Just one fiasco after another

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, February 16th, 2012 - 151 comments
Categories: labour - Tags:

In yet another internet related act of stupidity Trevor Mallard has been busted scalping tickets to a bunch of kids. From Stuff:

He came out and gave us the package really quickly and he kept saying: ‘It’s not what it looks like; it’s not what it looks like,’ to random passers-by.

I’m sorry but this has to be the final straw from a senior MP that has continuously shown himself to be a liability to his party. Someone needs to take the keys to the internet of this guy.

In my opinion that someone is David Shearer. He came to the leadership pitched as the fresh face of the Labour Party and it’s about time he showed that by clamping down on the tired old embarrassment that is Trevor Mallard.

Update: The Herald has revealed Mallard has previously sold tickets for this event and for the sevens. One can only hope they’re not comp tickets because that would skirt very close to corruption.

151 comments on “Just one fiasco after another ”

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  1. higherstandard 1
    16 February 2012 at 9:17 am

    I’d like to say I’m outraged, however, I’ve come to expect extremely low standards and inveterate troughing from our elected/unelected representatives coupled with a complete lack of accountability for their actions.

  2. Blue 2
    16 February 2012 at 9:18 am

    Trevor Mallard was instrumental in getting Shearer the leadership. Don’t hold your breath for any action on his part.

  3. mickysavage 3
    16 February 2012 at 9:21 am

    /Bash head on keyboard repeatedly/

  4. tc 4
    16 February 2012 at 9:22 am

    ‘I’m sorry but this has to be the final straw from a senior MP that has continuously shown himself to be a liability to his party’
    Nope there will be plenty more straws from this dark lord of the labour party, if Shearer does jettison him (and I doubt he has the bollocks) it could go a long way to securing a win in 2014 and rid him of a destabilising, meglomaniac with anger management issues who just managed their worse result in deacdes.

  5. Carol 5
    16 February 2012 at 9:24 am

    Mallard should do the right thing and throw in the towel. This is one step too far…. there’s a back bench calling.

  6. Santi 6
    16 February 2012 at 9:25 am

    An idiot, a complete idiot, Mallard is.

  7. ianmac 7
    16 February 2012 at 9:36 am

    Disappointing as I see Mr Mallard as a useful MP because he is able to ask the tough question doggedly.

    • Jackal 7.1
      16 February 2012 at 9:45 am

      He also has a very good understanding of the law and politics, which makes this story surprising. I’d like to hear what he has to say about it?

      • Lew 7.1.1
        16 February 2012 at 9:48 am

        I’d like to hear what he has to say about it?

        The TL;DR is “I would have gotten away with it if those damned kids hadn’t gone to the media!”

        L

      • Roflcopter 7.1.2
        16 February 2012 at 9:52 am

        Probably “It’s not what it looks like; it’s not what it looks like”

        • Vicky32 7.1.2.1
          16 February 2012 at 6:07 pm

          Probably “It’s not what it looks like; it’s not what it looks like”

          What he actually did say was something like “OK, I was stupid, but wow, this is getting more publicity than the Crafar farms!”

      • Herodotus 7.1.3
        16 February 2012 at 10:31 am

        I heard Mallard on 97.4 just before 9:00 this morning not sure if they have the ability to listen to past broadcast from the net.

    • Vicky32 7.2
      16 February 2012 at 6:05 pm

      Disappointing as I see Mr Mallard as a useful MP because he is able to ask the tough question doggedly.

      Nevertheless, TV3 News are creaming their jeans about it, they are completely over-joyed. Reporter Tober O’Brien has never had the opportunity to sound quite so self-righteous before…
      (They follow it up with some sabre-rattling hysteria about Iran. Wow the bar-stewards are havibng such a good day!)

  8. DH 8
    16 February 2012 at 9:50 am

    I winced when I read that about Mallard. You get a lot of views about scalping but it’s really an issue of basic morality. Mallard reveals there he’s not averse to making an extra buck whenever the opportunity arises & that doesn’t serve him well. Many people may now wonder if there’s a personal profit motive behind any type of transaction he’s involved in.

    I’d figured Mallard to be one to do the right thing there, but then I thought English was a straight shooter once too.

  9. IrishBill 9
    16 February 2012 at 10:01 am

    By itself this isn’t a hanging offence but watching Trevor come unravelled over the last few years I can’t help but think of other roosters I’ve seen turned into feather dusters by this game.

    Trevor has done some very good stuff in his time but it may be time he hung up his gloves and made some space for someone with a bit more nous to come through.

    • Te Reo Putake 9.1
      16 February 2012 at 10:20 am

      Agreed, IB. I’s go further than the backbenches though.
       
