Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, September 9th, 2008 - 67 comments
Categories: flip-flop, john key, national, united future -
Tags:
Can’t put it any better than Jafapete has:
Seems that John Key has done it again. Announced policy off-the-cuff and back tracked later. TV3 reports that, speaking to an Auckland families forum yesterday, Key ‘veered away from a written speech appearing to announce in off the cuff remarks that National would axe the commission.’
‘He said there was ‘a ton of money being spent on it’, and he would rather give the money to non-government organisations delivering front-line services.’
Someone must have reminded him later that he might need the suport of Peter Dunne and the United Future Party, whose baby it is (its establishment was a key condition of the Party’s support agreement with Labour after the 2002 election).
Today we have the inevitable backtrack:
‘ National would merely ‘rebalance’ the commission and he expected United Future to find the changes acceptable. [Key] refused to comment on the details of National’s policy, but said there was still a place for advocacy for families somewhere in the bureaucracy.’
Inexperienced, muddled, duplicitous. For a righter future, vote National.
Facebook
Twitter
Scoopit!
Hmmm. Like Mission Australia.
He seems to like the Aussies – Aussie banks, Aussie social service providers…
Will Dunne accept any major changes to the FC? His vote is likely to require it remains pretty much as is, I suspect.
And yes Toad, Mission Australia would be a major beneficiary of the FC losing funding…
Also, I wonder how the Maori Party would feel about Mission Oz coming over here…anyone know?
Well, the Green Party certainly wouldn’t be keen.
Thanks Toad, useful link. Didn’t know Collins had said she wouldn’t use MA here. Of course, knowing National an MP saying that is likely to be contradicted by Key or English later on so it’s effectively meaningless.
ho hum
Lampie
September 9, 2008 at 8:23 am
Correct me if I’m wrong. National now supporting “anti-smacking’ bill unless evidence suggests otherwise. I thought they were against it? Any case, another “me too’ and “cover my ass’ no leadership example from John Key.
Mr Key, for God sake, actually show what you stand for, grow some balls!!
I don’t want to post off-topic and link-whore but Farrar is on bloody Radio New Zealand again this arvo and I want to get a campaign going to get Clint Smith up as a commentator. I’m sick of the only lefties in the MSM being idiots like Trotter…
http://robinsod.wordpress.com/?p=100
Anyone else who wants to see some fairness and balance please contact me through my blog.
/off-topic linkwhoring
Parents Inc, not MA.
Key said he liked the work of Parents Inc, run by evangelical Christian Ian Grant.
“The current Government won’t touch them because they’ve got a Christian-based perspective,” Key said.
“I personally think they happen to deliver fantastic results, and I’m going to make sure they get some money to run their programmes far and wide.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4685704a6160.html
Bill,
As was established in another thread Parents Inc does, in fact, receive government funding.
I’m starting to feel sorry for John Key as his own party deserts him to his delusions of grandeur.
Thats dangerous. He might get the sympathy vote.
Anita
yeah I know. Was me pointed that out on the other thread.
The reason for putting in the quote I did here with the link was ’cause Dom and Toad were speculating on MA being direct beneficiaries of a Nat Government.
I was merely signposting the probability it would be Parents Inc and not MA who would get tha dosh/ contracts/whatever.
See Hurricane Owen has dropped Labour in the shit. Must be a senior moment by OG.
How are Mike W and H1 going to spin this?
I think his biggest demographic will be those who are tired of liars.
Cullen’s attempts to claim that it was not Winston who answered his own phone this afternoon were a new low.
Well said ‘Sod.
After all, the Standard is the only forum in NZ that realises John Key’s flip flops is the most important political story today.
As for unfair and balance, everyone in the free world (ok, everyone at the Standard) knows that the Winston story is a non-issue compared to secret agendas, flip flops, policies, lack of policies or any other attempt to take the focus away from the real issues.
This blog has covered Winston plenty, and frankly I’m bored of it. In fact, apart from the press gallery and Farrar’s hangers-on, I think everyone else is too.
Tane you are channeling again.
move along, nothing to see here.
Tane,
I continue to follow it with a kind of horrified fascination. If Peters doesn’t miraculously get out of this squeaky clean it’ll be like the death of Father Christmas. Aren’t you at least a little curious about how he’ll magic his way out of this one?
To be honest, Tane, I think we all are. However, my point which I think we disagree on is its relative importance.
Frankly, I’m bored also with the side shows of flip flops and leaks.
Can someone PLEASE ask Helen to set the election date so we can end the phony war?
Daveski,
The date is 8 November, it always was.
How does that change anything?
LOL at my own sanctimonious post!
I just checked to see what the latest news was on the Big Story … and found that the Big Story is now “Ritchie Returns”. (Nothing to do with Happy Days either but the All Blacks)
Perhaps Stuff is over it too?
Daveski, How can H1 run a campaign with bars in front of her?
[Tane: I've been following your comments and they're classic troll material - completely off-topic, inflammatory and with no intention of engaging others in discussion. If you carry on like this I will ban you. This is your final warning.]
Anita
Has it been announced? If so I’ve missed it.
Once it is official, then we can expect both Labour and National to front up with genuine policy and not play this extended game of blink.
