The most grievous betrayal of all – two so-called “Green” MPs who should know better

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Right-wing rednecks – I can deal with.

Beneficiary-bashing bigots – no problem.

Well-meaning ignorance – a bit of a challenge.

But what I find difficult to comprehend is when we face betrayal from our supposed comrades; people who supposedly share our values, and are travelling the same struggle-road.

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I refer to (now-ex-)Green MPs, Kennedy Graham and Dave Clendon who dropped the political equivalent of a barrel-bomb into the middle of the election campaign with this jaw-dropping act of betrayal;

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They issued a joint statement stating;

“We do not believe that lying to a public agency … can ever be condoned.”

That one simple line speaks volumes about the self-sense of privilege exhibited by these two men. Obviously they have never had to face the prospect of choosing to lie to WINZ – or telling the truth and risk cutting their benefit and reduced income.

Their self-righteousness in siding with “public agencies” over the poor; the powerless; the abused; the dispossessed makes them unfit to be in any political movement professing to be progressive.

They should join National, or even better, ACT.

I am livid with anger at the selfish actions of these two. I have given my weekends to help erect Green Party billboards. I have helped draft letters to newspapers defending Metiria Turei from the reactionary media pack who are hounding her. I plan to give up my time to help the Green Party as much as I possibly can with leafletting and doorknocking.

And then these two fucking clowns; on parliamentary salaries; living comfortable, privileged lives – undermine everything that I – and thousands of other volunteers – have done?

To hell with that. To hell with them. To hell with their self-serving, pious self-righteousness.

And to hell with these selfish desire for revenge.

Yes, that’s right – revenge. Both of these two dickheads have been dropped down the Green Party list rankings from 2014;

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Clendon and Graham are both non-entities; non-performers who were dropped down the Green Party list to make way for more talented candidates. That much is obvious.  Also obvious is the retribution they have exacted for their demotion. They must have waited very patiently for the right moment to plunge the knife into the backs of their colleagues; the Party, and it’s supporters and volunteers.

Metiria Turei’s confession was the moment they had been waiting for. A gift for traitors to exploit.

Whilst Ms Turei faced her reactionary critics in the Establishment Media – she left her back exposed to these contemptible cowards.

The damage that Clendon and Graham may have done to our chances to change the National-led government is much, much worse than Metiria Turei’s recent admission to lying to social welfare. They may just have thrown National a life-line. With polls on a knife-edge, one or two percent is all it takes to decide if our Prime Minister is Bill “Double-Dipper” English, or Jacinda “Let’s Do It” Ardern.

This is an act of betrayal that is much worse than anything National may have dished out to us in the last nine years. We know what to expect from the Tories and their fellow-travellers.

But to be stabbed in the back by people we trust to represent the poorest people in our society – is treachery beyond polite words.

This is my second draft at writing this. My first attempt is not printable except maybe on Whaleoil. (And even Cam Slater might have asked me to “tone it down”.)

Kennedy Graham and Dave Clendon can fuck off.

Just. Fuck. Off.

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References

Radio NZ:  Two Green MPs call for Turei to step down

Green Party: 2014 Party List

Green Party: 2017 Party List

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72 COMMENTS

  1. Emailed to various MSM;

    ***** Media Advisory *****

    Blogger Frank Macskasy condemns the deliberate sabotage of the Green Party’s election hopes by disaffected Green MPs, Kennedy Graham and Dave Clendon. The two MPs have undermined the Green Party and the thousands of supporters who spend their evenings and weekends putting up billboards, leafletting, doorknocking, and other campaign activities.

    The rational for Clendon and Graham’s behaviour is obvious. This is their act of retribution for being demoted down the Green Party List. In 2014, Clendon was #11. This time he is at #16. Graham dropped one place down from #7 to #8. Obviously their egos were too fragile to take their demotion for non-performance.

    They must have waited for the perfect opportunity to exact their revenge and Metiria Turei’s confession to lying to social welfare when she was a 23 year old solo-mum was the opportunity they needed.

    “Who needs Whaleoil, when you have clowns like these two, in the shadows, waiting to knife you in the back. Metiria Turei was a vulnerable young woman when she felt she needed to lie to social welfare so her benefit would not be cut. The fact that Kennedy Graham and Dave Clendon seem oblivious to the vulnerability of people on welfare indicates their lack of understanding, empathy, and ability to stand with those at the bottom of the economic scrap heap. Graham and Clendon might as well join National or ACT, and complete their betrayal. Good riddance to bad green blood.”

