An Orwellian Minister for Open Government
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- Date published:
1:46 pm, March 27th, 2018 - 257 comments
Categories: accountability, broadcasting, corruption, leadership -
Tags: clare curran, Open Government, RNZ
So, today we have news that veteran broadcaster and former senior manager at RNZ, Carol Hirschfeld, has resigned over lying for her Minister, covering up that she had a secret meeting in a fairly busy café in central Wellington, despite it later having been revealed that the meeting was pre-arranged. This looks like a case of extraordinary bungling from Clare Curran, who is our Minister for Open Government, and now potentially faces consequences for misleading the house, making her official title seem a bizarre parody. (no doubt, Curran will maintain her line that she simply regarded the meeting to be informal, which is clearly nonsense, but an arguable excuse in terms of procedure, but keeping to that line might convince the opposition to accuse her of misleading the House if they can drum up more evidence) The Minister for Open Government really does have one, and one job only: to be frank with the truth, and not only to never get caught lying, but to never actually lie in the first place. Having found someone backing up her story had lied makes it quite obvious Curran is concealing something here, and as is often said, the cover-up may in fact be worse than the crime here.
It’s also very sad that Carol Hirschfeld, who is a respected broadcaster with a long and productive career on both TVNZ and TV3, has been a victim of this fiasco, and losing her will be an absolute tragedy for Radio New Zealand, but it was absolutely a situation of her resigning or being fired after lying about the nature of her meeting, so the real tragedy here is that she bothered to cover it up at all.
For full disclosure, I was a critic of Curran from before her appointment, and have previously stated I don’t think there’s any reasonable way to say she is qualified to be a Minister, and that she must have somehow leveraged her way into the appointment politically. Given that Labour determines who gets into cabinet by a vote of their caucus, there is no easy way to tell if she did manage to do so, so I will admit to pure speculation there, but I honestly can’t see her impressing the rest of caucus with any actual skills, so it’s either a reward for some sort of favour, or she knows where some bodies are buried.
If Jacinda Ardern hasn’t already asked for a Please Explain note from Curran, I imagine she’s done so first thing today. Misleading Parliament is about as big a deal as you can get, and the House sits tomorrow, so the clock is ticking for Ardern to decide what she wants to do.
There is a very real argument that being overly defensive of infractions against the public trust is part of what helped John Key bring Helen Clark down, as much of his victory was in demotivating Labour supporters as well as in persuading swing voters and turning out his own base. With low polling for both her support partners either below or at the party vote threshold respectively, and neither holding electorate seats, Ardern can’t really afford any perception of public weakness, even though Bridges’ opposition is looking like a fish out of water right now, handing them ammunition seems like a terrible idea.
Firing Curran as a Minister over this, despite no evidence of actual wrongdoing in the meeting itself, is absolutely in the cards, especially given the high level of public trust she needs to maintain to be effective in her portfolios. There is absolutely an argument to do so immediately- it strengthens Ardern’s hand in saying she had accepted her Minister’s assurances and had no idea what was going on, it allows her to shed a minister who is clearly a drag on the Government- despite having portfolios which are incredibly minor, she has been the persistent target of questions from the opposition, who clearly perceive her appointment as a weak spot to harass the Government with.
Despite that, Ardern has been making moves suggesting she’s buying time today. This may just be her waiting to hear more about what went on, or it may suggest she doesn’t yet regard the story as serious enough to fire Curran. Likewise, Bridges is playing his attack a little cautious, suggesting he doesn’t know if there’s really evidence for a knockout blow here.
What’s really troubling, however, is that this takes the sheen of idealism off a government that rode it like a wave into power. We have Peters trying to force the Greens into passing an anti-defection law that legal experts are up in arms about, even if in the short term it may not be disastrous. We have our Minister for Open Government concealing meetings, and stonewalling on written questions to the opposition, and neither the Prime Minister or Speaker are calling her on it. (she can be forgiven for not single-handedly fixing the culture around the OIA in less than half a year, at least, so that’s not on the list) We have ministers defending a $114m subsidy for a private yachting competition as somehow not a drain on public money. (there is no good economic evidence spending on sports events like this is effective economically, so the argument surely has to be it’s worth it in terms of our participation in the event itself?) We have an entire third of Labour’s coalition partner’s caucus under attack for various small issues, and the expected attacks on the Greens for looking too liberal. We have the opposition attempting to separate Labour and the Greens from New Zealand First on permits for new oil drilling, a thoroughly moronic idea that nonetheless both New Zealand First and National somehow support in principle, despite us already having found at least four times as many fossil fuels as we can afford to burn within our estimated carbon-equivalent budget for 2° warming. (In fact, I’ve seen claims that it’s now five times as much as we can safely burn) This is dangerous ground for Labour, and they need to seriously consider if it isn’t time to change course so that they can maintain credible defense as an idealistic, hopeful new government. This story heating up is a perfect excuse to dump a minister who, regardless of whether she has actually done anything wrong, has absolutely passed the line in terms of the perception of corruption, and who is demonstrably doing the opposite of her job.
There is a reason that people say that in politics, the tripod is the most unstable of all structures- all three government parties are putting a lot of effort into hanging together, but it will require high standards from all of them for this government to succeed and last into subsequent terms.
Here is a selection of reactions on Twitter:
National MPs are rejoicing Curran has not been sacked. They want her to remain in office as long as possible!
— David Farrar (@dpfdpf) March 26, 2018
Status: extremely unimpressed with the conduct of the Minister of Broadcasting.
— Russell Brown (@publicaddress) March 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/gwynncompton/status/978385633440776192
RNZ has lost another one of its assets. I feel bad for her because she must really care about RNZ to have resorted to doing this. https://t.co/v2wtHCCJDo
— Jo Bond❤️ (@Jo_Bond) March 26, 2018
There are good people in Cabinet already, or on the backbenches, who could pick up at least one of Curran’s portfolios, if Ardern were to do the brave thing and let her go proactively for not meeting the high standards she requires of the Minister for Open Government. Kris Faafoi could easily take on Broadcasting, and ICT would be a great portfolio to promote a talented or dedicated backbencher into- I have been a persistent advocate for Louisa Wall, who in opposition made very clear she can wrangle support from other parties for important bills, has the technical skills to be a minister, and is one of the most veteran MPs to be left on the backbench without official responsibilities, and of course ICT too could be reshuffled to free up a portfolio well-suited for a particular minister in some other area.
The fact is that organizational politics is not a sufficient reason to make someone a Minister, and Curran was always a time-bomb waiting to go off for Labour. I take no pleasure in seeing her in trouble, because it’s bad for the country as a whole and RNZ in particular, but it does convince me that I was right that she needs to go. I hope Ardern has at least seriously considered where the line is that Curran has to cross, regardless of what she’s decided to do by tomorrow.
Update: Curran is about to speak to media about Hirschfeld’s resignation. You can watch live, and I’ll update the post again once she’s finished.
Update 2: Curran is defending the meeting as “not secret,” that she was mistaken to consider it informal even though it was scheduled, and is framing Hirschfeld’s description as “differing stories,” rather than a lie. So she is expecting to be able to tough this out and not need to resign, and therefore has likely been warned rather than fired. This is disappointing given how badly she has managed to stuff up such a minor issue, and her lack of progress in all her portfolios when compared to literally any other minister- even Shane Jones has made tangible announcements. She has admitted to “making a mistake” in describing the meeting as informal and attending it at all. Not knowing RNZ’s policies around ministerial meetings, as she claims, and not thinking to ask, however, is not a mistake, it is negligence, and Curran should absolutely be publicly apologizing to RNZ for putting a talented manager in this position.
Update 3: Articles released later have made it clear that Hirschfeld was not egged on by Curran, and in fact Curran appears to have tipped RNZ off to the inaccuracy of her statement which were repeated at Select Committee. Apologies for getting that wrong- initial reports were a little confusing.
