Bill English seems determined to bury the last shred of his credibility in a deep hole forever:
Nobody realised Todd Barclay recording of secretary might be a crime: Bill English
…
Barclay, who had publicly denied taping her and refused to co-operate with the police, won’t seek re-election as Clutha-Southland MP in the September election.Speaking to media in Auckland, English said during the dispute his advice to Barclay had been that “that wasn’t good behaviour”.
When a police investigation started it raised issues about possible offences and “I don’t think [it] had occurred to anybody that there may be some potential offence”, English said.
In 2008 Bill English and others were secretly recorded at a National Party conference. In various incidents English criticised Obama and talked about dismantling Working for Families, selling Kiwibank, and so on. National ran the “Illegal!!” line hard:
Why is it that no members in the Labour Party can bring themselves to say that it is wrong to sneak around party conferences under false pretences, illegally taping private conversations? I say that is wrong; it shows a decline of political standards in New Zealand.
More seriously, Joyce leapt to the conclusion that the taping was “illegal”, a serious criminal allegation that has yet to be tested in court.
National leader John Key said he may lay a complaint with the police if legal advice suggested privacy, telecommunications or trespass laws had been broken.
National has requested security footage of its conference in a bid to hunt down the infiltrator, and is thinking about calling in the police if it establishes that laws have been broken.
In 2011 Bradley Ambrose accidentally left a device running and recorded Key and Banks. Once again the Nats ran with “Illegal!!”. Key:
Mr Key has laid a police complaint over the recording, saying it was illegally made, and police said today they would execute search warrants at four media outlets for any material they might have related to it.
National’s campaign manager Steven Joyce said the Herald on Sunday has “many questions to answer” on how the illegal taping came about.
Even Mike Hosking had a go:
The rule is very clear and the law is very clear. Unless you have an understanding that you’re being recorded then it’s illegal to record you – that’s all part of the Crimes Act
It’s not to say that the Nats were right in those cases, but “illegal” was the line they ran. You’d have to say that the issue of secret taping has had a pretty good outing in NZ. But Bill English wants you to believe that the events of 2008 and 2011 never happened, and that when the police became involved “I don’t think [it] had occurred to anybody that there may be some potential offence”. Only the most “devoted” of followers will believe him.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress