Comments on: Lockwood threatens the press

By: Undoing the trouser button at The Standard

Undoing the trouser button at The Standard — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:29:38 +0000

[...] tried to heavy the press, demanding that they stop doing stories on MP’s expenses or he would do away with the Press Gallery. I suspected at the time that this was a tactical blunder, any hack worth [...]

By: r0b

r0b — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:51:23 +0000

If it’s from red you cheer, from blue you boo

You might want to open the other eye and read what is actually said here.

By: ben

ben — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:37:01 +0000

I agree with you, what Smith said is wrong and dangerous.

Except that the only reason you are saying it is becaue Smith stood for the National Party at the last election.

Had Smith been wearing a red tie and not blue, you’d be cheering this all the way.

Which is what you did, nearly but not quite entirely unanimously, when the odious EFA was passed into law.

This is why this blog adds no value. If it’s from red you cheer, from blue you boo, almost always without any thoughtful regard to an idea’s merit or any thinking about it an intellectual framework. Since we already know from what team everybody comes from, you add precisely nothing with your cheerleading.

By: George D

George D — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:29:17 +0000

Sadly true.

By: felix

felix — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:44:56 +0000

That’s a weird thing to say Swampy, they still have the same number of mps.

Are you drunk again?

By: Swampy

Swampy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:05:58 +0000

No, they quit the super scheme because of MPs leaving meant they no longer had the money coming in.

By: felix

felix — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:46:05 +0000

Keep up, Jared. The Greens quit all that in the interest of transparency.

Don’t think any of the others did though.

By: Jared

Jared — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:24:01 +0000

Whilst I agree that shams like Bill’s lying around his housing allowance eligibility should have been aired as it did, the latest attack smacks of one eyed hypocrisy. The Greens structure their housing arrangements in a similar manner, as do Labour and National Party MP’s (specifically around who owns their electorate offices).

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:03:50 +0000

To be fair hes the only speaker whose ever actually agreed to release the expenses. Margret Wilson didnt.

By: andy

andy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:28:22 +0000

the Gallery needs a kick up the arse yes, it does Audrey Young whines about how tough it is on the press, these overseas summit type junkets. The secretary general of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, invited a journalist from each country to the opening ceremony as a guest. Those of us that went that way meant that unlike our brethren who were it covering it from the wings, we did not have to get up before dawn to be herded to an empty theatre in order to wait for three hours before it started. When will the organizers of Chogm, Apec etc wake up? Wake up to what, that your a media-whore from babble-on and you write meaningless puff pieces about chickens and how nice Port of Spain in the daylight is?

By: Rex Widerstrom

Rex Widerstrom — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:19:09 +0000

Lockwood, your starter for ten...

By: BLiP

BLiP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:11:34 +0000

Unbeknownst to himself, Lockie, sort of, has half a point.

Other than the egregious example set by Not-so-Perky-these-days and his side kick Blinglish, the acres of endless tautology regarding the expenses might have been of more use had they been filled with details and analysis regarding the implementation process used, general tone and consequences of National Ltd®’s legislation to date. If nothing else, the Gallery needs a kick up the arse for its plucking of the low hanging fruit when it should have been holding Parliament to account.

By: Jim McDonald

Jim McDonald — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:39:30 +0000

Dorkwood is losing the plot?

By: ghostwhowalksnz

ghostwhowalksnz — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:23:47 +0000

..balance struck between hysterics and accountability ..

It seems to be that Smith is the one being hysterical. As others have said what exactly are they lobbying for ? Its a news story.

By: JustRight

JustRight — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:17:01 +0000

I think the whole media focus has been a great thing. Shining light on how politicians spend taxpayers cash is fantastic. I would equally say though that the media feeding frenzy does border on ‘lobbying’ not in the strictest sense though.

There has to be a balance struck between hysterics and accountability and I think this is what Lockwood is on about…