John Key’s Lies Since The 2014 Election

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 26th, 2015 - 109 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, accountability, Dirty Politics, Ethics, john key, Maori Issues, national, Politics - Tags: , ,

john key scary face

John Key throws a tantrum when no one wants to join him in a game of cowboys and ISIS

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He’s been a busy lad, that John Key. Lying pretty much non-stop during the 2014 election campaign with his “left wing conspiracy” mantra, he’s slowed down a bit since polling day on 20 September, settling into a more sedate but steady pace. Stretching from the very serious to the utterly ridiculous, his recent lies cover a wide selection of topics ranging from the Independent Republic of Northland to the urgent need for new terrorism laws.

The prime ministerial cascade of mendacity was made all the more apparent by the orchestrated attempt of some of his senior ministers late last year to foster the meme that John Key was “the most transparent Prime Minister New Zealand has ever had”. Sure, he’s transparent alright, but not in the way they were suggesting. Their tactic was a direct copy of the meme-injection by Barrack Obama’s crew but, surprise surprise, it didn’t really take hold here. Part of the problem was how every time the phrase was used, say, half a dozen times, John Key told another lie. The lies which killed off the meme quickest were those concerning his on-again off-again bromance with Cameron Slater. The Prime Ministerial performance-art perfidy over his admissions, then denials, about National Ltd™’s handling of OIA requests didn’t help either.

Among the more serious lies were those involved in the softening up of the public prior to his compliance with Barrack Obama’s instructions to send Kiwi troops to the Middle East slaughter-fest.  The utter contempt shown to New Zealanders regarding the “rolling-maul” GCSB spying issue and involving his calculated use of malicious lies to smear messengers of inconvenient truth has been unforgivable. John Key’s contempt extends also into Parliament. His point blank denial of his government’s own figures concerning the level of emissions into the environment is a good example of this. Ably assisted with typical partisan and belligerent air-cover from The Speaker, it was a breeze for the Prime Minister to mislead The House. Again.  Of note, his promise to resign if it is found that the GCSB carries out mass surveillance was only exposed recently but actually goes back to August 20, 2013 so isn’t included in this update.

The most egregious aspect is not so much any specific lie but, rather, the sheer banality of the now firmly embedded practise of lying. Because most National Ltd™ voters really don’t care that they are lied to by their Prime Minister and because the MSM is something of a fellow-traveler in the land of  deceit, John Key has been able to get away with it largely unscathed for more than six years. Disappointingly, several of the young and impressionable National Ltd™ Ministers have aspired to his propensity for prevarication.  The result is that now, in his third term, John Key has effectively surrounded himself with a posse of adoring and sniggering enablers. Simon Bridges is a good example, but still something of an amateur. His attempts to cover for John Key in the House yesterday lacked his master’s diligence, the performance even raising the ire of the usually benevolent Speaker. Bridges eventually faltered into his more innate  privileged prat petulance.  Bridges is a trier, though, so he’ll get there. I reckon it will be the likes of him and his cozening cohort which will be John Key’s eventual legacy to Parliament.

After a while, collectors of John Key’s lies do tend to become somewhat inured and can’t be blamed for opting every now and then to laugh rather than cry. High on the lulz-scale for pure crazy was the lie that the Greens are responsible for the rise in income inequality in New Zealand. Then there was the one about how Labour’s approach to dealing with Treaty issues would lead to Northland becoming an independent republic. John Key’s understanding of Treaty issues was further highlighted with his statement that New Zealand was one of the very few countries in the world to have been peacefully settled.  Most hilarious, because of his manufactured reputation as some great financial whizz kid, was the one about how much GST was payable on a $1.29 item. Working out percentages is obviously not John Key’s forte, which is why, I guess, Nigel Morrison loves him so much.

Anyhow, here’s John Key’s List Of Lies since the 2014 election. I’m sure there’s a few missing and probably a few more still to come to light for this period. As always, any checking of links and/or refutations and/or suggested additions are more than welcome.