      I hope that at least a couple of senior Labour MP’s retire during the term, preferably 12-6 months out from the next election (if the Nats limp through the next two years, that is). The resulting by-elctions would be a good test of the party machinery for the main event. Roskill and Hutt South would be ideal for this, both safe as houses and the resounding wins would be good for party morale, much as Shearer’s win in Mt Albert was last term.

  10. John Dalley 10
    16 February 2012 at 10:06 am

    Take a look at the Dominion website and tell me how these “student” had the money to buy these tickets?
    While i don’t condone scalping, if people have tickets to sell to an event then trademe is the right place to sell them. If people are then too stupid to pay over the face value for those tickets then put up or shut up. Scalping is only scalping because people are prepared to pay over the top for tickets.

    • Te Reo Putake 10.1
      16 February 2012 at 10:12 am

      Good point, John. I’d be interested to know both how they can afford the tickets and what their motivation for outing Trevor is. ACT on Campus members with generous parents?

      • Kotahi Tane Huna 10.1.1
        16 February 2012 at 10:17 am

        I can’t see how their source of income is the least bit relevant. Nor any of our business. Links to ACT would be another thing entirely.

      • IrishBill 10.1.2
        16 February 2012 at 10:17 am

        Reds under the bed much TRP?

        • Te Reo Putake 10.1.2.1
          16 February 2012 at 12:30 pm

          I prefer my reds in the bed, if human, or in the wine cellar, if not, IB and, yes, I think asking how they can afford it is a perfectly legitimate question, for which they may have a perfectly legitimate answer. The whole thing smells of a beat up and if they are prepared to breach Mallard’s privacy, then their own circumstances should be subject to scrutiny too.

    • Herodotus 10.2
      16 February 2012 at 10:36 am

      John there are conditions on the ticket in the line of that the ticket can only be resold for no more than face value. So Mallard is going against the conditions of purchase, so Mallard is going against the conditions of sale, and this comming from a man the fronted the scalping legislation re RWC. Do as I say not as I do !!!!

    • livingday2day 10.3
      16 February 2012 at 6:19 pm

      What a sycophantic dick you are John Dalley, dont blame the poor victims of the scalping, if the scum like him did not purchase them to only make a profit, then these students could have paid the real face price as stated on the ticket. He is a dodgy hypocritical git and needs to be kicked out of a the highest court in the land.

      He does not speak or represent the poor, if the Labour party think this is acceptable then they are no better. Now that he has been caught he is offering to pay the money back….. typical arse wipe…

  11. deemac 11
    16 February 2012 at 10:23 am

    I fail to share the media-generated outrage. Trade Me works by letting people buy and sell stuff as long as it’s legal. If you don’t like it, don’t participate. If you agree to buy something that’s your choice, don’t then go whining to get your pic in the papers.

    • Jackal 11.1
      16 February 2012 at 10:31 am

      It does raise questions of whether MP’s should be held to a higher standard than members of the public, who buy and sell overpriced tickets all the time without it becoming front page news. Mallard hasn’t broken any laws or rules and if people are truly outraged, they should work to change the system.

      • Lew 11.1.1
        16 February 2012 at 10:38 am

        It raises no such question. MPs by virtue of their role are held to higher standards of conduct than private individuals. As the famous scene from The West Wing has it, they’re not “just folks”.

        It’s pointless to debate whether or not this ought to be so, because it emphatically is so. In fact, it’s worse than pointless; it’s deleterious for partisans to publicly defend the incompetence or simple poor judgement of their team.

        The single best piece of advice I could give David Shearer this term is as follows: if they fuck up, don’t make excuses, don’t cut them slack — cut them loose.

        L

        • Jackal 11.1.1.1
          16 February 2012 at 11:04 am

          Their team… what on earth are you talking about? I seem to recall many a RWNJ trying to defend Key’s incompetence and treachery. Are you saying they don’t have the right to their opinion Lew?

          • Lew 11.1.1.1.1
            16 February 2012 at 11:16 am

            Of course everyone has a right to their opinions, but no opinion makes defending or excusing incompetence a worthy trait or a smart thing to do.

            L

            • Jackal 11.1.1.1.1.1
              16 February 2012 at 11:38 am

              I disagree. There is no harm in opining on the mechanism the “incompetence” was able to manifest itself in. I am not defending Mallards actions by disagreeing with the reaction and opinion of those who might try to use it for political gain.

              My opinion is that if there is a problem, then fix the mechanism. Hissing and snarling about something 600 other people are also doing this very minute seems like a waste of time to me.

              You say that MPs by virtue of their role are held to higher standards of conduct. This unfortunately is invariably not the case. My question to you then is what role was Mallard in when he sold some tickets online?

