Hide’s dilemma

Written By: - Date published: 6:31 pm, September 15th, 2010 - 102 comments
Categories: act - Tags: ,

So David Garrett stole the identity of a dead child.

Normally that would be political suicide.

But the next up on the ACT list is Hillary Calvert. She’s a resolute neoliberal and would be likely to back Heather Roy as leader.

That would make it three votes to two against Hide.

So Hide has a choice:

Either he ditches Garrett and loses his leadership.

Or he backs a man who stole a dead child’s identity for another year until the election – a move which would likely destroy the ACT party for good.

This should be interesting.

102 comments on “Hide’s dilemma ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Anne 1
    15 September 2010 at 6:44 pm

    Hide’s “dilemma” is greater than you know.

    Anti-spam: SPEAK.
    I wish I could.

  2. RedLogix 2
    15 September 2010 at 6:54 pm

    That barely suppressed and faintly deranged snorting sound you are hearing …. is Winston.

  3. ghostwhowalksnz 3
    15 September 2010 at 6:55 pm

    Say hello to the next National MP for Epsom.
    His own career will come first

    • felix 3.1
      15 September 2010 at 7:09 pm

      Hmm.

      Is he any use to National on his own though?

      His only value to the Key govt that I can see is
      a) the extra bonus MPs he delivers to the right, and
      b) his function as a stalking horse outside of National for far-right policies

      Without these functions, isn’t he just an embarrassing pain in National’s arse?

      Besides, is he even electable any more? He’s been revealed as a hypocrite of the worst order, and now as a deceitful and spineless leader who used the votes of the people of Epsom to slip the crooked thug Garrett into parliament.

      I think the Nats can probably come up with a more reliable candidate for Epsom.

      • Simon 3.1.1
        15 September 2010 at 7:49 pm

        Yes, perhaps a more reliable candidate, in a more reliable vehicle. Maybe someone like Don Brash in a ‘new’ Act Party. A true Liberal party.

    • Rex Widerstrom 3.2
      15 September 2010 at 10:20 pm

      My immediate thought was the same, GWW.

      If Hide dumps that detestable little man now, he’ll be seen by the public to have acted nobly and rightly. If he’s then rolled as Leader as a result of “doing the right thing”, Act will effectively have committed suicide.

      As the only “saleable” MP in their line up, Rodney would be welcomed into National and would avoid accusations of waka jumping because of the way in which he’d been treated by Act.

      In his shoes I’d dump Garrett and dare the plotters to roll me. They’re probably stupid enough to do it anyway, but does he really want to be Leader of what Act has become? He can make just as much impact as a Nat Minister… more, without the millstone of Garrett et al.

  4. Schrodigers cat 4
    15 September 2010 at 7:01 pm

    More people need to meet Garrett. I met him at a “debate” between him and Kim Workman.

    We are talking a completely delusional man here. A few minutes with anyone and they will know.

    Paranoid too.

  5. bobo 5
    15 September 2010 at 7:02 pm

    No contest, Rodney wins every time vs the ACT party. Surely Garrett has to resign over this and would be interesting why he got acquitted without conviction and name suppression at the time. He joins the self righteous Rev Capill club…

  6. ron 6
    15 September 2010 at 7:13 pm

    He won’t resign. They’ll keep their heads down and the media will let them be after a couple of days. Come the next election stupid Tory voters will have forgotten all about it.

  7. ghostwhowalksnz 7
    15 September 2010 at 7:17 pm

    Is Garrett his real name ?
    Whats to say he didnt do it before and this was the second act, the passport was ready just in case he needed it, but never was.

    • Outofbed 7.1
      15 September 2010 at 7:31 pm

      Yeah but you would have thought he would have stolen a better identity this this one This one’s fucked

    • pollywog 7.2
      15 September 2010 at 7:31 pm

      This just in…

      Garrett admits to be being a reptilian shapeshifter hiding out on Earth and wanted for charges of ‘alien intervention with a minor’ on his native Theta

      captcha : hiding

      • travellerev 7.2.1
        15 September 2010 at 8:30 pm

        ROFL.