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The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...14 hours ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...15 hours ago
- Gender-affirming care must centre evidence and health needs, not political posturing
The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...16 hours ago
- Release: National doesn’t care about manufacturing
The National Government is walking away from our manufacturing sector with constant reports of closures and job losses. ...17 hours ago - Release: David Parker speech – Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change
David Parker's speech from the University of Auckland's forum on Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change in September 2024. ...17 hours ago
- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...19 hours ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...19 hours ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...22 hours ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...22 hours ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...23 hours ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law. ...2 days ago
- Release: Minister of Education thinks New Zealand ends at the Bombay Hills
The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today. ...2 days ago
- Economists sound alarm on Government’s slash-and-burn approach
A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...2 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...2 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...4 days ago
- Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill
The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...5 days ago
- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...7 days ago
- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation
The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...1 week ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
- Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care
Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
- Urgent wake-up call on climate
The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ must pursue independent foreign policy
The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Winston Peters must apologise
The Deputy Prime Minister should apologise to the public servant he named and blamed for something they did not do, and for misusing the rules of Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements
The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules ...15 hours ago - Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Bill had its first reading at Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “In recent years we have seen an unacceptable spike in youth offending. “This Bill makes ...16 hours ago
- Critical milestones for earthquake buildings review
Fairer, more sensible rules about managing earthquake risks are a step closer with the passing of legislation and the appointment of an independent chair to provide expert advice, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The Government is committed to reinvigorating our cities and regions to support economic growth, ...16 hours ago
- State of the art radiology machine for Auckland
People in Northland and Auckland will benefit from a new machine for cancer treatment installed at the Regional Cancer and Blood Service at Auckland City Hospital. The MV5 linear accelerator, or LINAC machine, officially opened today targets cancer tumours with pinpoint accuracy. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says this new, ...16 hours ago
- Foreign Minister to visit Europe
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Europe for high-level talks with France, Germany and the United Kingdom next week. "Since taking office almost a year ago, the Coalition Government has emphasised the importance we place on New Zealand's traditional and likeminded diplomatic and ...17 hours ago
- First arrests made under gang patch ban
Police have made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He has been arrested and will now face enforcement ...18 hours ago
- Better support for victims of sexual violence
The Government is proposing two major changes to name suppression laws that will put the views of victims of sexual violence first, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “We are committed to restoring law and order and these two proposed changes will help ensure the victims of crime are put at ...19 hours ago
- Government moving forward with Regional Deals
Cabinet has agreed to invite all regions to submit proposals for Regional Deals between central and local government that drive economic growth and deliver the infrastructure our country needs, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say. Inviting all regions to propose a Regional Deal that boosts ...20 hours ago
- MSA pilot participant update
One of the ten young men selected to participate in the Military-Style Academy Pilot has allegedly reoffended. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is disappointed but says it would be naïve to think that none of these young men would reoffend. “I’m saddened that this young person has not taken this opportunity ...20 hours ago
- Attendance rates increase, again
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that school attendance is continuing to rise. In Term 3 of 2024 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023. “This Government has prioritised student attendance and it is ...22 hours ago
- Improving the lives of young New Zealanders
Ensuring New Zealand is the best place in the world for children and young people is the vision at the heart of the Government’s new Child and Youth Strategy, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. “Childhood represents a huge opportunity to set people on a positive path towards living ...1 day ago
- Government continues work to reinstate livestock exports by sea
The Government is reinstating the trade of livestock exports by sea while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, says Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard.“The Government will introduce legislation changes to reinstate the trade, enhance oversight, and strengthen requirements for exporters to identify risks and manage the welfare of ...2 days ago
- Speech to the National Quality Forum 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...2 days ago
- New Zealand’s COP29 National Statement
Tēnā koutou katoa. Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. New Zealand, and all nations represented here today, are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. Our households, businesses, and economies are bearing the costs of its effects. The choices we make now will shape the severity of these impacts for generations ...2 days ago
- Latest Quarterly Investment Report released
The Government has released its second Quarterly Investment Report (QIR) which shows substantial work still to be done by agencies to improve investment reporting and meet the Government’s expectations, Infrastructure and Acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “New Zealand has significant infrastructure and investment needs. The Government is determined to get ...2 days ago
- New Zealand supporting loss and damage fund
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$10 million to the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage while at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. “New Zealand is joining the global effort to address the significant challenge of responding to ...2 days ago
- Gang crackdown begins at stroke of midnight
The free ride for gangs is over when the clock strikes midnight tonight, with tough new laws officially coming into effect, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell say. “Gang patches will no longer be able to be worn in public. To earn the right to wear a ...2 days ago
- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
The Government is welcoming the decision by the Local Government Funding Agency to increase access to financing tools for fast growing councils to support greater investment in critical infrastructure, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Communities across the country are facing an infrastructure deficit and significant population growth is projected in ...2 days ago
- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
The Government has revealed that over the past three years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has spent an eyewatering $786 million of taxpayers’ money on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“When I became Minister, I was surprised to learn that that NZTA did ...2 days ago
- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
Legislation that will double the financial jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal from $30,000 to $60,000 has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. “We need to improve court timeliness and access to justice so that Kiwis and get on with their lives. Court delays affect everyone, the ...3 days ago
- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
- Significant milestone for Canterbury Road of National Significance
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news that the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board has approved funding towards pre-implementation and early works on the State Highway 1 (SH1) Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance (RoNS). “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of our Government’s ...3 days ago
- Health survey results to help drive change
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...3 days ago
- Final push needed to get to Smokefree 2025
A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...3 days ago
- New diplomatic appointments
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...3 days ago
- Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill
Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...3 days ago
- Red Tape Tipline goes live
Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...3 days ago
- Youth Parliament 2025 announced
The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025. “Youth Parliament offers a unique youth development opportunity to young people from across New Zealand to experience the political process and learn about how government works,” says Mr Doocey. “The two-day ...4 days ago
- Police stats show promising change
After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...4 days ago
- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...4 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...4 days ago
- Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...4 days ago
- Launching the White Ribbon Ride
The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour, was on hand to wish riders well at the start of the North Island leg of the White Ribbon Ride in Whakatāne this morning. The ride helps mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ...5 days ago
- Construction to begin on next stage of Papakura to Drury
Construction on the next stage of the SH1 Papakura to Drury project will begin early next month, with the contract for works awarded to Fulton Hogan, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. "SH1 Papakura to Drury is a key project that will drive economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, and enable people ...6 days ago
- NZ signs trade deal with Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has signed a pioneering trade agreement that prioritises New Zealand’s sustainable exports at a ceremony during APEC in Peru today. “The Agreement on Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), between Costa Rica, Iceland, and Switzerland was concluded in July of this year and opens up significant ...6 days ago
- Government and iwi work together on aquaculture
Five new Aquaculture Settlement Areas will help ensure Ngāi Tahu shares in the opportunities aquaculture offers for Southland’s economy, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. “The Aquaculture Settlement Areas (ASAs) I’m announcing today set aside space so the Crown and Ngāi Tahu can assess their potential for aquaculture development. ...7 days ago
- Government launches review to ensure electricity market is fit-for-purpose
The terms of reference for a review of the performance of the electricity market have been released. The review, initiated by the Coalition Government during the power crisis in winter will look at whether current regulations and market design support economic growth and access to reliable and affordable electricity, Energy Minister ...7 days ago
- Speech to Social Investment Hui: Jack and his whānau need our help
Kia ora koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai, piki mai. Ki te mihi atu ahau, ki te manwhenua nei, Te Atiawa, Ngāti toa rangatira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you, Andy, for your introduction. Let me acknowledge you as the new Chief Executive of the Social Investment ...7 days ago
- Minister of State for Trade heads to Brisbane for PACER Plus meeting
Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg has travelled to Australia to attend the PACER Plus Ministers Meeting in Brisbane. “Trade plays a critical role in driving employment, economic growth, and improving the standards of living in the Pacific Region. The Government is strongly committed to supporting Pacific Island countries ...7 days ago
- Proposals to modernise conservation released
Toitū te taiao – Our environment endures The Government is consulting on proposals to modernise New Zealand’s conservation management system, aiming to protect relevant natural areas while supporting sustainable growth in tourism and regional economies, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Today, the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai is ...1 week ago
- Knowing superstitions aren’t real doesn’t stop us behaving superstitiously – why?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Gomes-Ng, Senior Lecturer of Psychology, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Former New Zealand prime minister John Key has three white rabbits painted on his helicopter, a nod to his “massively superstitious” habit of repeating “white rabbits” three times at ...2 hours ago - Government slammed for pushing ahead with boot camps while trial still under way
The coalition has "absolutely no intention of listening to the evidence that comes out of their experiment", Labour MP says. ...2 hours ago - Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate
Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago - Smoke and mirrors in tobacco debate
Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation
The Government’s economic adviser is sending a message it doesn’t want to hear – superannuation is increasingly unaffordable The post Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- Victims of sex offending welcome shift on name suppression laws
A man abused by a former political figure is "immensely relieved" at a government proposal to end secrecy around sex offenders' identities. ...3 hours ago
- This week three parties stood together – can they withstand the storm to come?
There is plenty yet to play out, but the next election is at this rate shaping up as trio versus trio, writes Toby Manhire. A subplot of this week’s historic hīkoi mō te Tiriti has been the sight of the three opposition parties presenting a unified front. Te Pāti Māori ...3 hours ago - All 33 malls in Auckland ranked from worst to best
From the low lows of abandon empires to the high highs of a mall done just right. This is the second in the Malls of New Zealand series, where we rank the malls in major centres. Next week: Wellington. A note from the editor: This is the hardest ranking we’ve ...3 hours ago
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As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 27-year-old apartment-dwelling marketing exec explains her approach to spending and saving. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 27. Ethnicity: Pākehā. Role: Marketing exec at ...3 hours ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 22 November
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 22 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 22 November
The post Daily crossword, Friday 22 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- China likely to strengthen regional relationships in response to another Trump term
Opinion: Recent discussions in Shanghai provide some insight into what’s likely to be on the table The post China likely to strengthen regional relationships in response to another Trump term appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- Nuclear winters know no borders
Opinion: The immediate horror of nuclear weapon explosions – the blinding flash, crushing blast wave, and radioactive inferno – is well documented.But what nuclear-armed nations either don’t grasp or won’t admit, is far more chilling: how their weapons could devastate even countries thousands of kilometres from any mushroom clouds.The collapse ...3 hours ago
- This week’s bestselling books – November 22
FICTION1 Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Sample dialogue, all from one chapter:“That can’t be,” replied Taona doubtfully.“You were right. The pā is unnervingly quiet,” Taona murmured.“The Hākuwai,” Motukia breathed. “Our grandfathers told us they rarely saw the Hākuwai in daylight,” Motukia muttered.“Their fight would have been futile ...3 hours ago
- Burma the flying elephant
After about two and a half years of planning and waiting, New Zealand’s last elephant has moved to her new home at Monarto Safari Park in South Australia.Burma and her “human herd”, that is, her keepers, arrived last week, and she’s settling in well, according to Auckland Zoo’s Andrew Coers.“Something ...3 hours ago
- NZ’s membership of Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance in jeopardy
Senior ministers in the coalition suggested NZ’s membership will be re-evaluated if it restarts offshore oil and gas drilling The post NZ’s membership of Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance in jeopardy appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- Raw Politics: Six months in a leaky Bill
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not meet the Treaty Principles Bill hikoi crowd, sees “nothing” of merit in the Act-proposed law but the Parliament his Government dominates will spend six months debating a “divisive” measure.That’s because he has accepted there needs to be “aeration” of people’s views on the Treaty, ...3 hours ago
- Taken to the brink, Govt is now close to selling big Whakapapa ski field
Bidder Whakapapa Holdings walked away from the sales process last year, but says it’s now ‘95% there’ on a purchase agreement – so who blinked first? The post Taken to the brink, Govt is now close to selling big Whakapapa ski field appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 hours ago
- Watts nears a landmark deal on global carbon trading
A framework for global carbon trading under the Paris Agreement is finally nearing completion at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan after years of halting talks.Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is one of two ministers tasked by the COP29 hosts with landing a long-sought deal on Article 6 of the climate accord, ...3 hours ago
- Grattan on Friday: Marles plays a defensive bat on nuclear as the government rushes to get though la...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Richard Marles is an ambitious man who hasn’t given up the dream of one day reaching the top job. But, despite being deputy prime minister, his profile is much lower than that of Treasurer Jim ...9 hours ago
- Fears Māori will pay heaviest price if police carry guns
"Overwhelmingly, those people who die will be young Māori men," the spokesperson for People Against Prisons Aotearoa says. ...10 hours ago
- NEW POLL: Kiwis Overwhelmingly Support MPs’ Expenses Transparency Law Change
62% of respondents support the extension of the OIA to cover MPs’ spending, compared to just 13% opposed and 24% were unsure. ...11 hours ago - The House: Meanwhile, a week of passing law
The political week has been packed with worthy distractions, but all week Parliament has focused on passing new laws. Here are the highlights. ...11 hours ago
- The biggest difference between Hīkoi mō te Tiriti and past hīkoi: More support from non-Māori
Analysis - The diversity of voices during the hīkoi was noticeable - from tangata moana to young immigrants to elderly Pākehā from the South Island. ...12 hours ago
- The House: Samoan citizenship restoration – ‘It means we belong to this land’
When the bill to restore NZ citizenship to some Samoans passed this week, Parliament's galleries were full to the brim with members of the community. ...12 hours ago
- More Delays In Action On Use Of Puberty Blockers With Children
Women’s Rights Party Co-leader Jill Ovens says the Ministry has put New Zealand children at risk by continuing to allow “off-label” prescribing of puberty blockers at far higher rates than other similar countries. ...13 hours ago
- Police Minister adamant he wasn’t aware of gang members training at gun clubs
That is despite two papers from police that raised the matter with him. ...14 hours ago
- Shorten declares himself ‘a proud moderate’, saying Australians ‘in the middle’ shouldn’t ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Bill Shorten has declared himself “a proud moderate” in a valedictory speech declaring parliament has the responsibility to ensure the extremes of left and right do not set the terms of political debate. Shorten, ...14 hours ago
- New ‘best practice’ principles for superannuation products are coming. We asked a panel of exper...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Garrow, Editorial Web Developer Studio Romantic/Shutterstock We all know how important it is to save enough money for retirement – but what about spending it wisely when we get there? Even for those who have built up a suitable ...14 hours ago
- Government accused of betraying Kiwis’ trust over lack of consultation on live exports
The government has always vowed to reinstate live exports by sea, which was banned by the previous Labour government. ...14 hours ago
- 7 things you can do if you think you sweat too much
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Freeman, Associate Professor of Dermatology, Bond University ERIK Miheyeu/Shutterstock Sweating is our body’s way of cooling down, a bit like an internal air conditioner. When our core temperature rises (because it’s hot outside, or you’re exercising), sweat glands all ...15 hours ago
- Phenergan for under 6s is now banned due to hallucination fears. Here’s what to use instead
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Macquarie University Australia’s drug regulator has issued a safety warning over the medicine Phenergan and related products containing the antihistamine drug promethazine. The Therapeutic Goods Administration said the over-the-counter products should not be given to children ...15 hours ago
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More disclosure: I have a bit of a bet riding on whether Shane Jones or Clare Curran is the first Minister to resign or be fired in the government, but this hasn’t affected my opinion on this issue, and I wouldn’t call for a Minister’s resignation just to win a bet, lol.