    -Frank Macskasy

    A copy of the 2014 and 2017 Green Party lists was attached.

    • Wow!!!!! Strong words Frank and I love them! You can sign my name to what you said! I endorse them 100%

        • Meh. Got to expect dead loss in any industry.

          Leilani Tamu climbs the list a couple spots. From where I’m sitting it’s a satisfactory outcome so far.

        • Short and sweet Frank – I never thought of that angle – you picked the right moniker for them “clowns” – maybe “traitorous clowns” is more fitting. Act here they come! Greens are lucky to be rid of them. (I bet there are many like me who wish we could see your original draft.)

  2. It is outrageous that these clowns think they should be able to continue being party members and draw down their salary. They should be expelled immediately from the party, I am disgusted with them. I don’t think Clendon had a show of getting back in to be honest. Apparently neither of them were doing any real work on the campaign anyway.

  3. Well Frank, we often tussle over things, Vlad most of all but I’m totally with you on this
    We have to stand with Metiria, a retreat now is a betrayal of the Green’s stance on poverty and a humane welfare system.
    Clendon and Graham up on their high moral horse is just so much posturing.
    Graham has done some good work getting the cross party climate change report happening, but he’s a hopeless communicator, lacks human warmth,and with this egotistic grandstanding not a good fit with the direction we want to be heading in.
    I’ve signalled my support of Metiria to my local branch and urge everyone to stand strong and keep the faith
    Thanks for remaining staunch and holding fast

    • I’ve signalled my support of Metiria to my local branch and urge everyone to stand strong and keep the faith
      Thanks for remaining staunch and holding fast

      I’m sure she’ll appreciate it, Francesca. She must be feeling terribly vulnerable right now. She must be an amazingly courageous woman. (I wish I had even a quarter of her courage!)

      • I just have to say this. I thought I’d never ever find anyone more boring or having the personality of a rock than Bullshit Bill but yes we do have one in Dave Clendon!

  4. I wondered if they had received financial inducement from elsewhere to bring on such treachery. Who knows? They should have expressed their concerns well in advance of this, and they are now accursed among Greenies. What have they gained??

    • Indeed, I’ve had similar thoughts.

      The justification of these two traitors is transparently bullshit, designed and timed for media consumption + maximum damage.

      Dirty Politics 5th column in the Greens. Who would have thought?

      Q: Cui bono?
      A: nACTional

  5. Well, they have shown their true colours, I suppose, good riddance then. More chances for those following behind them, some young and keen, to step up to the challenge and come in on the list.

    The main worry is how the media exploit this, I hear Gower and others talk about “crisis” and Greens in ‘melt down’, hah, simply a voluntary purge of sorts, Pharisees, I guess.

    • HC – yes, I saw/heard Gower “feasting” on this last night on TV3 News. He could barely contain himself.

      No wonder he’s blocked me on his Twitter account. I might have a thing or two to point out to him.

      He attacked the Mana-Internet alliance in 2014, now he has his sights on the Green Party.

      The best way for the Greens to resist this Establishment Media onslaught is to stick to their guns.

      The welfare system is broken. Gower knows this. He’s simply too lazy to pursue the real scandal afflicting this country.

      #IstandwithMetiria

  6. I’m a Green voter and became a member during the last election. Extremely disappointed at the actions of these two. Who do they think they are? And as others have asked – what did they think they were going to gain?! It’s like they called the media around, laid bear traps in front of themselves then proceeded to put their feet in them. A strange, unnecessary and hurtful spectacle which will damage themselves and the party.

    On the bright side, I guess it’s good to jettison members who aren’t willing to put the team first, so close to an election.

  7. Prepare for what is likely to be an unpopular opinion (if worry about whatever vile responses were to come if I cared – but I dont)

    Materia could have well and truly paid back what she fraudulently took while on her parliamentary salary; living her new “comfortable privileged life” – she had plenty of time.

    For the record im not against what she done, various other MPs including sta ding members of the incumbent govt have done it before and We as a collective have turned a blind eye to it.

    But I do think she’s taken a calculated gamble with the party she co heads and while it initially paid off there have been one too many revelations after the fact, and public perception had turned before this, it’s alot harder to empathize with electoral fraud than it is welfare fraud after all.

