The greatest threat to Banks: Brash (& that story)

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, November 10th, 2011 - 39 comments
Categories: act, don brash, john banks, john key - Tags:

John Banks says the brand he is campaigning for in Epsom is ‘Brand Key’ (yup, that’s gone mainstream now), not ACT. Epsomites don’t want three-time loser Don Brash but it’s unavoidably true that a vote for Banks is a vote for Brash. This is leading to a further unattractive debacle as Banks tries to distance himself from his leader, who he’s trying to get into parliament.

On Close Up the other night, Banks was twice asked to explicitly endorse Brash as his leader and he refused to do so. When another candidate at an Epsom candidate meeting pointed out exactly who Banks was representing, Banks’ reaction was extraordinary.

All of this bizarre internal fighting and disrespect just makes Banks, Brash, and ACT even less attractive to voters.

I don’t think a cup of tea from Key could save them at this stage.

And I’m still not sure it will happen.

Key’s not delaying until the absolutely last minute for the hell of it. He is in a Mexican stand-off with the media. If he sits down with Banks, he risks someone running the Banks story and getting that all-important ‘Brand Key’ sullied by association. And the media are holding off running the story until after any such endorsement to maximise its impact.

So, Key will continue to say that a cup of tea is a question for another day, while more and more Epsom votes get locked in, and the chances of Banks winning wilt.

39 comments on “The greatest threat to Banks: Brash (& that story) ”

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  1. Carol 1
    10 November 2011 at 11:25 am

    John Banks says the brand he is campaigning for in Epsom is ‘Brand Key’ (yup, that’s gone mainstream now), not ACT.

    Geez! These guys unashamedly game the system. It seems they have no ethics other than winning… I guess that is part of Brand Key

  2. mickysavage 2
    10 November 2011 at 11:44 am

    He is in a Mexican stand-off with the media. If he sits down with Banks, he risks someone running the Banks story and getting that all-important ‘Brand Key’ sullied by association. And the media are holding off running the story until after any such endorsement to maximise its impact.
     
    It is delightful watching them all squirm.  This really has the potential of being messy for all the right people.
     
    Perhaps we should term this as the “H bomb” where “H” stands for hyprocrisy?

    • Hami Shearlie 2.2
      10 November 2011 at 3:22 pm

      “H'” also stands for Huljich as in Kiwisaver rort. Why haven’t Banks and Brash been charged over that little disaster? Why is Peter Huljich the only one carrying the can? Did Simon Powers manage to delay the dirt sticking to Brash and Banks till after the election?

      • Tom Gould 2.2.1
        11 November 2011 at 8:06 am

        The failure of regulators and authorities over the “H” investigation is a genuine scandal, and someone should look into it.

        • Penny Bright 2.2.1.1
          13 November 2011 at 12:32 am

          I’m formally requesting that the SFO lay charges against Banks and Brash – which should have happened at the same time that charges were laid against fellow former Director of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd – Peter Huljich.

          I hope to do this on Monday 14 November 2011.

          Penny Bright
          Independent Candidate for Epsom.
          Campaigning against ‘white collar’ CRIME, corruption (and its root cause – PRIVATISATION) and corporate welfare.

  3. Treetop 3
    10 November 2011 at 11:46 am

    I had my first giggle of the day when I was listening to morning report RNZ. Banks is promoting himself and Brash is promoting the Act Party.

    When it comes to Banks promoting himself exactly what is he promoting?

    It is my understanding that Banks is the Act candidate for the seat of Epsom and not the National candidate for the seat of Epsom.

  4. Anne 4
    10 November 2011 at 12:00 pm

    Well, someone can correct me if my analysis is faulty, but I take it that the ‘cup of tea’ is not likely to happen. If that proves to be correct, what happens to the story? Does the media run it anyway, or will they be quietly told to leave it alone until after the election – or else!! ?

    Or if it does happen, it’s because the media have promised not to run the story until after election?

    • mickysavage 4.1
      10 November 2011 at 12:03 pm

      I suspect that if the cup of tea has not happened before the last week then Key has effectively dog whistled the Epsomites not to back Banks and then the H bomb will be dropped.

    • RJL 4.2
      10 November 2011 at 12:04 pm

      If there’s no ‘cup of tea’, Key and Brash might meet for a Whopper down at BK instead?

    • Lanthanide 4.3
      10 November 2011 at 12:33 pm

      Duncan Garner on TV3 last night said they had heard from high-placed people in the National party that the cup of tea was going to go ahead, the only question was the timing. Duncan therefore surmised it would be sometime in the next week or two.