Thought you should all know, but didn’t think it was in keeping with the tone of the post to put it in the main text, lol.
Ah Shane Jones . You probably dont know of the ‘support’ hes had from Simon Bridges
“I think Shane was highlighting an issue. It’s not that Shane is actually wrong on the issue of ensuring greater regional air connectivity, what was wrong was the way Shane did it,”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12018882
If it is Curran, it will only be because a fair few others (eg Kelvin Davis) are being held under ‘house arrest’.
Let’s be nice to each other – the Jacindean age has just begun.
Curran is saying she didn’t understand previously that there were clear rules about RNZ staff meeting with ministerd. How can a minister with that portfolio, and after having a long period as spokesperson for media and NOT understand this?
Quoting Farrar, Matthew? That’s brave.
I thought it was important to show different perspectives from varied areas of the political spectrum. Farrar and Compton are there to show us what the opposition thinks, and I get Lew’s take as a bonus by giving you that tweet from Farrar.
I enjoy that you show different perspectives. Shows a fairness as it were (and means I don’t need to visit Kiwiblog!)
Curren is hopelessly incompetent.
Everyone said so before the election and subsequent events have borne out those assessments. Curren owes her position to identity politics horse trading within Labour, not to any innate talent.
Read NRT about her attempts to be secretive, even though she is the open government minister.
She is reflexively secretive because all incompetent fools rely on secrecy. Now her idiocy has cost Carol Hirschfeld her job, and damaged the governments credibility.
Jacinda needs to sack this liability immediately.
I keep up with NRT all the time, I/S is an excellent blogger. I thoroughly agree with his takes on Curran.
You’re too kind matthew;
“I don’t think there’s any reasonable way to say she is qualified to be a Minister…”
A fantastic example of what’s wrong with identity, tick the box politics is you end up with the dull tools where sharp ones are needed.
Labours thrown many useful tools overboard recently, she’s is way out of her depth and displayed as much in opposition.
Shuffle the pack Jacinda, strong visible leadership’s a vote winner and getting winnie to give Jones a public kicking is also welcome.
There is no way Curran was promoted due to “identity politics.” I’m usually an advocate for hiring or promoting more women when they’re under-represented, but if I can come out first thing and say “there is no way she’s qualified for Shadow Cabinet,” then you know that wasn’t a consideration.
She was an absolute failure as an ICT spokesperson, but is probably a decent electorate MP. If there’s any legitimate reason for her having her portfolios, that’s it- Labour tends to over-value electorate performance in the new MMP environment, and like National, hasn’t yet realized that having unpopular ministers is worse than putting them on the backbench, or deselecting them altogether, as it drags on your party vote. But I find it much more plausible that she’s a great example of the Peter Principle, where people who are good at networking (or uncovering blackmail material…) but bad at their job can get promoted for no good reason.
But I find it much more plausible that she’s a great example of the Peter Principle, where people who are good at networking but bad at their job can get promoted for no good reason.
Yep.
But I find it much more plausible that she’s a great example of the Peter Principle, where people who are good at networking (or uncovering blackmail material…) but bad at their job can get promoted for no good reason.
I saw that in operation throughout my 30 plus years in the Public Service.
Networking the bosses big time. Acting as spies for them on the rest of the staff. In my case, it went as far as changing my calculations in order to paint me as incompetent. They were promoted way beyond their actual level of competence but since it was normal practice in those days, nobody did anything about it.
Yeah, it’s the most frustrating thing about the public service, and there really needs to be reforms so that staff can be performance managed fairly, and dismissed or demoted as appropriate if they fail to meet expectations. It creates a hostile workplace for other staff, and seeing it happen in Parliament too is the worst.
The Peter Principle probably best described what has motivated me to make comments on various threads over the past few days (especially in relation to the PS.
I seem to rember ( from remarks you made a couple of years back ) you may have had some sort of employment dispute whilst a PS.
Hopefully the employment court gave them as big a thrashing and admonishment as they did in my case.
The prime culprit ended up losing his managerial position but not until after I left. There were no support services available for the kind of bullying and intimidation dished out to me in the 80s and early 90s. It was a serious miscarriage of justice, but there was nothing I could do about it because I didn’t have the financial means to take them to court.
Agreed Sanctuary, Curran has always seemed pretty useless to me.
Time for Jacinda to be (and look) decisive and brave.
Absolutely this is an opportunity for Jacinda to rid us all of a complete dead head.
Prior to the election she was the spokesperson for broadcasting who rarely if ever talked about her designated portfolio
The government must have a keen and able Minister to deal with the vital changes neccessary in public media .
Clare Curran is not that person she never been anything other than a time server – Ditch her JA -all of Labour would applaud .
Absolutely this is an opportunity for Jacinda to rid us all of a complete dead head.
Prior to the election she was the spokesperson for broadcasting who rarely if ever talked about her designated portfolio
The government must have a keen and able Minister to deal with the vital changes neccessary in public media .
Clare Curran is not that person she never has been anything other than a time server – Ditch her JA -all of Labour would applaud .
Absolutely this is an opportunity for Jacinda to rid us all of a complete dead head.
Prior to the election she was the spokesperson for broadcasting who rarely if ever talked about her designated portfolio
The government must have a keen and able Minister to deal with the vital changes neccessary in public media .
Clare Curran is not that person she never has
been anything other than a time server – Ditch her JA -all of Labour would applaud .
Hirschfield lost her job because she lied to her boss.
I would say the same thing about Jacinda. Incompetent, and got there on good looks alone, and not having achieved anything.
A great opportunity for the PM to show she has the steel to discipline, by firing Curran’s ass today.
Too many going off on tangents.
SparklePony PM needs to rule caucus for real.
If you think Ardern doesn’t have steel in private, you don’t know much about her. She can apparently be very hard on members of caucus when she feels she has the need.
If Ardern’s decided she’s not firing Curran just yet, it’s because she thinks it would be worse for her Government than keeping her on. I certainly don’t agree, but then again, I don’t understand who in Caucus was actually voting for her to be a Minister in the first place. *shrugs*
Private is irrelevant.
It’s not irrelevant to actually being in control of caucus, it is in fact what matters most, but that does make it clearer you were talking about a perception of being in control, and I agree sacking Curran is probably now necessary for that.
She doesn’t get re-elected in private
With Ad over what to do with Curran. Helen Clark did not hesitate and if I recall correctly her first ministerial sacking occurred around six months after they came to office – could be wrong though.
As has been said a million times it is public perception that counts above everything.
Stand her down please Jacinda. If she shows true remorse and ups her game she can always be reinstated some time in the future.
Jacinda is no Helen Clark. Jacinda may well yet fire Curran, but only if Winnie let’s her.
Why would Winston have anything to do with Curran? He’s the only thing protecting Shane Jones from a proper bollocking, certainly.
My opinion – Jacinda doesn’t blow her nose without consulting Winston. She’s weak, and the cracks are showing. But she’s great for a photo-op with Ed Sheeran.
That’s crap Baba Yaga.
She’s neither weak nor is she Peter’s puppet. The respect he has shown her from the start is testament to that.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/pms-spy-comments-make-nz-a-laughing-stock/ar-BBKMSHp?li=AAaeXZz&ocid=spartandhp
She’s weak. And stupid.
Prime Minister Ardern, weak and stupid? Heaven help us, and her.
Bring back the self-serving plunderers and blunderers (Key, English, Barclay, Joyce, Coleman) – they’ll stop the rot.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/353193/jonathan-coleman-hangs-up-on-hospital-rot-interview
In just a matter of months this government is in huge trouble. Nothing the nats did comes near the incompetence and dishonesty we’re seeing from members of Ardern’s government on an almost daily basis. And then there’s Ardern herself, making NZ a ‘laughing stock’ internationally (https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/pms-spy-comments-make-nz-a-laughing-stock/ar-BBKMSHp?ocid=spartanntp). Key was highly regarded on the international stage. Ardern is offering nothing beyond women’s magazine photo-ops.
🙄
Scientists are just like lawyers, dildos and Letterman, with a side-order of pedo-hair fetishism, Ad Nauseam.
Some of you comments are political hyperbole, and/or at best irrational misogyny.
Key’s long gone, but never forget – by a ponytail puller we were ‘led’.
“Key’s long gone, but never forget – by a ponytail puller we were ‘led’.“
A pony tail puller who would never have let his Government turn into the shambles this one has.
A pony tail puller who saw off four labour leaders, and enjoyed historically high levels of popularity.
CleRly you were sound asleep during National’s time in government Babayaga. So we will forgive your ignorant trolling.
If Curren, and Jones are the worst culprits to surface during the present administration we are now better served than any time during the previous decade.