    Unfortunately now this means what she has done makes it harder for everyone else because they legitimize the classic Bennie Basher line that “they’re all just constantly rorting the system” when that other fraudulent occurance had nothing to do with feeding her kids she lost support, let’s hold off on the sainthood for a minute here.

    I think any shifting Green vote is unlikely to go to National and more likely to go to Aderns younger focused Labour – it was always the group Adern would cannibalize back itll just be a larger portion which Materia just offered it up on a platter by not standing down.

    If anything, worst case its probably signaling that the greens would merely play a smaller role in a possible coalition, this oddly may work out well for the current opposition block with center conservatives seeing a stronger NZFirst with a weakend Green party more likened to the Maori Party getting the odd drag legislation passed through as more palatable than NZFirst being ignored by National – and when you’re talking about a knifes edge they’re the voters you need to capture.

    • Materia could have well and truly paid back what she fraudulently took while on her parliamentary salary…

      ?!?!

      Eh?

      Your remark makes no sense. This happened in the early/mid 1990s. Metiria wasn’t an MP when she was on the DPB.

      • I took at as Totally not Curwen feels that she could have looked into paying back the extra money she took in the 90s once she was earning a higher income as an MP.

        • Thanks, Michael. You’re right, that makes more sense.

          If that’s his intended meaning, it should be noted by “Totally not Curwen” that these events took place two decades ago. I’d be surprised if anyone kept records for that long period of time so he could do the sums and pop a cheque in the mail. I’m assuming WINZ will go through their records, assess her “liability”, and issue a demand accordingly.

          Mind you, she’s in a position to make such a payment. Thousands of other welfare recipients would not be.

  8. The Green party are in my view now more united than ever to fight the war on the poor -this can only be positive for this cause. It is a Corbyn moment – where some MP’s rebelled and not he is stronger than ever. The Greens have this chance now too. (I will deftly give them my party vote, I stand with Metiria!)

  9. Disaster. Kennedy Graham’s departure is a huge loss for the Party.

    Metiria needs to stand down as co-leader in order to save the party. That’s the honourable path. She could swap places on the list with either Julie Anne or Marama, whichever is preferred as co-leader.

    You cannot simultaneously oppose tax evasion and support benefit fraud. It’s inconsistent. If you want to practice civil disobedience then you must accept the consequences. Metiria is unwilling to follow through. Kennedy is the one acting on principle; willing to lose his job for it, in fact.

    • You cannot simultaneously oppose tax evasion and support benefit fraud.

      Yes you can. Either behaviour can be justified (or not) by the factors that drive it.

      I’m as equally comfortable with tax fraud committed by the need to feed children and family (in circumstances of what is essentially poverty) as with benefit “cheating” to feed and clothe.

      Not that authoritarian personality types will ever be able to understand any departure from their precious rules. Being internally morally deficient they cling to the artifice of imposed rules to steer their lives.

      • I’m afraid society doesn’t really work when people can pick and choose which laws they obey. Can a farmer dump effluent in the river if they are having a bad year? Take more water than allowed? Can people overfish? Steal from others? Can we all stop paying interest on loans? We will end up like Venezuela – a workers paradise where 80% don’t have enough to eat.

        • No, JPO, it can’t. But you’ve deliberately picked bad examples without redeeming features. Civil disobedience to break a bad law must have greater good.

          A prime example is Rosa Parks, who refused to sit at the back of a bus in Segregationist Southern States of America. Do you believe she should have obeyed that law?

          • I see your point. But there are ways to change the law in NZ without breaking it. Overall society won’t function if people feel they are entitled to break the laws they disagree with.

            • Well, if you have suggestions on ” ways to change the law in NZ without breaking it”, I’m interested. (Not being snarky.) Genuinely curious to know what you would suggest.

              • Or any suggestions on how to feed and clothe on an income deliberately set below that required for adequate nutritional levels, let alone all the other fiscal demands made on a single parent.

              • If it was easy it would have been done. I rather hopefully look for leaders who will reach across the political spectrum for sustainable solutions. Instead we seem to cling to a tribal affiliations and petty personality assasination.

        • JPO73 – Do you think your examples are not practiced on a regular basis by the 1%’ers. There are very many examples of “the law is an ass”. Good on the Greens for turning the tables.

    • Well TOP may take an interest in the two, and go over five percent, after perhaps announcing Kennedy Graham and David Clendon will play a leading role in TOP (if they consider this)?