  1. The New Zealand military personnel are just attending a regular ordinary meeting in the United States (x 13 times)
  2. New Zealand is not involved in any coalition to fight in the Middle East
  3. It is not currently illegal for someone to fight overseas for a terrorist group
  4. When it comes to requests for official information, my ministers always act within the law.
  5. I have never called or texted Cameron Slater in my capacity as Prime Minister
  6. No, I did not mislead the House. (??)
  7. I did not admit to having abused the OIA process.
  8. I did not mislead the House(??)
  9. The Gwynn Report into the handling of OIA requests by the SIS completely exonerated me
  10. Its not true that the process I put in place for the SIS reporting to me was politicised
  11. The review into Judith Collins has got nothing to do with the release of information to Cameron Slater
  12. My office had nothing to do with the release of informaton to Cameron Slater
  13. No, I did not mislead the House (??)
  14. I can’t remember all the phone texts I exchanged except when I say I can
  15. I did not engage in an exchange of text messages with Cameron Slater, I just acknowledged one unsolicited message from him
  16. The DPMC head attended the Roger Sutton PR conference because his department is taking over Cera next year.
  17. New Zealand was one of the very few countries in the world that was settled peacefully.
  18. I was being asked a specific question about the Chisholm report when I said I had had no contact with Cameron Slater
  19. No, I did not mislead the House??
  20. When the particular question was asked there was quite a lot of noise in the house and so I only heard the first bit.
  21. I have not been in contact with Cameron Slater ahead of the release of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn’s report into the SIS’s role in Slater’s 2011 political attack on former Labour Leader Phil Goff.
  22. No, I did not mislead the House (??)
  23. The number of children in those low decile schools which I have visited who actually require lunch is the odd one or two
  24. The Greens are responsible for the rise in income inequality within New Zealand
  25. I don’t want to concern or frighten people about the threat of a terrorist action in New Zealand.
  26. Labour is promoting a separatist approach to dealing with the Treaty of Waitangi which could result in Northland becoming an independent republic
  27. The owner of Oravida, Stone Shi, won a round of golf with me after he placed the winning bid at a charity auction
  28. I didn’t know until late January 2015 that Mike Sabin was facing issues which may lead to his resignation
  29. My meeting with Donghua Liu was not a Cabinet Club meeting, oh, hang on, yes it was, oh, maybe it wasn’t
  30. Labour did not seek a Parliamentary vote when sending SAS troops into Afghanistan on a combat mission and didn’t even tell New Zealand they were going
  31. When I said “the price of The Club” I meant “The Club” was all the 62 nations in the US-led coalition of troops to fight in Iraq
  32. New Zealanders gave National Ltd™ a two year mandate to send troops into Iraq as part of the US-led coalition
  33. News about repairing bridges in Northland is just the standard release of policy
  34. Nicky Hager and Kim Dotcom prevented National Ltd™ from announcing the decision to upgrade ten bridges in Northland.
  35. New Zealand’s nett greenhouse gas emissions have not increased since I became Prime Minister
  36. If you think about iTunes, if you download a song and it’s $1.29, there’s no reason the GST shouldn’t apply to that. In reality, GST would be 2 cents
  37. The timing of the release of information about GCSB spying on Tim Grocer’s WTO rivals was deliberate and all part of a particular agenda by Nicky Hager and some others
  38. Major roading projects and the free trade deal with Korea will be at risk if Winston Peters wins the Northland election

109 comments on “John Key’s Lies Since The 2014 Election ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. les 1
    26 March 2015 at 9:14 am

    and its only March.

  2. RedLogix 2
    26 March 2015 at 9:17 am

    Like your writing voice BLiP. “Cozening cohort” indeed! lol

  3. vto 3
    26 March 2015 at 9:31 am

    Imagine sitting at a dinner table with Key English Joyce Smith etc. Lordy, you wouldn’t know where you were with the amount of lies that would be constantly flying about.

    There would be nothing you could trust or believe.

  4. Anne 4
    26 March 2015 at 9:36 am

    Oh please send a copy of this post to Wayne Mapp. After he’s posted copies to all the main characters in this increasingly farcical theatrical pantomime called “the Key Government”, the results could be fascinating. 🙂

  5. Karen 5
    26 March 2015 at 9:37 am

    Wow, thanks for that, BLiP.
    It is great to see all Key’s lies listed. Now, why can’t the MSM do the same?

    • fisiani 5.1
      26 March 2015 at 6:57 pm

      Because the MSM can clearly smell the bullshit behind this appalling post of misleading intrepretations of the TRUTH

      • North 5.1.1
        26 March 2015 at 9:34 pm

        Fizzy Anus……your wit makes John Cleese/Rowan Atkinson dullards. Saturday night……..please make sure you’re not alone……..would lament that you take it all upon your own shoulders darling.

        • fisiani 5.1.1.1
          26 March 2015 at 10:09 pm

          What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others.
          I will not tolerate your attempt to exclude. Apologise. If not the the Policy I have quoted means nothing.

  6. Tom Barker 6
    26 March 2015 at 9:39 am

    I also very much like the way this post is written. “performance-art perfidy”
    Great stuff

  7. Tom 7
    26 March 2015 at 9:42 am

    The Nats have spun the story of free beer and riches for all………… But the small print reveals UHT milk for kids and riches for the top 10%. Sometimes middle NZ is a bit gullible but thick as pig shit they are not. The ‘dream’ is wearing thin, not a week goes buy without the Nats dirty tricks department oozing lies and dirty deeds. The dream is over whether key can spin Northland or not (looks like not) The MSM is beginning to pull at the threads which could just leave key naked and exposed – not a pretty site……… Go Winston

  8. ianmac 8
    26 March 2015 at 9:59 am

    You do not understand. When the John Key said all of the above 1-38, he was not the Prime Minister. He was just an ordinary bloke giving his opinion. You therefore cannot condemn the PM because it wasn’t him.
    Simple really you pheasants!

  9. Pat 9
    26 March 2015 at 10:15 am

    I find it hard to believe John Key has only spoken publicly 38 times since the beginning of the 2014 election campaign.

  10. fisiani 10
    26 March 2015 at 10:29 am

    Not one of that list constitutes a lie. No matter how many times you try to pull the wool over our eyes we will not fall for it. Take No 38 for example.
    38. Major roading projects and the free trade deal with Korea will be at risk if Winston Peters wins the Northland election.
    Do you seriously believe any utterance from Winston Peters? Is that the standard of your proof? Winston’s party has a private member bill to scupper Free Trade deals. I despair at this pathetic attempt to smear Honest John again. Major Fail.