Jones can be forgiven as he is nothing less than a blunt speaking kiwi bloke, who speaks his mind in inopportune circumstances. He at least has a vision for the regions, however badly he paints it.
Curren likewise is forgivable, but because she is stupid, and obviously has risen above her level of natural incompetence. But forgiveness should mean driven out of cabinet, and reduced to the role of retiring back bencher, to permit more useful back benchers to come to the fore.
In the meantime, National’s ranks could do with a little more thinning to remove the remaining disengenuous, self serving Homerable arseholes. It’s a pity that a clean sweep of National’s incompetents would strip the opposition bare and would drive the country to dispair due to the extraordinary number of by-elections required.
“If Curren, and Jones are the worst culprits to surface during the present administration we are now better served than any time during the previous decade.”
If you had left it there, I would have considered you delusional. As you then went on to try to mitigate Jones and Curran’s misdemeanors, without so much as a hat tip to Ardern’s utterly useless leadership, almost moves me to pity.
Ponytail pulling Key makes my breast swell with pride too. He’s the best ponytail pulling Prime Minister in history – what an amazing achievement, fantastic role model, extraordinary legacy, etc. etc.
Bring back honest John, National’s champion plunderer.
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-great-big-list-of-john-keys-big-fat-lies-updated/
“Ponytail pulling Key makes my breast swell with pride.”
I tend to not let my breast swell with pride over any politician. They are all rat-bags in one way or another. But there are degrees of competence. Clark was very, very competent. Key was very, very competent. Ardern has only had 9 months and she looks like a possum in headlights.
Jacinda Ardern – eight months as leader of the Labour Party (numerical competency not your strong suit?), and five months as Prime Minister (sworn in on 26 October 2017).
Must be a bitter pill to swallow that such a weak and stupid (your words) leader managed to get NZ1st and the Greens onside, whereas National’s powerful, skilled and dynamic negotiators (and competent; let’s not forget competent) failed. Why, it’s almost inexplicable.
Many of National’s incompetent post-election negotiating ‘team’ (e.g. English, Joyce, Eagleson) have now left parliamentary politics.
“Must be a bitter pill to swallow that such a weak and stupid (your words) leader managed to get NZ1st and the Greens onside…”
Not at all. Winnie was never going to negotiate with national in good faith…his hatred of national and the chance to be the effective PM over a weak labour leader were just too tempting. But more than that, this was an election national needed to not win…it brings rejuvenation (which you so kindly acknowledge)…something labour failed to do post Clark. Ardern is an accidental PM, a great smile but zero experience at running anything.
Ah, victory through defeat, the most cunning plan of all…
“Ah, victory through defeat, the most cunning plan of all…”
A subtle correction. National were not ‘defeated’. They were the highest polling party. But Mr 7% chose Labour for the reasons I outlined above. How he must be regretting that decision, and giving up smoking at the same time!
Yup. They’re the most popular losers we’ve had for probably most of MMP. Not FPP, but never mind, that’s why MMP is better.
“…that’s why MMP is better.”
Good grief…something on which we can agree!
What a media beat up! And on a day where there are at least three significant issues of importance to our nation ( 22,000 cows to be culled after total failure to avert spread of infection, illegal withholding of information by ex attorney general, taxpayer now faced with $90,000 bill for this).
you also forgot wasting $114m on a yachting competition.
This.
It’s the political struggle for RNZ on show. The right wing don’t want to let go, and the rest of the media want RNZ (and all public broadcasting) gone altogether and are horrified at the prospect of it expanding.
The rest is people out for Curran’s head.
Curran was seen by the right as a weak link. She does not have the competence for this role.
as demonstrated by her appalling performance as ICT spokesperson. This is a key area that requires a safe pair of hands not butter fingers.
Great ideas are one thing…execution of them another.
I’m sure there’s an element of that, but scalping Curran won’t scupper plans to expand and enrich RNZ’s content, which are well-earned and to be quite honest, it’s past time we did so.
No one cares, Curran ( who seems to give great leadership value with Dunedin ) had a coffee meeting that wasn’t on the books.
Look at it this way, it was actually saving the org. money from being billed for the coffee and fudge cake or whatever that could have come down the pipe if was an official chin wag!!
The actual deep issue is that there is no ‘neutral’ media, it is all coming from somewhere with a point of view, & as is the case in current structures often very lobby driven, and the mis-leading counter productive and wasteful nature of media, which is endemic in modern society, comes from pretending that is not so.
Essentially the govt parties of the day should have their own produced content on across the telly channels one night of the week, and the opposition parties another night, with a lesser overall time since they are doing less than the govt.
So the govt. gets say a 2 hour slot and the opposition an one hour slot, which they produce themselves, with all relevant parties having creative control over how and what they present.
Without having thought about ratios, something like National 55 mins and Act 5 * say Tuesday.
Labour gets 70 mins, NZ1st 30 mins and Greens 20 mins the following night.
She’s a liability and an example of the Peter principle in action.
Yes, I agree, but I thought the post was too long to go into that. I figured saying she leveraged her way into her position would imply it for everyone. 😉
I can understand Hirschfeld and Curran wanting to talk without RNZ Chairman Richard Griffin being present, because he was a National appointment, with a background working for National Party people. He was also tipped to be appointed to prepare RNZ for privatisation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5113211/How-the-Silver-Fox-turned-gamekeeper
But, this was a pretty clumsy way to do it. And it was in a very public place where I understand many Wellington public servants hang out. Many are now pretty much Nat flunkies.
Hirschfeld is a big loss to RNZ.
Curran should go.
As someone who has an interest in public service media, I have attended some meetings where party spokespeople talked about this in recent years.
I rate Tracey Martin above Curran in her grasp of the significance of public service media, and would suggest, if she hasn’t already got enough responsibilities, that she step up to this role – perhaps with Kris Faafoi as associate minister.
I do think the development of public service media is a very important part of improving democratic debate and engagement.
I did see Curran speak well at a rally once.
Other than that, I don’t think I’ve met anyone down here who has a good thing to say about her. Like, normal party people, not nutbars or zealots (known for their bile). She doesn’t seem to make political friends easily.
As for why she’s a minister, I suspect the answer is “South Dunedin”. Apparently the Sth D Lab org owns a couple of properties that return good, regular income. Which gets sent to head office. Money talks.
On a separate note, another classic Yes Minister line:
Sir Humphrey: How are things at the Campaign for the Freedom of Information, by the way?
Sir Arnold: Sorry, I can’t talk about that.
If Labour has allowed itself to be set up so that its electorate candidates can blackmail it with donations from local orgs, that’s an absolute failure of leadership, and an excellent reason to leverage Curran out of Parliament altogether, so you can cut her influence out of South Dunedin.
She’s not the influence, the electorate committee is.
The same ones who decided Benson-Pope was no longer their man.
If an electorate committee has that much influence over the voting of caucus Labour has bigger problems than Curran.
Well, it’s not like she’s PM.
But yeah, if that’s the case then labour HQ needs a more secure income stream than donors.
It’s got nothing to do with the Dunedin South LEC or the fact that they own a building. The fact is that Dunedin is a Labour stronghold and Curran performed well in terms of increasing the Labour vote well above the average in the last election.
I don’t know her well enough to rate her abilities as a Minister – I can’t claim to have really followed her. The decision to talk face to face with Hirshfield seems pretty innocent to me, and her office did contact RNZ to correct the “accidental meeting” story, but probably should have fronted to the select committee and corrected the record. Not doing so has allowed this story to become a lot bigger than it needed to be.
Ironically, our Minister of Broadcasting seems to have poorly developed media skills. That doesn’t necessarily make her incapable of managing her portfolio, though. I’m really keen to see more detailed plans for change at RNZ and how these fit into our wider broadcasting landscape, no matter who holds the ministerial position.
And yes, I’m sure Labour HQ would like a more secure income stream than donors. Income generated from commercial rents from buildings like the one owned by the South Dunedin LEC is one way of managing this.
She ranks above Jonathon Coleman, but she’s about par for a National Party Minister in terms of competence at doing the advertised job. (which doesn’t mean that her performance is acceptable)
Honestly, even if she’s innocent in all of this, her resignation will be necessary within a year for not managing to get anything done, so…
You’ve run the blame Curran line (to an anti-Curran audience from Red Alert era times), now said even if she is innocent in all this, its an excuse to get rid of her.
So much for “Greens” focusing on the issues …
And probably the same ones who in 2013 tried to prevent Cunliffe’s then wife from being allowed into a leadership contest meeting where the candidates, including Cunliffe, were speaking.
She seems to me to be a good enough electorate MP, although I’d like to see what people in South Dunedin say about that. But she does seem quite active on their behalf.
May I direct you to her (Shrinking) majorities.
Sanctuary, did you know that what you just wrote about Clare Curran’s majorities shrinking is aaaah very wrong? Or are you being sarcastic?
Curran’s electorate performance is as follows.
2017 21,404 votes 54.59% margin 8717
2014 18,182 49.07% 3858
2011 16,844 48.89% 4175
4500 extra votes.
5% increase to have an absolute majority!
https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/electorate-profiles/electorate-profiles-data/document/DBHOH_Lib_EP_Dunedin_South_Electoral_Profile/dunedin-south-electoral-profile#_32
To be fair to Sanctuary, he may be referring to the shrinking share of the Party Vote Labour received in Dunedin South until the ’17 election. Labour regained some of that vote this time, but only some of it. It depends whether you think the job of a candidate is to win their electorate or to grow/hold the Party Vote.
If it’s the latter, arguably Curran is under-performing- while her electorate is 3-4% ahead of the average national swing to Labour, it is a Labour stronghold and should be doing much better than that in an election that Labour won, but it’s also arguable the other way given that Dunedin South did still swing back 15 points towards Labour, so it’s very much a judgement call for the Party on whether they think she’s doing a good job.
Maybe, but Sanctuary does say “her (shrinking) majorities”, not the Party’s.
A candidate’s job is to do both. I was one.
How did Labour do nationally in 2011 and 2014?
Labour 2011 27% of the vote, down from 2008 by 6.5%
Labour 2014 25% of the vote, down from 2011 by 2.35%
Curran, in a Labour stronghold, got 48% in 2011, and 49% in 2014.
Then, in 2017 the Dunedin South Labour Party vote went up 15% and her personal vote went up 5% to an absolute majority.
Nothing like figures to disprove arguments based on other ‘rationales’.
I’d say that Curran has performed very well in electorate and party votes in the last three elections.
People may have a snitch against Curran. But the figures disprove Sanctuary, and also your apology for him, Matthew.