            • Lew 11.1.1.1.1.2
              16 February 2012 at 11:42 am

              What mechanism? Ticketing policy? Trademe’s systems? Those are beyond the scope of whether Mallard did something that he should have known better than to do. He, and Labour, have no control over those things, and nor should they. He, and they, have control only over his conduct, and they are presently paying the price for failing to exercise it adequately.

              As to your last question: leaving aside the obvious point that the transaction was conducted under his Parliamentary email address and out of his Parliamentary office, an MP should expect to be judged as an MP 24×7. Failure to do so gives rise to responses like this one.

              L

              • Rob …
                16 February 2012 at 12:05 pm

                Well put Lew.

              • Jackal …
                16 February 2012 at 12:07 pm

                Clearly you have not read the article properly Lew. Mallard himself initiated legislation to protect event sponsors from people scalping their tickets. Therefore MP’s and political parties do have control of the mechanism Mallard used. It is ludicrous to say that businesses do not have to adhere to the laws passed by government.

                Whether Mallard used his Parliamentary address to arrange the transfer does not determine what role he is in. But even if it did, by virtue of your argument should all people be held to account to workplace ethics when they are acting within the law in a private capacity?

                I think in principle they should, especially in context of law. A police officer should be a police officer 24/7 etc. They should not act outside of the law just because they are in a private capacity. Mallard has not acted outside of the law while in a private capacity, unlike various other politicians I could mention.

                • Lew …
                  16 February 2012 at 12:09 pm

                  MPs are different. You don’t have to believe me, you just have to read the papers, listen to the radio, watch TV, read the blogs and know the first thing about politics.

                  L

                  • Jackal …
                    16 February 2012 at 12:26 pm

                    Since you apparently have an encyclopedic understanding of politics, perhaps you can let me know what this supposed higher level of accountability politicians are being held to? I can certainly supply you with numerous accounts of when they’re not.

                    • Lew …
                      16 February 2012 at 12:29 pm

                      It’s not that they invariably are — it’s that they are liable to be held to higher standards, and can’t complain when they are. Caesar’s wife and all that.

                      L

                • Carol …
                  16 February 2012 at 12:20 pm

                  It’s similar to MPs who pontificate about “traditional family values”. If they then are exposed as having an extra- marital affair, they’re toast – not against the law, but unacceptable hypocrisy in an MP.

      • Inventory2 11.1.2
        16 February 2012 at 10:47 am

        You’re wrong Jackal. The Homegrown tickets were sold by Ticketec whose rules specifically prohibit onselling at a profit. But what is far worse is the perception, and that’s going to linger.

        • Jackal 11.1.2.1
          16 February 2012 at 11:05 am

          I very much doubt that Trademe would be acting in breach of the law or against Ticketec’s rules Inventory2. Got a link for that?

          • Chris 11.1.2.1.1
            16 February 2012 at 11:52 am

            http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/Content/help/faqs.aspx

            Go to online auction sites and scalping.

            • Jackal 11.1.2.1.1.1
              16 February 2012 at 12:16 pm

              The onus is clearly put on the purchaser.

              Anyone who buys tickets for more than their face value via auction sites such as trademe.co.nz runs the risk of being turned away at the event because those tickets may be invalid, or they may not be authentic Ticketek tickets.

              I look forward to hearing that their tickets have been made invalid. However there is a clear mistake by Mallard in not setting a buy now price.

              Selling tickets for above their face value via auction sites or any other unauthorised means is in breach of Ticketek’s Terms and Conditions of Sale. Any customers found to be in breach of these Terms and Conditions may have their tickets cancelled, their My Ticketek account closed and their credit card black-listed by Ticketek.

              If you can’t attend an event for legitimate reasons and want to sell your ticket via an online auction site, Ticketek will not object to your sale as long as the selling price is no more than the face value of the ticket. For example, you can use trademe.co.nz’s Buy Now function as long as the ticket price is set at face value or below.

              Perhaps Trademe should only allow ticket sales with a buy now price and not an auction. Has anybody got a link to the auction itself?

              • Lew …
                16 February 2012 at 12:18 pm

                However there is a clear mistake by Mallard in not setting a buy now price.

                Not setting a buy now price AND turning down an offer higher than 4x face value, calling it “cheeky”.

                L

                • lonelyavenger …
                  16 February 2012 at 2:07 pm

                  That’s factually incorrect. $500 is nowhere near 4x the $380 face value.

                  • Lew …
                    16 February 2012 at 2:44 pm

                    Hah. That $500 > (4x$95) was the proposition, and I believe — although I did have to repeat 6th form maths and haven’t studied any since — it still holds true.

                    L

                    • RedLogix …
                      16 February 2012 at 3:10 pm

                      “4 x face value” clearly implies that he was selling them for something greater than $1,520 … which is obviously not the case.