    • adam 10.1
      26 March 2015 at 10:50 am

      Covering a lie, with a lie.

      How morally bankrupt are you fisiani?

      Do you have any morals at all?

      Lying is the road to purgatory my friend, and your well on that path.

      • Pasupial 10.1.1
        26 March 2015 at 11:20 am

        fisiani

        Yes, why don’t we take; “No 38 for example”:

        “If we lose Northland, it’s not costless,” Key said.

        “We may not be able to pass it – it’s not a free lunch if you think about it. From our point of view, we actually need to hold that seat if we can, for what we like to do…

        “If the people of Northland want the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway extension, which is vital to open up Northland to our biggest market . . . if we want that, there’s only one choice, and that’s to vote for me,” Osborne said.

        If he lost the by-election there was a “real risk” the road might not go ahead.

        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67315696/nats-roads-in-doubt-if-winston-wins

        That link was the blue hypertext in comment 38 (which you should have clicked before mouthing off). From this we can conclude that either; National are corruptly using governmental funds for a party political campaign (a form of deceit tantamount to lying), or; Key & Osbourne are lying to scare Northland voters into voting for them.

      • fisiani 10.1.2
        26 March 2015 at 11:51 am

        Honest John tells the truth. Winston never tells the truth. This pathetic attempt to again try to smear Honest John will fail like all the other posts in a similar vein. Claiming a lie is not the same as telling a lie. Misquoting is not telling a lie. Extrapolating is not telling a lie. You really need to try harder.
        I’m surprised you have not got “Get some guts ” down as another Honest John lie. Chicken Little obviously has some intestines.

    • BLiP 10.2
      26 March 2015 at 10:55 am

      ‘

      Your despair is delicious —> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCWC3-Yjnzo

    • lprent 10.3
      26 March 2015 at 4:11 pm

      Winston’s party has a private member bill to scupper Free Trade deals.

      You are either lying or are incredibly stupid.

      a. It doesn’t.

      b. How many parties are there in parliament? I believe that Labour likes good trade agreements. After all who did the Chinese one that has been staving off Nationals bankruptcy of economic ideas?

      c. Besides it is the executive who signs trade agreements and treaties. Parliament has no effective control on anything much in them.

      Personally I don’t think you are a liar. You are just very stupid.

      • fisiani 10.3.1
        26 March 2015 at 7:04 pm

        lprent you are either lying or are incredibly stupid.
        http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/labour-supports-nz-first-bill-targeting-tppa/

        I don’t think you are stupid, I think you think others are stupid enough to believe you.

        • freedom 10.3.1.1
          26 March 2015 at 7:14 pm

          Isn’t this the part where people remind you the TPPA is not a Free Trade agreement?

          • fisiani 10.3.1.1.1
            26 March 2015 at 7:23 pm

            And you know the fineprint of the TPPA? Yeah Right.

            • McFlock 10.3.1.1.1.1
              26 March 2015 at 10:23 pm

              And you do know the fineprint of the TPPA?
              Careful, you might be leaking something Wikileaks hasn’t received yet…

        • lprent 10.3.1.2
          1 April 2015 at 11:59 am

          1. Thus far I haven’t seen anything in any public documents on the TPPA that indicates there is any free trade component as far as NZ is concerned. There do however appear to be quite a lot of restraint of trade things that they are discussing.

          2. A bill in parliament can’t bind bind the executive and the executive is the ONLY body that can sign any treaty, including trade ones. Parliament can only affect enabling legislation where law changes are required.

          3. With Free Trade agreements for NZ like the China or more recent Korean FTA, there is little or no legislation change required. It usually be done with orders in council. The reason why is that we are one of the few countries in the world who are an effective free trade zone already. Our existing laws reflect that.

          4. Consequently, you only require parliaments approval for a restraint of trade agreement like the TTPA, where it actively changes legislation from a free trade norm to restrain trade.

          The article you are pointing to shows an instance of that. International corporates are attempting to remove risk (including opening up markets to further free trade competition) and get it adjudicated in their own private ‘court’ with no appellate oversight. On the way through, they are attempting to bind parliament from doing what it considers is right in the interests of its society. Everything about it screams of restraint and special privileges that as a free trade nation we should not allow.

          What parts of this do you not understand?

    • Hateatea 10.4
      26 March 2015 at 4:42 pm

      Fisiani, I might actually give you credit for thinking just a little if you didn’t say ‘Honest John’ at least once in every comment. It should have dawned on you by now that you may be the second last person in the country who finds our current Prime Minister as less than 100% truthful. Be a dear boy and go get a modicum of respectability by acknowledging that your idol is less than perfect (as are all the rest of us).

    • David H 10.5
      26 March 2015 at 5:17 pm

      Hell Fishyarse you really are getting desperate these days. The SAFE National seat is almost gone and ‘honest’ John TricKey Key, will be the one most responsible for the loss the lies are catching up with him and soon most of NZ (apart from people like you ) Will see that the Pm has no clothes! So Fishyarse has to spin and spin to do his masters pleasure.

