5AA Australia: After Dirty Politics Can National Provide Stable Government?

By
Selwyn Manning
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11
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5AA's Peter Godfrey and Selwyn Manning.

AS WE ALL KNOW New Zealanders and Australians do not like political parties that are unstable, or can no longer assure us that they are able to provide stable government.

And the big question for Kiwis as we prepare to vote on September 20 is whether the National Party, which has been in government since 2008, can anymore claim it is fit to provide this country the stability it needs.

After the revelations (made in the book Dirty Politics) National will be struggling to reclaim the necessary reputation of a party that represents honourable practise – the style of government essential to the running of the country.

The entire first week of this election campaign has been consumed by revelations made in the book Dirty Politics. It is an account of how the National Party has attacked its opponents through unscrupulous means.

Since Monday, the person who hacked the correspondence of the attack blogger, Cameron Slater, has begun to systematically release large chunks of the raw data. And it is damning. It demonstrates the accuracy of the claims made in investigative journalist Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics.

Let’s talk about the fallout, and how the National-led Government is now exposed, exposed for having orchestrated black operations against its opponents, opposing factions within its own party, and against media.

Significant revelations:

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  • Justice a minister provides to her attack blogger the name, title, department, division, landline phone, cellphone, fax details of a respected public servant she suspected as leaking information. The public servant ended up receiving death threats. Found not to have leaked anything.
  • A systematic pattern where the Prime Minister’s representative provided to the attack blogger inside info that would damage the reputation of their opponents, media, and in some cases, fellow party members and officials.
  • The Prime Minister’s representative, an Auckland based party member and former city councillor and the attack blogger accessed the opposition Labour Party’s ICT server and allegedly stole the private information of its members, activists, officials credit card details and correspondence, then allegedly used it to fuel hit jobs on the opposition during the 2011 election campaign.
  • Conspired to trawl the records of massage parlours and prostitution businesses for details on any politician, especially targeted the mayor of Auckland Len Brown using a prostitution network to hunt down if he had used such services, if so what his preferences were, how much he paid and how often.
  • How the attack blogger was released official information from the Security Intelligence Service earlier than would normally be the case, the allegation is that the a Prime Minister’s office arranged for the SIS director of security to release information that would be damaging against the then leader of the opposition. This allegation is now under investigation by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security who united the inquiry under her own prerogative of high public interest.

    • Recent Fallout:

      Consider the PM’s reaction.

      Consider how the Justice Minister’s position hangs by a very thin thread.

      Consider how the Prime Minister’s adviser and representative Jason Ede gone to ground.

      Consider the Media’s reaction.

      Consider the opposition’s reaction.

      Consider, most importantly, the public’s reaction.

    The public seems angry at the government, and John Key’s smiling and waving tactics of the last eight years are causing widespread ridicule.

    What effect will all this have on the polls, particularly as the General Election will be held on September 20? That’s a question consuming much conjecture by all all who are interested in politics and in what party runs our government.

    The old adage looks a possibility, that an opposition does not win an election, but the incumbent loses the election.

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    11 COMMENTS

    1. I think the NZ people will be weighing up all the options Selwyn, this latest round of gotcha and hacked emails will have an effect for sure. However the alternative coalition is a quite unknown factor. people will be asking themselves which of their policies will be able to proceed as collectively they all can’t. The unknown creates voter concern and it remains to be seen how many will, in the final analysis, simply tick blue for status quo

      • I don’t think “status quo” applies at all any longer. Hager’s book has destroyed that, and rightly so in my opinion. As for the left coalition being unknown – NZ voted in a right coalition of Nat/Act/UF, which was previously unknown. Key was previously unknown. People aren’t scared of trying something new – When the incumbent takes on the vestige of damaged goods, NZ has shown itself in the past to be very much ready to move on. Add to that that the leaks are continuing from Whaledump, ratifying Hager’s authenticity, and adding details he chose not to include, plus KDC still has a card or two up his sleeve for the town hall meeting. There are still 4 weeks left where National is going to receive more blows. Until that time “status quo” is only as meaningful as the latest news article.

    2. If this government wins the election there will still be inquiries and questions to answer. It will introduce extreme policies that will create even more disharmony throughout society at the same time as it is slowly crippled as Nixon’s second term was by Watergate. A fresh start is by far the best option

    3. Good to see the evil culprits trying to run for cover.

      The Nats are done now.