        Captcha: solved. LOL

      • Dave 7.2.2
        16 September 2010 at 10:19 am

        HA! Now that is humour on the whole episode, not the disgusting questions Phil Twyford has posted over on Red Alert. Given Act’s antics, and the Canterbury Recovery blah blah put Gerry in charge bill, every MP should be treading lightly and reflecting on why we elect them into these positions, they seem to regard us as peasants… Not impressed

  8. bobo 8
    15 September 2010 at 7:44 pm

    What a weak limp interview from Labrador Sainbury with Hide in HK, talking as if the identity fraud case was decades ago as if it was some teenagers prank. Then making out that name suppression was forced on Garrett by the courts while preaching there shouldn’t be name suppression for others, doesn’t one have to apply for permanent name suppression?

    • bobo 8.1
      15 September 2010 at 8:12 pm

      I’m just confused over the reporting, so Garrett did the “prank” in 1984 but was only found out in 2005 along with the Israeli spy scandal investigation, so does that mean Garrett had the dead child’s passport sitting in bedroom side-table drawer all that time as some kind of in-house joke ?

  9. Rharn 9
    15 September 2010 at 7:50 pm

    Rharn calling Winston. Are you receiving? Over.

    Come in Winstone. Copy? Over

    • bobo 9.1
      15 September 2010 at 7:57 pm

      Just think of all the months Winston was pursued and attacked savagely by the media,Act, National Mps, over what in comparison to stuff like this pales into insignificance..

  10. Tanz 10
    15 September 2010 at 8:23 pm

    It smells like a media beat-up to me. This was wrong of Garrett but it did happen many moons ago. Espiner seems to really loathe Garrett and is oh so gleeful about it. What about the other lead story tongiht, a P Lab with young children in the same as the dealers, drugs, cash, stolen goods – what a great start for them. Where is your post on that? Too hard basket?

    • felix 10.1
      15 September 2010 at 8:27 pm

      MPs dealing meth? Tell me more, Tanz.

    • RedLogix 10.2
      15 September 2010 at 8:39 pm

      t smells like a media beat-up to me.

      I can empathise with the idea that minor indiscretions from years prior to public life are of no public interest. There are no perfect people and I’d pick redemption over retribution every time.

      But Garrett’s offense is kind of weird, it’s not a youthful bit of stupidity, a moment of rashness or distressed emotion overriding common sense. The man deliberately misued the name of a dead child to forge a vital document. Won’t be a good look….ever.

      But Garrret of all people fails the hypocrisy test. This is the man who has campaigned on zero tolerance of crime, has voted repeatedly against clean-slate legislation, and promoted a three-strikes legislation that explicitly removed from the Courts exactly the kind of discretion he has benefited from himself.

      Impossible. The man must resign Parliament.

    • Dianne 10.3
      17 September 2010 at 6:45 am

      I agree with you Tanz. Espiner looked like a kid with a new toy.I know something you don’t.
      Tell us where you got your information little Mr Espiner. I smell a BEAT UP. TVNZ love drama, otherwise they have NO news.

  11. Logie97 11
    15 September 2010 at 8:27 pm

    Hide said on Close Up that Garrett’s failing was 26 years ago. He wasn’t able however to square that with his party’s arguments against the Clean-Slate bill in the last parliament.

    And wasn’t it in the last parliament that Hide and Collins unceasingly ripped into Benson-Pope about things that had happened in that MP’s distant past – tennis balls and other minor misdemeanors… nothing to do with his ability as a member of parliament (as Hide would now maintain.)

    If we didn’t know it already, I think we are really seeing the character of this rather nasty little opportunist who is leading the ACT party.