  6. ianmac 6
    10 November 2011 at 12:11 pm

    Epson voters will henceforth be known as “Suckers.”

  7. queenstfarmer 7
    10 November 2011 at 12:14 pm

    He is in a Mexican stand-off with the media.. the media are holding off running the story until after any such endorsement to maximise its impact.

    So you are saying that the media have some huge story that’s ready to run, but none of them are interested in getting a scoop on their rivals. Nor are they worried about being scooped by various bloggers/netizens who hint that they know all about the story (interestingly, only found on this site). Instead, you would have us believe that fierce media rivals are all collaborating with each other.

    Who knows, but really?

    • Lanthanide 7.1
      10 November 2011 at 12:35 pm

      My bf is of the opinion that holding back damaging material, and hinting about it on a very public blogsite, is really a stupid strategy because it’ll be clear it has only be released in order to cause maximum damage during the campaign and will therefore be shrugged off by the public, or blowup in the faces of those who planned it. Sort of like the H-fee ‘scandal’ did.

    • tc 7.2
      10 November 2011 at 12:39 pm

      lookig forward to your response on the welfare handout to those poor canty farmers.

    • Puddleglum 7.3
      10 November 2011 at 1:44 pm

      Stories are held back in the media for all sorts of reasons (see Flat Earth News for a few examples).

      I remember Colin Espiner once admitting that Press Gallery journalists know about all sorts of scandals about any number of MPs but choose not to publicise them because of the belief that the private life of an MP is not usually ‘fair game’. (He didn’t mention it, but I’m sure the reverse is true too – which would be another disincentive for going down the ‘scandal’ track.)

      There’s a blurred intermediate ground, I imagine, between entirely private scandals and those that in some way (e.g., through police attention) leak into the public arena.

      If the story is true and if MSM journalists have reliable ‘sources’ to run it with, I imagine it’s not being reported for just the reason mentioned by Colin Espiner. 

      That suggests that it won’t come out unless it is ‘outed’ elsewhere in the public domain or if some strand of it begins to emerge in some other public way (e.g., police attention, a politician saying something untrue that the story would prove was untrue, etc.).

      That would, in effect, force the hand of MSM journalists and then there would be a competitive race to cover it in as high profile a way as possible. 

      I’m just saying the above entirely in the abstract and have absolutely no ‘inside knowledge’ on any of this. 

    • Blighty 7.4
      10 November 2011 at 2:06 pm

      Market theory, eh?

      Yeah, the media, especially the press gallery, doesn’t work like that.

  8. Deadly_NZ 8
    10 November 2011 at 3:34 pm

    Epsomites don’t want three-time loser Don Brash but it’s unavoidably true that a vote for Banks is a vote for Brash.

    Oh so they would rather have a 3 time loser like banks???

    Oh the choice the choice.

  9. Ianupnorth 9
    10 November 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Why would anyone want to live in Epsom anyway?

    • Anne 9.1
      10 November 2011 at 5:32 pm

      Mt Eden is part of Epsom. Lovely old villas. Mature trees line the roads and avenues. Middle class territory but not toffee nosed.

      • RedLogix 9.1.1
        11 November 2011 at 11:12 am

        Yes… I grew up there. Originally it was very middle class, lots of young families some better off, some not so much… but I enjoyed my childhood. It was largely a safe and sheltered upbringing. Schools, scouts, churches and shops, my first jobs… were decent, human scale places. Families for the most part thrived.

        While everywhere has it’s underbelly; Epsom in the 60’s was quiet, non-flashy and solid. Remuera was for the filthy rich.

        Of course it’s changed much. An ageing population (most of us kids who grew up there could never afford to stay) and a huge influx of very, very wealthy Asian families has pushed the place into a much more conservative profile. Obese SUV’s sit in driveways where the old villa was bowled over, replaced by some mock-mansion. High fences are the rule. The main roads are clogged with traffic, the small shops have mostly gone. When I go back I feel a mixture of nostalgia and anger at the soulless modern world.

        Or to quote Bruce Jesson:

        As a result of the transformation that has occurred since 1984, we no longer aspire to anything of significance at all. We now live in a society that is thoroughly commercial, where no one aspires to anything noble or worthwhile, or if they do they are ridiculed by the cynics of the free market. In this respect, the pre-1984 tradition of progress lives on as a critique of the present.

