Is Simon Court a victim of dirty politics?

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 pm, August 10th, 2023 - 18 comments
Categories: act, Dirty Politics, national, national/act government, same old national - Tags:

When the news about an Act MP being shot in the foot when he was 17 during a drug deal was released I did not think too much about it.  But on reflection maybe there is a story here …

Two days ago Newstalk ZB and Barry Soper broke the story.  The Herald followed.  From the Herald:

An Act Party MP has admitted being shot when he was a 17-year-old after a drug deal involving his friend but denies being involved.

Simon Court said he suffered serious injuries and the shooter was arrested and charged.

He told Newstalk ZB he was on a camping trip “up north” and one of the guys he was with wanted to buy some “weed.”

They were told to go to a property and when they arrived his friend talked about buying some marijuana, Court said.

“I felt very uncomfortable with those people there and, ah I left.

“At some point later in the evening some people turned up at our campsite and put a shotgun in my face. My friend was with me at the time, he’d come back [from doing the drug deal].

“They demanded the key to our car and the weed. I didn’t know anything about it, I didn’t know where the keys were or where the weed was, it wasn’t my weed.”

Court said they had a “bit of a discussion with the people and they shot me.”

“They couldn’t find the keys or anything they were looking for and they left me seriously injured,” Court said.

As a 17-year-old he said he was like a lot of teenagers and didn’t always make good decisions.

“But I certainly didn’t think it was fair to get shot for making a bad decision,” he said.

David Seymour is relaxed and Simon Court is somewhat apologetic about the incident.  From Soper’s Herald story:

“As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t actually committed a crime. If he had, he wouldn’t be the only teenager in New Zealand that’s bought weed and he’d be only of the very few who’d got shot in the foot with a shotgun as a result,” he said,

Court, who is a civil and environmental engineer with more than two decades of experience, said: “It was a very long time ago … I made a bad decision but you know, like a lot of teenagers who made bad decisions, most of them don’t end up with any consequences.

“You know nothing happens and they learn. I certainly learned a lesson, but I also got shot, teenagers don’t deserve to get shot for making bad decisions.”

What is going on here?  Has an Act MP decided to admit something that happened at least 25 years ago on a whim?  Has a member of Act that is really hot on law and order issues thought it was a good idea to admit that he probably used to smoke a bit of weed when he was a teenager and got shot in the foot during a drug deal that went wrong out west?  Less than three months out from an election and at a time that Act’s polling is really, really good?

My deep suspicion is that National’s dirty tricks department has dug up some dirt, offered it to the media and that Act in a damage minimisation response decided to front foot it.  After all National has millions in the bank.  It must be using at least of this money on digging up dirt.

My initial response is Meh.

My second response is I really hope that National’s and Act’s well funded campaigns go for it and attack each other.

18 comments on “Is Simon Court a victim of dirty politics? ”

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  1. Patricia Bremner 1
    11 August 2023 at 5:20 am

    Perhaps it is a reminder of National's reach and friends?

    Act has been pushy lately, and now have competition on the right with a possibly resurrected Winnie,surprise

    A marriage of pragmatism religion and hedonism? A poisoned chalice?

  2. bwaghorn 2
    11 August 2023 at 6:47 am

    Probably act not leaving it till after the election for this story to break, and to control the message, clever really,

  3. Tiger Mountain 3
    11 August 2023 at 8:13 am

    The Act party has hitherto done a sterling job of keeping the spotlight off of its more recent motley crew of chancer MPs.

    Nicole Mckee is exhibit A. The COLFO (Council of Licensed Firearms Owners) organisation she has long been associated with makes out it is a grassroots shooters outfit, but is actually more a front for the gun industry and lobby. NRA links, via international sports shooting associations, were removed from the organisations www before she entered Parliament.

    The obvious point is that it is the Natzos “wot dun it to thumselfs” and unfortunately our country, with the Epsom arrangement.

  4. Blazer 4
    11 August 2023 at 9:20 am

    Getting shot is a very big deal.Especially in those days.

    Reading between the lines,it sounds like the weed was ripped off with no payment made.

    His role must have been major.Just like Uffindel he was only a teenager and it doesn't reflect the person he is…today.

    You would think ACT only had 2 M.P's.

    Perhaps all those with 'big brains' are late maturers and prefer the right wing party that attracts …talent=the Natz.sad

    • Tiger Mountain 4.1
      11 August 2023 at 9:43 am

      Yes, the “bed leg basher.” Sure, most people deserve a second chance, but if they then gravitate towards an organisation that makes working class peoples lives even more miserable while shovelling the wealth upstairs as the Natzos do…then it makes one wonder if there has actually been much reflection or change on his part…

      As for Simon Court–sprung.