                      In fact it was about 1.31 x more than ‘face value’.

                    • Lew …
                      16 February 2012 at 3:15 pm

                      Well, if you insist on taking a boneheadedly adversarial reading…

                      L

                    • Chris …
                      16 February 2012 at 3:51 pm

                      There were 4 tickets so the face value was $380 not $95

                    • McFlock …
                      16 February 2012 at 5:01 pm

                      “In fact it was about 1.31 x more than ‘face value’.”
                        
                      Not even that – it was 1.31 times the face value, or about 0.31 (31%) more than the face vale. 131% more than face value would be a total value of 231% of the original, or $880. 🙂

                    • Jackal …
                      16 February 2012 at 10:45 pm

                      Yay! McFlock gets the chocolate fish.

                      [Nope.. I said 1.31 times, not 131%. Think about it…RL]

                    • Jackal …
                      17 February 2012 at 12:27 am

                      I was referring to the 31% as being correct. the 1.31 is also correct overal, but the increase itself is .31 of the face value. Essentially you’re both correct. Chocolate fish for everyone (except Catcus Kate).

              • Chris …
                16 February 2012 at 12:25 pm

                Why should trademe only allow buy now on tickets – not all tickets have those terms and conditions. It’s not up to them to make sure that people selling things on their website are following the terms and conditions of the product in question.

                • Jackal …
                  16 February 2012 at 12:32 pm

                  I disagree. If not a requirement by law, there is an ethical requirement for Trademe not to allow people to intentionally or mistakenly breach the conditions outlined.

          • Roflcopter 11.1.2.1.2
            16 February 2012 at 12:12 pm

            Trademe weren’t… Mallard was.

      • phillip ure.. 11.1.3
        16 February 2012 at 11:08 am

        it is a matter of perception..jackal..

        ..him sponsering an anti-scalping legislation dosen’t help his case..

        ..and what compounds matters is that his trade me record reveals him to be a serial-scalper/ticket-trader..

        ..the mind boggles..

        ..is he short of a buck..?

        ..does he also kerb-crawl garage-sales..

        [email look alike deleted].

    • Vicky32 11.2
      16 February 2012 at 6:13 pm

      If you agree to buy something that’s your choice, don’t then go whining to get your pic in the papers.

      That reminds me that just now on 3 News, Mallard offered a refund to the students, who said they wanted him to give the profit he made to NZ musicians, which they defined as “charity”, as the musicians were/would be the ones to suffer. (I don’t know if that latter point actually makes any sense.)

  12. Enough is Enough 12
    16 February 2012 at 10:27 am

    He spoke to Marcus Lush on Radio Live this morning at 8.48.

    He made no apologies. He can not see any problem with what he did. And inferred he would do it all again.

    Thanks Trev….just STFU, especially when we are getting traction and Keys popularity is lower than even I thought it could be.

  13. shorts 13
    16 February 2012 at 10:30 am

    it is a bad look, a question of ethics as mentioned… and gifts the media a lovely beatup story :facepalm:

    If it turns out they were complimentary tickets I hope he is crucified

    As a music fan I’m still angry that the Major Events Management Act 2007 only addressed certain types of events in regards to scalping, mainly the bloody rugger…. stuff culture and those that wish to attend gigs, concerts etc but we must protect big business and didn’t Mr Mallard have something to do with that particular legislation (ie should know better)

    in short bad look, stupid way to act, expect better of a Labour MP and just dumb – Mr Mallard you’re way more intelligent than your actions suggest

    and the party wonders why they’re in opposition

  14. Bored 14
    16 February 2012 at 10:41 am

    I watched the maiden speeches and Q&A…some of the newbies were interesting, especially the Greens…the desperate conscience of the soon to be former middle classes.

    Mallard looked and sounded what he is, a tired time server. Impact zero. Parker…much the same, impact zilch. On the receiving end, non entities, Key looked what and sounded he is, a scheister, integrity zero, appreciation of law etc zippo.

    I fear the events from inside and outside of NZ will come too fast for this motley assortment to debate and respond to. Their event horizon is set too low.

  15. Mouse Trawler 15
    16 February 2012 at 10:45 am

    What another beat up. This is Trevor being Trevor, it’s not anything different from who he’s always been. He was tolerated throughout Helen’s time, nothing he’s doing now is any different to what he did then. Labour tolerated him throughout that time because he had a job to do, and he did it well.

    Now some real low-lifers in Labour who want to get vengeance on him pounce on this as if it’s some kind of hanging offence. People sell tickets on trademe all the time ffs. What more hanging offences are there? “Oh look, Trevor’s dog-walker’s cousin got a parking ticket! Trevor must resign!”

