Buzzy Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, April 26th, 2011 - 28 comments
Categories: defence, john key - Tags: , , ,

John Key would have us believe that his jaunts on military planes and helicopters aren’t among the ‘nice to haves’ that Bill English says we’ll all have to learn to live without, but are essential to his ability to carry out his duties as Prime Minister. If that’s the case, then he won’t have any problem issuing a full list detailing his use of airforce planes and helicopters, including the important matters of state that he was attending to that justified their use.

Stuff reported last week that Key has used the helicopter four times in the past 3 weeks alone, including the now infamous trip from the V8 supercars to the golf club. So what were the other three trips? Looking on Key’s Facebook page, the possibilities are endless. Did he use Airforce helicopters to visit the Timaru skateboard park? Perhaps he used them to make a ‘cameo appearance’ at the NZ Shearing Champs in Te Kuiti?

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Or maybe it was the Young Nats Ball:

Busy, busy.

Hey, how’s the recovery package for the West Coast coming? Been waiting five months now. Guess Key’s been too busy.

Update: Today’s Dom has Key claiming he has used the Air Force helicopters only four times in total. No explanation with how that gels with him using them four times in the past three weeks. But Key also repeats the lie that he had to arrive at the golf dinner before the Governor-General, so I think we can take his words with a grain of salt.

28 comments on “Buzzy Key ”

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  1. Tigger 1
    26 April 2011 at 9:05 am

    Wow, that’s a lot of white people!

    As for Key’s numbers, I can guarantee he will have flown with others at various times and the trip will be against their name…

  2. M 2
    26 April 2011 at 9:21 am

    Maybe Key harbours a yen to be a helicopter pilot.
     
    Sorry John, as much as you like posing for the cameras I don’t think you’re going to get a call-back from the modelling agency so you, Bill and Ger will need to actually do a day’s work and formulate some policy to deal with the pig’s breakfast in Christchurch.

  3. M 3
    26 April 2011 at 9:23 am

    The National Roll of Shame won’t trigger a seizure in vulnerable people will it?

  4. Sean 4
    26 April 2011 at 9:40 am

    That is one chilling montage of self-promotion.
     
    I wish the Prime Minister didn’t confuse trips of state importance with photo-opportunities.

    As for the original offence – there is no reason for a person who can organise himself would need to take a helicopter from a photo-opportunity in Hamilton to a glad-handing function in Auckland if he has access to a late model BMW.

    As far as John Key’s office is concerned, this year is about campaigning… and if the taxpayer can pay for some of it, great!

  5. John Dalley 5
    26 April 2011 at 9:55 am

    Smile and Wave has not obviously heard of private helicopters. If he needed to take a flight, then one fly’s from Mechanics Bay every day of the week.

    • lprent 5.1
      26 April 2011 at 11:45 am

      On a more basic note, why in the hell is he using the Iroquois? The ones we have are Vietnam vintage. They really aren’t that safe in the same way that driving a 30 year old car at speed isn’t that safe. Older airframes are more susceptible to metal fatigue. Similar problems exist with the engines and instrumentation. That is why they are being replaced this year.  They are at (or more likely beyond) their effective lifespan.

      Now I have little love or even respect for John Key. But it really would not be all that good for NZ to have a PM to drop out of the sky because they’re too damn cheap to pay for a more modern craft to avoid traffic.

      • Rich 5.1.1
        26 April 2011 at 4:47 pm
        He probably flies in them on the advice of Murray McCully, Bill English, Gerry Brownlee, etc. that they are absolutely safe.

        Seriously though, the NZDF Iroquois seems to have a reasonable safety record. One would hope that if they had airframe or engine issues, they’d be grounded. One main cause of non-scheduled air accidents is operating outside safe conditions, sometimes due to a desire to meet outside requirements or pressure from above. That’s what I’d worry about as a politician. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crashPolish TU-154 crash).

        [BTW, your anti-spam is a bit broken. I keep having to copy, refresh to get a new word and re-post. Latest Chrome]

        • Colonial Viper 5.1.1.1
          26 April 2011 at 4:49 pm

          [BTW, your anti-spam is a bit broken. I keep having to copy, refresh to get a new word and re-post. Latest Chrome]

          Yeah getting this problem as well (Firefox 3.6.16 on XP)

      • Deadly_NZ 5.1.2
        26 April 2011 at 7:03 pm

        ‘But it really would not be all that good for NZ to have a PM to drop out of the sky because they’re too damn cheap to pay for a more modern craft to avoid traffic.’
         
        But surely after all their spending cuts, Key pays the ultimate price for his own partys policies.  IE: Cut spending, do it on the cheap.