I don’t really have a game in it one way or another. If Labour want to keep her on as an MP that’s their business. My disagreement is with her as a Minister, and her conduct being either unethical or incompetent or both in this matter.
But, now you’re pretending to have won, let’s look a bit more closely at those years you gave.
In 2011, Labour’s share of the party vote in Dunedin South was down by -11.76%. That’s a lot more than the national drop you gave of -6.5%, and it comes after a -10.4% drop in her electorate in her debut year in 2008, although that one I’ll give her for free, despite outpacing the -7.1% national drop, because she was a new candidate, and it can be hard to pick up a new electorate, even a party stronghold, if you’re not some kind of superstar candidate.
To be fair to Curran, in 2014, the share of Dunedin South’s party vote won by Labour dropped by only -1.84%, compared to the 2.35% national average you gave, but with so many consecutive drops ahead of the national average, Curran may have simply been bottoming out on voters she could lose, so a drop roughly in line with the average is actually kinda bad. I’ve already looked at 2017, where you would expect Dunedin South to deliver well above the national swing given Curran was riding Ardern’s wave as a popular new Prime Ministerial candidate, but not so much. She got +15.0% vs a 11.76% national swing to Labour, which is acceptable but hardly stellar in a Labour stronghold.
Like I said, if you judge Curran by her performance getting Party Votes, she didn’t do particlularly well, but wasn’t the worst. Certainly not some all-star that justifies her becoming a minister to retain her services regardless of her poor technical performance in her portfolios. If you’re going to quote figures, give them all. The only election year Curran has ever raised the Party Vote in her electorate was 2017.
Hi Weka,
Clare’s active enough that she fields requests and then acts on them from North Dunedinites as well as working for her own constituents. From what I’ve seen working with her (including on her campaign last year), she is the South D candidate because of her hard work in the electorate and her involvement in keeping our services and advocating on behalf of people that need help accessing them, as when she camped in the octagon until two young mothers were supplied with state houses here.
Also not sure why we are promoting the right wing meme that it was a secret meeting, when clearly it wasn’t???
I’m sorry, but if someone resigned due to lying about the meeting, there was absolutely a desire to keep it hush. Would you prefer the term “cover-up?” Because regardless of whether the meeting was wrong, the attempt to cover up its existence definitely was, especially for a Minister for Open Government.
As far as I can tell the meeting itself was not secret (why would they have met in the Astoria is it was?) The instigator of the meeting and presumably what was discussed has tried to be covered up since, but that’s not the same thing.
The right wing are pushing the idea that the meeting itself was secret and you are helping them here, imo.
No, I am opposing the idea that we can have someone who thinks covering her tracks is appropriate as a Minister for Open Government.
Holding Labour accountable is not “helping the Right Wing.” If Labour wants to stay in Government, it has to act like a responsible Government.
“Holding Labour accountable is not “helping the Right Wing.” If Labour wants to stay in Government, it has to act like a responsible Government.”
I wish others realised that too. I voted Labour/Green and as such I’ll harsher on my own ‘team’ than the opposition
Hear hear!
I remain genuinely bewildered that the finding against our former AG has made no blip on our msm today.
If the curran/hirschfield meeting is regarded as proof RNZ is leftwing then surely the absence of the Finlatson finding proves that herald stuff and tvnz tv3 are Right?
Perhaps I can clear up your bewilderment..
Examples from stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/102604462/government-must-pay-90k-to-kim-dotcom-after-tribunal-rules-it-breached-his-privacy
Or perhaps Newshub
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/03/kim-dotcom-wins-human-rights-tribunal-case-declares-extradition-bid-over.html
Possibly TVNZ
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/kim-dotcom-wins-90k-after-crown-found-have-illegally-withheld-information-him
And if you read the herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12020463
I’m afraid, unless you have some odd definition of MSM that excludes these sources your theory that the “absence” of this story from the MSM somehow proves their bias is on very shaky ground.
Apologies alwyn. I admit I only just re read the scoop link to see to my embarrassment it was news yesterday not today.
Can you link me to Finlaysons response? And Bridges and the current AG? TIA
I have no idea whether any of them have commented. You also have absolutely no reason to have to apologise to me.
The only reason I replied to you was because I kept hitting these articles when I was reading the news. I really can’t get excited by the man.
I very much doubt that any of them will comment, at least in the near future. Would you?
That man is just like the tar-baby of the Uncle Remus story. Go near him and you are entrapped.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar-Baby
Not commenting is different to being stopped in parliament and asked
Just to make it clear.
By “the man” and “that man” I meant Dotcom.
God knows how or why we let him into New Zealand.
I suppose a reporter could stop and question Finlayson. They might get an answer. I don’t think they could really expect an answer out of Bridges. It was a long time ago and Bridges could justly answer that it really had, and now has, nothing to do with him.
I think a Labour Minister would keep well clear. Dotcom would sue them next.
I have just seen the other post on the Dotcom saga. I see why you are a tad embarrassed about the comments on the MSM. Yes it was largely yesterday and it probably is just a one-day story.
Open Government isnt about ‘meetings’ its about increasing public participation amoung other things.
http://ogp.org.nz/
Commitment 1: Open Budget
Commitment 2: Improving official information practices
Commitment 3: Improving open data access and principles
Commitment 4: Tracking progress and outcomes of open government data release
Commitment 5: Ongoing engagement for OGP
Commitment 6: Improving access to legislation
Commitment 7: Improving policy practices
Appendix A – Plan development and engagement
Just playing to the right way who just play a gotcha is the antithesis of Open Government
I know what open government is, good grief. (Coincidentally, Curran has done nothing to improve adherence with the OGP, which we are in serious danger of getting kicked out of)
That you don’t get that the Minister for Open Government has moral responsibilities beyond their actual portfolio is very troubling to me. Just like we expect to see the Minister for Transport on buses and trains, we also expect to see the Minister for Open Government eating her own dogfood by being more open than other Ministers about her own schedule, information, and practices, otherwise she has demonstrated she doesn’t believe in what she’s supposed to be doing.
In your heading this is what you said
” The Minister for Open Government really does have one, and one job only: to be frank with the truth,”
Tell me which one that is on the list ?
That may be commendable , but lets NOT wrap it up in the Mantle of what Open Government really is.
It’s all of them, obviously. Forgive me for summing up the minister’s responsibilities in brief with metaphorical language.
Every politician needs a plaque on their wall that says something like:
It’s not screwing up that will end your career, it’s the cover-up. The cover-up. That’ll be the end of you. The cover-up. Front up, don’t cover-up!
And the cover ups ended Keys career ?
Dont make me laugh. he would just say anything he didnt want to reveal was ‘his work as an MP’ and thus none of your business.
Not many politicians lose their jobs because of a simple fuckup. It’s the coverup that usually takes them out when they go.
That’s not to say they never get away with it.
What exactly did Key cover up? He fronted on everything, would put on the charm for the media and say he didn’t think it was a particularly big deal, and oh look over there, haven’t we got some nice new money to announce for our corporate mates? And how about we cut taxes for well-paid journalists so you don’t have to question me?
Sadly, the rules of the game seem to be: Minimization and misdirection are, to an extent, allowed, but actual cover-ups aren’t.
have you never seen the list of over 200 items where he covered up or lied.
Ive given the reference to where he covered up his contact with
bloggersjournalistsThere was Sky City or as Hootun put it
‘Close to corruption’
Close to corruption
The origins of this fiasco lie in the close private relationship established between John Key and SkyCity in the mid 2000s. When he became prime minister, Mr Key surprised many when he appointed himself minister of tourism but it was old news to SkyCity. Its executives had advised business partners well before election day that things were looking up because Mr Key had “agreed” to become tourism minister.
https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/skycity-debacle-offers-morbid-fascination
Surveillance of dotcom
English covered up for Barclay
I am intimitely familiar with his many lies. He never claimed to be responsible for opening up the government, and I agree they should have been scandals, but the fact is if you misdirect and minimize like key did, and have enough charisma, banked political capital, and consistent public support by your cronies, the media don’t care, but if you say things that simply aren’t plausible, they do. It sucks that there’s one standard for our lot and another, much lower standard for theirs, I agree. But the correct response is to go after their lot when they’re in power, not to excuse ministers because we like their party.
Key covered up the whole Dirty Politics game, for starters. He just kept repeating that it was a left wing conspiracy theory.
And the bombing of the village named in hit and run
Wasn’t that one revealed under English, or am I misremembering?
That’s fair, and a genuine failure on behalf of the media. I screamed bloody murder at the time, myself.
He wouldn’t front up on RNZ though – knew his smarm wouldn’t cut it except on talkback. A coward after all.
CV will have burst his spleen from laughter
Would make a change from venting it.
He wasn’t always wrong, in the old days.
So I hear. He had a fight with Labour and has held a grudge ever since.
100% McFlock.
And Muttonbird it was Curran – not Labour – that the fight was with.
I wouldn’t go to 100% right either, though 🙂
And his targets seemed to be wide-ranging.
LOL – not well thought out on my part! But he was a very different person back then and still is from time to time. I was actually quite interested in some of his comments the other day when the axe fell yet again in OM 21 March down under 16.1.1.1.2. He answered John Selway’s questions in a quite reasonable manner which gave a little insight into where he was coming from. But getting onto ‘unsafe’ ground.
I see. Well the whole episode has turned him into a low-functioning anarchist.
After a moment or two indulging in well-earned schadenfreude; I imagine he’s just disappointed like the rest of us.
An utterly unnecessary and pointless embarrassment all for zero possible gain.
“I imagine he’s just disappointed like the rest of us.”
Nope, he’s been vocal about Curran’s failings for a very long time.
Whoa! It’s all going down right now.
Just breaking, Helen Clark says Ardern was “let down” by not being told about the Labour Summer camp sexual assault allegations.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102623029/helen-clark-pm-ardern-was-let-down-when-she-wasnt-told-about-sexual-assault-allegations
Ardern needs to step up and show she is in control. And I suspect Curran will be gone by lunch time tomorrow!
Ardern has already said she currently doesn’t intend to fire Curran, so there would need to be an angle to this story that isn’t public for her to change course here, I think.
But Ardern also was critical of Curran. Her support of Curran was pretty cautious. i suspect Ardern is playing for time, to see how things play out.
It may require some more info to come to light for Curran to go. But, i do think Curran looked weak in press stand up this afternoon, and think she will go tomorrow. She’s a dead woman walking.
That is my take too, although I don’t know if it will be as soon as tomorrow. 🙂 I would have thought it was when I first heard the story, but…
“And in our second 100 days in office, we will attempt to eat ourselves for breakfast.”
I’m right in saying there is pressure from within caucus to be done with Kirkton? And what does Helen Clark’s opinion have to do with anything – apart from the fact it carries heft and so plays into any pressure on Kirkton?
