A leopard doesn’t change his spots

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, October 6th, 2009 - 23 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, john banks, privatisation - Tags: , ,

john-banks
There is a very revealing quote from John Banks in the weekend’s Dominion Post where he talks about his campaign strategy:

Uptown, Auckland Mayor John Banks, a former police minister and radio talkback host, is doing his best to soften his public image.

“If I wear my policy on my sleeve, I won’t get elected. I have got to reach across to blue collar Labour,” he says.

Think about that for a second. Banks is keeping his policy and agenda secret because he knows if the people of Auckland find out about it they won’t elect him. That is duplicity of the highest order and Banks should be called on it.

Ever since the start of this amalgamation Banks has done nothing but suck up to Wellington. He hasn’t said or done anything to stand up for the people of the Auckland against the agenda coming out of the capital. All of Banks pronouncements on the super-city demonstrate that his agenda is to draw power away from the other parts of Auckland toward himself and the centre.

From now on whenever Aucklanders hear any statements from Banks they’ll have to keep in mind that he doesn’t believe what he is saying. When he says he doesn’t want to privatise the rest of Auckland airport, the Ports of Auckland or the water company, he is lying to get elected. When he says he doesn’t want to close Auckland’s pubs at 11pm, he is lying to get elected. When he says he is a believer in public transport, he is lying to get elected.

Fact is that a leopard doesn’t change his spots. Banks doesn’t care about Auckland’s different communities he cares about getting himself elected.

P.S – Interesting to see Banks’ grandstanding is getting more and more negative comment from different circles – see this from the Herald’s arts reporter William Dart who noted at the launch of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s season that the, “inevitable Super City braggadocio from Mayor John Banks passed quickly…” When people see your positive public appearances as empty boasting, arrogant pretension or cockiness, you know you’re in trouble.

23 comments on “A leopard doesn’t change his spots ”

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  1. tc 1
    6 October 2009 at 3:49 pm

    Arrogant, greedy, self serving, dim, unable to stick to the script and pretty wealthy into the bargain made off the tax/rate payer (akl and welly) and less than liberal drinking laws where banksie and his mates made a killing with their ‘water holes/hungry horses’ in dry areas.
    He hasn’t learnt much from Hubbard’s humiliation at the polls some years back has he but unless the left get a creditable alternative up and get some open debate going he may slide in just like regan did for a second term without any open debate or serious questioning.
    Banksie will be caught swapping feet in his mouth if he’s parked in a debate role (that’s why he refuses them and head to head interviews with rivals) ……now if only he could dye his hair blonde and change his name to Boris Rodders may even ask him out on a date

  2. tc 2
    6 October 2009 at 4:02 pm

    Not so much a leopard but a snake in the grass…..slippery/poisonous and driven by ego/power/status……perfect for the kind of public office JK/Rodders have in mind.
    The trick is to get JB into a serious debate/Q&A so the good folk of akl can see for themselves the only interest JB will serve is JB, his mates and the power base (welly) and the general lack of quality answers would be telling.
    I see a regan-esque campaign coming, long on slogans/billboards etc with an absence of any direct responses/debates which require thought on the spot by JB.
    The perfect puppett for the NACT designed supercity

  3. randal 3
    6 October 2009 at 4:52 pm

    the thing is banks knows that he is a goneburger. auckland have had too much of him. time for a change and that means someone who has the interests of their community at heart rather than just another opportunity for plunder. bye bye johnny.

  4. toad 4
    6 October 2009 at 5:00 pm

    Admitting to a journalist that you have a hidden agenda! How dumb can you get?

    At least Double Dipton had to get pissed and then be tricked into it by Kees Kaiser with hidden recording equipment.

    Banks does it stone cold sober, and directly to a journalist. What a dork!

  5. Ianmac 5
    6 October 2009 at 6:50 pm

    His strategy was what worked for Key. Keep future intentions hidden until……

    • Zaphod Beeblebrox 5.1
      6 October 2009 at 7:02 pm

      And they remain hidden still… Does anyone honestly know what how the intend tackling unemployment, economic stagnation, climate change, taxation policy any better than they did before the election.

      They talk in crypticisms like ..productivity??? taxation reform??? public sector reform???? because it sounds good to their base, whilst saying completely different stuff at international forums. When it comes to action its errrrr too hard.

      • George D 5.1.1
        6 October 2009 at 7:13 pm

        Give money to business. Give the rulebook to business. And then give Government to business (but not in the first term, they’ve promised!).

  6. George D 6
    6 October 2009 at 7:14 pm

    Brown needs to use this quote whenever it is opportune.

    • felix 6.1
      6 October 2009 at 9:43 pm

      My first thought too.

      My second thought is: The “secret agenda” tapes last year didn’t play as well as we thought they would, even though our reading of them has now been shown to be accurate. This is, if anything, an even more blatant admission of duplicity than anything Blinglish uttered but how do we publicise it so as to minimise the inevitable “conspiracy theory” mantra which seemed to dull the impact of those revelations?

      • Zorr 6.1.1
        6 October 2009 at 10:48 pm

        The problem with the “secret agenda” tapes ultimately came down to the fact that it was possible to spin them as someone acting duplicitously and therefore not to be trusted.

        In this case, Banks just came right out and said it to a reporter. Here… I’ll do a –headdesk– on his behalf.

  7. George.com 7
    6 October 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Good news is however that Banks won’t be the “Supercity” mayor. Rodney wants Boris Johnson so the NZ Herald tells us today, bad luck John.

  8. Dan 8
    6 October 2009 at 9:40 pm

    As a South Islander of 30+ years, but with impeccable Westie and South Auckland bloodlines, I watch with interest the Supercity debate. I remember the vision of Sir Dove Myer, and think “If only…”! I think of his mate Tom Pearce and the hopes for the ARA as a way of solving the factions and small mindedness of the big city. Banks would be a disaster. On a rare adventure northwards to at a recent school reunion, I was to hear Len Brown for the first time. I was buoyed by a politician who had charisma, a heart and a vision.
    Banks,Roger Douglas and Hide are yesterday’s men. Lies and deception are their only way to power. Douglas, I remember, boasted of his success with his reforms. He advocated such a tidal wave of reforms that opposition would be overwhelmed. None of the reforms had been mentioned in the Labour Party election campaign. Banksie’s inept honesty is exactly what Douglas did dishonestly.

  9. the sprout 9
    6 October 2009 at 10:01 pm

    nice post SC, spot on 😉

  10. toad 10
    7 October 2009 at 5:59 pm

    But leopard’s can change their spots.

    The car is different from the coat. See.

    Duplicity rules, KO!

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