The decision to sack a Minister for a consensual sexual relationship with someone who was staff in one of his agencies serves two audiences at once, Labour’s fourth wave feminists who will see the Minister’s relationship as an abuse of power in the ever shifting hierarchy of the powerless that is intersectionality and the other audience which is every other voter who won’t see the issue with such humourless indignation.
For everyone else, Jacinda’s puritan and immediate dismissal will be seen as the perfect match to Judith’s Crusher persona, especially in light of how long it took Judith to do anything but be expedient with Falloon.
For that audience it is Jacinda not looking weak that matters, not really what the Minister did.
Jacinda’s efficient cauterising of the issue will be seen as strength and might actually end up boosting her already stratospheric approval numbers.
This announcement reeks of a hit job by National, they needed heat taken off them and the affair with a Minister was the perfect media scapegoat.
They have destroyed the career of an MP and caused his family enormous trauma.
Note how Jacinda passed the Info directly to Judith & left it at that, where as Judith tells the media that she has sent info through after she magically gets asked the question from Garner this morning.
Jacinda showed leadership, Judith played politics.
The Venn diagram of people who believe Judith gained this information by chance and those who believe 5G might spread Covid is a perfect circle.
This sudden blood letting of smears will have some MPs nervously sleeping tonight because many affairs occur in Wellington and if this is really where National wants to go…
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Of course it is a hit job, this is going to be dirty politics all the way.
Everything is a hit job.
The refering the first se MP problem to Jacinda, the 2nd MP problem being sent to Judith.
ITS POLITICS. ITS DIRTY/DODGY/ALLUSIONS
Get over yourselves.
Both sides play the game.
Both Jacinda and Judith did the right thing.
Trying to tar one over the other is infantile.
The difference was that Collins went straight to Garner to let hm know she had a juicy tidbit of information, and then pretended she wasnt interested in dirty politics. She had no thought at all for the families and children who will be further distressed by the media…it is sickening.
The winner here so far is Jacinda–she has covered the bases. Shagging is not the crime of the century, but, it is unethical surely, for a Minister to consort with an underling, like it or not.
The bar has now been raised for affairs around the Parliamentary precinct, for all comers–pun intended. Like Martyn says–Nats–enjoy.
And Ju-Darth has shown her true face again–the Nat dirty tricks dept. never sleeps, it is on twin turbo boost with nitro, around the clock. She must have been pissed to have to drop this little gem so soon, but she is obviously humiliated by the Falloon debacle and needed to strike back and drop a bloody, road killed beast of some sort, on the table. Well aided by Dunky from news hub with his patsy question.
Next…
I hope Ian L-G took all reasonably practical steps in onducting his workplace relations, as per the HSWA law. Maybe not, hence the chop.
Can’t agree with ya sentiment Martyn. You pay the price if you screw the crew.
Well any one thinking Collins had learnt from her rather questionable and far from stellar past in politics and had turned a corner for the better – think again!
The Queen of Dirty Politics is back. Actually she never left.
To quote Dirty Politics, “Personally I would be out for total destruction,” she wrote to Slater (in Dirty Politics) about some National Party infighting, “but then I’ve learned to give is better than to receive.” And she loved the word “Utu”.
Fuck ILG, to hell with his family, for an affair over with, Judith got her revenge. Lavished with spite, tinged with hatred and seasoned with pure vindictiveness.
You are the same sad Judith Collins who should have been booted put of parliament years ago. Keep up the nastiness.
So Ardern didn’t know Iain’s secret until today but the rest of Wellington, included her intelligence service, did? And now Judith Collins is her go to for affair gossip and political information? And Ardern will happily pass judgement on Falloon but not comment or act on the swamp queen of dirty politics who also brought politicians into disrepute with her business dealings?
Assuming the SIS would work for Labour when their masters are off shore.
Its a case of, what!s good for the goose is good for the gander. Yes Bomber, it is a political hit for the Nats, that in the scheme of things took the P.M. A PUNISHMENT STRETCH to far, yes although an act unbecoming a Minister, and also inhouse with a worker who!s working environment should be one of care with dignity and principled consideration was broken, however, the acceptance of both parties acquiesce. Yes abuse of his position as Minister, withdrawal of his Ministerial position is appropriate yet to resign and not stand again for re-election, are the Nats big hit and a stretch too far. Look around the house see those sitting how many could we point to and say, yous are just as guilty, I could sugest some but no.
That said, this case of inappropriate conduct by an employer, although acquiescent is not as daming as inappropriate unsolicited text and vision porn.
We knew about this yesterday. This morning on RNZ, Fitzgerald asked Collins to confirm the story. She did.
For the love of God: what the hell is the matter with everyone? Lees-Galloway gets his leg over: so what? It’s not in the same ballpark as what Andrew Falloon is accused of doing, and even that was not as exceptionable, provided the recipients are of age.
I have great sympathy for the families involved: such humiliation, and they’ve done nothing wrong.
When did we all get so bloody censorious?
By the amount of spluttering from the usual suspects over ILG, I’d say it’s been extremely difficult for the Labour faithful to enjoy their woke moral outrage at the National muppet, so heads must roll!
Outrageous!
Sending unsolicited porn to anyone isn’t ok, and it needed to be dealt with.
However, I have no interest in the back histories of MP’s sex lives, and there is no purpose in resurrecting them now except to be vindictive, and to hurt persons perhaps undeserving of being hurt; it’s sick.
If the lead-up to the election is going to be punctuated with more revelations of adulteries or personal peccadillos, it’s likely that others will become as fed up as me – not with the offendors, but with the dirty shit-stirrers. We need to dump half the mp’s anyway – clearly they don’t have enough to do, and even most of the seemingly-virtuous ones are totally damned useless – there’s far too many of them.
Now he’s at home full-time with the wife .. will his suffering never end lol
Such confinement! The implications are mind boggling.
As Minister of workplace relations [sic], once this became widely known, his position was indeed untenable; a bit like Falloon wearing a white ribbon. Morals is one thing, hypocrisy another. Of course the timing is suss, and while hyperbolic, the witticism about a Venn diagram was rather clever (did all readers get it, I wonder?).
That is the problem when you do tit for tat I wouldn’t bother giving her any air.
Poor guy, he was good for us in Palmy. And nobody here cares if he banged his lover co-worker.
Mere mortals are routinely sacked for less. I don’t envy him explaining Paris to the missus though.
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