Kirton isnt appointed by Caucus, if he has the support of the President he will stay.
[lprent: *sigh* The NZ Labour Party General Secretary is appointed as an employee by the NZ council into a paid position with some pretty specific tasks.
Try reading the available documentation rather than simply lying when you don’t know. Take the next week to read it. Normally I’d give an educational ban. But I can’t be arsed doing the required work for someone who is probably just being a dimwit.
However as you are probably aware, I really hate arseholes inventing false facts. Next time I see you do it, I will assist your attention to detail with a incredibly long ban. Your absence for an extended period will make the work worthwhile. ]
Quite so.
“The General Secretary:
(a) Holds office on terms and conditions agreed with the NZ Council; and
(b) Must be confirmed in office at the first Annual Conference after his or her appointment.
I merely ‘stated’ he wasnt appointed by caucus – the rules confirm this, my ‘opinion’ is if the President supports him he would stay.
I’m also curious about what the deal is with Clark. She’s been quite outspoken about a number of issues for NZ lately. Is she still between jobs?
Her close pal H2 will be keeping her updated from the inside more than in previous years.
I think having been voted down by the UN and thus not needing to maintain a public profile that’s above national politics has freed her to talk.
I wouldn’t classify her as “between jobs” so much as fulfilling the party elder role, and trying to be a conscience to the Labour Party now she doesn’t have to contend with political considerations herself.
No, Helen Clark is not between jobs, but her new job is not as full time and consuming as her previous UN role.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98718546/helen-clark-takes-job-at-global-commission-on-drug-policy
thanks! I was wondering what she was up to.
Is she still between jobs?
Not really. She’s highly sought after on the international speaking circuit. Don’t think she charges $500,000 though. 🙂
She’s essentially back in NZ now. It’s her country and her base. She’s not holding down any official position so she is free to express opinions just like the rest of us.
Can someone please catch me up on the sequence of events?
CH and CC arranged to have a meeting, in a cafe.
CC didn’t put that in her Ministerial diary?
At some point CH told her bosses that the meeting was not prearranged but that they had run into each other.
Eventually questions were asked in the House, and CC obfuscated but essentially said that the meeting was not prearranged.
For some reason CH has now told her boss that it was prearranged. She resigned for lying to him?
CC is now trying to fudge it some more.
What I don’t get is what would be the problem with CH meeting with CC in a cafe? i.e why the need to lie about whether the meeting was planned or not?
What I don’t get is what would be the problem with CH meeting with CC in a cafe? i.e why the need to lie about whether the meeting was planned or not?
I suspect it’s because RNZ is a National Party appointment, and tipped to prepare RNZ for privatisation.
I think it’s more the principle that if a minister is backchannelling two or three levels down the chain, it’s essentially making it impossible for the people in the intermediate positions to do their jobs by opening the organisation to conflicting objectives.
Additionally, the minister is there for governance, not to manage specific aspects of operation.
And the board is supposed to be in charge, as well. Ministerial meddling can make it difficult for them to fulfill their statutory obligations.
And finally, if the minister is cutting a chief executive out of the loop, then basically it creates an untenable workplace for that executive and opens the govt to massive employment payouts, when you could have just replaced them normally without grievance some time later. Ctutting them out suggests any consideration was predetermined.
“CC didn’t put that in her Ministerial diary? ”
And now we are told she did.
Yep:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/353466/hirschfeld-resignation-there-are-serious-questions-here-bridges
Is there a difference between “her diary” and her “ministerial diary”?
Stuff reported:
I posted a detailed timeline at 13.3 on Open Mike as I have been watching this fiasco from its early days and had kept a record as I needed to get my head around the sequence etc.
What I don’t get is what would be the problem with CH meeting with CC in a cafe? i.e why the need to lie about whether the meeting was planned or not?
Nothing if they were personal friends, relatives etc and it was a strictly personal get-together.
If however,it was a business meeting, then it would be unusual or possibly against RNZ’s own rules for someone at Herschfeld’s level to meet with a Minister without first getting the approval of the CEO – and possibly that of the Chairman of the RNZ Board.
Its were a get-together is a bit of each that things can get really tricky – and perhaps this one was. In which case, you meet in private somewhere – your home etc; not in a very public cafe.
Anyone at Curran’s level and at Herschfeld level should know the rules and conventions – as these are there to protect you as much as your position/organisation.
I delved into the Cabinet Manual. Radio New Zealand is a Crown Entity. The Manual says under the Crown Entities Act “an accountability relationship exists between Crown entities, their board members, and their responsible Ministers on behalf of the Crown and the House of Representatives”.
Statutory Crown Entities: a guide for ministers (pdf) says on p.34 “As the responsible Minister, you should regularly engage with your board(s) to clarify performance and any other expectations you or the Government may have, reduce misunderstandings, and enhance the relationship you have with the board”.
Engaging in an end-run around the board to a staff member while not explicitly ruled out by the Cabinet Manual or the Guide undermines this relationship.
So, there’s a few problems:
* RNZ has procedures about how to meet with ministers to avoid the perception of meddling in their operational independence. Curran made no attempt to check if such procedures existed before arranging a meeting, and either did not correctly direct her staff to find out any such information, or her staff failed to prevent her cock-up, too. If Curran wanted a meeting with Hirschfeld, she should have gone through top management at RNZ first for permission. At this stage, I will grant her that she didn’t intend to dodge those procedures.
* Curran was incorrect that this meeting counted as informal, and corrected the record in her official dairy after the fact. This should be largely a non-issue now, as she has apologized and corrected the record, but it again goes to her lack of competence as a minister.
* Both Curran and Hirschfeld have lied and said the meeting was coincidental, when it was in fact arranged.
Hirschfeld has had to resign because she lied on the public record, and she had to admit so to her boss, (the reason for the admission is unknown at this stage) and she did the right thing by resigning. [Actually, looks like I was wrong here WRT Curran- I’m having difficulty finding Curran on record saying the meeting was coincidental, but she is in the “either lied or was incompetent” situation regardless in claiming that she thought it was informal, and had to correct the record. – MjW]
Curran has spun this as “different versions of events,” but this does mean she has potentially misled the house if she ever claimed the meeting was coincidental in Parliament- from what I recall she may have said “informal” in oral answers, in which case she’s off the hook there, but would still be very vulnerable to attack from the opposition.
A couple of senior RNZ managers will now need to correct their statements to the select committee, too.
* Paul Thompson, RNZ’s CEO, has said the meeting was inappropriate and that it likely included discussion of RNZ+, and given Hirschfeld’s then-role as Head of News, she should probably not be meeting with the Minister alone, and there would be issues of commercial sensitivity here, too.
* For LOLs, the meeting happened at Astoria, (for those who don’t know Wellington well enough, that’s a very busy café, and there’s no way Curran wouldn’t have been seen with Hirschfeld) so the secret part here is that the nature of the meeting has been covered up, not that it was actually happening in private in any way.
* This is further complicated by Curran’s other role as Minister for Open Government, because she should have a higher standard about telling the truth and being perceived to tell the truth and properly disclose. For any other Minister, this would be a stupid mistake that couldn’t lead to calls for her head without evidence of the actual wrongdoing, (but would still make them look slimy) but in this case prevarication and attempts to dodge directly undermine her credibility in her other portfolio.
So essentially, it’s a case of “don’t cover things up, it’s worse than the crime, especially if you’re the Minister for Open Government.“
Thanks for that summary
Are you sure of your facts ?
“Both Curran and Hirschfeld have lied and said the meeting was coincidental.”
Curran has NEVER said the meeting was coincidental, that was Hirschfeld alone
Theres rules about attacking authors here , but nothing says we cant point out gross misinformation
Just that it was informal and didnt need to be reported
She certainly never said so in Parliament, although she did have to correct a written answer on that meeting. I would have said she might have said “coincidental” outside of Parliament, but I wouldn’t bet on it, so you may be right.
I encourage pointing out errors, this was an abnormally fast post for me, I usually take several hours of checking facts and ensuring I don’t imply anything I shouldn’t, but thought you all deserved some discussion of it, so things got a bit more muddled for me than they usually do.
Matthew, all the videos and Hansard links to the Oral Questions in the House that Curran has answered on this meeting are in my comment at 13.3 in Open Mike if anyone wants them – rather than having to delve all over the Parliament website.
The videos are worth a look to see Curran’s demeanour and attitude in answering questions. Mallard has no time for her as a result and gives her no leeway. They had quite a little ‘polite’ confrontation last Thursday when she was answering another question from Lee unrelated to this matter.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198962
Cheers Matt, that’s a good explanation (and that of others above).
So essentially, from what everyone is saying, CH shouldn’t have met with CC without taking someone with her and telling her boss. CC should have known that was a requirement and is either doing her job badly or doing her job really badly.
At some point CH or both of them lied about whether the meeting was planned.
Still unexplained is why CH lied, and then why she came clean. Got to feel for her, because that might just be one of those stupid in the moment mistakes that one thinks isn’t going to be a big deal but seriously damages one’s life (in this case her career).
Well, it’s more like CC should never have asked CH directly, he should have asked her boss, and CH should never have accepted directly, she should have uplined the request to her boss for approval through the correct processes.
CH definitely lied, and CC is, at the least, spinning this rather unfairly as CH’s fault to minimize blowback on herself. There is speculation that she did so for internal RNZ politics reasons, and that CC may have been backing her, but we honestly don’t know why for sure- at first I couldn’t find that info so I had assumed the only reason to lie was to cover up the topic of the meeting, and that surely that would have to reflect badly on CC.
And yeah, I definitely feel for her, although I would also say she should have been fired if she hadn’t resigned, even though I know she was excellent at her job if the final product is anything to judge her by.
My bet is Hirschfelt was being tapped to replace Griffin, so he knifed her.
Yeah, it’s nothing to do with ‘transparency’. The meeting at the Astoria was a (turns out clumsy) discussion about the future of RNZ under Hirschfeld.
Griffin spat the dummy.
yep, traces of a classic Wellington “assassination”, and as another well known blogger asked–“who was the rat?”
all of which does not excuse Curran’s behaviour, but the new govt. needs to realise “they” ARE out to get them; and need keep a closer eye on all the Yes Minister tories at the top of the public service!
Clearly a few in RNZ resented Hirschfeld’s rise.
Hopefully Ardern has further information on how this played out and who the players are which is why she’s resisting calls for Curran’s sacking.
Who was the rat? Seems to have been Curran – see my comment below.
He’ll be leaving anyway though, right? So he would knife her to keep a good person out of the job?
Yes. He has his own names and succession plan. A core part of a Chair and Boards job.