      • fisiani 10.5.1
        26 March 2015 at 10:10 pm

        What we’re not prepared to accept are pointless personal attacks, or tone or language that has the effect of excluding others.
        Apologise now.

        [lprent: *sigh* It appeared to have a point behind the abuse.

        What that section is for is to prevent people from screaming vile epithets at each other without bothering to present any kind of argument or coherent opinion at each other. It is not intended to stifle the “robust debate” that the site was set up to provide. ]

        • McFlock 10.5.1.1
          26 March 2015 at 10:19 pm

          What was pointless about it?
          You’re a liar and a shameless propagandist, who is now trying to pretend that northland isn’t a safe tory seat that you lot are managing to put in jeopardy.

          • fisiani 10.5.1.1.1
            26 March 2015 at 10:24 pm

            Language/ What part of language do you fail to understand??

            • McFlock 10.5.1.1.1.1
              26 March 2015 at 10:30 pm

              What part of that section makes you think you’re entitled to lie without being called on it, you waste of methane?

        • Weepus beard 10.5.1.2
          26 March 2015 at 10:25 pm

          Full of demands today, aren’t we?

          You are the Tory who cried wolf.

    • left for deadshark 10.6
      26 March 2015 at 6:33 pm

      were be trying to pull back that woollie fringe from your eyes,so you can see fisiani.
      😉

    • North 10.7
      26 March 2015 at 9:36 pm

      You’re shrieking now Fizzy…….

  11. Wensleydale 11
    26 March 2015 at 10:29 am

    If you forced Key to take a polygraph test, the machine would explode and burn down the building.

  12. Paul Campbell 12
    26 March 2015 at 10:48 am

    I loved this morning’s little porky on national radio in which he said he hadn’t seen a poll in “a good 10 days or so” but knew that name recognotion for Mark Osbourne had “dramatically increased” which is of course something you can’t know without polling

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20172429/key-concedes-national-the-underdog-in-northland-byelection

    I think it’s reached the point where he just doesn;t care about telling the truth and just makes it up as he goes along

    • BLiP 12.1
      26 March 2015 at 10:55 am

      ‘

      Good catch. Thank you.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 12.2
      26 March 2015 at 12:21 pm

      “doesn;t care about telling the truth and just makes it up as he goes along.”

      All ways the case for compulsive liars.

    • Wayne 12.3
      26 March 2015 at 12:23 pm

      Paul Campbell,

      I normally think this whole post is ridiculous, so just read it with amusement.

      But why would this specific thing be a lie. It is pretty self evident that Mark Osbourne’s name recognition has gone up. Common sense is enough to inform you of that.

      And this is the general problem with BLIP’s list, as was pointed out by fisiani.

      • marty mars 12.3.1
        26 March 2015 at 12:34 pm

        “John Key’s understanding of Treaty issues was further highlighted with his statement that New Zealand was one of the very few countries in the world to have been peacefully settled.”

        wayne – is what is quoted from key above a lie or ignorance or true?

      • McFlock 12.3.2
        26 March 2015 at 1:22 pm

        he said he hadn’t seen a poll in “a good 10 days or so” but knew that name recognotion for Mark Osbourne had “dramatically increased” which is of course something you can’t know without polling

        In paul’s link Key also refers to anecdotal evidence they’re getting “on the ground”.
        So we have the situation where Key, looking at a by-election that could cost hiim his majority or even bring down the government, is getting reports from the ground but is not monitoring polls.

        Is he being cut off from information that might lessen his faith in Mr DidntFixIt (and not noticing that he’s out of the loop)?

        Are the nats running a heavy campaign (with frequent visits by MPs and ministers and promises of millions of dollars in infrastructure bribes) but not running regular polling (contrary to previous form)?

        Or is Key lying about the [bad] polling and trying to gloss over it with unverifiable anecdata?

        I know which one I think is incredibly likely, but let me know if you have other ideas.

      • Draco T Bastard 12.3.3
        26 March 2015 at 1:51 pm

        The fact that you’re siding with Fisiani in contradiction to the posted documentary evidence proves your disconnection from reality.

        • freedom 12.3.3.1
          26 March 2015 at 1:57 pm

          I sometimes wonder if certain commenters realise the shiny blue words that populate blogs and news sites et al, are not the interweb showing its love of the National Party but are in fact links to information. 😉

        • BLiP 12.3.3.2
          26 March 2015 at 3:06 pm

          The fact that you’re siding with Fisiani in contradiction to the posted documentary evidence proves your disconnection from reality.

          Brand new research coming out of Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute seems to suggest the disconnection from reality may be due to the fact that the physical brains of people like fisiani and Wayne are less evolved.

          Director the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Computational Psychiatry Unit, Read Montague, has established that the brains of politically conservative people generate a more powerful reaction to images and concepts which disgust and/or threaten them than the brains of liberals. Measuring brain response to things of disgust can, the research confirms, be used to predict political ideology with an accuracy of between 95 and 98 percent.

          The Virginia Tech scientists don’t yet know exactly why this correlation should exist. Current thinking is that the responses are driven by the Hindbrain, the oldest part of the physical brain which evolved hundreds of millions of years ago. The less evolved the Hindbrain, the stronger the insinctual reactions to images and concepts which disgust or threaten. That’s how we learned the basics of things like separating the toilet from the kitchen.

