john banks

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The “cabbage boat” defence.

Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, October 18th, 2013 - 33 comments

It’s starting to look pretty shredded. Increasingly, it seems that John Banks has “got nothing to hide” – behind. The key question is what Banks knew when he signed a declaration recording known donations as anonymous. Paul Holmes did put the question directly to Banks on Q+A last year. He didn’t get a straight answer; Banks tried the cabbage boat defence.

The two legs of Banks’ defence trip each other

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, October 17th, 2013 - 28 comments

John Banks is to stand trial for knowingly submitting a false electoral expenses return. He’s charged, thanks to the private prosecution after the Police failed to act, with breaching s134(1) of the Local Electoral Act. Let’s take a look at the two lines of defence Banks has argued, and how they contradict each other.

The fish rots from the head

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 pm, October 16th, 2013 - 91 comments

Today’s decision that John Banks will stand trial for signing a false donations return signals the beginning of the end of the Key government. Increasingly it resembles the last days of the Shipley government only worse, as corruption replaces shambles. The decision also puts the famous tea party conversation between Key and Banks, where they stitched up the deal to provide the present Government’s majority, into new perspective.

Dotcom on what Banks knew

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, October 15th, 2013 - 27 comments

The District Court is hearing evidence today as to whether John Banks should stand trial for signing a donations return that he knew to be false. Kim Dotcom has given evidence – the Herald reports that when he agreed to give Banks a donation of $50,000, Banks asked for it to be split and to be made anonymous., so that if Banks helped DotCom in the future it would not be known that he had donated to him.

Shame!

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 pm, August 21st, 2013 - 136 comments

So the Key-Dunne spying Bill is now law. The privacy of your electronic communications now depends on the favour of an untrustworthy PM, and the best efforts of a legal system (much derided by said PM) in interpreting a confused mess of a law / Hansard record / letter to The Herald.

Shame shame shame on all those MPs who ignored the concerns of the people who elected them and passed this travesty.

If lawyers don’t understand the law…

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, August 21st, 2013 - 32 comments

Then it’s a bad law. Who does John Key think is going to interpret the GCSB law other than lawyers from the Law Commission, the Human Rights Tribunal, the Privacy Commissioner etc?

Hypocrisy in the House: GCSB Bill

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, August 7th, 2013 - 46 comments

The debates during last night’s filibuster if the GCSB amendment Bill exposed the hypocrisy of John Key, and hangers on Peter Dunne and John Banks: as seen in  the videos of the speeches by Goff, Cunliffe and Peters.

John Banks and racism

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, July 30th, 2013 - 19 comments

At the moment there are plenty of racists trying to accuse Labour of racism. I might put together a post on the Iwi/Kwi Orewa Nats later on, but in the mean time I give you – John Banks.

Jonolism or Journalism?

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 pm, July 29th, 2013 - 50 comments

Patrick Gower’s report on TV3 6pm News tonight, on Labour’s housing for Kiwis policy, shows what is wrong with corporate infotainment TV news.  He gets tonight’s award for Jonolism.  Here’s hoping the Campbell Live tonight will show Gower how it should be done. [Update: Campbell interviews Ferguson]

The policing of women’s bodies

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 6th, 2013 - 116 comments

(Socialist) feminism seems to be on the rise internationally, exposing how threats to “old boys” corporate-aligned power are countered by policing women’s bodies. Sue Bradford highlights the contradiction between Owen Glenn’s paternalistic corporate capitalism and the feminist-aligned participants in his Inquiry. Jan Logie addresses the gender pay gap.

Old Boys Club

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, June 5th, 2013 - 36 comments

This speech follows Metiria Turei’s (previous post). In which John Banks (facilitated by Eric Roy) indulges in some good old fashioned Parliamentary sexism (first 2 minutes).

Nats’ drones in trouble

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, May 30th, 2013 - 18 comments

Peter Dunne’s already been caught out being inconsistent around the leak of the GCSB report. He said all ministers were interviewed; but only he was. He said the leak happened while he was overseas (note: not a direct denial); but it happened the day he got back. Meanwhile, Banks is back in the dock over his ‘anonymous’ donation. It’s not looking good for either of them.

Banks to stand again

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, May 13th, 2013 - 28 comments

John Banks has announced that he will stand in Epsom again at the next election. That is, of course, always assuming that he doesn’t get chucked out of Parliament first.

The difference

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 am, March 20th, 2013 - 221 comments

Key hid his Tranzrail shares while asking questions about Tranzrail because he’s a sneaky, avaricious bastard.
Banks filed a false election return keeping his big money donors secret because he’s corrupt.
Shearer forgot to declare his UN Bank account because he’s a bit of a munter.
Time will tell which the public tolerates more.

