We have every right to celebrate the conviction of John Banks for electoral fraud.
This man was a deeply racist anti working class individual. He was the attack dog for former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon in his attacks on the union movement and migrants. In 1989 Banks claimed that police statistics revealed that 60 percent of violent crime in Auckland was committed by Maori and Pacific Islanders who made up 20 percent of the population. His conclusion was these young Maori were simply a crime wave waiting to happen. He said: “The most frightening extension of the statistics was that Maori and Pacific Islander were 38 percent of the under 4-years group”. (Dominion 20/4/89) A year earlier, Banks was in the news claiming many young Maori on discharge from prison were “no more or less than unguided missiles looking for criminal action.”
His bigotry was pretty undiscriminating. Anyone who was weak an vulnerable he would happily try to kick in the teeth. He celebrated his own wealth and was happy to flaunt it. His hatred for the poor was laced with a shallow, sanctimonious, sermonising of others who hadn’t “made it” like him.
His entire life he has simply been as a bought and paid for servant of the rich and powerful.
I don’t know the man’s history (through my own history) as I’ve only been in country for 14 years. But I met him once and in my humble opinion he was an absolute ‘arse hole’.
How anyone who met him could think he was a decent chap is beyond me, and presumably his money got him were he was.
The way he treated the press when they first asked about these donations was appalling and now they’re writing about him as he was a saint who just died.
No wonder the politicians in NZ treat the MSM/press with distain, they look so obviously in the pay of the National parties pay masters.
R.I.P the ‘fourth estate’ in NZ.
And border line R.I.P a free and politically unbiased judiciary in NZ.
If this had been a (financially) poor brown skinned chap, the police would have locked him up straight away (not been unable to find enough facts to press charges) and when he made it to court he’d have got the book thrown at him. One must now sadly ask whether if you’re white and wealthy in NZ, do the rules of law only sort-of apply to you.
Justice would have been sliding in a state of free fall had Mr Banks been found innocent. It’s a credit to justice that the judge had stuck to principles rather than political. I think most NZers have already found Mr Banks guilty and to reverse the verdict is unspeakable.
Congrats to the man who took Banks to the court and came out with a victory to the people. Celebration all round! Cheers!!
John Banks has been found guilty but has not been convicted there is a difference between the two, maybe you should put off the celebrations till August the 1st?
Key says he does not have to stand down from parliament as he has yet to be convicted!!, and theres me thinking he was found guilty. I now understand he has to be sent to jail before he has to quit his seat, watch out for a sentence of two weeks community service order.
no..look for a discharge without conviction..
Well we all know John (Key that is) walks on
Water and national and it’s branches
(Act) must be revered
So why would the 4th estate think otherwise?
This to me is the worst thing to come out of this. If the shoe were on the other foot Key would be the first one bleating that the corrupt MP needs to quit.
Any legislation passed to this point although propped up by the corrupt John Banks can rightly be considered as valid as Key can say he believed John Banks and therefore there was nothing unethical about working with him.
Now that Banks is guilty if Key uses him to prop up legislation Labour and the left will be able to make great gains by pointing it out.
If Key thinks Kiwi’s are stupid enough to accept the whole “technically he hasn’t been convicted” line then I look forward to seeing what effect it has in September.
Its weird but his donation scam seems so amateurish and old school compared to the sophistication of the National Party’s donation laundering.
Still that he is to remain the MP for Epsom really suits that rotten electorate, after all he is supposed to be an ACT MP, albeit everyone knows that was purely for convenience as he was really a National MP, and that he is only there because of a dodgy arrangement between him and Key using the poorly written rules of MMP .
He epitomises the state of our government who seem to live by the rule that “Half-truths are worth more than outright lies.”
Dotcom crushes Banks for not following giving him his $50 grands’ worth.
Better hope Laila stops him being deported for giving her $3m.
Graham McCready started a private prosicution with Penny Bright which proved Banks was acting in an illegal manner. Of course if you have proof that Lila is doing something illegal like not declaring DotCom’s dontaions to IMP then go ahead.
Pretty sure Banks also was charged for an incident with a jet ski. And that was squashed, how many discharges without conviction can you get?
When do people like gormless get off there collective ass and see that Banks is a criminal – he broke the law. Stop crying and spinning lies Gormless and take it on the chin – your side cheated and got caught – grow up.
Stupid right wing meme that has absolutely no merit. All Banks had to do not to earn the enmity of Dotcom was to organise him a mattress. That’s it, full stop. “Sorry to hear you are in the poo my tall german friend, obviously you are in deep crap way above my pay grade but here is a Sleepyhead Posturepedic in the name of neighbourliness”. The fact that he didn’t says to me that he had likely been taken aside by his political masters and told Dotcom is toxic and about to be swept out of the country by the “righteous” arm of the FBI.