          Needless to say, this research hasn’t exactly been fully understood by conservatives who have, as the scientists already knew they would, reacted adversely. And that’s the crux of the matter – reaction rather than thought.

          There is some hope for conservatives because of the human ability and, indeed, inner desire to learn. That’s probably why people like fisiani and Wayne hang around here, ostensibly scoffing bit really actually quite curious about things. Like most conservatives, they are unfortunately unlikely to actively formulating the concept of the need to absorb and credit with veracity additional facts and strengthen observation skills because doing so can in itself be perceived as a threat. Such a concept challenges established a conservative’s cognitive frameworks through which the world is viewed and a sense of comfort derived from a gentle activity rate and sense of security in perceived solidity.

          In contrast, a liberal brain is already functioning at a higher activity rate (ie, conscious thinking) and, generally speaking, is pleasantly stimulated by encountering new facts which challenge current thinking and shift comfort zone boundaries.

          The idea that the nice Mr Key is really treating them and all their mates like backward neanderthals is just too frightening a concept for the likes of fisiani and Wayne. Their immediate reaction is to shy away from that idea and wait for the higher functioning aspects of their physical brains to deliver the required psychological denial and apparently infinite capacity to sustain cognitive dissonance. Accordingly, its unlikely they would ever voluntarily submit to the learning experiences required to comprehend and, thus, reconnect with reality. Instead, they will remain huddled beside their fire in their cave for ever unless circumstances beyond their control force change upon them.

          Kinda sad, really.

          • Bill 12.3.3.2.2
            26 March 2015 at 3:59 pm

            Or maybe it’s got nothing to do with evolution and is just down to a more simple phenomenon – maybe conservative and reactionary mindsets are often indicative of greater levels of personal fear and insecurity?

            • Draco T Bastard 12.3.3.2.2.1
              26 March 2015 at 4:25 pm

              Which, IIRC, also reside in the hind brain.

              • Bill …
                26 March 2015 at 4:37 pm

                What? Fear and insecurity reside in the hind brain!!?

                Sorry Draco but, well, I’ll put it this way, fear isn’t an actual ‘thing’…it has no physical presence… and you’re giving me images from a kid’s comic (the Beano?) where a guy had an army of wee people in his head controlling him.

                Anyway, fear is just a reaction to the world that can self reinforce and drive action. And there’s intelligent fear (useful) and neurotic fear (deleterious).

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  26 March 2015 at 4:42 pm

                  /facepalm

                  Yes, a reaction that resides in the hind brain. This quote applies:

                  Director the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Computational Psychiatry Unit, Read Montague, has established that the brains of politically conservative people generate a more powerful reaction to images and concepts which disgust and/or threaten them than the brains of liberals.

                  My bold.

                  • Bill …
                    26 March 2015 at 4:54 pm

                    settle…

                    So fear based reactions show up on brain scans as detectable activity in the hind brain. That ain’t what you said in your original comment though 😉

                    I still don’t get or buy the evolution argument. Not saying you do, but my knickers get somewhat twisted when I see arguments about political divides claiming some innate superiority is at play.

                    Thanks for the clarification btw. Putting those images of plodding (somewhat grrr-ing) wee brain beasties away now 🙂

            • Anne 12.3.3.2.2.2
              26 March 2015 at 4:47 pm

              Which surely harks back to BLiP’s commentary @ 12.3.3.2. A simple conservative and reactionary phenomenon that has it’s origins in the lesser evolvement of the oldest part of the human brain – the Hindbrain.

              Makes plenty of sense to me. You can almost hear/feel the grinding of the ancient cogs especially when it comes from the ‘fisianis’ of this world.

              • Bill …
                26 March 2015 at 4:58 pm

                Well no. Because that would suggest that intelligent people (being ‘more evolved’) cannot be neurotic. And that ain’t true.

      • RedBaronCV 12.3.4
        26 March 2015 at 8:39 pm

        Hi all. You are doing well today – mostly these days we seem to attract only one troll – but I’m guessing that Wayne is the new troll manager keen to support the staff or check on the tea breaks

      • North 12.3.5
        26 March 2015 at 9:42 pm

        Et Tu Wayne Boy……shrieking ! No diplomatic post then Wayne ? You really should not have sniffed at Somalia……man of your talents……imagine the fluid discourse you could have established. Embedded with pirates and all that…….

  13. freedom 13
    26 March 2015 at 11:26 am

    then there are the lies in waiting,
    eg:
    Do you think anyone will ask the PM if cutting short State visits, simply so he can press the flesh, will do anything to help our negotiating position with our trading partners ?

  14. AsleepWhileWalking 14
    26 March 2015 at 11:41 am

    You should title new posts on this topic “Fib Watch”.

  15. saveNZ 15
    26 March 2015 at 11:51 am

    Love it!

  16. marty mars 16
    26 March 2015 at 12:18 pm

    “the sheer banality of the now firmly embedded practise of lying”

    So true. Key has a problem in that imo in that even when he doesn’t need to, he still does lie. Then he lies about lying. Maybe the years of training as a bankster honed his skills but it would seem to stem from a character flaw so enormous you could chuck a couple of mountains in it. He will go down in history as a liar and his reputation will be a source of ridicule and trivial pursuit questions for eternity.