      Metiria seems to have seen that under James Shaw, shifting the party to the centre right, as co leader her future was in danger, hence she went ahead and did what she did, hoping this will give her attention and solidify her social justice position, thus rescuing her senior role within the Greens.

      As the media does not wage war against her, most that is, and as political opponents like to exploit the situation, it has not played out the way she hoped, but she may have the caucus behind her and a core following stay with the Greens. But I sense there are some others within the Greens not quite happy with Metiria’s drip feeding of past wrong-doings, which many can forgive her for.

      It was not wise to admit the benefit dishonesty, in hindsight, New Zealanders do in their majority not look kindly upon beneficiaries and on those who are perceived as working the system.

      But perhaps she knew some details may have come out anyway.

      So yes, the situation is very messy now, and James Shaw looks also like a very weak leader, who has to support Metiria, even though he may himself have some concerns and second thoughts now.

      Lets await the Labour New Zealand First government in waiting now, unless Labour may also suffer due to this, given the media are firmly focused on destroying Metiria and her co leadership for good now.

      Most here live in a bit of a bubble, so while it is right to fight for the beneficiary cause, it should have and must be done smarter and better, not risking this fall-out.

      • ffs, what is wrong ? –
        ‘As the media does not wage war against her, most that is, and as political opponents like to exploit the situation, it has not played out the way she hoped, but she may have the caucus behind her and a core following stay with the Greens.’

        Was meant to write ‘As the media NOW wage war against her’, and ‘it has NOW played out the way’, instead of ‘not’, …

        either keyboard issue or spelling auto correct issue has occurred…

    • Similatly, you shouldn’t express pearl clutching moral outrage over one individual whilst excusing another.

    • No, Euan, she does no need to stand down. Not while there is one hungry child or one family in a stinking cold, dam house in this country.

      You can support benefit fraud if he law is patently unfair and forcing people deeper into poverty. A fact you seem to have forgotten. How was your diner last night?

      Metiria turei is an uncommonly courageous woman. There are not many like her who have put themselves in the firing line and attracted the hate which she has.

      Tell us, Evan, did Nelson Mandela break the law? Yes, he did. Apartheid law.

      • Damn right !

        And thanks also to Frank doin the do and sending that off.

        I’m still tossing up whether to change my vote for the Greens instead of Labour because of how Metiria has been treated versus her courage in calling out the neo liberal narrative.

        And when I see those other two gits who defected and their hoiti toiti sanctimoniousness ,… that makes me reconsider all the more.

        They are not standing on ‘ principle’, – they are just being brown nosers. Now , where would Indian independence be without ‘ lawbreakers’ like Mahatma Ghandi ?

        Where would have the labour force been if they didn’t ‘break the law’ and assert their rights 100 years ago?

        Would the Magna Carta have been signed if the Barons didn’t force the King to do so?

        History is full of example where unjust laws have been challenged because of their unfairness. And the neo liberal narrative and the 23 year old ‘Mother of all Budgets’ drawn up by Ruth Richardson in 1991 was unjust . And its legacy still permeates society today like a malignant cancer.

        It was stated that Richardson approached Treasury for the figures for an average wage , – then set the benefits 20% below that. Knowing full well there would be no money left over for food, or power or any other bills.

        And that was sadistic.

        Metriria Turei is a hero , – because she took on the neo liberal establishment and made a mockery of them. And yet John Key who was involved in so many corrupt activity’s he was given a knighthood.

        THAT’S the sort of hypocrisy that goes on in this country , – and its time it all stopped.

        #IstandwithMetiria

    • “You cannot simultaneously oppose tax evasion and support benefit fraud. It’s inconsistent”

      Oh, Euan, how easy it is to stand on moral principle when you live a comfortable life free from hunger, cold, and the ever-constant stress of losing your rental.

      That is how we should define Metiria Turei’s stand on this issue. Not by supporting two very well remunerated members of parliament who have most likely never known hunger, cold, or kids screaming because of untreated illnesses. (Yes, doctor’s visits are free for littlies, but medication still costs money, $5, which National increased a while back.)

      I have huge respect for Metiria Turei and I stand in solidarity with her and the Greens.

      If the Greens don’t stand up for the poor and the powerless, who will?

    • Euan – Kennedy is so “principled” that he and his fellow “renegade MP” have withdrawn from the Green Caucus – but not from Parliament.

      Yup.

      They’re so “principled” that they don’t want to be in the Green Party. But not quite enough “principle” that they pack up their bags and leave Parliament altogether.