Fully a fireable offence.
A succession plan he had absolutely no power nor authority to implement. Unless I’m mistaken the government does the hiring there. Perhaps in the private sector or in party politics succession plans might be relevant but not in the public service I would have thought.
His having a succession plan (if that’s the case) is as bad as Hirschfeld meeting with Curran to press her case for the job!
If that’s what happened, yes.
” He has his own names and succession plan.”
Griffin always has – even when he was/is not actually in a position of authority to do so and whether it is a private business, public service organisation or a not for profit. I know from personal experience. But Griffin is well on in years now and from what I hear, not that interested in the hands-on way of operating that he used to be.
But I am not sure that Chair of the Board, or on the Board ,of RNZ would actually be Herschfeld’s scene or interest.
Definitely.
In defeat, malice; in victory, revenge!
You should open for Australia, I hear they have a vacancy. You’d fit right in!
ha – that was another Yes Minister line, talking about the motto of the new Prime Minister in series 1 as I recall. It really is an outstanding guide to dealing with workplace manipulators and bullies.
I sometimes suspect that questions along the lines of “but why would X do Y?” are because the questioners are too nice to understand some of the seedier parts of life. But Aussie cricketers are a good start.
No way she would want to be the Chair. Would have led their push into TV and then likely become CEO when the timing was right. What a waste.
The whole incident stinks of Crosby/Dexter and the Nat’s dirty tricks brigade ,and how anyone who declares they are Labour supporters is beyond me.
Curren is an awful failure as a politician, from her condescendance, to her inability to actually do the job she was elected for.
I’m surprised how she holds her seat, let alone the utter shock when they made her a minister. I’m going with the dead bodies theory.
This is a person who has truly risen way above their level of incompetence. Be nice to have a government unlike the last one, in that they actually deal with arrogant tools.
I think she got in principally because of this campaign: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/335502/dunedin-mp-ends-homelessness-campaign-as-women-move-into-houses
It might be said that she was a latecomer to such activism, or that its proximity to the election was not coincidental. Nevertheless, she did get a couple of folk into houses.
No need to fire her – just wheel Hirschfield in when Griffin’s term is up – make his spite count for nothing.
People are asking who was the rat that tipped off Richard Griffin that the meeting was not accidental.
Well, it seems to have been Claire Curran on 1st and 22 March 2018.
I am laughing as I type. But cynically. Seriously, Curran has REALLY let down Hirschfeld.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102619960/rnz-senior-manager-carol-hirschfeld-resigns-over-meeting-with-minister
Hold on a minute people. Stuff is reporting that it was actually Curran who informed RNZ on 1st March about the meeting with Hirschfeld. When CH denied this to her RNZ bosses, Curran’s office again contacted RNZ (22nd March) to point out the inconsistency in CH’s statement. Note also…
“The meeting was pre-arranged, and was in Curran’s ministerial diary.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102619960/rnz-senior-manager-carol-hirschfeld-resigns-over-meeting-with-minister
While I’ve never met the woman, Clare Curran has done a stirling job of representing the people of South Dunedin for many years. She’s one of those hard-working MPs who deserves a lot better than some of the treatment being handed out above.
Just saying.
Then she should be nothing but a local MP.
Ain’t no one will ever speak to her or trust her in Wellington now.
She’s radioactive.
Do you apply the same standard to Peter Dunne and his meeting with a journalist
This is the Minister of Broadcasting meeting with a person with editorial control over a public broadcaster. Bigger stakes.
You have to admire the huge euphemism of ‘meeting with’ though…
Would having a social meeting with Paul Holmes – a leading broadcaster at the time be regarded as ‘unacceptable’
Was Paul Holmes working for a public broadcaster at the time and the meeting was not made aware to the board of the broadcaster at the time?
Did Paul Holmes have editorial control over broadcasts?
Cheers.
Key used to wrangle out of revealing ‘official contacts’ all the time by claiming they were done as an MP
Eg The Contacts with Slater
“Back in early 2014 Newstalk ZB requested records of all such contacts that had occurred over a two year period.
John Key’s office declined to release details, saying to do so would require substantial research and collation and also that some communications may have been made in Mr Key’s capacity as an MP and leader of the National Party.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/ombudsman-to-investigate-john-key-over-blogger-contact/
So Key was allowed to claim contacts with a ‘ self described journalist’ were done in his capacity as an MP and didnt have to be revealed !
It’s about having arguable credibility. Curran attempting to claim the same thing here would be laughed out of the room- the Minister for Broadcasting does not meet with an RNZ employee as an MP, but any other Minister could.
“after having been persuaded to lie for her minister”
No evidence to support that claim yet, Matthew.
That’s fair, but I’m not editing that because I do think there’s something that smells funny about Curran minimizing the meeting while Hirschfeld was lying about it. Upthread they seem to think it’s about a power play to take control of RNZ, which may be the case, but it’s still unacceptable.
Curran is implicated either way as it would have been an inappropriate discussion for her to have.
Hey it’s your defamation risk, not mine. 🙂
Eh, if anyone would like to contest that that’s what’s happened officially I’ll be happy to take it down or post a correction, but I don’t like to edit things that were overtaken by events that frequently.
Have updated post now that commenting is finished to withdraw and apologize, btw. Later news definitely made it clear as to what was going on and that the fishiness was around Curran’s having dobbed Hirschfeld in, effectively.
Have you retracted your claim that Curran lied and claimed the meeting was coincidental ?
Isnt that what she said in Parliament?
” because I didnt perceive it as an official meeting”
That one is supported by Curran’s own differing statements.
Matthew, I do have to say that your failure to process properly figures on Clare Curran’s personal performance in Dunedin South both personally and for the Party vote does not sit well alongside your willingness to not amend an opinion based on such evidence as “I do think there’s something that smells funny”………
I refer to our discussion at 10.2.1.1.1 and ff above.
You left out every year she lost votes, Mac1. I didn’t fail anything there, and I feel you were very disingenuous in your argument that she did well given the other factors going on in the 2017 election. She has overall lost a lot more ground than she gained, even compared to Labour’s national-level figures.
I’ve edited the comment in question- I had thought that the thing about talking about *both* of them was in the post when people raised it. It’s very easy to get confused when you go straight from writing to moderating with no gap in between about what you said in the comments vs what you said in your post, especially when you’ve got dyslexia and you can get mixed up when you’re tired.
Tim Murphy
@tmurphyNZ
5h5 hours ago
Replying to @jmjenningsnz
It is odd. Surely editors can meet ministers, whether they bump into them or not, unless inopportune corporate or governance matters were discussed.
WhakarauJK
@ArrestJK
4m4 minutes ago
WhakarauJK Retweeted Sacha Dylan
They are meant to put any such preplanned meetings in their diaries Clarie didn’t until 24 hrs later that’s it that’s all. Carol on the other hand lied and continued to (why is a good question)
https://twitter.com/tmurphyNZ/status/978384655773659137
It’s a pity Carol Hirschfield resigned, considering she is one of the best broadcasters and broadcasting brains in NZ. Her resignation from RNZ is NZ’s loss.
Clare Curran is proving a liability to the coalition government now. She has been caught covering up details of this issue, so on principle IMO she should resign.
Well tell it to Curran’s electorate because they have voted her in over and over again, so presumably are happy with her performance for them.
Electorate MPs do not need to be Ministers.
A turkey could win our Labour safe seat.
Electorates don’t vote to determine ministers, Delia. Under Labour, their Caucus votes to determine who gets into cabinet, and then the Prime Minister distributes portfolios based on that team. So my real beef is with every MP who voted that Clare Curran should go into shadow cabinet.
If she wants to stay on as MP for Dunedin South, that doesn’t bother me.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/hirschfeld-resignation-clare-curran-to-stay-on-as-minister.html
Cabinet Manual: in personal and professional behaviour will uphold the highest ethical standards.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/353485/curran-on-hirschfeld-s-resignation-it-was-not-a-secret-meeting
“now that I am aware RNZ has policies around meetings with ministers”
FFS, you’re a Minister. How could it possibly be a surprise?
Honestly, I actually believe her on that. She’s absolutely incompetent enough to have not known to check that sort of thing.
Also known as “I misinterpreted the rules” lol
Nats have been wilfully misinterpreting the Privacy Act for years with no consequence.
Are we suggesting this got leaked today to coved the Finlayson story cos outside Newsroom it appears Finlayson’s depriving a defendant of evidence was not deemed newsworthy.
Misunderestimated even.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
LOL
Thanks for encapsulating this Matt. It does seem a great opportunity to bring on a new talent now, someone who is a great communicator, onto it and knows politics. Having a look at the current Ministers in this Gov, there’s not really many to get excited about. Maybe I’m being too harsh though, expecting another Lange-esque figure to emerge.
Eh, I don’t think it’s harsh to want people who are inspiring in government, but I’ll accept people who are convincing, or competent, or bold instead. I personally do not find Curran to be any of those things, but there are people in Dunedin who feel she’s an advocate, and I don’t think she’s done anything worthy of resigning as an MP over.
So who gave her diary page to newshub?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/informal-hirschfeld-meeting-was-scheduled-in-minister-s-diary-for-an-hour.html
hmmm… and in her “ministerial diary” and with just “CH Astoria” – as the event during that hour.
Leaked by a public servant?
Curran seems to have been the one to flag the meeting as ‘arranged’ some weeks back.
Im not sure why RNZ has only decided now to reveal this, was this because today was a meeting in parliament ?
I think after the first notification from Curran’s office to RNZ, Hirschfeld repeated it was a meeting by accident.
However, it wasn’t til last Sunday that Hirschfeld admitted to her bosses that it was a pre-arranged meeting.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/353485/curran-on-hirschfeld-s-resignation-it-was-not-a-secret-meeting
Leaked by a public servant?
Some of them do that sort of thing on a regular basis.
It’s an OIA response – hence the redaction clause references in red.
It will be great to have somebody decent representing us labourites in the very very safe South Dunedin seat.
A turkey could win this seat for Labour.
It appears we have years of clowns representing us down here.
Please find someone with good morals for a change.
to timeforacupoftea at 30 : Normally I dismiss such lazy vitriol, but this column is riddled with it today/tonight. I grieve.
Please don’t let TS descend to level of talkback. It is an avenue for considered discussion, not for the vitriol being seeded.
“Clowns” is rather tame by the standards here, but yes, I prefer considered discussion to name-calling, although I understand feelings will be high on this one.
“Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran says she told RNZ in early March that her meeting with senior manager Carol Hirschfeld was not coincidental.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102619960/rnz-senior-manager-carol-hirschfeld-resigns-over-meeting-with-minister
A lot of people need to retract their claims over Curran. We wait for the mea culpas
She said in parliament she didnt report the meeting cos it was informal
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/informal-hirschfeld-meeting-was-scheduled-in-minister-s-diary-for-an-hour.html
someone needs to draw up a timeline.