        • Carol 9.1.1.1
          11 November 2011 at 11:21 am

          Yes, I grew up in Mt Eden in the 50s-60s, though further out than the centre of Mt Eden village. My neighbourhood was quite mixed middle, working and upper middleclass. And I couldn’t afford to live their now. When I go back I feel a sense of nostalgia, loss, and anger at the take-over by the better off people. I do like that the neighbourhood is more multicultural, though.

        • Anne 9.1.1.2
          11 November 2011 at 2:07 pm

          Yes, there are parts of Mt Eden that have been taken over by wealthy conservatives, but some of it is still much the same as it used to be. I grew up on the western slopes of Mt.Albert and when I return it fills me with nostalgia. I miss the wonderful views we had of the Waitakeres. I expect people pay a fortune now just to have those views. You knew the names of everybody in the street, and if anyone had a problem there was always someone to help out.

          Oh a trip down memory lane. 🙂

  10. Rodel 10
    10 November 2011 at 9:18 pm

    I used to live and vote in Epsom. Not rich. But if I was living there now I’d be incensed at the Johnnymandering or is it Donnymandering? that’s going on that I’d vote for anyone but ACT or National. I’d probably scribble expletives all over the voting paper as an informal protest ( which is taken notice of by the way if enough people do it).
    The disrespect and disregard for the people of of Epsom ( and the ones I knew were good people) is astounding… putting in a carpetbagger like Banks and suggesting that this loser reject is what they deserve as a representative is so insulting.
    I hope they respond with vehemence.

    • queenstfarmer 10.1
      10 November 2011 at 9:50 pm

      …putting in a carpetbagger like Banks …

      Either you don’t realise that Banks lives in the Epsom electorate (and has done for a long time, I believe), or you don’t know what “carpetbagger” means.

      In modern usage in the U.S., the term is sometimes used derisively to refer to a politician who runs for public office in an area where he or she does not have deep community ties, or has lived only for a short time.

      There are plenty of epithets to describe Banks, Brash and the Epsom mess. You just happened to choose one of the few ones that’s inapt!

      An accurate example of a “carpetbagger” in the Epsom electorate is David Parker.

  11. Rodel 11
    10 November 2011 at 10:03 pm

    I know what a carpetbagger is in modern NZ usage and Banks is that. ..inapt or not.

  12. hoom 12
    10 November 2011 at 11:07 pm

    Perhaps if I was a rightie I’d be feeling pissed but as a leftie I’m really looking forward to be able to use MMP to stick it to ’em with my otherwise pretty much wasted electorate vote while still being able to help the guys I like with my Party vote 🙂
     
    I live here primarily because its walking distance to work, town, parks shops etc.
     
    Can someone explain what is happening in the slideshow?
    Looks like other guy (who?) pulled out that ‘BB is watching you’ poster of Brash & said ‘this is who he’s representing’ then Banks rushed up, grabbed it & tucked it away off stage?
     

    • jaymam 12.1
      11 November 2011 at 7:21 am

      Pat pulled out the big picture of Brash, which caaused an uproar in the room. After having his say, he left the picture in front of the lectern, where it stayed for 18 minutes. The other candidates all had a go at Brash. Banks bleated about the attacks on Brash but he was of course outnumbered.
      Eventually while Banks was talking, he took hold of the picture (by Brash’s hair!) then turned it backwards and when he had finished speaking he took the picture and threw it behind the chairs on the platform.

  13. hoom 13
    11 November 2011 at 9:57 am

    Lols, is it bad that the only guy I recognise is the guy I’m trying to keep out? 😐

  14. fender 14
    11 November 2011 at 10:54 am

    Seeing Banks drag that picture around reminds me of that movie where a guy dies and his two mates just continue taking him on a roadtrip, priceless.

  15. gobsmacked 15
    11 November 2011 at 11:13 am

    Cup of tea, Banks & Key, in Newmarket, 2.30 pm today.

    Who wants to get down there and gatecrash the photo-op? Take fancy dress and kitchen props … “let them eat cake”, piece of humble pie, Tea party banner, a wooden spoon … ?

    C’mon, this is too good to miss …

  16. hoom 16
    11 November 2011 at 2:10 pm

    Lol, National Radio just read out a letter suggesting that Goff have a cup of tea with Golding/Goldsmith (whatever) 😆

  17. Rodel 17
    12 November 2011 at 9:16 pm

    Gee I wonder what deep political, ideological philosophies Banks and Key discussed over a cup of tea.
    Nuthin’ substantial I bet except where’s the cameras? At least we aren’t yet paying Banks salary for such a time wasting shallow stunt.At least I hope not..
    It’s the shallow/hollow men all over again and an insult to the good people of Epsom.