The bizarre tribalism being exhibited by many Green & Labour Party supporters on social media over the Treasury Budget incompetence is jaw dropping. It amounts to nothing more than ‘Red is good, Blue is bad’ level of intellectual pettiness.
The Treasury lied and manipulated the hack claim and there has been an inquiry launched into the incompetence and the misleading statements…
Treasury boss Gabriel Makhlouf under investigation over Budget comments
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has officially confirmed he will look into whether Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf misled the Government about how confidential Budget 2019 information was accessed.
This follows strong rhetoric from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this afternoon, when she said it was something she expected Hughes to look into.
Hughes said in a statement that the investigation will look into recent questions raised concerning Makhlouf, “and his actions and public statements about the causes of the unauthorised access to Budget material”.
“The investigation will establish the facts in relation to Mr Makhlouf’s public statements about the causes of the unauthorised access; the advice he provided to his Minister at the time; his basis for making those statements and providing that advice; and the decision to refer the matter to the Police.”
…again, for those who are slow or just joining us…
Worse, it’s understood Treasury was advised by the National Cyber Security Centre – a branch of New Zealand’s cyber spooks – that what they were dealing with, was not a hack by any stretch of the imagination.
Treasury’s referral of the matter to police, after being advised of that, and its subsequent statement referring to the use of its website’s search bar as a “sustained and systematic hack” was a total waste of police resources and an example of extreme arse-covering.
It’s not even clear at this point, that Treasury’s claim it happened 2000 times is correct.
But its most egregious crime, for which Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf holds personal responsibility, is advising the offices of the Finance Minister and Prime Minister on Tuesday that it was a hack – knowing it wasn’t.
Makhlouf had already referred it to police at that point – removing the option of choice from Finance Minister Grant Robertson. But it also did him the favour of keeping him far enough away from the debacle that Opposition calls for his resignation are clearly a step too far.
Inexplicably, Makhlouf doubled down. He went on national airwaves the very next morning, with an overcooked metaphor likening the documents retrieval to entering a locked room and taking to a chest with a sledgehammer – completely false.
All signs suggest Makhlouf knew what had happened, and went ahead with his own version anyway.
…so the Treasury compounded their incompetence by telling everyone they had been hacked after the GCSB told them they hadn’t been hacked.
Labour & Green voters don’t need to be so tribal about this – Treasury fucked up, not the Government!
Is this not a good time to drain the swamp? Make him an example to other bureaucrats, lynch him! Lets have him crying on tele, isn’t that the latest trend these days.
don;t agree with the above, most posts and people chatting say the same thing, that it is ironic bridges calling for the person john key put in charge of the treasury to be dismissed, legend, as for bridges leaking budget details, he seems unable to advance past 13 years old,
Perfect post could not have said it any better!
The shifty lump was at the netball cheesing it up, made me wanna vomit
he has to cheese it up Doc cause people don’t appear to like him much and he seems to be always whinging and whinning and he sounds like a scratched record which switches people off
For fuck’s sake, those of us who have accountability for private data held by our organisations don’t give a shit that Treasury was the target of this particular breach, we just care that it was a breach. If it was your bank that had made the mistake and suffered the breach, would you be so sanguine about it?
That’s contradictory
But it ain’t a bank it is the treasury and the treasurer who was employed by key so national employed him so what is the problem he was fine when they were in power.
The alleged ‘hack’ of the Treasury wasn’t a hack. The information that Simon Bridges gained, and went public with, was publicly available on the Treasury website.
In my opinion it wasn’t the alleged ‘hack’, (simple google search), that embarrassed and angered the Government.
It was the information revealed, (before they had a chance to massage it), that angered the Government.
“Tanks not teachers”
Now I am not saying for a moment, that Simon Bridges has turned into a raging anti-war lefty, he saw a chance to embarrass the government, and he took it.
What is more shocking is how the left have all closed ranks, to cover up what had been revealed. Essentially what the left did was to gang up against the teachers.