      I guess the money is too good to pass up?

      • You hit the nail on the head there Frank. I just hope that the rest of the Greens give them the boot – right now. I stand with Metiria & the Greens.

  10. Oh thank you Frank. Thank you James and Martyn and other compassionate people.

    I have supported Metiria as to me she is a brave woman who represents so many “clients” who are/were voiceless in the system.

    We do not need more selfish people, posing for applause.

    We need movers and shakers as never before. Metiria is one.

    She has shaken down some pompous fruit.

    She has exposed the lack of compassion and the veneer of civility.

    She has exposed the ugly class system rife in NZ society.

    She has exposed overt racism.

    She has exposed societies rampant self interest.

    She has exposed entrenched bias in some media.

    The powerful feel threatened, that makes them dangerous.

    So stay the course Metiria, don’t jump. Stay for all the oppressed.

    • Thank you Patricia – you put that brilliantly. EXACTLY!

      I am oh so shocked at what these two have done over night to the party they so apparently believed in – what a wicked thing to do at a time like this … it beggars belief.

      Metiria is one gutsy woman – I just hope she hangs in there – the pressure on the whole team must be unbearable right now.

      There is part of me that suspects that there is much more to this than meets the eye – this reeks of right wing plotting – has these two been offered something by the right to do this right now? I guess we may never know?

  11. two rats that timed their departure to try and inflict maximum disruption on the Green Party–good riddance, don’t just go–piss off!

    Jeanette Fitzsimmons on RNZ this morning was great, and managed to annoy RNZ and their political toadies Hooton and Williams with her clear principled comments–should be required listening for any other potential rats

  12. A few days ago I made a contribution to The Green Party from my “fixed income”.

    I don’t have much to spare but today I am going to donate a little bit more as a gesture of solidarity.

    A surge in donation numbers would surely be a morale boost for the stalwarts of the party.

    It is quite easy if you want to have a go. Here is the link:

    http://www.greens.org.nz/standing-speaking-out

    • Many thanks for the link GROUCHO MARXIST. I have just donated and will continue to top up as and when I can.

      We must support the fight on poverty, which at present is being championed by the NZ Green Party.

    • Part of an email I received today from a local Green Party campaign co-ordinator;

      Thanks again or your help with the billboards. I am not sure whether, after the events of the last few weeks, […] you are still with us in spirit. We are certainly going through a rough patch but hopefully will come out the other side soon.

      Even if you are, then you may feel you have done your bit. However, if there is any chance that you would be willing to help Robert (and, I hope, some volunteers from Wellington), put up a few more billboards, correct one or two that people have attempted to put up themselves […] that would be really appreciated.

      My response this evening;

      I would be honoured to assist you this weekend, and every other weekend. Also leafletting, doorknocking, whatever it takes.

      It’s the least I can do for Metiria.

      In solidarity,

      -Frank

      I am so f*****g galvinised.

  13. This is worse than I expected, many days ago, yes a week or two ago, I wrote that they would come for Metiria, after the media put so much pressure on Andrew Little, he admitted having discussed his stepping down.

    Then he fell on his sword, and so it has rolled on, now they have managed to cause major cracks in the Greens caucus, division, some taking on the moral high grounds, but in doing so creating a bit of a train wreck of the Greens’ election campaign. The aim is Metiria, and James Shaw has been put into between a rock and a hard place now. He looked like a damned weak co-leader in interviews this morning.

    Behind the scene more seems to be planned, to destroy the credibility not only of the Greens, but also Labour again, watch that space, my friends, Jacinda may only get into government if she plays along as so far predicted, staying firmly neoliberal, paying only lip service, upsetting nobody and doing as the business and other lobbies so desire.

    We will now most likely have to face a Labour and NZ First government, unless the Nats and ACT and that Dunne guy stay in government, perhaps with a hypocritical Maori Party.

    Who would have thought this would happen a few weeks or even days ago?

    Does anybody still have faith in the system and in fair and informed elections???

  14. Superb Frank

    These guys have sat there for the last two weeks and said nothing until now and have done incredible damage by going public and have obviously not consulted their fellow members before doing so.

    Looks and smells like an ambush to me.