    • Dianne 11.1
      17 September 2010 at 6:49 am

      There are a lot of nasty little opportunists in other Parties, that seem to go into hibernation. Where is the Fairy, that ran down the corridors avoiding the reporters, who stole from the Tax Payers and went home sick. I notice he was holidaying whilst being sick. Using our money probably. Dam cheat.

  12. comedy 12
    15 September 2010 at 8:30 pm

    He’s a egotistical troughing little git of a politician therefore his only allegiance is to what will keep his nose in the trough.

    • felix 12.1
      15 September 2010 at 8:37 pm

      He’s what his own constituents in Epsom (or perhaps their forebears) might refer to as a “bounder”.

  13. Macro 13
    15 September 2010 at 8:40 pm

    Garrett’s behaviour displays a complete lack of Ethical Judgement – a quality that should be axiomatic for an MP.
    Hide has consistently campaigned on “high standards”, why we had one of his ilk commenting (trolling) here, using that very id! (where is Higher Standard when the going gets tough?). Using his own standards Hide has no option but to ask Garrett to remove himself. But of course – what I say, and what I do, are completely different things to him.

    • Draco T Bastard 13.1
      15 September 2010 at 11:01 pm

      (where is Higher Standard when the going gets tough?)

      IIRC, he got banned for his low standards.

      Using his own standards Hide has no option but to ask Garrett to remove himself. But of course – what I say, and what I do, are completely different things to him.

      You shall know them not by their words, which will be as honey to the ear, but by their actions which will be as ashes upon the tongue.

  14. Tanz 14
    15 September 2010 at 8:43 pm

    Very funny, Felix. The media and the Left just have it in for Garrett, Act and Hide, as does that Espiner fellow. Such a duplicitious media, it’s a wonder National managed to win the last election at all. Sure as heck wasn’t because the MSM was of any help.

  15. Tanz 15
    15 September 2010 at 8:56 pm

    Key is not of moral ineptitude, and he is in power, not Garrett. Try reading Investigate magazine to find out how the Left work, operate and cover up major unsavoury issues. Wish there were more Wisharts out there, the MSM is so hard Left, even now. They don’t just report the news/issues, they spin it towards their own Leftward view.

    • KJT 15.1
      15 September 2010 at 9:25 pm

      Wishart is an F wit. Anyone who quotes him shows a total lack of understanding of the real world.

      Key is a charismatic figurehead put in place by the bankers when Brash proved to be so dopey as to be un electable.

      • mcflock 15.1.1
        15 September 2010 at 10:12 pm

        KJT, have to call you on a serious issue there.
        I’m making no judgement as such at this stage, but feel that clarification is warranted:

        Should it not be “Wishart is A F wit”, not “an F wit”?

        • Billy Fish 15.1.1.1
          15 September 2010 at 10:20 pm

          Fair point mcf
          Maybe KJT was intending to start saying “Wishart is an A Hole” and changed it at the last i
          minute
          Or possibly “an A R S C B D T Pant”
          KJT you need to withdraw and apologise

        • KJT 15.1.1.2
          15 September 2010 at 11:26 pm

          I stand corrected.

        • Daveosaurus 15.1.1.3
          15 September 2010 at 11:35 pm

          No, “an F wit” is correct. The name of the letter “F” is normally pronounced “eff”, and most words beginning with an initial “e” sound take “an” as the singular indefinite article.

    • Blighty 15.2
      15 September 2010 at 9:36 pm

      Um. Tanz, we have a parliamentary democracy, not a presidential system. The National Party, supported by the Maori Party, United Future, and ACT – one of those votes is Garrett’s.

    • mickysavage 15.3
      15 September 2010 at 10:37 pm

      Tanz

      As soon as you suggested we should read Investigate magazine for, I presume, information I lost interest.

      Wishart is as able to talk about the left as I am qualified to talk about the benefits of Sarah Palin’s links to the Tea Party.

      If there were more Wisharts there would be more confusion.