    Your courage and character isn’t defined by how well you behave towards each other when you’re winning, it’s how you behave when you’re losing. Labour is losing and what do you do? You stick the knife into Trevor. Nice.

    • Zetetic 15.1
      16 February 2012 at 10:50 am

      You’ve got it backwards buddy, it’s Trev that sticks the knife into other people’s backs. Come to think of it I haven’t seen you around here before. Is that you Trev?

      [lprent: Zet – don’t guess about peoples identities. It is irritating. ]

      • Mouse Trawler 15.1.1
        16 February 2012 at 11:04 am

        Oh nice, another gutless wonder questions my identity. So you’re still shilling for Cunliffe then are you Zet?

        [lprent: Nor you. ]

        • Zetetic 15.1.1.1
          16 February 2012 at 11:11 am

          Now you sound all paranoid like John Pagani.

          • Mouse Trawler 15.1.1.1.1
            16 February 2012 at 11:27 am

            Obviously you must be really disgusted with the lack of democracy in the Labour Party if you think the only reason that Trevor Mallard has his position is based on the votes of John Pagani and Trevor Mallard.

  16. Bill 16
    16 February 2012 at 10:50 am

    A politician being a grubby little money grabber? Who’d have thunk it?!

  17. js 17
    16 February 2012 at 11:10 am

    What did he do with the extra money he earned by selling the tickets in the market (ie just using capitalism as it is intended to work)? He may have been doing a fundraiser for the local foodbank. Has anyone asked?

  18. Tiger Mountain 18
    16 February 2012 at 11:19 am

    Sometimes wierdly enough, things are just as they appear.

    There are not too many happy campers of any persuasion that leave after several decades spent on the green leather benches. The somewhat sane, and those that realise it was all a big mistake (e.g. Pam Corkery) tend to get out early. Others are pushed (Richard Worth).

    Parliament is just part of the scene, but most parties except Mana and Greens think it is the whole story. Do yourself a favour Trev….

  19. Francisco Hernandez 19
    16 February 2012 at 11:22 am

    Fantastic work by Trevor showcasing the good old-fashioned No.8 wire kiwi spirit of entrepreneurship and ingenuity. Good work showing that Labour is the *real* party that has a solid commitment for entrepreneurship and economic growth. We practice what we preach.

  21. Mouse Trawler 21
    16 February 2012 at 12:00 pm

    If this had been David Cunliffe in the news I’m sure a lot of you commenters would be running interference for him, saying it was a National Party plot and a mediaworks payback/media conspiracy. Instead it’s one of your internal enemies so you pile sh*t on him and allege possible corruption as well.

    How is ticket scalping worse than defaming people in Parliament (erin leigh, anyone)? How is ticket scalping worse than telling ridiculous lies for cheap headlines as the campaign spokesman (bagmen in Washington)? How is ticket scalping worse than the speaking of affairs line he made against brash while he was cheating on his own missus? How is it worse than punching another MP? Of course it isn’t. You tolerated him then and let him get away with it all, and now suddenly he’s not in favour you send him to the gallows. Just sickening.

    • phillip ure.. 21.1
      16 February 2012 at 12:30 pm

      um..!..just speaking for myself..there..mousetrawler..

      ..free of inner labour party tribal-affiliations/historical-internicine-war-memories as i am..

      ..i reckon it just rates really high on the idiot-charts…

      ..number three with a bullet..

      ..eh..?

      ..and had cunnliffe/any other done/said the same…

      ..they would be in the same position on that chart..

      ..and..the tack-factor over-rides most others..

      [email look alike deleted]..

  22. vto 22
    16 February 2012 at 12:26 pm

    1 – the public will not care.

    2 – any publicity is good publicity.

  23. phillip ure.. 23
    16 February 2012 at 12:32 pm

    the obvious one-liner/headline being..

    ..’mallard scalps himself’…

    [email look alike deleted].

    • phillip ure.. 23.1
      16 February 2012 at 1:18 pm

      um..!..what’s wrong with my name now..?

      [lprent: Nothing in itself. However things that look like email addresses encourage the email scraper bots. Yesterday I identified 50 of them scanning the site during the day.

      Who then use our expensive overseas traffic increasing the server costs. Having dropped our overseas traffic by 2/3rds by discouraging bots, I’m working on the rats and mice for the remaining excess charges.

      I’m identifying comments that use e-mails or things that scan like them and killing them. Use a format that doesn’t look like a email address or you’ll find that it is a way to auto-moderation. ]

  24. Cactus Kate 24
    16 February 2012 at 1:23 pm

    Absolutely nothing wrong with it.

    Making a 70% profit on an event of very average NZ musicians. Selling to no doubt Green voters with the state of their Emoness. Fools. Money. Parted.

