Anatomy of another Key lie

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, May 22nd, 2013 - 37 comments
Categories: accountability, energy, john key - Tags: ,

February 25, 2013:

Govt blocked grandiose Solid Energy plans in 2009

The government blocked proposals in 2009 from its coal mining company Solid Energy for a billion-dollar capital injection to allow it to become “the Petrobras of this country”, Prime Minister John Key says.

March 15, 2013:

Key says Govt turned down Solid Energy loan plan

Prime Minister John Key has released papers which he says prove the Government turned Solid Energy down for a capital loan.

Key released the papers today in response to Labour’s accusations that he misled the public in claiming the coal miner had requested a $1 billion investment from the Government. The Prime Minister is adamant that he turned a bid down. …

However, former Solid Energy chairman John Palmer has rejected Key’s suggestion that the company wanted large sums of money to invest in new projects. …

Labour leader David Shearer today reacted to the Prime Minister’s claims by saying that “Key is trying to cover his tracks with false leads on the $1 billion claim”.

“Key has scored an own goal by releasing paperwork to supposedly prove his claim that Solid Energy asked him for a billion dollars, when the documents actually show the company wanted to chase billions of dollars from private investors not the Crown,” he said.

March 15, 2013:

Key Must Front Up With $1 Billion Evidence

John Key must front up with the evidence that Solid Energy formally requested a $1 billion dollar capital injection after the former company chair blew that claim out of the water, says Labour’s SOEs Spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove.

“The Prime Minister has just made it up and he’s been found out. He tried to create the impression he was some kind of white knight riding to the rescue of taxpayers by knocking back a Solid Energy bid for $1 billion capital injection. But that’s now been exposed as just a fantasy in his own mind. Although there is another word for that!

“This is what John Key told Kiwis at a press conference on February 25th: ‘They (Solid Energy) wanted a very large capital injection in the order of $1 billion’.

“But former chairman John Palmer has blown that claim out of the water saying: ‘I cannot recall that we have ever asked him explicitly for $1 billion dollars’.

“So who’s telling the truth? With the Prime Minister’s track record, it’s not likely to be him.

May 22, 2013:

Key’s $1b Solid Energy request in doubt

Newly released papers raise fresh questions over Prime Minister John Key’s claim that Solid Energy asked for $1 billion of taxpayers’ money to fund its transformation into a massive resources company.

Key made the claim earlier this year when it was revealed the state-owned coal miner was on the verge of collapse under the weight of almost $400 million in debt. …

Solid Energy’s business proposal said the Government’s willingness to forgo dividends from Solid Energy and Kupe were essential for the project to proceed, and it would require extra equity of up to $1 billion on top of that to fund the expansion.

However, it did not seek that from the Government in the proposals, saying: “All this can be achieved … without requiring a direct Government equity contribution (other than forgoing dividends from Solid Energy and Kupe for up to 5-10 years).”

This is not just a case of a momentary “brain fade” from Key. He made the claim repeatedly, tried to justify it, but the claim is not true. Once again, John Key has been caught in a lie.

37 comments on “Anatomy of another Key lie ”

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  1. SpaceMonkey 1
    22 May 2013 at 11:04 am

    How much did John Key’s Government extort from Solid Energy in extra/enhanced dividends since becoming PM? Maybe that’s where he’s got his $1 billion from? He is, after all, susceptible to brain fades… easy mistake to make when you suffer from Transient Global Amnesia.

  2. BM 2
    22 May 2013 at 11:40 am

    You left out this bit

    Former chairman John Palmer, who approached the Government with the plan in 2010, denied asking for the money but later said he understood why Mr Key might have said the proposal involved “those sorts of costs”.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10885264

    • One Anonymous Knucklehead 2.1
      22 May 2013 at 11:46 am

      He’s right. It’s easy to see why Key would tell lies: for political gain.

      • BM 2.1.1
        22 May 2013 at 11:53 am

        Sounds more like this John Palmer is trying to cover his arse.

        • One Anonymous Knucklehead 2.1.1.1
          22 May 2013 at 11:59 am

          Why? Are you saying the lying Prime Minister would retaliate, as a perfect expression of everything he represents?

          • BM 2.1.1.1.1
            22 May 2013 at 12:55 pm

            I think this guy Palmer had a chat with Key and Key said I don’t think so.
            Plan gets canned and destroyed, arse covering moves into over drive as shit starts to hit the fan.
            Wouldn’t be surprised if the money that was asked for was to actually hide the bullshit and provide more time to either escape or for the market to come right.
            Money didn’t eventuate, Solid energy went tits up.

