Waatea 5th Estate  – Political Wrap of the Week – Trump, Strippers + Treason

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The Daily Blog
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Joining us this week to wrap the political events of the week

 

The best political columnist in NZ – Dita De Boni

Chairman of the Otara – Papatotoe Local Council – Efeso Collins

And on Skype – political commentator Deborah Russel

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and award winning journalist and former Editor of the NBR – Jock Anderson

 

10 COMMENTS

  3. Yet how does the Maori party justify it’s position when it betrayed it’s people by supporting John key’s Marine and Coastal Act 2011 that replaced the Foreshore and Seabed.

    • “Training” with guns?

      Probably a slant on duck shooters, deer stalkers, and every other “sportsperson” who goes out to shoot animals with high-powered weapons.

    • “What were the people doing in the Urewera’s training with guns?”

      Their story is that they were training people for mercenary work in the middle east. The Crown made the case that, as Jock put it “there was a bit more to it than that mate”, but the burden of proof is clearly on those making accusations of wrongdoing, not the accused, and despite millions of dollars spent on surveillance and investigation, the Crown couldn’t prove shit. Some people continue to consider the folks at the camps guilty until proven innocent, while the cops, whose actions during the raids were called “unlawful” by the IPCA, are innocent *despite* having been found guilty. The bias in people’s thinking here is appalling:
      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8703308/Urewera-police-raid-actions-unlawful

      As for Clark’s relationship to the whole debacle, the separation of powers between the PM and Police is one thing, but she made plenty of statements in the days and weeks after the raids defending the cops actions as justified, and joining in the trial by media against the accused. She was on the wrong side of history, and it’s about time she was held publicly accountable. Good on the Māori Party for being the only political group in the country with the guts to do so.

  5. Although it was said that Helen Clark didn’t sign off the raid, I do not believe for one second that she didn’t know about it. As an astute leader that she is, she would have known.

  6. This is a mess, and a huge embarrassment, not just for the Chiefs, it raises endless questions what kind of society we are. On one hand we have a legal drug called alcohol, sold liberally now (although still comparatively expensive when compared with some continental European countries), that people are free to buy and consume. At the same time, while alcohol has effects, one being breaking down barriers in behaviour and inhibition, we also have laws that do not allow drunkenness and certain behaviour while being drunk.

    So we have rugby players, engage in stupidity, and hiring a stripper to “entertain” them. That is also all legal, as stripping and even prostitution are now completely legal activities in NZ, along certain guidelines. Stripping is not the same as prostitution, but some may see a blurred line there, without justification presuming doing one thing must lead to more that was not agreed on.

    We have a CONTRACT, where a hired stripper agrees to perform, but it seems the details of the contract were not well discussed. Maybe next time, if there ever will be a next time, the agreement will be in writing, and discussed before the performance.

    My issue with the story by the media is that a performance was delivered, but some asked for more, and the stripper agreed that someone could “kiss her private parts”. That is according to media, as I heard.

    This was not a wise move by the stripper, but then we must ask, what was the situation, did she feel pressured, unreasonably, to agree to this, for which she asked for another 50 dollars.

    This is the murky part of it all. The stripper should never have made any concessions, but the rugby players should never have behaved as they did either. So in my view, both parties behaved unwisely, the drunk players probably more so and in an offensive manner.

    We need to see whether there will be a police investigation and what may come out of it. I doubt that any charges will be laid, unless a player may come forward and dob his mates in.

    This is the problem with New Zealand law and society, we allow consumption of drugs of a legal kind, but not of certain other drugs, and when people lose inhibition due to drug use, they are exposing themselves to legal prosecution.

    The lesson may be, indulge in private, do not involve or hire outsiders like strippers and so forth, and stay out of trouble, perhaps just have a piss up with your mates and keep it like that. Alcohol and sexual expressions and more do not mix well, I think, and so people should avoid any such situations.

    I also believe that many that are prepared to strip or do more, do so, mostly due to feeling financial pressures to make a living, and hence compromise their usual own values. Hence we have this “work” and business activity. It comes often with risks, and I think the risk is not worth it.

    Perhaps we need to look at how such activities should be allowed and managed, and that some form of public register or monitoring occurs, to keep out the shady areas, where things go wrong. It would be better to have clear rules and agreements, rather than expose people like Scarlette to unacceptable risks.

    It disturbs me what happened and what I believe happens more often, where sexism and whatever else you may call it, is simply put up with, due to the cold economic and social realities we have.

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