Debarclay gets sordid

82 comments on “Debarclay gets sordid ”

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1. mickysavage 1

   27 June 2017 at 1:54 pm

   With sex and drugs now in the picture this story has at least another week to run …
   • lprent 1.1

     27 June 2017 at 2:45 pm

     Yeah. Sounds like something that people can get judgemental about while details are sorted out.

     But that phrasing does sound to me like selective picking of normal constituency work (along with the usual housing, dealing eith government services, and immigration topics). However someone (Todd Barcley??) has done a Slater and overblown to parliamentary services to make it more sensational.

     However whichever way you look at it, it appears to be a pretty serious breach into the social work that is such a strong part of constituency offices.
     • McFlock 1.1.1

       27 June 2017 at 2:59 pm

       Fair point, but if it was just constituency work he could launch a pretty valid press complaint:

       The Parliamentary Service told Christchurch lawyer Kathryn Dalziel that there was a tape and her client, Glenys Dickson, was recorded discussing the MP.

       Dalziel was told one intercepted conversation involved talk of “sex and drug matters”.

       That’s some pretty misleading juxtaposition if the s&d talk wasn’t concerning Barclay.
       • dukeofurl 1.1.1.1

         27 June 2017 at 4:13 pm

         Ms Dickson doesnt seem they type to have an involvement in such matters, while Mr Barclay is the well know Queenstown party animal.
         You are trying to not see the wood for the trees
         • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1

           27 June 2017 at 4:45 pm

           We must all keep an open mind as to whether the waddling, quacking, feathered creature before us is actually a duck 😉
       • Gabby 1.1.1.2

         27 June 2017 at 6:34 pm

         It could concern a third party and a blackmail threat.
         • McFlock 1.1.1.2.1

           27 June 2017 at 9:01 pm

           And how would that be “discussing the MP”?
           Best not speculate, really. The juxtaposition in the article just suggests that conversations about s&d were also conversations that discussed the MP. If that’s not the case, he can always complain to press council or someone.
   • Alwyn 1.2

     27 June 2017 at 6:08 pm

     The headlne for this piece is certainly accurate.
     The Morgan Poll numbers must really have got to Little and left him completely desperate.
     Can we now discuss, and make apparently unsupported allegations and insinuations, about the character and activities of any MP or ex-MP we want to?
     I see now why Mallard went off to Bermuda. His wife probably told him that his days as smear-leader of the Labour Party were behifnd him and that the current Labour leader was going to have to do his own dirty work.
     • Michael 1.2.1

       27 June 2017 at 9:07 pm

       “Can we now discuss, and make apparently unsupported allegations and insinuations, about the character and activities of any MP or ex-MP we want to?” Subject to the law of defamation, and the sub judice principle, of course we can. As far as Barclay’s concerned, he doesn’t have a reputation to defend so I think the limits of what can be discussed about him (until the Police charge him, if they ever do) are very wide.
       • mickysavage 1.2.1.1

         27 June 2017 at 9:40 pm

         This did not come from Labour Alwyn. Do you guys ever rely on reality to bolster your assertions?
         • weka 1.2.1.1.1

           27 June 2017 at 10:36 pm

           The bit I like is that alwyn has routinely told lies about the Greens as a way of smearing them. Closely followed by him objecting to smearing Barclay and then smearing Mallard in the same breath. I think my tolerance for hypocrisy as been extended in the past week.
           • McFlock 1.2.1.1.1.1

             27 June 2017 at 10:49 pm

             That’s how they break us – they shovel on so much bullshit we forget what “clean” smells like
         • Alwyn 1.2.1.1.2

           28 June 2017 at 5:08 am

           Did not come from Labour.
           Realy? Then have I missed something? Is Little no longer the leader?
           He was the person who brought the allegations up in Parliament in such a way that he implied it was Barclay who was involved.
           As for Mallard. Am I the only person who remembers him making little sneering remarks about Don Brash’s personal life?
           There have been many smears about the MPs from many parties. I don’t remember any being made by National MPs in the House since Muldoon’s day. That has been mostly a trick of the Labour MPs led by Mallard.
     • KJT 1.2.2

       28 June 2017 at 8:36 am

       What part of Barclay broke the law don’t you understand, Alwyn?

       Of course National and their members think that is fine, so long as you don’t get caught.

       The “Party of individual responsibility”. Yeah right! “Responsibility is for other people”.
2. Cinny 2

   27 June 2017 at 1:59 pm

   Here we go, it’s whats on the tapes that’s bigger than the taping.

