Faafoi does a Neale Jones and the Professional Managerial Class advance

The revolving door between politicians and lobbyists is spinning faster than ever with Kris Faafoi doing a Neal Jones and advancing the power of the Professional Managerial Class who dominate politics in NZ…

This week the Herald broke the story that former Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi has become a lobbyist, setting up a new firm Dialogue22 just weeks after leaving his Ministerial role in Government. For the last three weeks he has been working as CEO of corporate lobbying firm.

The new lobbying company is owned by Greg Partington, who has a number of different businesses that connect with politics and political insiders. Another of Partington’s businesses, the communications agency “Tatou NZ” is run by the partner of Cabinet Minister Peeni Henare, Skye Kimura.

Faafoi is now running Dialogue22, even though he departed halfway through the Government’s term in office purportedly to spend more time with his family and get out of politics. He justified the unusual departure by explaining he was “over politics”. And yet he’s now gone straight into a heavily political role.

The new company is advertising itself on the basis of Faafoi’s background and networks. It pitches: “We know how Government works at the highest level… We know why and how journalists ask questions and we know how to be ready to answer them.” It advertises: “We work with clients to get their perspectives ready to be in front of decision-makers, the public and the media.”

Faafoi’s political experience is being explicitly leveraged by Dialogue22: “As a former senior Parliamentary Press Gallery reporter, Chief Press Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister Kris has networks, understanding of the Government and working experience in the media.”

…Kris’s nickname inside Caucus was ‘The Blocker’ because you gave Kris a ministry so that nothing ever happened.  No one knows how to slow shit down to meaninglessness quite like our Kris.

The Left aren’t attacking this outrageous corporate influence directly in the heart of our democracy because their favourite Woke Edgelords Neale Jones and Clint Smith are part of this orgy of corporate self interest masquerading as the common good…

The current Government has a very close connection with lobbyists, partly because lots of senior staff have moved backwards and forwards into such jobs. For example, corporate lobbyist Neale Jones, who runs the firm Capital Relations, was previously Jacinda Ardern’s Chief of Staff, but left the job in 2017, to immediate set up a lobbying business, utilising his connections in the Beehive.

Soon after Jones departed, Ardern asked another lobbyist, GJ Thompson to come and fill the empty Chief of Staff position for a few months. He was told he could simply “suspend” his lobbying activities at his firm Thompson Lewis, help set up the new government and then go back to working as a lobbyist, taking with him all of his new connections, his inside information on the new administration, and the benefits of having hired half of the new staff. Industry insiders said that this was a boon for Thompson, who would then be able to charge his clients much more due to his extraordinary connections and knowledge. What should have been a major scandal barely raised a mention in the media.

There are plenty of other lobbyists around the Labour Government profiting from their connections. Neale Jones and Clint Smith, for example, are effectively “the privatised wing of the Labour Party”. Not only do they play a “communications” role of getting the messages from corporations into the Beehive, they also play a central role of getting the Government’s messages and spin out to the public.

…even the Greens are snout deep in the trough…

Even the Green Party seems to have become more lobbyist-friendly lately. Its own Chief of Staff Tory Whanau recently left to become a lobbyist with the firm run by Neale Jones, and is currently running for Mayor in Wellington with the endorsement of her party.

…and let’s not forget the mighty Ruminator…

…we believe you Dave, we believe you.

The Wellington Twitteratti are silent because half of them are running State consultancies as well.

Most of the woke Wellington Twitteratti are also part of the Professional Managerial Class so consultancy is their bread and butter and their accessing political power for their corporate masters is seen as beneficial rather than parasitic.

All these wanky State Agencies with new Māori names, pronouns and painfully inclusive language have to consult with these new consultancies to pass the woke wash game.

The corporate self interest here pretending to be social policy is as outrageous as all the private media complaining about the RNZ/TVNZ merger while claiming fourth estate democracy is at risk.

We urgently need to get big money out of our politics.

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