  17. Brewer 17
    26 March 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Love this:
    http://i.imgur.com/Z1TpzVD.png

    [lprent: providing context for the following discussion. ]

    • Bill 17.1
      26 March 2015 at 2:39 pm

      You love graffiti that thoughtlessly parodies Asians (the specific tone of the broken english) and, more specifically, Asian women in war zones (Vietnam) who were compelled by circumstance to sell sexual favours?

      Way to go.

      • Brewer 17.1.1
        26 March 2015 at 3:30 pm

        I suppose it is my total freedom from prejudice that allows me to find humour in clever jokes, whatever the genre, particularly when they lampoon the stereotype that most applies to me. Pity there are not more jokes that pillory the precious populace who confuse the left with adherence to puritanical political correctness in all things.
        Declaration:
        No minorities or small furry animals were harmed in the making of this post.

        • Bill 17.1.1.1
          26 March 2015 at 3:51 pm

          Or your blindness to prejudice. Here’s a question. Why the fuck do you think it ‘works’, and is considered ‘funny’, when prostitution is invoked by the use of hackneyed lines from Hollywood associated with, typically, Vietnamese women looking for Johns from ranks of US conscripts?

          It ain’t clever.

          And why degrade any women two fold by comparing them to a motherless fuck like John Key?

          As for political correctness – nah. Disparaging already powerless people to miss making a point about powerful people is just shite – plain and simple. It’s got nothing to do with political correctness.

          • Brewer 17.1.1.1.1
            26 March 2015 at 4:57 pm

            “Why the fuck do you think it ‘works’, and is considered ‘funny’, when prostitution is invoked by the use of hackneyed lines from Hollywood associated with, typically, Vietnamese women looking for Johns from ranks of US conscripts?”
            For the simple reason that they are neither the the butt of the joke nor harmed by it.

            “And why degrade any women two fold by comparing them to a motherless fuck like John Key?”

            There would be some wit in this response had the device not been evidenced a million times before. Not sure how John Key’s mother, a Jewish refugee would react however.

            • Bill 17.1.1.1.1.1
              26 March 2015 at 5:01 pm

              Explain to be very slowly then, why such a reference, that feeds and reinforces prejudice, had to be made in the context of having a laugh at the powerful.

              Ah – and I notice you didn’t ‘get’ my suggestion that JK is not of human origin?

              Oh well, and there was me thinking it was quite smart to take a generally derogatory slur and turn it completely on its head…

              • Brewer …
                26 March 2015 at 5:21 pm

                First you will have to explain to me how it ” feeds and reinforces prejudice”.
                Then explain how it is that calling JK a “motherless fuck” in no way insults or degrades his mother who undoubtedly made great sacrifices in raising him despite the unprincipled wretch he became in adulthood. Even such as I would not consider referencing his mother in such a manner.

                • Bill …
                  26 March 2015 at 5:39 pm

                  You’re an idiot.

                  If you can’t understand how spreading prejudice, feeds and reinforces prejudice, than I’m at a loss to figure what simple concepts you might have a chance of understanding. So far, I’m thinking that the chance of you understanding simple concepts might be comparable to the likelihood of snowballs flying around within some orthodox Christian image of hell.

                  I mean, can you not even get your head around the fact that I was very pointedly not referencing his mother by implying he has no mother/had no mother and was not born?

                  • Brewer …
                    26 March 2015 at 5:45 pm

                    Ok. I’m a simple fellow. We’ve got that out of the way.
                    Now can you explain how it ” feeds and reinforces prejudice”

                    • Bill …
                      26 March 2015 at 6:43 pm

                      Negative. stereotypes. are. products. of. various. levels. of. bigotry. and/or. ignorance.

                      Take. a. negative. stereotype.

                      Place. negative. stereotype. in. a. new. framework. where. the. stereotype. and. the. assumptions. it. is. built. on. are. not. challenged.

                      Pass. around.

                      Negative. stereotype. reinforced.

                      Hope. the. ‘/’. up. top. didn’t. throw. you. because. that. was. like. two. words. with. no. pause. to. allow. brain. to. grasp. meaning.

                    • Brewer …
                      26 March 2015 at 7:55 pm

                      Ahhh. I get it. Mea culpa. My apologies to Bill and all the bigots who have had their prejudices reinforced and to the ladies of the night who have been harmed by any resultant behaviour on the aforesaid’s behalf.
                      ……he said, backing away slowly.

                    • Bill …
                      26 March 2015 at 8:37 pm

                      Vietnamese their villages burned, escaping napalmed and bombed out land. Young women and girls, beseeched by their surviving family members to ‘sell their holes’ to the very people who created their hell, so that the family could eat.

                      Children born to them, if they were unfortunate enough to become pregnant, shunned and referred to as bui doi (“dirt of life”). Post war, the women and girls shunned and despised by their own society.

                      No. I don’t think you do get it. Even a vague inkling of ‘getting it’ would have meant there was absolutely no way you could have viewed condensing that to a cheap, unintelligent, guffawing parody as a vehicle to have a go at a powerful individual as acceptable.