   Thanks TS for keeping us so up to date.

   Good work Newsroom, Melanie… Thank you for being a real journalist, much respect.

   Side note… doesn’t P make people paranoid?
   • UncookedSelachimorpha 2.1

     27 June 2017 at 6:39 pm

     Good interview with Melanie on RNZ the other day:

     http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201848765/melanie-reid-investigative-journalism
   • Thinkerr 2.2

     27 June 2017 at 8:43 pm

     I disagree that whats on the tape is bigger than the taping.

     If Parliamentary Services was prepared to pay X, but Dickson received Y, due to ‘the privacy breach’ and the difference between X and Y came out of taxpayers money, then if the reason for paying Y not X was due to the need to keep something unsavoury from the public, that, in my opinion, would be the biggest issue for me.

     That taxpayers’ money was used to stop taxpayers finding out something that might be in their interests to know.

     One volume of Dirty Politics was enough for a country like New Zealand, but the way this is going there could be material for a second volume, taking us further from the country we are reputed to be.

     As Blinglish said, “…everyone unhappy…”
     • Cinny 2.2.1

       27 June 2017 at 9:51 pm

       Thanks for the link Uncooked.

       Thinkerr, I do agree that exploiting tax payer monies to hush someone up about a sticky situation is pretty shocking.

       However NZ is a small place…. what’s on the tapes? That is the question media should be asking, bloody lucky the outgoing PM declined to Todds invite to listen to them, but just because he didn’t listen to them doesn’t mean he does not know what is on them. Maybe media should also be asking which senior politicians are involved?

       I guess it depends on just how damning the info on the tapes is, have heard it’s pretty shocking.
3. Ad 3

   27 June 2017 at 2:00 pm

   If the New Zealand Police respond to this with the same vigour that they reserved for the Teapot Tapes, for which they got a warrant to get into TVNZ, then I am sure the NZPolice (sworn of course to the Queen and not to Parliament) will have no hesitation getting into Parliament and having further interviews with the Prime Minister, his staff, and Parliamentary Services.

   Key and Clark would have crushed this.

   I’m now struggling to see English ever making the grade to Prime Minister.
   • Sabine 3.1

     27 June 2017 at 2:04 pm

     what ever compelled you to think he would made the grade?

     his double dipping?
     him living in dipton?
     the time he got about 20% of votes to be PM?
   • bwaghorn 3.2

     27 June 2017 at 2:06 pm

     starting to think english won’t make the election myself
     • Tamati Tautuhi 3.2.1

       27 June 2017 at 2:09 pm

       Maybe Paula or Judith we could get our first Maori PM.
       • bwaghorn 3.2.1.1

         27 June 2017 at 2:15 pm

         is jude maori? i hope they go with paula most nat voters i know loath her , judith they seem to like , at least you get what you see with jude (this is in no way saying jude is good) , were as bennet is just fake false and nasty ,
         • Sabine 3.2.1.1.1

           27 June 2017 at 3:37 pm

           fake false and nasty

           a good slogan for National .
         • Hanswurst 3.2.1.1.2

           27 June 2017 at 7:33 pm

           Judith Collins is good though, at least in the sense of being competent, and we on the Left would do well to fear her. It speaks volumes that she is still right up ast the top despite so many (I would say justified) attempts to take her down. I imagine that there are plenty of other prominent National parliamentarian who deserve to be done in the same way as Collins was over Oravida or Corrections (back in 2010 or whenever it was), and yet it keeps coming back to Collins. Whether that is because of systemic attitudes towards her being a woman, factionalism, her associations with Slater, the image agree tries to project or a combination of all of those, I don’t know. However, the fact that she is still there and even automatically seen as leadership material in the face of all that suggests teflon qualities that may put even John Key to shame.

           The salient difference is that Collins doesn’t seem the type to sacrifice policy implementation on the altar of popularity. In Collins, therefore, there is the possibility of a National leader of remarkable stickability, along with a vigorous programme of conservative austerity. She could do untold damage. Perhaps, of course, she would also sink like a lead balloon. Who can be sure? What I am sure of is that we should be careful what we wish for.
           • the pigman 3.2.1.1.2.1

             27 June 2017 at 8:38 pm

             LOL – so good she is detested by all in the National Party but her factional allies.

             I suggest you rewatch the TV3 footage of her blackmailing the TV3 journalist who had just asked her some hard questions from the top of the staircase. Essentially saying “If you ask me any more hard questions I am going to eat you for lunch”. It is utterly chilling.