    Someone put the man on the asset sales committee forthwith. Labour hasn’t see this sort of entrepreneurial spirit since 1988.

    • Roflcopter 24.1
      16 February 2012 at 1:55 pm

      The ol’ reverse psychology trick…

      <3 <3 <3

      • Cactus Kate 24.1.1
        16 February 2012 at 4:34 pm

        No, genuinely don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Other than all the irony and light humour attached.

        • mik e 24.1.1.1
          16 February 2012 at 7:17 pm

          I suppose he would make an excellent act leader his gaffes nearly up their with Rodney and Don

    • Jackal 24.2
      16 February 2012 at 2:38 pm

      What is wrong with people’s calculation today? Thank you very much… please try again.

    • felix 24.3
      16 February 2012 at 6:33 pm

      Oh look, Cactus Kate the conscience of the nation has spoken.

      It’s all ok because an old drunk lady with no ethical or moral compass says so.

      • Cactus Kate 24.3.1
        16 February 2012 at 10:42 pm

        Left wingers say its no big deal – silence
        I say same and get abused by an ignorant anonymous twat like yourself. No doubt older than I am still living with Mummy.

        • felix 24.3.1.1
          16 February 2012 at 10:46 pm

          That’s right dear.

        • RedLogix 24.3.1.2
          16 February 2012 at 10:47 pm

          Oh look here on The Standard we have a post titled “Just one fiasco after another” attacking Mallard for this lapse of judgement… and you call it ‘silence”?

          It just not all that big a deal to compared to say… National taking a $55,000 bribe/donation from a company neck-deeep in the Crafar farm deal. Nor the deafening silence from the right….

          • felix 24.3.1.2.1
            16 February 2012 at 11:05 pm

            I think our poor put-upon prickly friend has mistaken my comment for either agreement or disagreement with her point of view.

            As if I care what she thinks. Silly goose.

            • Cactus Kate 24.3.1.2.1.1
              16 February 2012 at 11:34 pm

              Felix the pussy doesn’t care what I think.
              Yet takes time out of his busy schedule doing dishes for his Mummy to abuse me rather than address the issues in the post.
              #winning
              Little wonder so few left wing women comment or contribute on this blog.

              • Jackal …
                17 February 2012 at 12:14 am

                Sheesh Catcus, you’re hissing and spitting like a trapped feral cat. Perhaps you might like to re-sit third form math, so as to not appear a complete fool, before fabricating yet another falsehood and personal attack. Silence? There’s none so deaf as those who will not hear… and Catcus, you racist old hack, clearly you’ve chosen to plug your ears with your fingers and yell; “I’m a RWNJ, I’m a RWNJ”.

              • felix …
                17 February 2012 at 12:20 am

                Correct, I don’t give a toss what you think.

                I do care that you pollute this channel with your venom though, and if you weren’t so dense you would’ve picked up the difference.

                Have to go now, mummy needs me (kind of an empathic human thing you wouldn’t understand)

                ps there are lots of left-wing women commenting here. If you weren’t so solipsistic you’d have noticed.

              • lprent …
                17 February 2012 at 12:34 am

                …so few left wing women comment or contribute on this blog.

                I guess you don’t read here much or fail to look at the detail of the comments. The overt female commentators are prevalent and obvious, and there are quite lot who just use either non gender specific or male pseudonyms (that I can see from the email addresses etc). We’re pretty careful not to let that awareness seep into the comment stream. But I am almost certainly missing many. It is actually harder than figuring out people’s age groups.

                My guess amongst the regular commentators, ie after we exclude the trolling from the sewers, is that the number of regular female commentators is heading above 30%. But the volume of comments by women is under a quarter. But there aren’t that many who leave comments every day…

                The much larger passive reader audience from the segment info analysis are much closer to population norms for gender.

                What were you looking for? Tearful emotions about the joy of pregnancy and safe contraception from 1970’s Woman’s weekly? Cooking, sewing and embroidery tips? It isn’t that kind of blog. The number of woman participating has been steadily rising for years. Pretty much since the impediment of the self obsessed misogynist trolls were returned to KB and the other sewers.

                What we are short on, and always have been are female authors.

  25. Irascible 25
    16 February 2012 at 2:34 pm

    Compared to KeY’s stated intention to sell NZ’s assets on the asset strippers’ fire sale websites in return for donations to the NACTional party, if the Crafar Farm donation is an indication, the sale of tickets to a nonentity’s concert is but a gnat bite on the rump of the state. Let’s focus on the corruption that keeps emerging from the ranks of the NACTional govt.

    • DJL 25.1
      16 February 2012 at 3:27 pm

      I agree, and just look at the timing of it. More media smoke and mirrors, nothing to see here…look over there.