  15. It’s “Lets do this”, not “Let’s do it” (which sounds very Nike).
    Anyway, it is indeed obvious that this action by these two arsehats is indeed very deliberately designed to derail the Green’s election campaign. Dissent in the ranks is always a bad look, and I’m sure this will hurt them in the polls. Whether it’s neutral for the Left (i.e. that the votes go to Labour) or detrimental remains to be seen.
    Also this morning’s Breakfast poll had 75% of viewers advocating a resignation by Metiria … she certainly doesn’t seem to have the mainstream voter’s confidence at this point.

      • Agreed. But we live in a democracy where it only takes 51% to get 100% of the Government (or achieve a referendum), regardless what the remaining 49% think about it. Given that the Green’s (presumably) WANT to get elected, they need to at least listen to what the majority of voters want (unless they wish to remain a niche party of course, which is perfectly fine, but such thinking won’t win them any elections).

      • Is that the same Breakfast that used to be hosted by Paul Henry, one of the nastiest right-wing broadcasters ever to appear on mainstream television? Or is it the other one, that competes for the morning TV audience of right wing brain amputees. You’d probably get 75% of them voting for the death penalty for teenage mothers, to “send the right signals”. Who cares what they think? They do not represent the moral compass of the country, Metiria does.

  16. Yes Frank and fuck all those who can happily watch children going hungry and barefoot to school while morally pontificating over solo parents’ criminal ways.

    And all those saintly people who have never put a foot wrong and always obeyed every fucking law no matter how stupid and no matter the personal cost to themselves and their families. Well good for them . Just a pity that they have mostly had a compassion bypass.

  17. I find it incredible that people have become so divorced from reality, so there were no gay people in parliament before homosexual law reform,
    no MP ever paid for sex before the reform there and Nandor never had a puff. And the moon is made of cheese. I’m not sure who said it but ‘ it is the duty of all good men to break bad laws’ has always worked for me.

  18. Two (possibly blue) quislings hiding amongst the green being flushed out makes me more than ever determined to party vote Green.

    Party vote Green folks, to give the incoming Labour government some humanity and honestly.

    #IstandwithMetiria

  19. Treacherous indeed. With the only consolation being that they wont be there in govt to stonewall attempts at creating a fairer society. We can obviously see these two did what they did by using the timing to put in the knife, they could have walked much earlier.

    But again, they will not be in parliament to hamper the important work of overturning Nationals destruction. That is the only good thing, the bad thing is they will have an influence on voters. Here’s hoping they will soon be forgotten under the new govt and fade into irrelevance.

    Traitors. Who needs them.

    Nobody except the side that sends them.

  20. If Ms Turei’s subjection to media attacks was a one-off perhaps it would be understandable, but it isn’t there have been a long line of unwhite MP’s shat on by the media and left to fend for themselves by parties full of hacks like Graham and Clendon.

    Since I was growing up in Aotearoa, the stories of corrupt whitefellas who are rarely reported in the media, but whose snouts slipping into taxpayer troughs are legendary.
    When I was a kid dinner conversation would be of Keith Holyoake and the “Taupo bypass” in horrified tones but the general consensus even among natz haters was that “Things like that didn’t happen here” so they must be untrue.

    Then there was Duncan McIntyre’s gift of a choice piece of farmland on the then outskirts of Wellington to his daughter & son-in-law.
    That one did make the media but afaik the deal went through and no one was prosecuted. I betcha that cluster of paddocks is farming houses by now which was likely the plan from the get go.

    More recently there have been some shockers that no one in the media paid attention to.

    How was it Mike Moore left Aotearoa on the bones of his arse to work for a neoliberal quango and came back a 3 or so years a multi-millionaire?

    AFAIK no one has even asked that question, or, whether given that in the first term of the Key government when the call to bail out the then Telecom by giving it the fibre roll-out and Telecom shares trebled in less than 18 months as a result, did any MP’s – Key in particular, by ‘blind trust’ or whatever, hold any shares in Telecom over that period?

    I would say almost certainly yes since at that time Telecom made up about 30% of NZSE’s market capital. Any MP who held investments would have profited mightily by that decision and should never have been allowed anywhere near making a call on that tender.
    You’ll never read, view or hear a media investigation about that though.

    The sad fact is that only brown MP’s ever get pulled up and pasted for alleged criminality, even when it occurred at all, the happening was long before they were MP’s.
    Metira’s issue was lway back before MMP when she was still a uni student (imagine the mess the country would find itself in if every dubious act a student pulled back in the day was subjected to the same toxic scrutiny) , as was Dover Samuels and Clark, his leader, showed no loyalty & ran a million miles from the bloke, when Samuels got hit with a bulldust rape allegation & a story about serving six weeks in the Mount as a young man because a jealous former landlady reckoned he had stolen a pillow.

