That was Then, This is Now #28 – John Key on transparency

By
Frank Macskasy
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35
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28. Transparency - Releasing Tax Returns

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References

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Scoop media: TV3 The Nation – Patrick Gower interviews the Prime Minister

Fairfax media: NZ PM John Key refuses to release tax records – what do we know of his assets?

Previous related blogposts

The Mendacities of Mr Key # 15: John Key lies to NZ on consultation and ratification of TPPA

Hekia Parata breaks law – ignores Official Information Act – claims emails “not found” – and it gets worse!

Letter to the Editor – Transparency in government – do we have it or not?!

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Are you in favour of the Privacy Act or not?

    Because people like you spend half your life moaning about the threat of spying

    And the other half cheering hackers who steal personal information

    Which is it to be?

    • Once again, Andrew, you conflate two different things to attempt to validate your neo-liberal prejudices and failing miserably. The Privacy Act was never intended to facilitate ill-gotten gains or tax evasion to take place.

      • Nicely avoiding the real issue at hand, Himsee.

        Care to pluck any other random literary quote out of thin air? Moby Dick? Jane Eyre? To Kill A Mockingbird? Plenty to choose from, especially when you want to play silly-buggers and avoid joining in grown-up talk.

        • Oh dear Frank, you seem to be barking up the wrong tree. Again. But I’ll explain it for you:

          Andrew attempted to say you spend half the time arguing against spying and half the time celebrating hackers’ thefts of personal data.

          That’s obviously bullshit, you plainly support the release of information when it’s in the public interest. And I would certainly assume that you are against increased state spying powers.

          And now the comment which was obviously lost on you: these sums don’t add to 100% of your time, it is a fallacious premise. This quote is from a book about a totalitarian state, which Andrew would seem to be a willing part of.

          You should reconsider your opinion of me. I am on your side! Maybe I will come up with a new pseudonym to escape your prejudice.

          • Or, Himsee, you can state what’s on your mind rather than making cryptic posts and then revelling in pointing out that someone has mis-interpreted you.

            Because if you are game-playing (and we’ve seen that tactic before) and trying to portray yourself as something you’re not, you will be ‘outed’ sooner or later.

            It’s your responsibility to make yourself clearer in your intent.

            • Frank, I can see that my style of posting doesn’t come across well on this platform, so it seems wise to keep it to myself.

              Best of luck,
              Himsee

              • Himsee – If you were wise, your words and your intentions would be clear and honest and understood by most that read them.

                You seem to be a game player and maybe a game playing platform is more your style.

                We do not need your wishes of luck
                nor your ” holier than thou ” righteousness.

                Frank is the wise one here and dead right about you.

              • Crocodile tears much, Himsee?

                I agree with other commentators here, you’re playing some kind of silly word-games. Thing is, we’re not fools, and if right wing trolls like Andrew supports you then we know which side of the fence you sit on.

            • you all went and flew off on a lot of giberly gook,Now back to the point,All people in public office who are dealing in millions of public tax,s should be seen to have an open book,they are in a trusted position,if they have something to hide then parliament is not for them

            • Andrew – seems a lot goes whizzing over your head but then how can it when your head is buried deep in the sand of ignorance and denial. Good try Andrew but I met not many buy it.

              Frank has more integrity and intelligence under his baby finger nail than most idiot trolls have in their entire body.

    • @ ANDREW – if a person decides to put up for public office, then they have to be clean in every respect and must be seen to be clean as well. And so does their spouse, as well as adult children! Nothing to come back to bite ANY of them in the future, through hidden, undeclared trusts and tax returns. I repeat … this applies not only to the person concerned who holds public office, but also their spouse and their adult children!

      A public representative gives up their private life when they stand for public office. They become a public figure, openly working for the people, virtually owned by the people, who have selected that person to represent them and to represent them honestly, without a murky background.

      Their past financial dealings, those of the spouse and adult children, must be scrutinized thoroughly and declared. If there is anything doubtful, then they are not deemed fit to represent the people, which is fair enough, considering they will be in a position of making laws for the rest of us to abide by!

      Or do you accept political crooks deciding what is legal and what is not? I certainly don’t.

      The least “honest” John can do is to be honest and open with the people he supposedly represents. That’s us!

      So WHY is he hesitant to declare his tax returns to the country? That on its own creates an element of suspicion!

      If “honest” John has nothing to hide, then he shouldn’t have anything to fear now should he, by making his tax returns public?

    • I feel sorry for you, Andrew, if you can’t differentiate between Stazi style mass spying on New Zealanders and the PM’s responsibility as a publically elected official to be open and transparent about matters that point to him acting immorally, unethically, dishonestly, hypocritically and which present serious questions about his integrity and conflicts of interest which make him entirely unsuitable to lead this country.

      It used to be that the position of New Zealand Prime Minister was highly admired and respected. John Key has brought nothing but shame and embarrassment to the role.

      If this word weasel has an ounce of integrity or credibility, he will live by his “nothing to fear, nothing to hide” mantra and prove once and for all that he is fit to retain his position.

      He won’t if course – he doesn’t believe in responsibility and accountability unless he’s attacking others for his own purposes. He is a shallow, cold, man who does nothing but talk, without the walk. He is a terrible role model for our people, and a champion of empty words, lies and hypocrisy.

      You know why Key won’t show us his tax info. It is for the same reason that he will never explain what the $120B of overseas debt was spent on, and who the money was borrowed from, the same reason that he has been illegally stifling the release of information through OIA requests. It is because he is crooked and corrupt.