        • paul andersen 2.1.1.2
          23 May 2013 at 10:00 am

          no. you are trying to cover this governments arse. solid energy was debt free and returning a healthy profit to its owner(us) until english put the squeeze on it to increase debt and pay a bigger dividend. then, it was all downhill. so, the national government,who hides behind the fiction of being business savvy have forced what was a heathy taxpayer owned business to the brink of insolvency through greed,foolishness and incompetence.

  3. prism 3
    22 May 2013 at 11:53 am

    This seems an okay place for this quote from Tom Robbins that I just got on goodreads.

    “If every time we choose a turd, society, at a great expense, simply allows us to redeem it for a pepperoni, then not only will we never learn to make smart choices, we will also surrender the freedom to choose, because a choice without consequences is no choice at all.”
    ― Tom Robbins, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

    • ghostrider888 3.1
      22 May 2013 at 3:32 pm

      cho. Rizo

    • One Anonymous Knucklehead 3.2
      22 May 2013 at 5:10 pm

      Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas is as close as Tom Robbins gets to Ayn Rand. “Everyone’s got a hard luck story.”

  4. tracey 4
    22 May 2013 at 12:03 pm

    he is becoming our version of Clinton’s “it depends what you mean by ” (fill in the blank Mr Key.

    So much for 2008 a year he peppered the public through media and in person with his accountability, honesty and transparency promises.

    • freedom 4.1
      22 May 2013 at 4:08 pm

      will there be an apology to the nation ?

      • tracey 4.1.1
        22 May 2013 at 4:17 pm

        good god no… and watch him scuttle off to buck house to get his knighthood from the queen when he finally lets go… nothing so tawdry as receiving his honour in NZ amongst NZers.

  5. aerobubble 5
    22 May 2013 at 12:48 pm

    Key sold a 35 year gambling license for 400+ million dollars. There are kids yet born who will be snagged by this gambling law into addition. That’s plain wrong, but it gets worse, the conference center they will build will not be owned by the govt! But wait! There’s more! Under free trade competitors who would have liked to have bid on the gambling-conference center deal have been denied, that’s illegal, what are councils to now so tightly contort contracts that only one developer can possible bid on and leave the council without any power to bid down the contracts – smacks of corruption. The conference center ownership has nothing to do with the gambling license!

    Yet its even worse! It makes a joke of parliament, along with bringing parliament into ridicule when the govt blocked out the legal snarls in the home carers, and the soon to be joke of a Governor General who signs the law into effect only to have the first court who *will* accept the right of a carer to a legal remedy, and will then read the intent of parliament, and then will quite correct (and arguably) dismiss the law as illegal since the MPs could not reasonably consented to it since they did not know the legal risks. Else we are no longer a Nation of LAW.

    Key conference center will become the lightening point for any future revolution.

    • Roy 5.1
      23 May 2013 at 9:13 am

      Out of curiosity, is there any reciprocal requirement for the convention centre to remain open for the 35 year period? What is to stop SkyCity from closing the convention centre after 4 or 5 years while still enjoying their 35 years of privilege with regard to gambling licence?

  6. tracey 6
    22 May 2013 at 12:51 pm

    How proud nat supporters must be that the govt has chosen the selfless relatives of the most vulnerable in society to save money for, amongst other things, its 2009 tax cuts for the top earners

  7. Politically Corrected 7
    22 May 2013 at 12:59 pm

    More lies from #johnnylyingbum

    In his book ‘Dirty Collars’ ex SFO head Charles Sturt says this of the vast powers bestowed on his department,

    “while a person may be compelled to answer questions, these answers may only be used in evidence if the accused subsequently gives evidence inconsistent with their previous statements”

    John Key, did you lie to the Serious Fraud Office & Australia’s National Crime Authority about resigning from Elders Merchant Finance in 1988?

  8. ianmac 8
    22 May 2013 at 1:58 pm

    It is the “bland unconcern” about truthfulness that is a bit hard to stomach. About 1 in 1000 kids are able to do the “bland unconcern” delivery which suggests some sort of anti-social condition. The ones I have in my memory mostly came into conflict with the law though one or two became “successful” businessmen. Perhaps socio-pathic?

  9. tracey 9
    22 May 2013 at 2:56 pm

    not bland unconcern when it was the lowest on their list…. what stuns me is how many of the Nats wanted Gilmore gone for a lie but wont admit their leader lies…

    • Draco T Bastard 9.1
      22 May 2013 at 3:28 pm

      It’s not a surprise once you understand the authoritarian mindset. These people will say that their leader is right no matter what the evidence shows and no matter what the crime was/is.

