TDB is out there each week pushing against the Wellington Bureaucrats and their interests.
We have been never ceasing in our criticism of the neoliberal welfare experiment that is Oranga Tamariki, the spiteful nature of MSD, the purposely obtuse WINZ and the malicious way the State mistreats the poorest and most vulnerable amongst us.
Once you’ve experienced first hand the abuse of the State, you won’t tolerate it happening to others.
Generating such scrutiny gets threats.
Award winning Journalist Aaron Smale connects the dots in todays exclusive…
Officials’ finger pointing over abuse scandals
Comment: Tomorrow the country’s top public servant fronts up at the Royal Commission into abuse in state care. Aaron Smale argues that an odd attempt to warn off a blogger from criticism of the social development ministry shows how raw the nerves are at the highest levels in Wellington
Sometimes Wellington moves in mysterious ways.
I was recently phoned by blogger Martyn ‘Bomber’ Bradbury with a query. He’d been getting some heat from the press secretary of Public Services Commission boss Peter Hughes. But it wasn’t Bomber’s own words that were getting him unwelcome attention. It was words I’d written and Bradbury had directly quoted that were stirring up concern in the office of the country’s top bureaucrat.
I don’t know Bradbury and I think I might have read a sum total of one of his blogs after stumbling on it through some Google detour. Blogs and content in that genre are not a section of the media ecosystem that I have spent any time dwelling in, although they do have their audience and that’s fine.
However, Bradbury has picked up on the coverage I’ve done on the abuse of children in state custody and quoted verbatim from some of my stories. And it was these quotes that caught the attention of Hughes’ press secretary Grahame Armstrong, and presumably Hughes himself. He seemed particularly agitated by the reporting of an incident I’ve mentioned several times over the past couple of years. I even wrote an entire column on it – the use of private investigators by government departments to try and discredit victims of state abuse taking a civil case to court. Specifically, I focused my attention on MSD during the period that Peter Hughes was in charge.
Bradbury was at first slightly panicked by these emails from the office of the most powerful individual in the public service. He read the tone of the emails as a veiled threat and was worried he might have some kind of legal exposure. But then he was perplexed. If it was a problem that he was quoting from my stories then why were my stories still online? Was there some corrected version that he’d missed? So Bradbury did the obvious thing and called me and asked – have I had any pushback on my stories that mention this issue?
The answer is a resounding no. I haven’t heard a squeak.
…here was their email to me…
Kia Ora Martyn
I’m writing to you in response to two blogs: Aloha Luxon & the concerning reason why Oranga Tamariki may be kneecapping Children’s Commissioner and Why Labour refuse to stop the gagging of the Children’s Commissioner
I’m not sure what has happened, but in both blogs this week you have repeated a factual error published in another blog in April.
As I said in April (email attached), the Public Service Commissioner expects, from time to time, to be subject to criticism in the media which, even if unreasonable, he often lets go in the interests of robust journalism and public debate. I also said the Commissioner respects your vigorous style of journalism.
However, your latest blogs contains an important factual error that needs to be corrected.
You wrote:
Hughes was in charge when MSD used private investigators to try to dig dirt on victims and witnesses in a test case on state abuse that went to court.
This is incorrect. As I pointed out in April, some claims had already been filed in the High Court. Preparations for one case (the White case), which went to trial in 2007, began in 1999, before Mr Hughes was appointed chief executive. To assist with the preparations for the White case, private investigators were engaged by Crown Law – not MSD – to locate and approach witnesses.
The 2018 Inquiry into the use of external security consultants by government agencies considered the White case. The Inquiry found Crown Law breached the Public Service Code of Conduct by providing broad instructions to a private investigator. MSD was found in breach at the lower end given Crown Law had the primary responsibility to manage the case. The Inquiry did not see anything to indicate that senior managers at MSD knew about or directed the potential use of surveillance or a covert approach.[page 44, 3.76 of the Inquiry report].
You also wrote:
Ironically, it was Hughes who set up the inquiry as head of State Services (as it was then called), but he made no comment on his own culpability that was exposed by its findings.
Mr Hughes was upfront about this at the time. In a published response, he said: “In relation to the Ministry, because I was Chief Executive at the time, I have referred this matter to the incoming Deputy State Services Commissioner to consider and determine. I have also referred these matters to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based institutions for consideration.” That was the appropriate thing to do.
Mr Hughes did not know about the use of surveillance in the White case. If surveillance was used in the White case, he did not know about, did not authorise it and did not condone it.
Mr Hughes was focused on a new approach to managing the historic claims of abuse, fixing the process for the future.
I’m only asking that you correct the record of your published blogs and don’t repeat the same mistakes in any future blogs.
I trust you will give this matter urgent consideration. I am happy to discuss if you prefer. You can contact me on 021 *** ****
…here was my go fuck yourself response…
The fucking ‘incorrect sentence’ is a direct quote from another bloody news story.