             I might be misremembering but I think it was Katie Bradford — Jude was pissed to have been asked some hard questions about Oravida, cut the interview short then came back and threatened the journo from the top of the stairs: “You may just find that I remember all sorts of things”.

             I am rooting for the day she becomes National leader, but I don’t think her colleagues will ever let her. And not because they have Tall Poppy Syndrome.
             • Incognito …

               27 June 2017 at 8:45 pm

               National is so keen to copy Labour that they even have their own ABC faction 😉
             • Hanswurst …

               27 June 2017 at 11:03 pm

               LOL – so good she is detested by all in the National Party but her factional allies.

               … and yet she is still there, which was my point.

               I’m quite familiar with the footage you reference, thankyou. I think it’s far from a forgone conclusion that she would fail.
               • the pigman …

                 28 June 2017 at 6:38 pm

                 Yes, but she’s only there because she has a very full “top drawer”.

                 How else does someone come back from DP and her e-mails with Slater, their little conspiracies to take down Simon Pleasants and Adam Feely, and come out the other end with ministerial warrants?

                 I shudder to imagine that top drawer’s contents, but suffice to say she has material sufficient to silence her critics in National, which most certainly include one Simon William English.
           • Sabine 3.2.1.1.2.2

             27 June 2017 at 11:12 pm

             how much would Oravida be an issue in J.C ambition to be Madam Prime Minister?
4. marty mars 4

   27 June 2017 at 2:01 pm

   Yep as suspected. And bill is about to get sprayed by this.

   And I suspect a few gnat supporters around these parts know some stuff too.
5. McFlock 5

   27 June 2017 at 2:03 pm

   lolz

   What a dropkick Barclay is. Give a boy a couple of hundred grand a year, see what he does. Oh, sorry, my mistake, his electorate staff might just have been talking about their drugs&hookers end of year party… 🙂
   • weka 5.1

     27 June 2017 at 2:55 pm

     rofl.

     The RW spin has been that those silly, boring, staid Gore people didn’t like that Barclay went and lived in Queenstown and partied hard, so they took a vendetta against him. Not enough rolling eyes for that one.
     • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1

       27 June 2017 at 4:47 pm

       +111

       😈
     • Paul Campbell 5.1.2

       27 June 2017 at 8:28 pm

       Well from the Newsroom article it seems like they were particularly pissed off because he was too hung over to show up to give a speech at Telford (which is near Gore, so the people in the Gore office would have organised it) they probably had to run around making apologies on his behalf at the last minute and had every right to be angry
   • Grafton Gully 5.2

     27 June 2017 at 6:46 pm

     Other Barclays succeeded as Labour politicians. James, Bruce and Ron.
     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Barclay
6. marty mars 6

   27 June 2017 at 2:05 pm

   Who told parliamentary services what the contents of the tape were?
7. Carolyn_nth 7

   27 June 2017 at 2:11 pm

   Sex, drugs and dictaphone tapes. One for Netflix?
   • mauī 7.1

     27 June 2017 at 2:24 pm

     Sex, lies, drugs and dictaphone tapes (2017)

     You forgot the lies 😉
8. dukeofurl 8

   27 June 2017 at 2:14 pm

   I see they are still trying to blame Dickson for breaching confidentiality over the settlement when it was Barclay who babbled an untrue version some months back to the Herald

   ““I had received complaints about the conduct of a staff member from members of the public and I referred the matter to Parliamentary Services.
   “As the legal employer of support staff, they acted as they deemed appropriate and embarked on a disciplinary process.”
   https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/06/20/35010/allegations-barclay-invented-complaints
   None of that was true of course but when you have a settlement you dont ever rehash the details even if you dont mention a settlement.

   The wording seems very precise so Im wondering who helped Barclay with his smear ?

   As for the details of Barclays ‘fast life’ in Queenstown, its at the heart of the dispute between conservative rural party supporters and their cuckoo in the nest in Queenstown
   I think the MSM have some of the details already but have to tread carefully and only with defamation lawyers approval.
9. joe90 9

   27 June 2017 at 2:18 pm

   Dickson has told Newsroom that she had the conversation with Swan after Barclay pulled out of the prize-giving ceremony at the Telford Agricultural institute in Balclutha.

   He was the guest of honour but had remained in Queenstown where he had been partying the night before. He later produced a doctor’s certificate saying he was suffering from exhaustion.

