Paula Bennett’s attack on NZ First

ByCurwen Ares Rolinson

So hold the phone … Paula Bennett is accusing the Prime Minister of refusing to face up to the issue around photos of a former NZF functionary meeting with a journalist turning up on Not-WhaleOil, claiming also that Winston’s statements in relation to this make him unfit to continue serving as Deputy PM.

Without wanting to endorse something of a Yakov Smirnoff approach to politics and the media [“In capitalist ordinaria, media photographs politicians … in Soviet NZ First-istan, politicians photograph YOU”, has a certain ring to it], not least because the whole thing seems to have been a dumb idea to brag about from a tactical perspective, and looks little more than lashing out due to a lack of actual power otherwise …

… I find Bennett’s remarks extraordinary. If this is to be her defining ethical test for office-holding, then I think we can fairly ask at what point it was that the National Party suddenly decided that passing material to WhaleOil [Not-WhaleOil or otherwise] was the sort of high crime and misdemeanour for which a Cabinet member could and must be impeached.

Presumably, it was at some juncture *well* after then-Prime Minister John Key’s office was snapped sending information – including material obtained via the SIS – to WhaleOil in order to attack political rivals such as then-Leader of the Opposition, Phil Goff.

Bennett served as part of that administration; I do not recall her having such ethical scruples then?

Particularly given her defining series of acts during that trajectory of her career – at least, the ones not built out of attempting to coat-tail on Outrageous Fortune – included her own disclosure of confidential information from her ministerial area of responsibility about critics, in order to try and shut them up.

You can’t call that “leaking” information, to be fair – because it was really more going outside with a waterblaster and daring anybody who spoke up within shooting range to see if they fancied feeling lucky, punk. As I recall, Bennett basically bragged about doing all of this at the time.

(Some of Bennett’s much more recent actions in relation to a certain Jamie-Lee Ross are also of direct relevancy here; and shows that the stench of hypocrisy about her is not so much “rank” as “first rank fire, second rank fire” – that is to say, “weaponized” and well-drilled into the bargain)

I also don’t seem to recall Bennett being especially critical of Judith Collins when the latter’s reaction to being caught out repeatedly engaged in some grubby business … was to not just threaten to, but *actually go ahead with* the disclosure of confidential information held in her ministerial capacity and pertaining to the family of the Parliamentary Press Gallery journalist who’d then drawn her ire through honest reporting.

Followed by threatening to do so more and repeatedly, til the hostile (honest) reporting stopped.

Collins, to be sure, did eventually apologize – although I suspect rather strongly that this was more driven by realizing that attempting to take on the *entire Parliamentary press corps* in the midst of a should-have-proven-fatal thirty-scandal pileup, was probably not a smart survival move, rather than much in the way of genuine principled remorse. It was certainly in accordance with some of the ‘rules’ for venomous political conduct she shared with Cameron Slater, which we found out about thanks to Dirty Politics.

Now, again. I’m not meaning to sanction nor support what whomever “we” is has done with regard to photographing a former functionary meeting with a prominent journalist in a cafe, and then sending the photo etc. to Not-WhaleOil.

I think it was a questionable move that would likely garner little-to-no actual benefit for the Party; while instead making the organization and its cohorts look rather more Mafia-like and shifty than an array of undecided voters presumably already think that they are.

If you were the sort of person to be swayed by a photo and captioning like that, to believe that the whole thing was a massive and conspiratorial beat-up on NZ First … then you probably already believed that before any such photograph was produced.

And if you weren’t, then you probably weren’t the sort of person thinking all that much nor all that hard about this donations quagmire [which, I might add, has currently produced 4 National-linked arrests, to 0 NZF] anyway … meaning the net impact of this mini-scandal-within-a-scandal is to put it back in the forefront of your political viewscreen for another week running.

Although whether rightly or wrongly, one of the things that *most* annoys me about this recent development is how it’s somehow enabled Bennett to seek out a most unseemly pulpit from which to protest *well* too much, from the top of some pile of skulls and political corpses conveniently disguised as “The High Ground”.