    • Vicky32 25.2
      16 February 2012 at 6:27 pm

      Let’s focus on the corruption that keeps emerging from the ranks of the NACTional govt.

      Exactly!

    • burt 25.3
      16 February 2012 at 6:46 pm

      OK so we say that National are worse and therefore lets not worry about Labour – talk about fail…. When you judge integrity as relative to something you say is unacceptable – you have lost the fight.

      • RedLogix 25.3.1
        16 February 2012 at 6:53 pm

        umm.. no sense of proportion have we burt?

        Sure it’s not an especially bright move on his part. Mallard should have just clicked the ‘Buy Now’ button and fixed the price at the face value. Instead he’s let the auction run and he’s made … oh look ….a whole $120 profit on the deal. Does the term ‘chicken feed’ mean anything to you burt?

        And in the meantime your team is asset stripping the nation to the tune of billions of dollars and you’re on the sidelines cheering them on.

        • burt 25.3.1.1
          16 February 2012 at 6:57 pm

          My team… you know my team…. I don’t think my team is doing anything of the sort… tell me who is my team ?

          • RedLogix 25.3.1.1.1
            16 February 2012 at 7:07 pm

            Oh my bad.. I forgot… burt isn’t political.

            • burt 25.3.1.1.1.1
              16 February 2012 at 7:08 pm

              To scared to admit you made a bad assumption….

              There is one more comment around this in moderation… I hope it gets released.

              [Yeah and I just released it for you ..RL]

              • RedLogix …
                16 February 2012 at 7:25 pm

                Nah.. we’ve just seen you pull this crap so often pretending that you aren’t cheering for the Tory team. I don’t really care for what Party you claim to support, if any… your long track-record here stamps you as a right-winger.

                That’s not an assumption.

                • burt …
                  16 February 2012 at 7:33 pm

                  The generic – Not supporting Labour = National voter.

                  You are sounding like a small minded fool now RL.

                  My views (generic ideology of economics and politics) might cast me as a National voter in that (apparently) small mind of yours – but tell me are your assumptions always right ?

                  • RedLogix …
                    16 February 2012 at 7:54 pm

                    And you’ve made the dumb arse assumption that I’m a “Labour supporter”. Actually if you’d been paying attention you’d know I was a paid-up member of the Green Party. And they don’t always get my vote even.

                    But that’s not especially relevant to my identity here at The Standard where I generally express a generic ‘pan-left’ social democrat position.

                    Your record clearly stamps you as somewhere in the right wing camp, off in some curmudgeonly little backwater of your own. Frankly I don’t care which party you support or vote for… and it’s not very relevant to the discussion either.

                    • burt …
                      16 February 2012 at 7:59 pm

                      RL

                      I know that actually RL, I’m aware your ‘votegreen’ !!!

                      I think outside of this blog we would find we are very much the same in our desired outcomes for society and the economy.

                      The generic polarisation of “Labour good – national bad” on this blog seems to be where we deviate and argue.

        • burt 25.3.1.2
          16 February 2012 at 6:59 pm

          oh look ….a whole $120 profit on the deal. Does the term ‘chicken feed’ mean anything to you burt?

          Yeah sure, $800,000 is chicken feed to some people ! So I guess Labour stealing $800,000 was chicken feed.

          To some people $120 is an enormous amount of money – clearly not to you.

          Tell somebody walking home 10k’s because they can’t afford the $5 bus fare that $120 is chicken feed and see what they say.

          You are clearly a rich prick !!!!!

          • RedLogix 25.3.1.2.1
            16 February 2012 at 7:32 pm

            And to some people $1.20 would be an ‘enormous sum of money’ too. Maybe you’d be equally wound up if Mallard had made 12 cents on the deal. At some point it gets plain daft doesn’t it burt?

            And you keep forgetting that the ticket purchasers seem quite happy to pay $120 over face value, well actually $30 per ticket and given that no-one coerced them into it … they’d have to be ‘rick pricks’ too.

            Why so keen to defend their interests?

            • burt 25.3.1.2.1.1
              16 February 2012 at 7:34 pm

              At some point it gets plain daft doesn’t it burt?

              I guess so – but you’re the one who said it was chicken feed….

            • burt 25.3.1.2.1.2
              16 February 2012 at 7:40 pm

              Why so keen to defend their interests?

              Because I’ve been unable to afford tickets to events because of profit taking scum who through good luck of timing can get tickets for no other purpose than to sell them for a profit.

              Additionally I’ve been holding tickets I can’t use because my circumstances have changed and I have sold them at face value. You can say you don’t believe me – I expect you will.

              But think about about my strongly principled stance on other issues and if you consider that you might have a glimmer of acceptance that to me principles are bigger than expediency.

              • RedLogix …
                16 February 2012 at 7:46 pm

                Fine.. where did I say I was defending Mallard?