    The real story was the disgust that should have been expressed over why he was even charged, much less convicted and slotted up for it. But there was next to none of that – just more of the “see – Maoris (sic) – I told ya so”.

    Even now Samuels name gets dragged through the mud as does the handle of that Aotearoa first MP Delamere, for calls they made as Immigtation minister years ago.

    Yet I haven’t read a single story about how the former Natz member for Eden and Minister for Immigration, Aussie Malcolm quit as Immigration Minister and set up what was to become probably the largest immigration consultancy in Aotearoa, Malcolm Pacific.

    I’m gonna have to be a bit careful here, but I have spoken to a few clients of that consultancy – friends of mine who believed their route into residency was smoothed after meeting ‘Aussie’ which was followed by high level interventions on their behalf thru senior Immigration officials and/or national MP’s.

    In my view Taito Phillip Field copped a raw deal too; I have a close family member who was instrumental in breaking that story and he/she put a lot of effort in for an extended period to finally get it.
    It’s a weird set of blinkers kiwi media wear – they are invisible to the wearer.
    A couple of Xmasses were ‘ruined’ (according to some), by my pursuit of the inherent bias of running with that story.
    When I went to the same media person about that ‘Telecom thing’ I was told that ‘the bosses’ would never wear the time and expense of tracking down Key & other possible shareholders’ portfolio at the crucial time, without a source from the get go, yet afaik the Field story lacked one of those for months and months and months, but nobody suggested it should be ’round filed’.
    Simply put, unwhite people doing bad sells fishwraps in Kiwiland.

    That in turn means it is down to kiwis to put a stop to this.
    Never go to a mainstream news site without an ad blocker until they lift their game. Don’t buy fishwraps and use an android box to watch TV1,2 & 3 news I never get the ads when on the rare occasions I need to watch those channels using the Kodi kiwi Freeview plugin. Maybe it is because I log on from an offshore IP addy – I dunno.

    Anyway if you do disagree with the way that local media cover issues put in some effort to ensure they don’t profit from their bigotry.

    • Interesting stuff, Debs…

      I recall some of the matters you raised regarding Duncan McIntyre and Aussie Malcolm. (The latter was Immigration Minister when I was with the IndoChina Refugee Action Group and we had dealings with him.)

      Re TV1 and TV3 News. I was watching TV1’s coverage of the Southern DHB fiasco and comparing it to the excellent investigative coverage from John Campbell/Checkpoint. The TV coverage is so superficial, disjointed, and lacking real information that I might as well be watching a “news” story from another country. (Eg;no mention whatsoever of the lack of ICU beds – a critical piece of info.)

      • And just watched Patrick Gower on TV3 News. His glee at putting the boot into Metiria Turei whilst referring to Graham and Clendon as “honourable men” was risable. The man has utterly given up any pretence of impartiality.

  21. Well put Frank.

    David Clendon has had his opportunities, and failed to shine.

    Likewise Kennedy Graham has had the platform, and done a lot of hard work, yet consistently failed to connect with ordinary people. He was completely outperformed by Damien O’Connor at the recent Waikato presentation of the Globe 35 report, despite having done much of the work to pull the project together.

    Definitely time for them to use their talents in other areas.

  22. Is there a subliminal message in the cartoon? The red knife drawing green blood. The two environmentalists resigning and now leaving the Reds in charge and ascendant. Hmmm.

  23. Kennedy has been a sane force for the future.

    What are the real reasons for his demotion.

    Does he frighten business NZ

    What part has Shaw got in this debacle

  24. So Metiria Turei has been turned to mincemeat, as I predicted or suggested days ago:
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/336828/live-metiria-turei-resigns-as-green-party-co-leader

    I partly understand her situation then and now, but still think she was damned naive to come out with the whole truth. I think somebody was going to tell some stuff all the way along, hence she came out with her past where she did not strictly follow the law.

    New Zealand is a country of Pharisees these days, do NOT ever trust WINZ, other authorities AND your neighbours these days.

    Wait until they take Jacinda out soon!

  25. The NZ Herald’s front page yesterday was “GREENS IN CRISIS”.
    It’s slightly amazing. This is not the kind of thing you pull on your party this close to an election. Just idiotic.

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