. When presented to Lieutenant Hobson on the ship in the bay, he stated very clearly that was not acceptable to the New South Wales Office. Originally Queen Victoria was reluctant to enter into any Treaty but on the insistance of the Maori’s it was agreed, provided there were NO special priveledges for ANYONE. AS a result the Treaty draft was rejected and sent back for a rewrite. There ALL reference to Seabed, Foreshore and Forestry was deleted. All parties had equal rights. FULL STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Water! Fish! Air! Radio Waves!! NO WAY!! There is no reference in any Treaty Documents to such rights or priveldges.
My mother always said – do something well or a lot of things badly. John key has his fingers in so many pies that people can be forgiven for allowing him leeway in his memory lapses. BUT if he repeatedly lies and then lies about the lies????? His position as PM is an honor not a right his conduct should be impeccable, his actions above reproach, his decisions unquestionable, instead we have this and other situations that, frankly, border on dangerous. He and his ministers are racist, and its sad to see people chortle with glee at the reforms of welfare, that target the disadvantaged. How many “real” nzers would call themselves Tangata Whenua? But you expect us to hang up our “maoriness” and become one of you. Not happening. The Mana Party is the only avenue WE have to have a (little) voice in parliament. Even if Hone is unable to voice our concerns, frustrations or fears in parliament at least we know he is there for us. By the way I think I missed the gravy train, could someone please direct me to the correct station.
Further to the above- if/when keys signs off on the TTP won’t we all become Americans? Under American rule? We can be the New Americas! So being “real nzers” or Tangata Whenua will be a moot point.
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