Hughes was the chief executive at MSD during the 2000s, which was the period that came under particular scrutiny at the royal commission. Hughes was in charge when MSD used private investigators to try to dig dirt on victims and witnesses in a test case on state abuse that went to court. The use of private investigators in that case cost nearly $100,000 and was found to be in breach of government code of conduct by an inquiry in 2018.
Now why, why would you be harassing me over a story quoted in another paper unless you knew you didn’t have a leg to stand on and know that no one read the original story back in February but fear my constant repetition of it might catch alight.
See, now you really are starting to attract my attention.
You pulled this stunt with Waatea, you pulled this stunt with me, I think you also tried it on with my podcast.
See, now you really do have my attention.
State Services goon attempts to gag blogger from highlighting disgraceful MSD tactics of the past
That works for me as a title.
What do you think?
…to paraphrase the Wu-Tang Clan, TDB ain’t nuthin’ to fuck with.
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Way to go Martyn!
Great work Martyn. Keep on speaking truth to power.
Martin
I caught three people in a MSD registered vehicle from Rotorua surveilling us at a time when I had lodged complaints concerning a state services employee and others abusing their power and Harming Bullying exploiting the most vulnerable. I was met with denials and coverups. I was not aware this was a bigger issue!! I was thrown in solitary and our family targeted in police raids five times on the back of lies and false accusations by the criminals I had caught. The govt employee has since left state services but the damage and harm to many still exists. This is serious and concerning on so many levels. I have communicated with Aaron smale directly and the abuse in state care enquiry just contacted me asking me to register to speak. Clearly those with genuine concerns with the state abusing the vulnerable were targeting those who had evidence of same. ️♂️
Be careful Martyn those at the top are Dirty Bastards aka NZ MAFIA.
The State Sector and Ministry sector are loaded to the gunwales with an echelon of fifth columnists. People that ideologically spit on public infrastructure, public ownership, and any vestiges of working class rights, but are more than happy to take immense salaries and benefits courtesy of NZ taxpayers!
Bludging, pampered bastards that should all be made to reapply for their jobs–and then replaced with veteran and new gen working class activists.
Good job MB.
Sadly connecting dots within media stories is something many modern journo’s in MSM can’t or are told not to do – and that’s what is wrong with media and why many people now feel media is not independent and tuning out.
I guess being a better journo platform and connecting dots, is something that creative NZ is not interested in funding.
Good on you Martyn. And just to let you know, I read the story which I hadn’t previously followed on your blog.
Take care. Don’t trust these bastards at all.
Real shades of the powerful trying to intimidate the “little guy”
Donation transfered
Good on you Martyn.
Full respect to you.
Yes read that yesterday MB. I have formed the impression of Mr Hughes over the years that he is a strange mix of govt Shill and Bovver Boy. His actions as the current State Services Commission Head have raised many red flags for me.
“What publicly funded Wellington Bureaucrats are doing when you aren’t watching”
Unfortunately they’ve been doing it for quite some time. More unfortunately, while under the H1 and H2 junta, they were awOke to it and had shit-kicking capability. Not so now.
Thompson and Clarke and all that kaka is a matter of record. The problem is, ‘these’ little upstats keep doing it, and when they fear being sprung, they just shuffle on to some other gig.
Our gummint agencies are still full of it. I often wonder which of those agencies is the worst. MBIE is right up there, but it runs right from Parlyamentary Services, to MSD, to MoBy, to NZTA, to the Colonial Office (thankfully better than it used to be), and even (as no doubt a Minto could probably tell you) IRD.
Things will have to get worse before we can knock the shit out of this crap, and it’ll probably take a bit of dirty laundry to be aired.
It’d be far easier if the political class learnt, and acted with that quaint old idea of integrity, and humility, rather than the bullshit that is managerialism, meerkating and neoliberal ideology over substance.
Shouldn’t be that hard really when there are a few people in Labour with a reasonably high IQ and that aren’t hampered by some sort of spreadsheet weighting that puts things like cargo cultism and demographic CONsiderations over reality.
Roll on ’23. I can’t wait. I’m quite keen to know whose grave I should piss on and where I should empty my colostomy bag – if I get there
Kia kaha. +donation.
Commercial travellers last century aimed to be smart, amusing, likeable fellows and had a fund of jokes. As the source of jokes is limited but the different variations are wide, the joke was that the travellers developed a number code. ‘That reminds me of a real Number 19′ etc, causing everyone to fall about laughing.
I think that all the public (supposedly) servants and politicians’ get-out-of-jail clauses and excuses should be collected and listed by Butterworths in a bound volume on everyone’s shelf, (to give them dignity and ensure veracity) and codes be used for them for simplicity.
In this case –
I wasn’t in charge.
It was before my time.
I didn’t know what had been done by another semi-government organisation – ie Crown Law.
and other that I missed?
Sorry Hughesy, this isn’t a government run social media company, it’s an independent platform on the internet. You can’t just phone up your entitled mates and get them to cancel a host or a user because you don’t like the tone of their naughty post.
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