Otherwise what would Banks have had to loose, why would you cut loose a cash cow? Trouble is Banks is a dangerous moron and couldn’t organise a conjugal act in a house of ill repute so started lying straight away and without Key’s ability to lie professionally (money trader) he was never going to clear the bar. So fuck off to you ACT roaches who want to try and salvage something from this public disgrace. Your brand is done. Dotcom has now been judged a truthful and credible person by an esteemed member of the Bar and Banks joins the growing litany of liars, cheats, frauds and charlatans who have carried your banner.
You’re right. I don’t get it. Feel free to explain. KDC, the peoples’ champion, gave Banks fiddy grand. Why?
Generosity. Small change to KDC pre-raid. Construct a dark motive for his fireworks display if you can.
Dotcom is no saint, he gave $50k as a sweetener to oil the wheels and he assumed wrongly as it turned out that Banks was a man of influence and would honour his bargain. It was a typical seedy political deal just like the Chinese business investing in the National Party who also expect and get special treatment. So Dotcom had the right to be miffed just as you would be if you had paid for a service and didn’t get it. Political donations are to buy influence everyone knows that. The guy that gives a near stranger $50k is looking for a pay day. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive. Laila on the other hand is a cog in a machine of Dotcom’s creation and you have to hand it to him he’s got good cogs. She brings credibility, political nous and a good strategic brain. Dotcom’s agenda is clear, he wants to do what Bob Jones did to Muldoon and I’d love to see him do it. Do I believe he’s had a left wing epiphany? No. The enemy of his enemy is his friend. Will we all hate him in a year or so if he is successful? Who knows. Today I like him.
As KDC stated, 50k is 6 hours income, small change for the big man.
Are you an Act supporter Gormless Fool?
Anyone who votes ACT is a Gormless fool … duh!
In Epsom gormless fools make a lot of money.
The person we should be focusing on is not the scumbag but the hero – Graham McCready.
Without his guts and perseverance none of this would have happened. It seems to have taken a toll on his health (as you might expect) and that is a shame as he should never had to bring the prosecution privately.
Well done Graham McCready – an example to us all.
If this man had a streak of honesty and integrity he would resign from parliament immediately. If the National government had a streak of honesty and integrity they would also immediately resign and go to the polls. Neither will happen because they are determined to milk it out to the last and will not go until they are dragged out kicking and screaming. This is a government built on deceit and corruption that has no place in a democratic society. Now watch how the right wing pundits will make excuses based on legal technicalities to keep this broken down government going three more months and prevent it from being put out of its misery.
Well I have to take the first bit back. He has announced his resignation so he does have a shred of integrity after all. The second bit stands – this government is corrupt and morally bankrupt and should follow Banks’s lead and resign – now!
ACT, National, United Future.
The party names leave a nasty taste in my mouth. Corrupt to the core. Egos and arrogance matched only in size, by the backroom money available for “favours granted” and the archetypes for croney capitalism.
Their influence in the neoliberal battering of the poor in this country, of exacerbating the growing wealth divide, began back as far as Douglas, Prebble, morphed into the mother of all …… Richardson .. and now into Key’s National Govt.
Bob Jones and his ilk, The Business Roundtable, The Hollow Men are exposed worst in the Shane Jones affair. Wira Gardiner (Mr Hekia Parata) funded Shane Jones’ Labour leadership campaign and then McCully created a dodgy, fishy job for Shane Jones without even advertsing that job outside of the croney “mate” that he had in mind for it.
Dodgy, shonky government propped up by corrupt people like Banks, McCully and Peter Dunne, will limp its way to oblivion on 2oth September.
Peter Dunne, God bless his worm, summed up the relationships and modus operandii of National and its croney capitalist chums, as
“Willing seller, willing buyer”
Enough said.
I don’t think cheering for someone’s misfortunes is very admirable. Then again I don’t know much about Banks so maybe he deserved his comeuppance? Who knows.
Everyone except you.
@ Steven . I agree . The little shit might be taking a fall for his cronies .
In my view he IS taking a fall , just in case this starts a landslide of arrests and convictions . There will be more than one crusty sphincter twitching right now don’t you worry about that .
As for our ‘ legal system ‘ ? It’s a laughable firewall between justice and the crooks . banks might get dragged through the mud but then he is a dirty little piggy so he’s well used to that . You watch ? He’ll rise from the filth as clean as a whistle . To support that prediction ? Was he remanded in custody ? Like other common criminals ? No . So why not ?
There ya go .
Chances are he is not going to jail and is not a flight risk so remanding in custody is totally unnecessary. Locking them up and throwing away the key is ACT thinking and the left are better than that eh?
All the vile actions of this government have been passed with the vote of a criminal. Guilty all the way.
Now vote tatically so this cannot happen again.
I’m enjoying Kim Dotcom’s rap song about Banks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CvRSZxqk_I&feature=youtu.be
Banks is a typical right wing crook who is a very experienced liar.
I remember when he was a radio host and had his national party mate John ‘Hone’ Carter ring him and pretend to be a Maori.
Of course every negative stereotype about Maori was used by Hone Carters impersonation of them in his on air phone call to banks …..
Good riddance to another exposed corrupt National party politician
Shame about the rip off ‘charter school’s’ that he’s temporarily blighted us with ……
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