Martyn Bradbury

I think we are witnessing a slow motion coup.

Where was Marama when Todd Barclay was caught out lying to NZ about secretly taping a staff member? Where was Marama when the Prime Minister got caught out doing the same thing? No word from her about her mates then, but here she was attacking Awataha Marae and giving racists everywhere a chance to stereotype Marae as slave labour slums.

How could English claim the tape doesn’t exist if Todd Barclay offered to play him the tape???

The list of batshit crazy things we are being asked to believe in order to accept Bill English’s version of events over what he knew, when he knew and how he knew about Todd Barclay breaking the law is becoming more absurd by the day.

The spitefulness of those describing Marae as sweat shop slums for political gain is the ugliness here, not the attempt to engage youth at the ballot box.

When the Labour Party Student Intern story erupted this week, just as Bill English was in serious trouble, I thought “Well that’s convenient isn’t it”.

I was out to the Marae 2 weeks ago having a look around at what they were doing. I had a meal with them, talked with some of the volunteers. They were fantastic young people who were loving the adventure of it all.

…so a National Party Goon, Glenda Hughes, a board member of National’s ruling council no less, contacts the staff member Barclay has been spying on and effectively bullies and intimidates the staff member into dropping the case.

…now he’s gone, what about Bill English? Surely as Prime Minister, Bill’s deception was actually worse than Barclay’s.