      His tax records would show how little tax he pays himself, what tax he pays on dividends and shares with overseas banks and corporations, what he pays on investments that he has in his dodgy blind trust, on the investmenrs that he has with his corporate sponsors. They would show that he has massive undeclared conflicts of interest, and that he has been rorting this country for the last 7 years.

      Why else would he not share with us the information that would clear or condemn him ? He serves us, not the other way round. He is accountable to us, not the other way round.

      Politicians in the US and other countries are genuinely transparent about their inancial affairs and interests (i.e. Bernie Sanders) release their tax record to show that they are beyond reproach, but that of course is because they are beyond reproach, and have nothing to hide, unlike John Key who clearly has everything to hide…

      We can all see through his so called ‘transparency ‘.

  2. Sadly Key is a master of twisting words as he wants his argument to succeed, but ANDREW IS A JOKE Frank.

    ANDREW asks “do you favour the privacy act?

    Well well he must live in Alaska out of touch because we have the most aggressive “surveillance” on every person in NZ so the Privacy Act is just a fallacy now!!!!!!!

    That shows how thick these people are working for Joyce/Goebbels/Key.

    https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/25003999/our-worst-fears-proven-true/

    “The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB, using technology and methods created by the NSA, has undermined democracy and basic civil liberties in this country, and we should feel a deep sense of indignation that our worst fears have been proven true.”

  3. Frank,

    You can see now that “Tricky Key” actually was meant to be saying; “since our 5 eyes expansion of our GCSB/NSA snooping surveillance we NOW are then most transparent place globally”.

  4. So far, we’ve seen two anonymous right-wing trolls – neither of whom have any ability to address the issue I’ve raised, and instead have deflected off into lala-land.

    I guess Key’s lack of transparency and unwillingness to meet his own standards cannot be addressed by National’s sycophants.

  5. In Wake up New Zealand today its obvious Key is rattled about Panama Papers,threatening reporters who suggest he is involved ,”you don’t want to get your arses sued do you ?”
    Edward Snowden hints that what will come is worse than anything that’s been released so far.Snowdwen says even if the USA had him killed it would all come out ,hes made sure of it.
    Any wonder USA paints Putin the bad guy.

  6. Frank, At least you can see that treasury are more transperant then Key is?

    Question;

    Where did you see/hear TrickyKey say we have gone from $8 Billion when we took over from Labour to almost $100 Billion between 2015/15???

    Treasury have told us here.!

    http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/forecasts/befu2015/021.htm

    Net core Crown debt peaks as a share of GDP in 2014/15…

    Gross debt is expected to peak at $93.6 billion in 2016/17

    Question for John key;

    So “TrickyKey” come clean, you are deliberately heading the this country NZ into bankruptcy as Goldman Sachs did to Greece.

    As your partner in crime Steven Joyce said last week in Northland “Roads will get the lions share of our transport budget” then announced another $12 Billion will be spent on highway widening from Hamilton to Rotorua to Tauranga!!!

    And this will become a negative investment as all roading according to IPENZ reports that private vehicles pay 66% of the cost of their wear of roads while Heavy freight trucks only pay 53% or less, so we public are subsidising road freight companies mostly foreign owned???

    With all your big spending on flags/cycleways and highways while hiding your mates corporates riches in blind trusts to buy NZ when we default right like what happened to Greece did what more is left to flog off???

    • Well researched, Cleangreen. Funny how, despite Treasury’s own stats, National’s sycophants still maintain the myth of National being “sound economic managers”…

      You show them the graph, and they either ignore it, or deflect on “but Labour did this…!”

      It won’t be until we do suffer a Greece-style melt-down (or something similar), that New Zealanders might begin to awaken from their reality-tv-induced stupor. I just hope the Nats are in office at the time.

  7. Collusion and corruption and secrecy all on the same page possible outcome of the PP or maybe that’s the core problem with TPPA another diversion from the govt this time not of his choosing a few questions for investigative experts

  8. Key is about as honest and transparent as a — HUGE block of iron.
    Thanks Frank and please do not let the likes of Andrew etc. get to you. He is not worth a moment of your time or energy.
    Low life troll scum – brain buried in sand.

    Check out the link below and have a laugh.
    Nice little break from feeling in despair over our train wreck of a govt.

    http://liberation.typepad.com/liberation/2016/04/new-zealand-cartoons-about-tax-transparency-and-the-panama-papers.html

      • Frank ; Mary_A ; Cleangreen ; Elle ; Helena ; Wild Kapito ; Martyn – etc . — you and anyone else who may be interested , I invite you to consider sharing your ideas for a good cartoon and , maybe ( ? )
        I’ll work on drawing it up – a joint creative venture – why not ? ? ?

  10. One of Keys big self promoting marketing tools has been to tell everyone that he gives all his PM salary away to charity.
    People sucked in by this faux goodwill have thought , aw shucks , what a great guy.
    What the tax revelations will show is that he has given nothing away, but just made a big fat tax deduction to the value of , you guessed it , the Prime Ministers
    Salary.
    A neat little bit of deception to create the illusion of an honest caring philanthropist.
    That’s what money traders do . The art of deception.
    Leopard …….spots ……

  11. How can an ex-banker put in place by and taking orders from a child/drug trafficking Khazarian/Rothschild Mafia pushing corporate takeover of a sovereign country thru the TPP be considered transparent. Somehow all those words in one sentence don’t seem right. Or is it the word “transparent” that’s out of place and needs replacing?

    • Helena i couldn’t have put it in a more perfect way,Hes done his job well sold all cash earning assets,indebted the country to his ex boss,s(ex could be debatable)got the TPPA signed up.looks like i nice job on NWO board coming up.

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