john banks

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Media: call it as it is

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, September 14th, 2012 - 6 comments

It’s a regular gripe of mine about our media that they don’t establish facts. I don’t find the “he said, she said” reporting style in the slightest bit helpful, and indeed encourages us, the public, to see all news as gossip and reduces our respect for our system.
So when John Key says that “John Banks hasn’t broken the law,” he’s lying: tell us that.

Banks must now submit correct return

Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, September 14th, 2012 - 53 comments

John Key is wrong, John Banks has broken the law. He just did not get prosecuted. The return of donations he signed and submitted in 2010 is false, as the Police have stated. He should now correct it, or he is still in breach of the law.

Banks’ story coming apart; Key too weak to act

Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, September 14th, 2012 - 61 comments

John Banks is trying to blame the Police for the fact that the transcript of his 3-hour interview with detectives over his campaign donations was held back from the OIA release of the Police file. Another lie. It was Banks’ choice for the transcript to be withheld. So much for “nothing to fear, nothing to hide”. And, now, his press sec’s dropped him further in it.

Labour hits the motherlode

Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, September 13th, 2012 - 82 comments

The Police Report into the Banks.com affair, which Labour has distributed to the media, is a gold mine. Banks is shown to be a liar and completely unethical. He insisted that Dotcom’s donation be anonymised. He used the donations, which he had told media he didn’t remember, as an excuse not to help Dotcom while a minister. Banks is lying low now. Key has to sack him.

Known unknowns

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 pm, September 12th, 2012 - 8 comments

My OIA request for the Police  file of their investigation into Banks’ anonymous donations arrived today. John Key had said the law would be changed if “they could find the time.” Today David Carter found the time to say the law will be tightened before the 2013 elections.It will be very important that all the lessons from this sorry affair can be properly considered  at select committee.

Frankly Speaking: “John Banks: condition deteriorating”

Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, August 15th, 2012 - 18 comments

Frank Macskasy over at Frankly Speaking writes some very long posts that are often full of interesting information. This one does a good analysis of the recommendations from the Electoral Commission and various party positions on it. On the way through he has a good swipe at John Banks, who it would be safe to say, he considers to be political cabbage.

By the book

Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, August 2nd, 2012 - 60 comments

“At all times, Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards. Ultimately, Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their behaviour.” – The Cabinet Manual. John Banks lied to reporters, and the public, while a minister. That’s not upholding the highest ethical standards. When will John Key hold him to account?

The donkey and the ass

Written By: - Date published: 6:59 am, August 1st, 2012 - 45 comments

Key says the local elections law is an ass. Presumably, he knows what that phrase means: it delivers unjust results. Key thinks its unjust that Banks has escaped justice for his anonymous donation rort. Well, John you’re not helpless. Banks lied to media. He lied to you. He said he hadn’t solicited the donations. Didn’t know about them. He did. He lied to you and New Zealand. Sack him.

McCarten on Banks

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, July 29th, 2012 - 56 comments

Matt McCarten doesn’t pull any punches, comparing Banks to both Phillip Field and Winston Peters.

Banks lied while a minister

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, July 27th, 2012 - 19 comments

Sure enough, this isn’t over for John Banks. He has now been caught out in a direct lie told while he was a minister. On April 27, when asked about Mr Dotcom’s donations, Mr Banks told the Herald: “I kept the finances of the campaign [at] arm’s length. Others were involved in collecting money and talking to people.” But the Police investigation shows that’s a lie.

Equal before the law?

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 pm, July 26th, 2012 - 53 comments

Police will not lay charges over the so-called banks.com saga. Assistant Police Commissioner Malcolm Burgess held a press conference this afternoon at Police National Headquarters in Wellington. Minister John Banks would be issued with a warning over the matter, Burgess said. While he only received a warning, Banks’ actions were illegal and future occurrences were likely to be prosecuted.

Banks gets off…

Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, July 26th, 2012 - 44 comments

Police were unable to establish that Mr Banks had the necessary knowledge that the donation had been recorded as anonymous in the return before he signed and submitted it. As No Right Turn puts it: “So basically they’re letting him off because he didn’t read the thing he signed and was legally responsible for. Its one law for finance company directors, and another for corrupt politicians.”

Banks case to Police lawyers

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 pm, July 5th, 2012 - 36 comments

The Police have concluded their investigation into John Banks’  donations to his 2010 mayoral campaign.  The Police legal section will now decide whether or not to prosecute. There are two tests; the evidential test and the public interest test. There is no question that if the evidence is sufficient, prosecution is in the public interest. It comes down to credibility – best decided in court.

Banks’ vote protects him from Jones-like accountability

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, May 31st, 2012 - 26 comments

Labour’s got its Auditor-General inquiry into Jones’ approval of Yan’s citizenship. We’ve seen this movie before. In a year, the report will recommend better procedures but nothing more. Jone will be reinstated. The politics is more important. Shearer’s shown he has the power to control his senior MPs and set a high standard of accountability. When will Key match that standard and stand down Banks?

Ball’s in your court, John

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, May 24th, 2012 - 65 comments

David Shearer, with Shane Jones’ support, has stood Jones down and asked the Auditor-General to investigate his handling of Bill Yan’s citizenship affair. It sets a new, high standard. Whether Jones was right or wrong, he at least has a coherent story and there’s no suggestion of a crime. Compare that John Key allowing John Banks to stay on as a minister while under criminal investigation and having repeatedly lied as he tries to get out of it. Update: The court has found Yong Ming Yan not guilty of all five immigration fraud charges.