      • tracey 9.1.1
        22 May 2013 at 4:13 pm

        … for as long as he dangles the hope of further power in front of them.

      • fambo 9.1.2
        22 May 2013 at 4:17 pm

        I call it the “suspension of disbelief syndrome”, the same faculty in the human mind that allows us to enjoy theatre and films by not employing our normal critical judgement. For example, if you are watching a horror movie, you cannot understand why someone doesn’t believe there is some sort of monster murdering everyone, whereas in reality anyone who said there was would be considered mad. Aristotle first proposed the theory.

  10. Mr Interest 10
    22 May 2013 at 4:55 pm

    Values 101

    Cheating in class is a widespread problem. It affects the cheater and all who feel pressured to participate. One person making a decision to be honest can make a big difference as shown in this spot.

    There is tension in the air as children in a classroom are taking a math test. One boy needs help and desperately asks his friend for an answer. The teacher sees the two boys cheating and leaves all of us waiting to know the outcome. Happily…Honesty was the answer.

    http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/91-Classroom

    Half truths and white lies dont count either…. how about those mum and dad investors a?

  11. tc 11
    22 May 2013 at 8:28 pm

    What’s intruiging is Key’s arrogance that he can keep biting the hand that feeds through sheer laziness and poor planning i.e no hard yards/graft.

    Dumping Palmer/Elder etc in it rather than construct a reasonably credible yarn with them shows to me he doesn’t do any strategic planning about how to manage the scenario and now has put offside the exact element he should be cuddling up to and would do so easily if he wasn’t just a tosser.

  12. SukieDamson 12
    22 May 2013 at 8:42 pm

    Will John Key be remembered as the Bernie Madoff of NZ politics?

  13. Tanz 13
    22 May 2013 at 8:55 pm

    Key makes Muldoon look like a real good sort.

  14. BLiP 14
    22 May 2013 at 9:50 pm

    ‘

    Nice work Anthony. Surprising to see some MSM follow through deliver a refresher on this one, and in the New Zealand Herald no less. This lie came before John Key reorgnanised his Ministry of Truth and its been interesting to observe something of a change in Key since. Is it just me or have others noticed John Key is a lot less definite these days, more often than not prefacing or appending his comments with phrases like “as far as I am aware” and so on?

    The brand managers have been at him, I would say. But, its all too late. The cat is out of the bag when it comes to John Key and his troubled relationship with the truth . . .

    – I promise to always be honest

    – We’re not proposing to change the Employment Relations Act in a way that weakens unions

    – we are not going to sack public servants, the attrition rate will reduce costs

    – there’s no way one in five New Zealanders will lose their jobs

    – we are not going to cut working for families

    – I firmly believe in climate change and always have

    – We seek a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s carbon-equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by 2050. 50 by 50. We will write the target into law.

    – National Ltd™ will provide a consistent incentive for both biofuel and biodiesel by exempting them from excise tax or road user charges

    – I didn’t know about The Bretheren election tactics

    – If they came to us now with that proposal [re trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods regime], we will sign it

    – I can’t remember my position on the 1981 Springbok Tour

    – Tranzrail shares

    – I did not mislead the House (1)

    – Lord Ashcroft

    – National Ltd™ would not have sent troops into Iraq

    – Standard & Poors credit downgrade

    – the double-down grade doesn’t really matter and its only about private sector debt

    – I did not mislead the House (2)

    – I didn’t say I want wages to drop

    – I can’t remember why I voted against increasing the minimum wage

    – the real rate of inflation is 3.3 percent.

    – the tourism sector has not lost 7,000 jobs

    – no I have never heard of Whitechapel

    – I won’t raise GST

    – people who are on the average wage and have a child are $48 a week better off after the rise in GST

    – the purchase of farmland, by overseas buyers will be limited to ten farms per purchase

    – the Pike River Mine was consented to under a Labour Government

    – no promises were made to get the remains of the miners out of the Pike River mine

    – I did not provide a view on the safety of the Pike River coalmine

    – I did not mislead the House (3)

    – capping, not cutting the public service

    – raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour will cost 6000 jobs

    – north of $50 a week

    – privatisation won’t significantly help the economy

    – wave goodbye to higher taxes, not your loved ones

    – I never offered Brash a diplomatic job in London

    – Tariana Turia is “totally fine” with the Tuhoe Treaty Claim deal

    – Kiwisaver

    – National Ltd™ is not going to radically reorganise the structure of the public sector