   I guess exhaustion is the new tired and emotional.
   • Bearded Git 9.1

     27 June 2017 at 3:38 pm

     LOL…..now for revelations of some Ugandan affairs
     • dukeofurl 9.1.1

       27 June 2017 at 4:16 pm

       Yep thats an oldy but a goody – “They were talking about Uganda’- all night long.
       • D'Esterre 9.1.1.1

         27 June 2017 at 11:04 pm

         Dukeofurl: ” “They were talking about Uganda’- all night long.”

         Haha, yes, I remember that from the 80s.

         In one Metro magazine back then, Felicity Ferret regaled the readers with an account of a notable arriving by car at a function. And falling out of the back of said car when the door was opened, on account of he and his female companion (not his wife) were in the middle of discussing the Uganda situation.

         Stuff of that sort anent Barclay, perhaps? Though I don’t think that he’s hitched, so no skin off anyone’s nose, whoever he’s been discussing the Uganda situation with. Or how often…
   • dukeofurl 9.2

     27 June 2017 at 4:24 pm

     Its a ‘spectrum’ thing as well…. first signs are ‘flat tyres’ and then it progresses through ‘google maps not working’ to finally get to ‘end state exhaustion’.
     Im sure the doctors cure was ‘ some early nights’
10. Tamati Tautuhi 10

    27 June 2017 at 2:19 pm

    This is starting to play out like US Politics hold on to your seats.
    • RedLogix 10.1

      27 June 2017 at 2:48 pm

      That rustling sound you can hear will be the nats shuffling through their dirt file.
      • s y d 10.1.1

        27 June 2017 at 4:45 pm

        waiting for a dead cat….
11. Tamati Tautuhi 11

    27 June 2017 at 2:52 pm

    Got a feeling the next 3 months could get dirty ?

    Cosby Textor will be searching through their bag of tricks ?
    • weka 11.1

      27 June 2017 at 3:02 pm

      I was thinking it was a shame this was coming out so fast, but actually it’s probably too fast for CT and co to keep up with, so mistakes are being made. Good.
    • Bearded Git 11.2

      27 June 2017 at 4:38 pm

      It’s Crosby….but I can see where you are going with Cosby….
      • UncookedSelachimorpha 11.2.1

        27 June 2017 at 6:44 pm

        “Strong and Stable” was a bit of a CT flop…long may it continue
    • D'Esterre 11.3

      27 June 2017 at 11:07 pm

      Tamati Tautuhi: “Cosby Textor….”

      Heh, Cosby…. Freudian slip there?
12. weka 12

    27 June 2017 at 3:06 pm

    Someone in the media needs to do one of those infographic things about all the strands of the Debarclay affair.
13. mary_a 13

    27 June 2017 at 3:06 pm

    Hang on folks, seems like more, much more than anticipated is coming! This latest revelation could be a high flier!

    Now we wait to see how Bilious handles these latest revelations “… er, yes, no, I don’t recall … er any questions about something else? Didn’t we do well in the America’s Cup?”

    Oh that’s right, TNZ has won the America’s Cup, so msm is extremely busy with that one, being a news item of great importance, to concern itself with a silly trifling government scandal with possible criminal implications!
14. swordfish 14

    27 June 2017 at 3:07 pm

    “Today we see the real story – at the heart of the Government a sordid tale of lies, deceit and convenient forgetfulness … The Prime Minister of New Zealand of course knows nothing about it…”

    “I have never seen such slithery dishonesty from the leader of our country.”

    “This behaviour from someone in such high office is unacceptable.”

    This was Bill English in 2002, criticising Helen Clark for her conduct in the so-called “Painter-gate” scandal.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/22-06-2017/remembering-paintergate-and-what-bill-english-had-to-say-about-it/
    • RedLogix 14.1

      27 June 2017 at 3:30 pm

      Unfortunately we cannot convict Nat pollies for rank hypocrisy; it’s their core brand value after all.
      • Draco T Bastard 14.1.1

        27 June 2017 at 5:30 pm

        +111
15. Mrs Brillo 15

    27 June 2017 at 3:15 pm

    Release the transcript, before the tape is mysteriously destroyed or burgled.
    • weka 15.1

      27 June 2017 at 3:28 pm

      There’s confidentiality issues, both for Dickson and for constituents that were recorded. Not sure yet if the public good outweighs that.
      • dukeofurl 15.1.1

        27 June 2017 at 4:18 pm

        usually thats solved by beeping out the constituents personal stuff, but leaving in Barclay
        • weka 15.1.1.1

          27 June 2017 at 4:19 pm

          Yes, a redacted transcript seems reasonable. Not sure how that would get decided though. Presumably Dickson and the others have some rights here.
        • Graeme 15.1.1.2

          27 June 2017 at 7:14 pm

          They’d have to beep out the lot since toddles wasn’t a party to any of it.