JK wants to inject life into zombie

Written By: - Date published: 6:12 pm, February 26th, 2013 - 30 comments

John Key is keen that the ACT party is “regenerating” and National will be there for them. That’s if a party that registered 0%, 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.5% in the latest round of polls can be called “regenerating”: I’ve seen (other) zombies more full of life…

Charter Schools: A failed idea

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, January 17th, 2013 - 36 comments

Submissions for the Education Amendment Bill 2012 (includes Charter Schools) close on 24 January.  The PPTA reminds us that Charter Schools are a failed idea.  Even Treasury documents show they are a bad idea.

Banks private prosecution begins

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, December 11th, 2012 - 36 comments

The hearing into the private prosecution of John Banks over his ‘anonymous’ mayoral donations begins today. That the private prosecution has got this far shows the judge believes there is a prima facie case – which puts the Police to shame for failing to take Banks to court. Banks is trying to avoid taking the stand, but I don’t see how he ultimately can.

Banks suppressed Police statement

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, October 17th, 2012 - 48 comments

Remember how Banks’ Police report came out and the statement he gave to the Police was blanked out? And remember how Banks said it was the Police’s choice, not his? Yeah, well that was a lie. Even on the most generous reading of Banks’ words, he was trying to mislead the media. What’s Key’s rule? “A Minister who lies or misleads about his actions would lose his confidence”

Key’s growing Dotcom problem

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 10th, 2012 - 29 comments

People don’t just vote for politicians because they like their policies. Just as important are trust and perceived competence. Key’s policies were never popular. He won on the other two – particularly trust. That’s why the Dotcom saga is so ruining for him. As more details of what Key knew or should have known come out day by day, perceptions of Key’s competence and trust in him plummet.

One video exposes Key, GCSB’s & Banks’ Dotcom lies

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, October 4th, 2012 - 115 comments

Watch this video of John Key being interviewed by the media on January 24th. 1: Key is clearly well-briefed on Dotcom. 2: he knows that Dotcom is a resident, so why didn’t he raise that a month later with GCSB? 3: How did Key know that Dotcom was a resident and GCSB didn’t? 4: Banks has told media he had dined at the mansion with Dotcom – months before denying remembering that meeting.

Where are the resignations?

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 am, September 30th, 2012 - 87 comments

John Key refuses to accept any responsibility for what his spies get up to. The only point of democratic responsibility for our spies doesn’t monitor them and won’t take the blame for failing to do so. He won’t fire a corrupt, lying minister, either. The rot is spreading to the public service. There has been not one resignation, not a single one, due to the Dotcom debacle.

What does Key have to gain by lying?

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, September 27th, 2012 - 138 comments

John Key put on a display of incompetence in the House yesterday over the Dotcom spying affair. He claimed not to know a laundry list of basic facts that, if he didn’t know them before, he bloody well ought to have been briefed on by now. In some instances, his memory failed him over Dotcom. Yet he then showed he could recall exchange rates from 20 years ago. I think he’s lying. The alternative is too scary.

Implausible deniability

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 pm, September 26th, 2012 - 16 comments

There’s a lot of it about in right-wing parties at the moment. For John Key, John Banks and David Cameron it appears to be becoming the strategy of choice. It’s not working very well for any of them.

Many questions left unanswered in Banks affair

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, September 26th, 2012 - 43 comments

“Ignorance gets us nowhere”, it’s National’s new slogan and it certainly applied with Key’s feigned ignorance in answer to questions on Banks’ corruption last week. Key’s behaviour is jeopardising our reputation as a democracy that doesn’t tolerate corruption. And he’s got a lot of questions still to answer. Two particularly interesting angles are what exactly […]

John Banks Body

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, September 24th, 2012 - 7 comments

I did not have relations with that police report!

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, September 21st, 2012 - 51 comments

What exactly did John Key mean when he said on 31 July – “That is my reading of the police report”?

Scott on Banks

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, September 20th, 2012 - 37 comments

Banks and Dunne vote down minimum wage

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, September 20th, 2012 - 51 comments

David Clark’s private member’s Bill to increase the minimum wage was voted down 61 to 59 last night. Shame on John Banks and Peter Dunne.

Dotcom shows Key and Banks how to play

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, September 20th, 2012 - 52 comments

I think that Kim Dotcom is actually a very savy operator. Turning up to Parliament on the second day of questions (not today, when Key won’t be in the House) was inspired. It ensured another day of coverage. Then, his words: “I think the Prime Minister has had to make a choice, am I going to uphold high ethical standards or do I want to remain in power?”

Prophylactic ignorance

Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, September 19th, 2012 - 60 comments

Notice how the only people who “believe” John Banks are the ones who haven’t (and won’t) read the police report? What do we call it, when someone deliberately avoids the reality that everyone knows exists?

Banks/Key – water on a stone

Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, September 18th, 2012 - 61 comments

Get ready for a week of farce in the House. The Opposition will be peppering Key and Banks on the numerous holes in their position. Key will play dumb. But the Opposition has to plug away with persistent, forensic questions. One of them will crack in time.

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