    – tax cuts won’t require additional borrowing

    – New Zealand does not have a debt problem

    – New Zealand troops in Afghanistan will only be involved in training, not fighting

    – the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has closed under my National Ltd™ government

    – It took 9 years for Labour to make a complete and utter mess of the economy

    – National Ltd™ has changed the Overseas Investment Act to include 19 different criteria

    – the price of goods and services has risen by 6 percent since the last election, while the after-tax average wage has actually gone up by 16 percent

    – no, although its a week ago and here I am being interviewed on television about them, I havn’t seen Gerry Brownlee’s comments regarding demolitions in Christchurch and which caused such outrage, but I can talk all about them

    – our SAS soldiers were not involved in the Kabul Hotel gunfight

    – the use of the Vela brother’s helicopter was required so I could attend meetings relating to national/international security concerns

    – the DPS makes the decision about accompanying the Prime Minister or not, I had no choice but to take them on holiday to Hawaii

    – I did not mislead the House (4)

    – oh, maybe our SAS soldiers were in the Kabul hotel gun fight but they weren’t wounded by friendly fire

    – New Zealand has lost $12 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . oh, it might actually be around $15 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . Blinglish said what?

    – 10,000 houses will have to be demolished in Christchurch due to the earthquake

    – 14,000 new apprentices will start training over the next five years, over and above the number previously forecast

    – Our amendments to the ETS ensure we will continue to do our fair share internationally

    – we are committed to honouring our Kyoto Protocol obligations

    – any changes to the ETS will be fiscally neutral

    – New Zealand has grown for eight of the last nine quarters”

    – National Ltd™ will tender out the government banking contract

    – we will be back in surplus by 2014-15

    – Nicky Hager’s book “Other People’s Wars” is a work of fiction

    – unemployment is starting to fall

    – we have created 60,000 jobs

    – we have created 45,000 jobs

    – the 2011 Budget will create in the order of 170,000 jobs

    – I don’t know if I own a vineyard

    – no, I did not mislead the House (5)

    – the Isreali spy killed in the Christchurch quake had “only one” passport

    – the Police will not need to make savings by losing jobs

    – first I heard I heard about Kim Dotcom was on 19 January 2012

    – first I heard about the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was in September

    – I did not mislead the House (6)

    – I voted to keep the drinking age at 20

    – New Zealand is 100% Pure

    – I’ve been prime minister for four years, and it’s really 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year

    – baseball in New Zealand is attracting more government support

    – the decision to buy brand new BMWs was made by the Department of Internal Affairs without reference either to their minister or to me

    – I didn’t have a clue that Ministerial Services, which I am in charge of, was going to buy brand new BMWs

    – even though two of my ministers knew all about it, I didn’t have a clue that brand new BMWs were being bought.

    – even though my Chief of Staff met with officials to discuss purchase of the the brand new BMWs, I didn’t have a clue

    – even though I personally signed papers discussing the matter, I still didn’t have a clue

    – Labour forced us into buying the brand new BMWs, its their fault

    – ummm, look, sorry about that BMW thing , it was because I was so upset about the death of a New Zealand soldier, and Julia Gillard was visiting too

    – the public demanded that we change the labour laws for The Hobbit

    – “The Hobbit” created 3000 new jobs

    – we have delivered 800 extra doctors in the public service

    – I did not mislead the House (7)

    – I wasn’t working at Elders when the sham foreign exchange deals took place

    – I was starting School Certificate exams in 1978

    – I don’t know who arrived on the CIA jet to visit the spies I am responsible for

    – reducing barriers to property developers will increase the availability of affordable housing

    – Labour left the economy in poor shape

    – forecasts show unemployment will fall

    – we have closed the wage gap with Australia by $27

    – Ngati Porou and Whanau Apanui are not opposed to mining

    – I have not had any meetings with Media Works

    – our [NZ’s] terms of trade remain high

    – the TPP is an example of democracy

    – National Ltd™ will use the proceeds of state asset sales to invest in other public assets, like schools and hospitals

    – New Zealand troops will be out of Afghanistan by April 2013

    – overseas investment in New Zealand adds to what New Zealanders can invest on their own

    – overseas investment in New Zealand creates jobs, boosts incomes, and helps the economy grow

    – National Ltd™ will build 2000 houses over the next two years

    – there are only 4 New Zealand SAS soldiers in Bamiyan and all working in the area of logistics and planning only

    – selling state assets will give cash equity to those companies

    – the Sky City deal will provide 900 construction jobs and 800 casino jobs

    – the Sky City deal doesn’t mean more pokies

    – there was nothing improper about the Sky City deal

    – my office has had no correspondence, no discussions, no involvement with the Sky City deal