Veutoviper made a start: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27-03-2018/#comment-1466525
Thanks Sacha. I already told her that at 14.4 in reply to her 14 above earlier in the afternoon but perhaps she missed it.
I saw it, it’s just bee a very long day for catching up on everything, esp longer reads. I was hoping for bullet points 🙂
OMG – probably no connection, but Jacinda Ardern is looking for a new Chief Press Officer and the ad went up first thing on Monday morning.
Herschfeld? I do like the occasional conspiracy theory ….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102592564/prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-on-the-hunt-for-new-press-secretary
Hope she goes for it and gets it.
I was being a bit tongue in cheek – but I think there will be some interesting things coming up in the coming months in the field not just connected with RNZ directly – but also NZ on Air and various media advisory groups etc.
Found this very interesting Australian Women’s Weekly (YES, believe it or not!) in June 2017, which leads me to think that because of her daughter’s age (17?) she might not be available for a heavy all hours job at present such as the Chief Press Officer job.
https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/australian-womens-weekly-nz/20170622/281694024810236
Something that may interest folks, on “informal meetings”; https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/doing-the-business-with-john-key-heres-how-part-toru/
Not interesting at all. John has many been in power for sometime now
He’s moved on hatwise tuppy. Ennathaday.
Here we go. Peter Thompson of The Better Public Media Trust argues that,
and,
and,
Looks to me like Griffin has always been against RNZ+ and this is what led to the meeting between Hirschfeld and Curran, and the subsequent fall-out from that meeting.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12021221
Thanks. Now that is interesting.
And I would say that Thompson’s opinion that Hirschfeld’s departure hints at deeper conflicts within RNZ (ie with Griffin) over RNZ+ is absolutely spot on.
IMO, having had some very close dealings with Griffin in relation to a not-for-profit we were both involved in outside of our paid work, he is a through and through blue and would have been mortified when the Coalition Government was set up – and will be totally opposed to what is proposed for RNZ. He is also someone who does not follow rules and conventions when it does not suit him and his goal to do so. Integrity is not his strong suite; expediency is.
He sees himself as the saviour of RNZ over the last seven or so years since he was appointed Chairman of the RNZ Board; and will not accept anyone wanting to change it. So I don’t find it surprising he has come out of the woodwork after being very much MIA for some years.
This article in Sept 2017 gives some insight into his thinking re RNZ
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/96119720/enjoying-the-view-from-both-sides-of-the-fence
But lets face it, this is a last ditch fight on his side, as he knows the new government is very unlikely to roll over his Chairmanship again.
Ta.
Curran has been an MP since 2008, and I have never seen such a merciless attack on a Labour MP in here before. She is an electorate MP and is well regarded in her electorate. Why not just do National’s job for them, most of you are doing very well and from where I am sitting it all looks very personal.
Curran may well be a very good electorate MP. But that doesn’t mean she’ll make a good minister. She has handled this issue very clumsily, and has put the whole Labour plan for RNZ+ under threat. This needs to be handled with someone with far better political savvy.
We desperately need a better public service media. The right wing and the right wing commercial media do not want it. They perceive Curran to be weak and will go after her.
I think that many contributors have not considered or don’t want to consider that the rightwing commercial media might be afraid of a Labour Minister of Broadcasting and so are desperate to cause trouble?
I would say so Heather. Certainly crossed my mind that the rightwing commercial media would be feeling quite threatened about what Labour has planned.
To add RNZ chairman Richard Griffen and chief executive Paul Thompson are not supporters of it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/101863157/no-new-television-channel-per-se-for-rnz-says-chairman
I support her plans for broadcasting, and am sure they deserve to be continued on by a competent minister. Any attack on RNZ as biased to the left is ridiculous. But that doesn’t mean Clare Curran has acted competently here.
So why the hell is she helping them?
Delia, some people are good are some things and bad at others. From everything I hear she is an excellent electorate MP. I personally would not like to see her resign from that role; it is just that to some of us outside her electorate, she did not seem to do to well in the IT and communications roles she held in opposition so it was a bit of surprise that she was made Minister in charge of these areas.
Perhaps she would be better suited to some other areas like social welfare, poverty, housing etc ?
+1 Delia
I will concede she may be a good electorate MP, and I am certainly happy for the two women she helped into state houses. I have no objections to her remaining a good electorate MP. But if you know anything about either open government or ICT, you will know she is a terrible spokesperson or Minister in the areas she’s always been assigned.
It may be she’s just got the wrong portfolios. But I ask you to seriously go and have a look and see if she has accomplished a single concrete thing since becoming a minister- Even Twyford has set up a housing development now, despite having a really hard job of getting the ball rolling on Kiwibuild, and he and David Clark have the two hardest jobs after nine years of National. I ask you to actually compare her speeches in the house with a speech on the same topic by an expert and look for a single informed or insightful comment in her policy areas.
She was on Twitter arguing with Rachel Glucina after she defended herself today, which again goes to competence- when you are under attack and it looks bad for you, you should sit down and wait for feelings to cool, especially if you’re not Judith Collins.
She has been a spokesperson for a long time, and needs to be moved on. This has crossed the line that is acceptable for someone in her portfolio in my view.
As to loyalty to Labour- no thankyou. I will be friendly with Labour, and I will defend them when they deserve it, even though they’re not my party. But blindly withholding criticism is surely a step too far.
Curran has been an MP since 2008, and I have never seen such a merciless attack on a Labour MP in here before.
You must be new here. Curran’s a muppet, a vindictive poisonous incompetent pretender. She deserves everything she gets here.
Curran as Minister for open Government? Hah!
Anyone remember Red Alert, the so called Labour Party blog?
Curran censored any comments not approved of by a censor known as “Spud” (I suspect it was related to a duck).
OBTW I too have had dealings with Richard Griffin (going back decades) and endorse comments from Veutoviper.
So someone who should not be meeting with the Minister, does so, at an arranged meet at a public location. So it’s in the Ministers personal diary but not the Ministerial diary, until added a day later as an informal meet.
The Minister is asked about in Parliament (and calls it an informal meet, not an official meeting of the Minister), RNZ boss gets asked by a Select Committee (and repeats the line of a staff member that it was not an arranged meeting – thus the claim of being misled by the employee).
What is the difference between an arranged unofficial meet between the Minister and a RNZ employee and an arranged official meeting with the Minister – well the one that occurs when the employee is not supposed to have (arranged) meetings with the Minister.
Does no one arrange dinner parties … where the two can meet … just walk into the backyard and have a talk?
Curran as Minister for Open Government is as appropriate as having Judith Collins as Minister of Justice.
Did Curran meet Hirschfeld on the way to the airport?
Journos adding to the story: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102649454/rnz-saga-could-hinge-on-curranhirschfeld-texts
Thanks.
And this from the article:
Right … I am now beginning to understand why the PM is backing up Curran for the moment at least. Basically to hold the line until Griffin is gone, replaced etc in April and other things that are in train (related budget decisions, announcements etc in May) have reached more conclusive stages.
To step Curran down right now could be seen as weak, and giving in to the opposition from certain RNZ quarters to the RNZ+ plans, which were part of the Labour Party campaign promises.
So why not just replace Curran but keep the plan and still replace Griffin?
There’s nothing that says you need Curran to do any of that.
Hi Weka,
Clare’s active enough that she fields requests and then acts on them from North Dunedinites as well as working for her own constituents. From what I’ve seen working with her (including on her campaign last year), she is the South D candidate because of her hard work in the electorate and her involvement in keeping our services and advocating on behalf of people that need help accessing them, as when she camped in the octagon until two young mothers were supplied with state houses here.
thanks Trewindle.
to Trewindle at 40: Absolutely so ….. regarding her camping protest in theOctagon…it was really freezing …she developed a chestiness through that but persisted. Another night would have seen her very ill indeed in my opinion. How many of the writers of vitriol above would have had the guts to do what she did? She actually had two-legged trolls sent to hassle her by day too….probably they had no idea how obvious that were.
Thanks Trewindle, good to hear from people who have experience with Clares work in Dunedin, as you reminded us
Dunedin MP camps out in Octagon to highlight homelessness
An MP who is camping in the centre of Dunedin until two single mothers get a state house says they have run out of options.
Clare Curran started her protest in the Octagon on Sunday night, saying she will stay for as long as she has to.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201851516/dunedin-mp-camps-out-in-octagon-to-highlight-homelessness
Next time news hub or garner tries to crap on about labour how about reminding them of John Key and his non meetings before giving private media public money
: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/03/28/national-pissed-off-labour-is-nicking-john-keys-dodginess/
Released text messages between Curran and Hirschfeld reveal nothing about meeting topic: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/353548/text-messages-between-curran-and-hirschfeld-released
It never gets any better…..not sure what more there is to say……
Ex-TV3 head of news Mark Jennings tries to make sense of it: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/27/100637/coffee-meeting-leaves-rnz-in-a-mess
I can hear Colonial Viper giggling madly in the distance.
The hapless Curran screwed up publicly in handling lively activity in her electorate a few years ago. She even wanted the NZ Council to kick people out of the party who had the temerity to grow the Labour party in her patch.
Her holding the national Govt to account during the “un-bundling of the loop” was atrocious. She failed to spot that Telecom/Spark retained the core network. She was way out of her depth. She help a positions because she is foot soldier for Grant Robertson.
The story here is the dynamic between Robertson and Ardern.
Lest we forget.
https://thestandard.org.nz/i-vipertacus/#comment-560614
Lest we forget indeed! Gosh how time flies.
just look at us all and see who is still here six years later.
Really interesting to read your 42 there again SHG. Food for thought.
Thanks for this.
QoT’s comment at 46.1 of that old thread seems apropos:
What a load of TRIVIA, I think I’ll go back to reading the Womens Weekly
right on the flash.
this molehill is about to implode soon.
what a crap shit storm invented by the nationals.
time for RNZ to ditch the tory cabal and set off on a new direction of honesty and objectivity.
This, amongst other things, shows how the MSM are controlling the narrative in this country, and RNZ is part of the problem. Clare is not up to the huge task of setting up a quality, non commercial Public Broadcaster. This is the foundations of Demockary we are attempting to construct. Without a well resourced, impartial, non commercial, and informed media there is no Democracy. How much does the SIS and GCSB cost per annum? Get on with it.
Quality noncommercial public broadcasting is what the country needs. Curran’s plan is to add… an Auckland TV station. If that isn’t reason to fire her I don’t know what is.
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mod note for you.