      So Wishart tells it as it is and the left spin it??????

      You really need to work on objective analysis.

    • Draco T Bastard 15.4
      15 September 2010 at 11:03 pm

      Yep, another delusional RWNJ that’s working hard to disbelieve reality.

  16. Tanz 16
    15 September 2010 at 9:05 pm

    No idea on who leaked the story, my point is, the media is like a wolf-pack when it comes to án Act MP, but are soft towards the rest.

    • Daveosaurus 16.1
      15 September 2010 at 9:30 pm

      Would you care to give an example of the media being “soft” to any MP with an undisclosed conviction for dishonesty similar or worse than Garrett’s?

    • Billy Fish 16.2
      16 September 2010 at 10:10 pm

      Coming across a tad “persecution complexy” there tanz.
      Soft on the rest and only pick on ACT huh?
      Yeah they probably all get together each week, every editor, TV Anchor, Journalist, Radio news gatherer, blogger etc and plan how to attack ACT
      Or maybe they just get the orders beamed directly to them from the Illuminati

      C’mon dude meadia conspiracies are dead – media is mostly about ratings, ratings = sales = profit
      and what headline is ever better than “MP steals dead babies identity”
      Get real

    • Dianne 16.3
      17 September 2010 at 8:53 am

      Tanz, you and I see things the same. ABSOLUTELY agree with you.

  17. Loota 17
    15 September 2010 at 9:05 pm

    Now, why is Red Alert so cautious about telling this story (something about a name suppression order) yet The Standard and the NZ Herald seem not to mind in the slightest.

  18. Tanz 18
    15 September 2010 at 9:08 pm

    Because Red Alert is run by MPs, written by MPs, maybe they are friends with Garrett, or some of the more right-leaning ones are? Perhaps they all have morning tea together, at the end of the day, they are all doing a similar job, even if they come from differing viewpoints.

  19. Adrian 19
    15 September 2010 at 9:58 pm

    Hide knew, therefore did Key know. What about the ‘no surprises’ clause or did Hide lie to Key ?. Oh, dear John, it’s called a moral dilemma, bet you don’t know what one of them is. captcha… standards…..how do they do it?

  20. Mac1 20
    15 September 2010 at 10:49 pm

    “captcha… standards…..how do they do it?”

    Adrian, wear an aluminium saucepan on your head…… it stops them from knowing……

    My captcha “areas.” See!

    Key must be getting worried to see the flakiness of his support parties, and indeed of some of his own members. Did he know about Worth beforehand? or Garrett?

    And then there’s the other rorters. English. Roger McClay. Finlayson.

    Bet Key wishes he had an aluminium saucepan on his head, sometimes, so we wouldn’t know.

  21. Dan 21
    15 September 2010 at 10:59 pm

    I reflect on a report on Beson Pope’s demise, and there must be a few lessons within !! What goes around….!!!!

    “But he’s drowned out by Rodney Hide’s sneering laugh. Hide brands Benson-Pope a pathological bully, liar and pervert. The “pervert” tag is adopted by Collins as Williamson brandishes the humiliating cartoons

    …………But Benson-Pope is a complex character who polarises, as the conflicting memories of former pupils suggests. It’s not the allegations themselves, but his inability to extricate himself from them, the suggestion that he misled Parliament, and the implications for a Government with a knife-edge majority.
    ……………….
    Nigel Roberts, associate professor of political science at Victoria University, says it reinforces the view that when faced with a scandal it’s best to act quickly and decisively.
    “I think if you had said to the Government in May last year this would still be going in February 2006, they would have looked at you and said ‘you are bonkers’. It’s death by a thousand cuts.”

    The occasional tennis ball pales into insignificance with this slimeball.

    The hypocrisy of perk-buster Rodney, the hypocrisy of three strikes Garrett; the fact that Act leads Key by the nose in Supercity, employment law, education policy, etc; the fact that the coalition with the Maori party is on liquefaction-prone ground…. interesting times.