They’re not the left – they’re a group that calls themselves the left but the left from 40 years ago wouldn’t recognise them.
I don’t think there is a real left wing any more – not in an economic sense anyway
no the left that left left because they went with the right and so there is no left left does that make sense
To put it more succinctly: The left left the left and so there is no left left 🙂
your right Aaron no left left
So who exactly was Bridges trying to hold to account, Treasury or the Government? Bridges was proud, excited, boasting but above all else arrogant to think that this was a “gotcha” Government moment. As you say he got it off the internet, however “he” didn’t, it would have to be one of his lackey’s. All of which means, as the post suggested, treasury fucked up, Bridges didn’t win anything other than a boy scout badge.
“The information that Simon Bridges gained, and went public with, was publicly available on the Treasury website.”
Given the treasury boss was appointed by Key, could this have been a setup by Gabriel Makhlouf and deliberately misled the Government about how confidential Budget 2019 information was accessed?
Is it Bridges job to hold the government to account? Absolutely!
Is it Bridges job to embarrass the government? Only if he is arrogant and insecure.
According to official online info, Makhlouf was headhunted for the job.
From what I can surmise, Key’s headhunting may have consisted of remembering or forgetting someone his younger brother went to school with; forgetting having a recent meal with him until someone like John Campbell comes along and refreshes his memory, then a squee ee eze of one of the the best Campbells to come out of Scotland out of his job.
So the moral of the story is: don’t report the truth if you don’t fancy being toothpaste.
What I find bemusing is anyone has enough interest and faith in govt in this country to get upset anymore.
I thought the same thing after 3 years of the Key lead national government.
And who cares is this treasury shit really important when the man is leaving anyway. We have better and bigger issues to worry about why do we think soimon is keeping this issues alive he has nothing else constructive to add have we heard his alternative budget ideas nah! and we won’t. The diatribe what comes out of his mouth (soimons) is about as toxic as what is coming out of our cows backsides.
Wow. Cheers @ Bomber. ( “Not the sort of name you need when checking in at the AP!” Ba hahaha a a ! I thought that was very funny. That’s like Guns N Roses. “Mr Guns and roses? Paging Mr Guns and roses? Please board your aircraft?” Hahaha a ahaaaaaaaa…!? maybe not.)
I know, from past and bitter experience, that the Natzo’s are #A Arseholes and #B Dodgy as fuck arseholes. Anyone hand picked by Arch Arsehole jonky will be as dodgy as fuck. They will have a price, and it will be paid if the goods are delivered. And they look like they were delivered in spades.
That means, in my mind, as weak as it is, that Makhlouf’s equally dodgy as fuck. Dodgy, at the very least, by association. Makhlouf was paid to take the fall and tellingly, just before he’s to head off to Ireland. ( Isn’t Ireland a bit dodge’ and money launderish? )
I think that this entire scenario is designed to give labour a ‘moral’ and legitimate ‘out’ next election to allow the Natzo’s to return to the throne to resume selling us out to the zionists. How about them apples? Our politics is entirely smoke and mirrors. We’re being sadistically charmed by evil snakes and the clues to that are all around us. Rich country. Homelessness. Rich country? People die of cancer waiting to be screened. Rich country? Pay inequality. Rich country ? Children ( and their whanau ) living in dire poverty while surrounded by multimillion dollar houses as Westpac, a foreign owned bankster like the three main others, to use them as an example, takes a mind boggling $555 million dollar profit out of our economy and returns debt back into it In. Six. Months! I mean c’mon?
RNZ. OUR RNZ.
John Walker.
A theory on arseholes. It’s a documentary. Go ! See !
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018697763/john-walker-assholes-a-theory
Nailed it!
Well, Robertson fucked up too.
Making such salacious claims before a thorough investigation of the facts was just plain bumble-fuckery.
There was never going to be any way Bridges would be colluding in a criminal activity like this. He is not THAT stupid. Although apparently Robertson is.
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