                      Have a wee read of this and see if it helps you ‘get it’.

                    • Brewer …
                      26 March 2015 at 9:30 pm

                      I think this has gone far enough.
                      As someone who has devoted much of my almost seventy years actively fighting against all War and all its horrors, against those who would make thought or humour a crime and who has given years (yes, years) of my life to volunteer aid work in countries ravaged by Western predations I resent the linking of any amusement I might have experienced when viewing the above graffiti with the crimes listed in your post. It is a non-sequitur.
                      As someone who has accepted whores (yes they use that term in reference to themselves) without prejudice into my circle of close friends I am cognisant of the fact that only some are driven by circumstance to that profession and I know that the juxtaposition of John Key in that graffiti is a joke they themselves would be amused by.
                      As a Labour supporter for nearly fifty years who has watched with dismay the erosion of the left vote amongst my peers due to the inroads made by policy makers who concentrate their efforts on marginal issues and arguments like this one, I despair of the future and the results of our efforts.
                      Get over your silly, trivial psychobabble based thought process. The author of that graffiti is more in tune with the issues than you are, the medium and references to stereotype notwithstanding.

                    • North …
                      26 March 2015 at 10:19 pm

                      I’m.so.admiring.of.Bill’s.handsome.Maggie.Smith.clutching.of.the pearls.punctuation.somewhere.above. Nah, not really. Bully boy/girl stuff. Sooooo John Banks. E.n.u.n.c.i.a.t.i.n.g. Projecting possibly.

                    • Bill …
                      26 March 2015 at 11:02 pm

                      It’s not a non-sequitur.

                      The paragraphs on prostitution and the suggestions as to why prostitution in Vietnam was so prevalent is utterly relevant to the graffiti on that billboard. The language used was very much a parody of that associated with Vietnamese prostitutes as peddled by Hollywood etc, not western or english speaking prostitutes.

                      That makes a huge difference to the attempted humour.

                      If the language had reflected western modes of speech, then sure, I could see how it could have been made into something humorous. But it didn’t. It threw thoughtless racist bullshit around the show and boosted a prevalent and particularly ugly and stupid take on a specific (and yes, historical) set of women and girls that still impacts on how some (far too many!) idiot men view Asian women.

                    • Brewer …
                      26 March 2015 at 11:33 pm

                      “If the language had reflected western modes of speech, then sure, I could see how it could have been made into something humorous.”
                      Y’mean like this:

                      That’s what Nelly Furtado was aiming to do when she put the phrase in her song “Maneater.”

                      “That’s such a weird song,” she said. “It came from this cool, dark, powerful place which all women possess. I guess I just took that and ran with it, because that phrase just came to mind. ‘Love you long time’ — it just seemed powerful for a woman to possess that much energy. All she has to say is four little words and she’s got everybody eating out of the palm of her hand.”

                      Mariah Carey didn’t just refer to the oft-quoted line — she built a whole song around it. But she corrects the grammar, so the connotation changes. “Female artists like to play with words,” Furtado said. “Missy Elliott did that quite well with ‘bitch.’ She started saying, ‘She’s a bitch, I’m a bitch.’ And she owned the word. Women should be grateful to her for that. She’s a modern-day feminist.”

                      “It’s just one of those sayings that’s kind of pushed its way into our slang and our vocabulary,” Fergie said. “I think it’s just part of pop culture now.”

                      There’s a clothing line in London called “Love You Long Time” (fashion designer Katy Horwood counts Vanessa Carlton as one of her clients), but to counteract any possible negative interpretation of the use of the phrase in fashion, Suda’s Black Lava clothing line sells a shirt that reads “I Will Not Love You Long Time.”

                      Starting to tire of this. Don’t even want to find out why exploitation of Western women is humourous.
                      Different strokes. Goodnight.

                    • Bill …
                      27 March 2015 at 11:13 am

                      Don’t even want to find out why exploitation of Western women is humourous.

                      It’s not.

      • the pigman 17.1.2
        26 March 2015 at 7:23 pm

        +1 Bill, expertly deconstructed.

    • BassGuy 17.2
      26 March 2015 at 3:18 pm

      You owe me a new screen, because I spat my drink all over my old one.

    • Hateatea 17.3
      26 March 2015 at 4:38 pm

      Brewer, you hit the trifecta. Racist, sexist and crude all at once. If that is what passes for humour chez vous, I hope never to visit at your house.

    • fisiani 17.4
      26 March 2015 at 4:50 pm

      Disgusting vandalism of private property. Only one side does it. The Left.

      • Tracey 17.4.1
        26 March 2015 at 4:58 pm

        The Right vandalises public property… for a small number of private citizens

      • McFlock 17.4.2
        26 March 2015 at 4:58 pm

        Not so. National party candidates steal hoardings other people put up.

        Your comment was untrue. I strongly suspect it was intentionally false, in an effort to mislead people.

      • mac1 17.4.3
        26 March 2015 at 5:00 pm

        I was a candidate for the Left, Fisiani, one election when many of my billboards were stolen, removed or vandalised. You’re right. Disgusting vandalism of private property, especially when the thieves and vandals had to enter private property to commit their crime. So, bullshit to your ‘only one side does it’.