  22. peterlepaysan 22
    16 September 2010 at 12:32 am

    Hey! Bobo back off. Labradors are useful, intelligent, loveable.
    Saintsbury is none of the above. He is a total unmentionable..

  23. bobo 23
    16 September 2010 at 12:52 am

    David Garret in question time gets up to ask a question, someone yells out “Look whos talking!” his awkward look – priceless, anyone catch who yelled it out ?

  24. M 24
    16 September 2010 at 1:22 am

    What a gift to the opposition – this should be milked for all it’s worth until election day.

  25. ron 25
    16 September 2010 at 7:24 am

    The FIRST thing to do is keep repeating that Garrett’s “indiscretion” is not 26 years old. he was busted in 2005. So he continued to offend until then. That’s years of offending.

  26. Jim Nald 26
    16 September 2010 at 7:27 am

    Rodney Hide, David Garrett & ACT: The Party of Integrity

  27. exbrethren 27
    16 September 2010 at 7:42 am

    Identity theft is not something that you would do for a prank or to see what happens. It would only be done by someone with criminal intent.

    Options would be selling to an overseas group (less likely in 1985?) or for personal use for serious criminal activity such as drug running or gun smuggling.

    Using the Capill principle that right-wing extremists usually loudly condemn others doing what they do, I’d be unsurprised if Garrett was unmasked as a career criminal of the 80s.

    Hide and Key allowing this murdered baby abuser to stay in parliament shows a complete lack of morality.

  28. Outofbed 28
    16 September 2010 at 8:54 am

    If it was my poor dead baby whose identity he used. He would be “hearing” from me big time
    Make no mistake this man is a fucking low life and has no part to play in the parliament of NZ
    HE HAS GOT TO GO

  29. BLiP 29
    16 September 2010 at 9:18 am

    Speaking of Rortney, where is he at the moment? Oh, yeah, that’s right – he’s in Hong Kong for a family birthday party. Wonder who paid the airfare and whether his girlfriend is with him. And, what’s this about his chief press secretary walking out of his job yesterday as well? Not a good look, ACT.

    • Jim Nald 29.1
      16 September 2010 at 9:23 am

      Desperately Seeking Hide?

      Rodney Hide, David Garrett & ACT: The Party of Integrity – Madly Seeking Your Vote

  30. tc 30
    16 September 2010 at 9:58 am

    Gotta love the timing……all distracting from the very serious issues around SCF, Blindtrustgate, everything else that’s got to be more important than the many unsavory incidents of another of the ACT circus clowns.

    It’s well known garretts a very unpleasant character with a murky past isn’t that a prerequisite to be an ACT MP ?…..what about some real news on real issues.

  31. Wattie 31
    16 September 2010 at 10:06 am

    I too have a confession to make. I once worked on an oil rig. In fact, I worked on an oil rig in the North Sea at roughly the same time as did Garret and Hide (dates, anyone ?).

    What I find objectionable was that Hide used their oil rig experience *three* times on RNZ this morning to excuse Garret’s foibles and his conviction for drunkeness at Heathrow (details, anyone ?).

    Oil rigs are a very disciplined environment which attract a variety of people. After a shift, I remember crews relaxing in quiet little circles in Aberdeen’s “Star and Garter” hotel.

    Hide’s suggestion that this environment had something to do with his behaviour in Heathrow can only be treated with the contempt it deserves.

  32. tsmithfield 32
    16 September 2010 at 10:23 am

    The comedy that is ACT and was NZ First in the last government provides powerful arguments for terminating MMP. Under MMP it seems that the loonies end up running the asylum.

    • felix 32.1
      16 September 2010 at 10:49 am

      Nah, what you really have there is a strong argument for getting rid of NZ First (pretty much done) and ACT (not long now).

      Your “loonies running the asylum” bit applies equally to FPP, STV, and any other form of democracy you care to name.