  5. Mike the Lefty 5
    11 August 2023 at 9:22 am

    Seymour's comments are a bit ridiculous.

    If you are with someone trying to buy a prohibited drug then you are "involved".

    But hardly a hanging offence in any case and seems more like a contrived attempt by the Granny Herald to look like they are politically neutral by highlighting a minor transgression by a member of the political right.

    You can bet it would have been played up a lot more had it been someone from Labour or the Greens.

  6. Anne 6
    11 August 2023 at 9:59 am

    "My deep suspicion is that National’s dirty tricks department has dug up some dirt, offered it to the media and that Act in a damage minimisation response decided to front foot it."

    The key to the story is the author, Barry Soper. Of course he is part of the National Party DP campaign. His role is to publish dirt gathered. His wife's role is to weave negative fantasies around them. ACT has become a threat to them. So, they're digging for dirt on them.

    Now that a poll has put NZF on the road back to parliament, I expect they are next on the list.

  7. James Simpson 7
    11 August 2023 at 10:25 am

    Lets not go down the conspiracy rabbit hole and make ourselves look like cray crays.

    There is as much evidence of National leaking this story as there is of the vaccine being Jacinda's attempt to exert complete control over us all.

    • mpledger 7.1
      11 August 2023 at 12:11 pm

      There might not be any evidence for the two occurrences but the likelihoods of those occurrences happening are distinctly different.

      Who has the most to gain by crapping on ACT – National – National want their voters back.

      I have to say whoever put together the Labour poll giving Winnie 5.8% of the vote did a beautiful job trolling ACT and National.

      • James Simpson 7.1.1
        11 August 2023 at 2:02 pm

        Well in my view we have the most to gain from a weakened ACT. If ACT go into government with 15% support, they will demand and be granted a hell of a lot of policy concession. That is a disaster for all working kiwis.

        National's biggest problem in Key's reign was they had no mates. That isn't the case now. They can try and appear centrist knowing that a strong ACT in government will enable them to tack right once they are in the beehive. ACT has the policies National wishes it could promote. Don't for a second think they are against anything ACT stands for.

        But the actual point of of my comment was playing who done it with no evidence appears desperate.

  8. roy cartland 8
    11 August 2023 at 10:52 am

    Maybe ACT leaked it. Personal responsibility and anti-collectivism and all…

  9. Kokako 9
    11 August 2023 at 11:39 am

    [deleted]

    This misadventure is well known by people that knew Court at Auckland Glamour School in the late 80’s.

    [it may or may not be well known by some, but on The Standard you can’t make claims of illegal behaviour by public figures without evidence. – weka]

  10. joe90 10
    11 August 2023 at 12:26 pm

    “I felt very uncomfortable with those people there and, ah I left.

    That's what a young fella I know said after he was kidnapped, lost teeth when the barrel of a rifle was poked in his gob, and badly beaten after a drug deal that he swore he wasn't involved in went badly wrong. He was left badly traumatised and the event triggered a range of mental health issues. He was diagnosed as suffering from PTSD and the truth came out.

    Turns out the little shit was the instigator of what was initially a highly profitable scheme, robbing other people's plots. Of course the dopey little prick wasn't satisfied so he and his idiot mates had another go and when they were rumbled by some actual bad guys, the idiot mates bolted and abandoned him somewhere out the back of Tāneatua.

  11. Mac1 11
    11 August 2023 at 2:45 pm

    "My second response is I really hope that National’s and Act’s well funded campaigns go for it and attack each other."

    I have just thought of another possibility in this crazy world of conspiracy theory. ACT is there to take the blame in a coalition government for the right wing policies it is supposedly responsible for but which actually are covert National policies that will be enACTed.

    National will say "They made us do it" which every school teacher knows from the lying lips of the school boy in front of them.

    It's the opposite ploy from NZF who want to be able to say from a centrist position, "They didn't do all those terrible things because we wouldn't let them."

  12. Anker 12
    11 August 2023 at 5:09 pm
    • Another possibility is Seymour said to all his MPs tell me anything in your past that could be used against you (us). Court told him and Act decided to release it to keep control of the narrative……..job done! It’s really a non story
  13. adam 13
    11 August 2023 at 9:10 pm

    Just one more reason to stop the war on drugs.

    Then all the act members should be given free MDMA, as it is good to remind people they not alone. Plus it brings out your inner Übermensch.