  6. freedom 6
    26 April 2011 at 9:57 am

    Great montage! It highlights beautifully how completely false his smile is. A locked expression devoid of any emotional connection to the situation. His vapid visage is devoid of variance which any normal person would express in a situation as mind-numbing as giving a train of sycophants such a treasured moment. ‘ooooh! i touched our leader, ‘ When considering NZ’s future only one thing makes me more sick to my stomach than old Nats, that’s Young Nats.

    • Bright Red 6.1
      26 April 2011 at 9:59 am

      those dead eyes

      • ianmac 6.1.1
        26 April 2011 at 11:01 am

        People who study such things say it is impossible to smile artificially with the same credibility as a genuine smile. Something to do with eye muscles. So as you say ignore the mouth and watch the eyes. The eyes have it!

        • Lanthanide 6.1.1.1
          26 April 2011 at 11:41 am

          Yes, a natural smile will affect muscles around the eyes, but in an artificial smile, the muscles are not affected nearly as much.

          It is well known that Asian cultures focus on the eyes more-so than the mouth when judging emotion: hence anime cartoons with huge eyes, and the use of eye-centric emoticons like 0_0 or ;_; whereas westerns use emotions more like : ) or : ( which emphasises the mouth.

          What I wonder, is if this focussing on eyes by asian cultures is a way to ward off untruthfulness, by judging a person\’s emotion based on what the eyes are really doing, rather than the mouth?

          • ianmac 6.1.1.1.1
            26 April 2011 at 12:21 pm

            Dark glasses sure hide the intent of people when communicating. I can read people quite well but only if I can see the eyes.  I did scroll this page down till only the top half of Key’s face was showing and his eyes do conflict with his mouth. (My wife insists on smiling for the camera, but the most charming photos are those candid ones I take with more modest smiles.)

        • Puddleglum 6.1.1.2
          26 April 2011 at 5:30 pm
          They’re called Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles and, you’re right, they’re differentiated by the use (or not) of various eye muscles. One study found that more smiling happens in the US than the UK but they are non-Duchenne, most often.
    • Lanthanide 6.2
      26 April 2011 at 10:29 am

      I’m sure most politicians, especially the higher up the party you go, would have similar results from a photo-op montage from a single event.

  7. erentz 7
    26 April 2011 at 10:53 am

    You can’t just order up a chopper on a moments notice like a taxi. Their use has to be planned. This means that Key planned on using them in advance, rather than scheduling his appointments better.
    For John Key being prime minister is just a game, he’s doing it because flying around in military helicopters to photo ops and meeting celebrities and important people is all fun to him.
     

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1
      26 April 2011 at 5:59 pm

      It’s not about fun but about power. John Key being to call up a helicopter at a moments notice caters to his need to have his ego stroked, to have his power over the little people confirmed.

      • Tigger 7.1.1
        27 April 2011 at 7:04 am

        Precisely. Key isn’t PM for a lark. It suits his deep seated need to feel powerful and in control. Anything that emphasizes this he will jump at.

  8. ianmac 8
    26 April 2011 at 10:56 am

    1.We know about the V8 photo op.
    2.We know about the Kaikoura Whale watch photo op.
    3.(Christchurch earthquake?)
    4. I’m pretty sure he got to and from Te Papa o Te Aroha Marae in Tokoroa by helicopter on December 03, 2010. (Samuel)
    We know about two of the trips. Should be easy to disclose the other 2. Right?

  9. Samuel Hill 9
    26 April 2011 at 11:00 am
    I’m pretty sure he got to and from Te Papa o Te Aroha Marae in Tokoroa by helicopter on December 03, 2010. So obviously this has been happening since before the February earthquake. If you want to actually compile a list I’m sure it would grow into double figures quite quickly. Whether or not this actually matters I’m not sure, because Key will just twist it by saying that “it doesn’t really matter.
  10. William 10
    26 April 2011 at 11:32 am


    As noted in the update, the Airforce claim he has used them only four times since becoming PM. Yet at the time of last years Iroquois crash <a href=’http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10640806’>he said</a>
    “Prime Minister John Key said he was saddened and devastated by the loss of three New Zealand personnel he had flown with and knew personally.”
    Two of the four flights are known to be recent so apparently in 2010 he knew them personally after flying with them no more than twice, and given the number of crews available, possibly once. That was the justification he used for cutting short the Middle East trade mission and returning to NZ for the funeral.
    Re the montage and smile, if it wasn’t for the body movement I would swear that was a lifesize cutout, like the Colonel Sanders image that used to be in KFC stores.

  11. randal 11
    26 April 2011 at 12:12 pm

    john key
    gashog

    we have your number now
    do you like hotdogs too?

  12. BLiP 12
    26 April 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Having seen the “ball photos”, what more evidence do the voters need that John Key is a cardboard cut out?

  13. weta 13
    26 April 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Well, if his job description is to sell the government he might consider it appropriate to fly around in a clapped out Iroquois (with all due respect to Native Americans).