      I’m sure you don’t want to do away with democracy altogether, do you?

      • tsmithfield 32.1.1
        16 September 2010 at 11:28 am

        I still support some form of proportional representation, perhaps with modifications to the MMP system.

        I guess what I was trying to say succinctly is that given that the discussion about MMP is to be had in the near future, there is now more fuel for those who dislike MMP.

        • Outofbed 32.1.1.1
          16 September 2010 at 12:34 pm

          Classic redirection Your Nat mates are in bed with some very unsavory characters and don’t seem to give a flying fuck, MMP has fuck all to do with it

  33. Rodel 33
    16 September 2010 at 10:56 pm

    Conspiracy theory 1.
    The plan:
    1. Someone leaks bad things about ACT MPs and Rodney fights with his colleagues.
    2. ACT implodes and no longer exists as a party.They are all now independents.
    3. Rodney distances himself from Roger, Heather, David and the others..
    4. Rodney becomes more moderate in his views accepting that ACT was too Right wing.(Crosby Textor helps with the image change)
    5. As the one remaining stable member of the essentially defunct ACT party (and nicer person-like John Banks) Rodney joins the National Party.
    6. The nicer more centrist Rodney is chosen as the National Party candidate for Epsom.
    7. Rodney is elected.
    8. John smiles and is relaxed.

    Question- who was the someone who began the implosion?

    • mcflock 33.1
      16 September 2010 at 11:21 pm

      So rather than the most likely suspect being an ACToid who wants the party to return to its unelectable neoclassical roots by supplanting pro-Hide Garrett with a neoclassical replacement, it could be Hide himself burning the party before he jumps ship?

      I think the problem for Hide, if that is the case, is that Anderton remained valuable after doing that by maintaining a separate “party” that helped prop up Labour. If Hide goes with the nats, he is just another nat politician fighting for a place. There is no honour among thieves, politicians or RWNJs, which makes any arrangement Hide makes somewhat precarious.

  34. Irascible 34
    17 September 2010 at 2:46 am

    Hide, Key & Garrett, along with the rest of the NACT Party despise the ordinary taxpayer so there will be no resignation as they all believe they’re above the law and do not have to answer to the taxpayer voter at all.

  35. sonic 35
    17 September 2010 at 8:30 am

    Only one problem Rodel, National needs ACT otherwise the Maori Party holds the balance of power.

  36. Xeno 36
    17 September 2010 at 10:42 am

    Rodel,it will be interesting to see which variant Key and his backers favour. In the end ACT and the Maori party are dispensible .. as are the Greens.

    Also, Christchurch has changed the political dynamic and its effect on Super City elections will be interesting with Jaffans slowly absorbing the climate of angst and vulnerability emanating from the south.

  37. Xeno 37
    17 September 2010 at 10:48 am

    Re. Rodel’s Question [“who was the someone who began the implosion?”]:

    A gentleman with experience of Scottish clan politics ?

  38. Yorick 38
    17 September 2010 at 11:18 am

    Rodel ..

    what is Conspiracy theory 2 ?

  39. Xeno 39
    17 September 2010 at 12:12 pm

    Update: RNZ reports that Garret has resigned from ACT, will take two weeks leave from parliament “to consider his future”.

  41. ruatorian 41
    17 September 2010 at 2:54 pm

    Garrett is gone. Hide claims he phoned him from Honkers to “remove his support”. Calvert takes his place. Life goes on. Or does it ? Hides’ position is threatened from within ACT. He may find an ally in Key who needs him for the ‘SuperCity’. For a while.

    Life goes on. Expect aftershocks.

    • Rodel 41.1
      17 September 2010 at 8:33 pm

      Sorry. forgot to mention an essential part of the plan. Subsection 3a.and b

      a.’John Key congratulates Rodney on his strong leadership.’
      b. Rodney and John are increasingly seen together.

      A bit of foreshadowing for Crosby Textor to build on later.

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