      • Draco T Bastard 17.4.4
        26 March 2015 at 5:04 pm

        Don’t kid yourself. In fact, more often than not, the ones I’ve seen vandalised have been the billboards of the left done by RWNJs.

        And, as I’ve pointed out before, such used to be seen as legitimate and viable means of political expression in NZ. It’s only the rise of the ‘individualists’ and the holding of private property as sacred that has seen it become else.

      • Brewer 17.4.5
        26 March 2015 at 5:29 pm

        Having driven past Willow Jean and Winnie with stencilled phalluses inserted orally beside an un-graffitied Osbourne billboard I suggest this statement is incorrect.

      • North 17.4.6
        26 March 2015 at 9:46 pm

        Brewer is being attacked unfairly, disproportionately.

        • Brewer 17.4.6.1
          26 March 2015 at 10:06 pm

          Thank you North. I have often observed that the Left has a habit of disintegrating every time it reaches critical mass and it is just such trivial disputes as this that does it. In my view, the appropriate response would have been “I find this in bad taste” or some such in which case I might not have felt obliged to reply except to agree. What we have seen is the escalation to the point where I am now smeared with complicity in “villages burned, escaping napalmed and bombed out land. Young women and girls, beseeched by their surviving family members to ‘sell their holes’. The left cause does not benefit from such zealotry.

          • North 17.4.6.1.1
            26 March 2015 at 10:41 pm

            Fair comment Brewer. But In respect of only some on this site and fewer of The Left overall.

            I remain attracted to the possibility of projection launched by a prideful few burdened with a niggling consciousness of their own imperfection. An arrogance fragile enough to evoke reflexive, OTT, bullying response. Suggestive of a flash of the demeanour evident in the ugly photograph contained in this post.

            • Brewer 17.4.6.1.1.1
              26 March 2015 at 11:42 pm

              LOL.
              You are welcome to visit “at my house” and I think you might find it congenial!!

      • felix 17.4.7
        26 March 2015 at 11:17 pm

        I don’t for a moment consider an advertisement for a candidate running for public office to be “private property”.

        In fact, no advertisement in a public space is “private property”.

        As Banksy (supposedly) put it:

        People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

        You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

        Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

        You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

      • sirpat 17.4.8
        27 March 2015 at 5:12 pm

        please you and Bill MUST remember to wear a helmet please…….otherwise when you fall off thy high horse you two my have an epiphany on a better way of seeing the world. Please don’t forget…..I know you may not fall but in the rarefied air one might pass out and fall anyway.

  18. Murray Rawshark 18
    26 March 2015 at 5:17 pm

    Funnily enough, what he said about the peaceful settlement of Aotearoa is partly accurate. Aotearoa was settled by Maori and the settlement probably was quite peaceful for quite a few years. I imagine that wars would have only broken out once the population density went up a bit, which may have taken a few hundred years. I am open to correction on this.

    The colonisation on the other hand,…. FJK’s statement is incredibly racist in ignoring the Maori setttlement of the country.

    • Hateatea 18.1
      26 March 2015 at 5:43 pm

      His imputation about peaceful settlement vis a vis Tauiwi is way, way off the mark. Our PM does live in a little fantasy world of his own, doesn’t he?

  19. Formerlyonthefb 19
    26 March 2015 at 5:59 pm

    Long time reader of comments, first time commenter. The current state of affairs in nz (msm turning on c*** features – john keys name in my house – and the fast approaching mass awakening of the sheeple where they all realise “oh dear we voted in a criminal who has been intent on destroying nz since 1987” or possibly before) I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for to u all. U never fail to entertain me & I will drop some knowledge that most if u would never even dream of. I grew up a dpb kid in rural nz. All the kids around me were farmers kids, had brand new everything every year, 4 wheel drive @ 16 & were snobby little munters. And gave me crap. For being poor. My only redeeming feature was being able to wipe the floor with their inbred faces academically. I believe c*** features was picked on too. And has worked his way to the top. To destroy the country that treated him like crap as a kid. All of this, mining consents, maui dolphins dennison plateau (sorry maybe spelt wrong. Gcsb screwing with this post in real time. Smartphones suck! Going to post this no matter what) is all revenge motivated. Coz he was treated like a poor kid then his mum came into money & he saw how the other half lived abd decided he was going to stsy well off – ok can’t fault that – however he is destroying everything kiwis hold dear. Why? Coz he doesn’t care. When he is no longer prime minister he will retire to hawaii and play golf (ha! Good luck. Gmo monsanto experimental playground)

    • Murray Rawshark 19.1
      26 March 2015 at 7:48 pm

      That’s a plausible explanation for FJK’s failings. The more important thing is what we’ll do about it.

  20. gypsy 20
    27 March 2015 at 8:27 am

    i must say id have to agree with every thing thats been said ,but why did anyone vote for the short ass little prat i sure as hell didnt i thought more of my family & grandkids by the time they are old enough there wont be a country called new zealand god knows who will own it by then;this prick will sell it to the highest bidder as long as hes got a few more billion in his bank why the fk would he care hes happy spinning bull shit to the world & they believe him lol sucked in;i think he alone should be sent over to isiss ;he have them all thinking he was there god & they could all worship him; then we would be rid of john fkn key

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