    – SkyCity will only get “a few more” pokie machines at the margins

    – any changes to gambling regulations will be subject to a full public submission process

    – Sky City has approached TVNZ about the purchase/use of government-owned land

    – I did not mislead the House (8)

    – the Auditor General has fully vindicated National over the Sky City deal

    – there’s a 50/50 chance the Hobbit is going off shore unless we do something

    – David Shearer has signed up for the purchase of shares in Mighty River

    – Solid Energy asked the government for a $1 billion capital investment

    – fracking has been going safely on in Taranaki for the past 30 years without any issues

    – no frontline positions will be lost at DOC

    – Iain Rennie came to me and recommended Fletcher for the GCSB job

    – I told Cabinet that I knew Ian Fletcher

    – I forgot that after I scrapped the shortlist for GCSB job I phoned a life-long friend to tell him to apply for the position

    – I told Iain Rennie I would contact Fletcher

    – for 30 years, or three decades, I didn’t have any dinners or lunches or breakfasts with Ian Fletcher

    – I did not mislead the House (9)

    – No, I did not say we would follow the US and Australia into a war against North Korea

    – I paid for that lunch and I’ve got the credit card bill to prove it

    – I called directory service to get Ian Fletcher’s number

    – I did not mislead the house (10)

    – I am honest and upfront

    – cyber terrorists have attempted to gain access to information about weapons of mass destruction held on New Zealand computers

    – the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was an isolated incident

    – New Zealand has an arrangement to have asylum seekers processed in Australian detention camps

    – the law which says the GCSB cannot spy on New Zealanders is not clear

    – the only way net new jobs can be created is by private investors putting their money into businesses in New Zealand

    – an increase in the number of people looking for work indicates that confidence is returning to the economy

    – the 10 percent of taxpayers in New Zealand who are the top earners pay 76 percent of all net personal tax.

    – I did not mislead the House (11)

    – the substantial wage growth under Labour was eroded by inflation

    – National Ltd™’s 2010 tax changes were fiscally neutral

    – I did not mislead the House (12)

    – the bulk of New Zealanders earn between $45,000 and $75,000 a year

    – Pike River Coal did not put profits and its production ahead of the safety and lives of those 29 workers.

    – Radio Live had sought advice from the Electoral Commission about my show just before the election

    – it is because of National Ltd™’s policies that the price of fresh fruit and vegetables has dropped.

    – the length-of-the-country cycleway will create 4000 jobs.

    – police training for next year has not been cancelled

    – National Ltd™ has only cut back-office jobs in the health service

    – The Crown’s dividend stream from the Meridians, the Mighty Rivers of the world is large and there is no motivation to sell assets; actually we’re about creating assets not selling assets.”

    – National believes employment law should treat all parties fairly. It should . . . Protect employees and employers.

    – I am not trying to tackle such issues in a “fearful” way ahead of the next election

    – Wellington City is dying.

    – the GCSB has been prevented from carrying out its functions because of the law governing its functions

    – because the opposition is opposed the GCSB law ammendments, parliamentary urgency is required

    – the increasing number of cyber intrusions which I can’t detail or discuss prove that the GCSB laws need to be extended to protect prive enterprise

    – it was always the intent of the GCSB Act to be able to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of the SIS and police

    – National Ltd™ is not explanding the activities of the GCSB with this new law

    – National Ltd™ has been working on a number of things with New Zealand First on a number of things one of which has a financial component but I can’t talk about it

    – the best way to get growth in the economy is to reduce public debt

    – New Zealand mum and dad investors will be our number one priority in the allocation of Mighty River shares

    – we won’t let “cowboy” oil exploration companies operate here in New Zealand.

    – the food in schools programme is in the 2013 budget

    • ghostrider888 14.1
      23 May 2013 at 12:23 am

      What would his Mum think?

      • paul andersen 14.1.1
        23 May 2013 at 1:15 pm

        was that the mum in the soon to be sold off state house?

        • BLiP 14.1.1.1
          23 May 2013 at 4:46 pm

          ‘

          I think it might she be the one who had her personal details released to the media as pay-back for publicly criticising the government . . . oh, wait . . . it might be the one forced to work at McDonalds as in intern to gain work experience . . . oh, wait . . . she might actually be sitting on the waiting list for a hip operation . . .

  15. Tanz 15
    23 May 2013 at 9:34 pm

    but he doesn’t care, he just wanted PM on his CV and he has done that. He never had any integrity to start with, and now even less.

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