      Bring on September 20th – the platform for our new NZ, Labour and Greens coalition, with IMP keeping them both honest.

      This is awesome.

      Opinion.

    4. I dunno. Looking at the TradeMe message board for an indication of “middle” NZ (whatever that is today) the shallowness of analysis and the willingness to believe “everyone does it, the left are just as bad” is most disheartening.

      I wonder if many NZers will just brush this aside, think that National is the ONLY party to “properly manage the economy”, continue to believe that if a Labour / Green government got in they would bankrupt the country, and continue to vote National.

      I see a very large number of people willing to do just that.

      Where they get the idea that Nat is great for the country’s economy (they blame the debt Nat is building on Labour and the GFC…. which ended at least 4 years ago now!!) I don’t know. Why they insist that the Greens would mismanage the economy so badly our country would become bankrupt…. I just don’t know. It makes no sense whatsoever.

      I despair. I really do. These people really do seem particularly stupid.

    5. Unfortunately you overlook the number of people who have been sucked in by the “Mr Perfect” campaign of the past. We all need to remember my favourite philosopher’s words of wisdom:
      “Beware of stupid people, especially in large numbers.” Anon.

    6. Got to love left-leaning reporters who aren’t brave enough to truthfully declare their political leanings at the beginning of the article.

      Gosh people can be gullible. 2 terms of governance during the GFC and to still bring it back to surplus is careful budgeting. How much has the left alliance promised to spend so far? 1.4 billion to buy your votes. The left; unable to come up with winning policies; are running a smear campaign plain and simple. Would you trust someone who has no respect for privacy to run the country? KDC complains about the SIS invading his privacy, yet I suspect has helped someone resort to the very same invasion of privacy to help smear the government.

      Change of subject; what is wrong with the Greens getting into power with National. Businesses generate and pay ALL tax in this country. No government employee actually pays tax as their entire salary CONSISTS OF TAX so saying that they pay tax is arbitrary BS. Businesses generate the income to pay your PAYE AND pay corporate tax as well, thereby paying ALL the tax required to run this country. Rather than coming from a stance that ALL businesses are evil why don’t the Green act responsibly with our votes and sit at the table with National to help guide businesses into becoming more environmentally aware and enabled.

      I am center-right only because I have seen the damage that the welfare state does to families in the long-term personally and up close. I am very interested in COOPs as a new business model. Strangely (or perhaps not), it is far more common business model in rice growing countries that required cooperation to grow that crop versus wheat growing countries where that task could be managed by individuals. Wouldn’t it be great if we all owned a piece of the companies that we worked for?

      • Mark –

        How much has the left alliance promised to spend so far? 1.4 billion to buy your votes.

        – So how does $70 billion debt that National has racked up sound by comparison?

        • Absolutely fine considering every western country instigated the same behaviour in response to the GFC; and that behaviour worked. We were spared the worst of the GFC fallout unlike Europe and the US. BTW let’s not forget that the GFC was brought about by Mr Clinton’s insistence that all people be given the ability to take out a mortgage …. (wait for it…) EVEN IF THEY COULD NOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR IT. An example of good intentions gone wrong?

          BTW the way Mr Manning – I’m not too worried about my last name being known as for example; there are at least 4 of me in the NZ health system, BUT i would note that the left supporters can be a tad immature in their approach to a free and open election system (you only have to drive around see what the nutters are doing illegally to political billboards to see what I mean). Scared of a free and competitive election they lash out at anything they feel is a threat.

          BTW – what is wrong with you declaring your political leanings at the start – nothing wrong with a little honesty is there? Why be threatened by it? Afraid that it might sway your readers interpretation of your take on the world?

          My favourite saying with socialists ‘The way to hell is paved with the best of your intentions” Think about it – really really think about it. My earlier example of social welfare destroying a family over several generations is a great example of good intentions gone wrong.

          I am a scientists by training and human nature has come from millions of years of ‘survival of the fittest’; and if you are arrogant enough to think your are smarter than that, then you’re kidding yourself. I would encourage people to find the middle road for the solution to any problem. You can have all the best intentions in the world but unless you take a pragmatic and realistic approach you will only end up doing more harm than good.

          That is why I would rather see the Greens in power with National so they can help businesses change for the better from within Government rather than baying like ineffectual puppies from the outside.

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