Tane is of course right (although I would expect he would see the attacks on Key as being somehow different). The point is that we need to move on to the formal part of the election process to force the games to stop.
Anita, na, I figure he’s likely out after the election anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. The last confidence vote has passed, the numbers on the ETS are sweet – that’s all I’m really interested in. The rest of it I just find a bore.
Daveski, yeah, the news media has a funny idea of what’s newsworthy sometimes. I can see why the press gallery find this so fascinating, from their own perspective, but I think by putting so much focus on Peters at the expense of other issues this close to an election campaign they’re doing the public a disservice.
The point is that we need to move on to the formal part of the election process to force the games to stop.
Bro I’d like that to be the case but somehow I think the games are here to stay, formal election campaign or not.
but I think by putting so much focus on Peters at the expense of other issues this close to an election campaign they’re doing the public a disservice.
But I understood that the influence of big money in the electoral process was something close to the Labour Party’s heart. So evil was it that we needed to ram through electoral reform. Did I get that wrong?
Daveski,
But we all know it will be the 8th of November. So why not behave as if we know that?
Tane, There’s a piece of me that agrees with you about Peters, but another part admires his Houdini-like qualities, his gamesmanship and his sense of humour. I’ve always secretly believed that one could find documentary proof that he eats babies and he’d blame them media, feign anger, and three months later NZF would be up in the polls and he’d be giving out tax breaks to his racing buddies, or raising the minimum wage or persecuting Muslims. Maybe it’s my age but he seems eternal somehow, and watching him grow old and lose his edge is just plain sad.
Billy, the Peters saga only confirms my views on electoral finance. But somehow I don’t think we’ll see the right-wing press calling for a strengthening of the anonymous donor provisions of the ERA.
Anita, yeah, there’s a bit of that. But any lingering sympathy I had for him died yesterday when I received a NZ First press release entiled “Rapist Refugee: Out!”
So Tane,
If it were the National Party in the position Winston’s in, you’d be shrugging your shoulders and asking for more debate on policy? Given that last year we had four posts a day on the music at the last National Party conference, somehow I think I know the answer to that question.
[Tane: Na, if it was National I'd be interested. They're a major party with the power to do serious damage. I think Winston's kind of irrelevant.]
sod I agree completely…so how about it the standard. put one of the jimmy olsens on the case, do some research and lets get some decent commentators on the airwaves instead of the endless parade of pseudo gentrified rover 90 wannabees
I have been away from The Standard for a week and I see you are still ignoring the main political news.
Even given that The Labour Party is now at the centre of it.
Mike Williams knew about the Glenn donation to Peters because it was put past him for approval before it was made.
http://darrenrickard.blogspot.com/2008/09/mike-williams-knew-of-glenn-donation-in.html
It begs the question whether he told Helen Clark back in 2005.
It isn’t in Clark’s style for her not to know.
Id like to see the Standard take on this latest revelation.
Cheers, Darren
[Tane: Darren, someone may as it suits them. I've explained already that I'm bored sick of it, so it won't be me. We're an opinion site, not a news service.]
Tane – don’t count your chickens on the ETS yet, The Greens may yet realise that by standing firm on a point of principle, they could become the opposition in November. Labour and NZ First are now joined at the hip in this cesspit, and left is there for the taking if the Greens play their cards right.
[Tane: I've been following your comments and they're classic troll material - completely off-topic, inflammatory and with no intention of engaging others in discussion. If you carry on like this I will ban you. This is your final warning.]
So what is considered trolling here? Daring to take a dig at your beloved Labour Party?
[Tane: Don't be absurd, people dig at Labour all the time on this site, myself included. I'm neither a member nor a voter. What I object to is a pattern of disruptive behaviour as outlined above. We're not going to have this place turn into a cesspit.]
Darren – Clark’s “no surprises” policy makes a maockery of any suggestionsthat she wasn’t told by Williams, who she reminded us a while back “is one of my oldest friends”.
Tane
“…….. the Peters saga only confirms my views on electoral finance. But somehow I don’t think we’ll see the right-wing press calling for a strengthening of the anonymous donor provisions of the ERA”
Why would anyone donate “non-anonymously” after Owne Glenn has been over the course of a year maligned by the political right, effectively called a liar by Winston Peters, maligned and ridiculed by Labour and had the PM not take him at his word.
The man has been treated appallingly badly and I see he has made another very generous donation today this time to the Millennium Institute on the Northshore. If parliament had any semblance of dignity left it would offer apologies from the House to Glenn over this fiasco and allow him to give a free kick to the pants of both Winston Peters and several others.
[Tane: So long as people donate transparently there's nothing to fear. Glenn chose to make an anonymous donation. But as I say, this helps motivate the case for public funding of political parties. It's time to get money out of politics.]
“But any lingering sympathy I had for him died yesterday when I received a NZ First press release entiled “Rapist Refugee: Out!’
Why did that destroy your lingering sympathy? That is fairly consistent with NZF’s general position? And they have a point, deporting rapists might even be a good idea.
[Tane: It's the racist dogwhistle I object to.]
Actually, Wondering, it is quite possible to bag the Labour Party here and not be accused of trolling. I have done it not less than four times a day for 10 months and have not been accused of it once. And I’m not even clever.