          It’s where toddles let slip what he’d recorded that’ll be his undoing.
16. Pete 16

    27 June 2017 at 3:54 pm

    On TV3 they have an ad about something they do or what they’re about made up of little clips and there’s Barclay, very certain, “I totally refute….”
17. Rae 17

    27 June 2017 at 4:00 pm

    Let us not forget who was PM when this happened.
    • weka 17.1

      27 June 2017 at 4:16 pm

      quite.
    • Draco T Bastard 17.2

      27 June 2017 at 5:32 pm

      Essential to remember that considering the payout came from his office.
      • Rae 17.2.1

        27 June 2017 at 6:28 pm

        That and how he went all feral on Bradley Ambrose over a recording.
    • mary_a 17.3

      27 June 2017 at 6:42 pm

      @ Rae (17) … bingo! And let’s not forget “HE” has not even been mentioned here. A clean slate, but an odious dirty record of lies, deceit and cover ups on his watch!
18. silvertuatara 18

    27 June 2017 at 4:11 pm

    Is the team of Bill English and Paula Bennett about to be internally rolled within the National Party? ….check out the latest news on Paula Bennett at newshub http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2016/06/labour-paula-bennett-has-hit-a-new-low.html
    • dukeofurl 18.1

      27 June 2017 at 4:19 pm

      Thats a year ago . is there something new ?
19. Muttonbird 19

    27 June 2017 at 4:28 pm

    What’s the deal with Parliamentary Services knowing about the tapes but standing by while Barclay lied to the house and to the New Zealand public?

    You expect it from dishonest Bill, but not the supposedly neutral Parliamentary Services.
20. Pete 20

    27 June 2017 at 7:31 pm

    Blah blah blah… who cares? I really hate to agree with Hosser Toskin, but on this occasion I think he is right and none of this will make a difference on who wins the election.

    What should matter a great deal to Labour is that continuing down the destructive neoliberal path is a recipe for failure. This is a lesson taught by elections in the USA, France and most recently, Italy.

    In contrast, by adopting policies designed to return control to the masses instead of the few filthy rich, Corbyn has vividly demonstrated how this can be accomplished against all odds. People aren’t just ready for such policies, they are hungry for it.

    Bickering with the opposition over their cheating is just an opportunity lost to put forward progressive ideas to galvanise the electorate.
21. Ed 21

    27 June 2017 at 9:17 pm

    Bomber is of the opinion ‘a very Kiwi Coup’ is occurring.’
22. Tamati Tautuhi 22

    27 June 2017 at 9:47 pm

    I think Bill may be rolled as the Natzi Hierachy can see the blood on the tracks but who has the crediblity to fill Bill’s shoes ?
    • Ed 22.1

      27 June 2017 at 9:52 pm

      Depends which wing of the party wins.
      Right wing wins ………. Paula Bennett
      Extreme right wing wins…..Judith Collins
      • SpaceMonkey 22.1.1

        28 June 2017 at 11:05 pm

        Do either clear the way for Winston as PM?
23. patricia bremner 23

    27 June 2017 at 10:44 pm

    I hope they implode!!!
24. Anthony Rimell 24

    27 June 2017 at 11:06 pm

    As significant as this issue seems, in reality it pails compared to this:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/333861/social-housing-candidate-has-links-to-manus-detention-centre

    Bill’s National Government is looking to offload our State Houses in Christchurch to a consortium that includes a business with links to the Manus Detention Centre. They seem to feel such a company is a good corporate citizen who will provide the appropriate wrap around social service our most vulnerable need.

    Beyond sex and drugs and rock’n’roll, this is the truly despicable behavior of the current Government.
    • McFlock 24.1

      27 June 2017 at 11:12 pm

      fucksake, serco all over again.

      Good reminder of the other crap they’re pulling.
    • Tamati Tautuhi 24.2

      28 June 2017 at 7:16 am

      This National Government wants to dissolve all responsibility for social housing, however it has no answers for the homeless are we going to set up squatter camps in certain areas of the City ?
    • NZJester 24.3

      28 June 2017 at 7:27 am

      Well as the way the National Government seems to want social housing run is in line with how the Manus Detention Center is run, They probably think they are the perfect people to run Detention Camps state houses for the poor.

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