Emmerson: Is Key mum enough?

Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, May 17th, 2012 - 9 comments

The smell of corruption

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 pm, May 16th, 2012 - 32 comments

The Jackal raised the issue of corruption in relation to John Banks in a comment here and has written more about it on his blog. It appears on the evidence of DotCom’s lieutenant that  when he was a Member of Parliament Banks was offering to accept a financial consideration in respect of any act to be done by him in his capacity as a member of Parliament. This makes Philip Field look like a Good Samaritan. Banks has to go.

Brooks charged with perverting justice

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 pm, May 15th, 2012 - 19 comments

Rebekah and Charlie Brooks have been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the News International phone-hacking affair.  Now it’s in the courts, this albatross will hang around Cameron’s neck through to the next election.

ImperatorFish: Wellington Health Officials Struggle To Cope With Contagion

Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, May 10th, 2012 - 3 comments

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of these posts here and here.

JK is suffering memory loss and having a whinge…

Kim Dotcom – John Banks Song

Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, May 7th, 2012 - 48 comments

Amnesia is a song about the John Banks donation saga in New Zealand – from “MrKimDotcom” on YouTube. Help it go viral…

The fateful tea party – a footnote

Written By: - Date published: 7:12 am, May 7th, 2012 - 61 comments

So much of what shapes the current political landscape traces its roots back to the fateful tea party. But at the personal level, there was some welcome news for cameraman Bradley Ambrose recently.

Resignationwatch: constraints

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, May 6th, 2012 - 61 comments

Banks is deadmeat. It’s just a matter of time before Key gives him the boot. Politically, he must. He has grounds, even on the limited ‘ethics while a minister’ test he has created. We’re now just waiting for something sufficiently new that Key can use it as justification for an about face. Then comes the question of a by-election. And that’s where it gets tricky for Key.

Resignationwatch: questions for Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, May 5th, 2012 - 42 comments

Does he believe Banks’ on the Dotcom donation? What corroborating evidence has he sought to confirm Banks statement? Why is he applying a legal test to behaviour before Banks was a minister but ethical standards only after? Why did he apply ethical standards to Pansy Wong’s behaviour before she was a minister but not to Banks? Was it unethical for Banks to lie to the media and fake memory lose while a minister?

Another MMP rort?

Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 4th, 2012 - 44 comments

The media are doing a good job investigating John Banks’ donation history.  The Police are presumably also doing theirs, and it seems clear that the matter must end up in Court and the issue of who is telling the truth will be decided by a judge. Some in the media have dismissed the question of any threat to National’s majority. Short-term maybe, long-term I’m not so sure.

Resignationwatch: too many questions

Written By: - Date published: 6:38 am, May 4th, 2012 - 156 comments

Why did Banks lie about a discount hotel room where Dotcom was staying, then say he bargained it himself? Who made $15K of radio ad donations to his campaign? What did Nats on Banks’ ‘mentor group’ and ACT leaders know about the anonymised donations? How much info did Banks get from Williamson on Dotcom’s OIO application? Why has Key still not spoken to Banks to ask any of these question?

Slippery does a flip-flop

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, May 3rd, 2012 - 28 comments

Slippery old Key said on Monday and Tuesday that he had to apply a legal test to whether John Banks should stay on as a minister. The Cabinet manual demands the highest ethical standards. Now, Key’s flip-flopped: ethics are required – but only after one becomes a minister. Which would be worrying if true. Pansy Wong won’t be the only one to note Key’s standards a slipping.

National’s big win

Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, May 3rd, 2012 - 86 comments

Such was the magnitude of the Nat’s “big win” in 2011 that Key has to wake up every morning and do the numbers. His government hangs by a rotten thread. That rotten thread is John Banks.

Resignationwatch: Oopsie

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 pm, May 2nd, 2012 - 121 comments

ACT Party President Chris Simmons – who opposed the Brash coup that lead to John Banks being ACT’s sole MP – ‘accidentally’ dropped Banks right in it on Radio New Zealand’s Checkpoint. He said “[Banks] made the suggestion to Dotcom” to split his donation into two $25,000 pieces and implied the purpose was to have a number of identically-sized donations he could claim were anonymous.

Ask no questions?

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 pm, May 2nd, 2012 - 4 comments

There’s the facts, the questions and the legal opinions. Today in Parliament John Key stuck to his lack of interest in detailed questions, and adherence to Banks’ reliance on  legal opinions. He even alleged that the Labour Opposition agreed with these opinions. Not likely. The Police need to ask all the relevant questions that have so far not been answered by Banks or asked by Key, then their veracity and reliability should be established by a judge.

Resignationwatch: why unethical, probably illegal, behaviour is OK in Key’s govt

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, May 2nd, 2012 - 129 comments

For the first time in 3.5 years, Lockwood Smith didn’t preside over question time yesterday. The hapless National backbencher Eric Roy took his place resulting an awfully convenient farce. Key refused to answer questions, going so far as to say he wasn’t responsible for who is a minister. But, like the sudden slew of ministerial announcements, Key’s evasiveness will not distract the media, which smells blood.

If Banks resigns

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, May 1st, 2012 - 70 comments

A by-election in Epsom. If ACT or National win, the Right retains 61 votes. But, between resignation and swearing in typically takes 3 months during which the Right would have 60 v 60. Legislation fails on draws. Asset sales, SkyCity, welfare cuts, even the Budget could all fail if the Maori Party wants. And what if the Conservatives win? They’re anti-asset sales and crony capitalism. You can see why Key is turning a blind eye.

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