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17 Comments

  1. A very good likeness.

    Bennett is the Nat Latrine attack poodle. Her role is to throw shit over every wall and hope some of it sticks without getting shit all over herself. That’s been a fail.

    Bennett should have been stood down herself for her considerable involvement in the absolutely ridiculous witch hunt and slur campaign that our PM covered up of sexual abuse. What consequence did the vile Bennett suffer for that dirty politics attack on our democracy that went all round the world?

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/09/she-absolutely-knew-paula-bennett-tells-jacinda-
    ardern-to-step-up.html

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7458607/New-Zealand-Prime-Minister-Jacinda-Ardern-forced-resign-sexual-assault-scandal.html

    1. The photo resembles a narcissistic personality disorder and another whose horrendous upbringing lead to methamphetamine use and severe mental illness.

      I can’t see Bridges surviving and by association Bennett will take a massive fall.Other than arse licking how on earth did she get the deputy position ahead of others in her party? It certainly wasn’t intellect.

    2. Quite funny really eh?
      Honest Guv!, I’m telling the truth. And if ya don’t believe me – Oikin produce more witnesses.
      And if it came down to it, I think I could probably provide her with better feshun advoice as well

  2. Well, I’m quite sure NZ First will be getting my party vote this election.

    As for Bennett and her abusing of power when in office? We certainly dont need or want her type in power… she reminds me of another Russian peculiarity…

    Dyatlov Pass incident – Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › Dyatlov_Pass_incident

    The Dyatlov Pass Incident: The Mysterious 1959 Tragedy That …allthatsinteresting.com › dyatlov-pass-inciden

    The same sort of cover up mentality, the same sort of elitist abuse of power in disclosing members of the public using their personal details, the same sort of incompetence regarding installing family’s in motels and overruling her own Finance Minister – while we now have to pay for all of that… no. We do not need another rehash of the ogre / Bennett era.

    Unless we are desperate for a butt for our jokes. No… we are not that desperate at all,… actually.

    Keep the peculiar little woman out of power and be done with it.

    Thats all.

  3. Seem to remember Paulabenefit managed to get a members of the public suppressed who had some interesting stories about her and the benefits and house she received as a beneficiary. Great to see how the powerful can suppress free speech of their own pasts, while throwing dirty politics mud at other MP’s…

    Even more bizarre when the Natz are up on SFO charges (caught on tape) and she is still trying to sling mud at NZ First.

    While I think the widespread practise of splitting donations should be stopped, it is on another level to be planning attack adds, and plotting MP’s seats related to ethnicity and donation ability “2 Chinese and more valuable than 2 Indians” .

    Goodbye democracy NZ! It has already started because the SFO apparently only charged JLR not Simon Bridges!!!!!!

    Don’t think political parties in NZ should even be allowed to gather any donations!!! NZ is way to small and clearly a few companies or individuals can easily start to direct public policy, that’s why NZ is such a mess – roading lobby group comes to mind and billions for more roads in NZ comes to mind!!!!

  4. I see Mark Mitchell has shown his true colours, he has hang J L Ross out to dry. We can’t have people like him running our country. As for pull everyones benefit who benefitted she doesn’t need to throw shit cause she is shit.

    2. Mitchell’s a mercenary. He’s swapped the assault rifle for a comfy seat in Parliament, but he remains a mercenary. Essentially, if you want to be a National Party MP, you either jettison any morals, ethics or scruples you may have, or you plug your ears, pretend you’re oblivious to what’s going on around you, and serve your time as a convenient seat-warmer there to make up the numbers. The entire organisation is little more than a diseased appendage.

  5. Bennett’s diversion tactics, National have so much crap within their own stable, they can only look ‘good’ by using JLR as fall guy and pointing fingers at NZ First.

  7. Those in favour of ghosting JLR while stomping beneficiaries say “I”, those against, …the eyes have it

  8. Ooh, transNational trying to drive a wedge between Labour and NZF – didn’t see that coming.

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