                Although in this case it appears Mallard did legitimately buy four tickets (clearly not some sort of bulk buy up intended for later re-sale) and then re-sold them when he legitimately didn’t need them any more. That’s not scalping.

                The mistake he made was not fixing the price at the face value. A fuck up. A $120 fuck up.

                Meantime in the real world bankers, and their sundry parasites, have been thieving billions if not trillions of dollars out of the pockets of ordinary people and you’ve nothing to say. Your principles are may be very, very big… but they are mighty selective it would seem.

                • burt …
                  16 February 2012 at 7:51 pm

                  Fine.. where did I say I was defending Mallard?

                  Well you didn’t, and I didn’t actually say you were……

                  I started saying that using a perception of National’s behaviour as a measure of how we should react to this was a joke…. You ripped into me about it only being $120.

                  I have no beef with you RL, other than you attacking me by saying $120 is nothing…. Sure I could burn that much up tomorrow night on beer and more on hookers if I get that way inclined… but that’s not the point.

                  It’s $120 that is directly against the principle of the anti scalping law that Mallard was instrumental in passing…. he has to go.

                  A fuck up…. one of many for this guy – how many little stuff up’s before you also join the chorus saying enough ?

                  • RedLogix …
                    16 February 2012 at 8:01 pm

                    I’d take you more seriously if you were equally vociferous about demanding John Key be sacked for his numerous stuff ups too.

                    For instance Key has been repeatedly lying to the House about how Williamson and Coleman had ‘no choice’ but to rubber stamp the Crafar deal. When everyone knows that’s bollocks.

                    Your turn burt….

                    • burt …
                      16 February 2012 at 8:12 pm

                      For instance Key has been repeatedly lying to the House about how Williamson and Coleman had ‘no choice’ but to rubber stamp the Crafar deal. When everyone knows that’s bollocks.

                      RL, this won’t go far…

                      Mallard in this instance has been caught actually doing something stupid… not “I think so”, “my team thinks so”, “I don’t have proof but I know” kind of stuff…

                      Real hard evidence…. Like Winston and the undeclared donations…. Clark and the painting… that sort of shit….

                      Look if Key uses parliament to validate his actions and kills a court case I’ll be in the front line of the protest…

                      Don’t confuse my anti-labour position as a pro-National position – it’s simply not the case.

                    • RedLogix …
                      16 February 2012 at 8:21 pm

                      Yeah but the difference is that the Crafar farms involves a $55,000 donation to the Nats and the alienation of $200m worth of NZ farmland. Mallard’s mistake by contrast involves $120.. to some perfectly willing buyers.

                      Key in the meantime blatantly lies to the House and you say “this won’t go far”. Expedient some?

                      And you wonder why I call your sense of proportion and selective principles to account?

                    • burt …
                      16 February 2012 at 8:28 pm

                      Key’s lied to the house…. really ?

                      If he has then it’s a f##king shame that the powers of the privileges committee were nullified when Winston was found wanting…..

                      Use to be the highest court in the lands then it was suddenly just an informal admonishment.

                      Shit if Winston was sacked, charged and sent down for his episode we might have a chance of hanging Key !

                    • burt …
                      16 February 2012 at 8:29 pm

                      The precedent of expediency in Labour’s 9 years of trampling on the rules of democracy now work against your (and my) desire for open and honest government.

                    • burt …
                      16 February 2012 at 8:31 pm

                      RL

                      Got to go, I’ve got a video of a mates basketball game to get off my camera and post up onto the net for him…

                      If you are in Welly we should meet for a beer ?

                    • RedLogix …
                      16 February 2012 at 8:36 pm

                      Winston simply said “No” when he should have said “None of your fucking business”. (Which is exactly what National was saying about it’s massive trust funds… incidentally). And he said it outside the House. In the normal course it would have been a total non-event, but Rodney Hide and some mates decided to make a vendetta of it.

                      And in the end you may recall that despite three separate investigations, no charges were ever laid.. of any description. Pick a better example.

                      Key by contrast is flat-out lying in the House to cover his corrupt arse.

                      Not in Welly .. on holiday. But thanks for the offer…

                    • livingday2day …
                      16 February 2012 at 10:07 pm

                      @RedLogix

                      That maybe true, but Mallard is ripping off poor youth and then telling blatant lies. Two wrongs do not make a right and you can not justify Mallards actions by saying someone else is doing something morally corrupt so it is alright for my friend to take advantage of those he supposed to protect. He is the same just another profiteer exxploiting others less fortunate.

                      He has also said that he will keep doing it but in a covert manner through a third party.

                      He is just a hypocritical rich prick in disguise which makes it ten times worse

                    • RedLogix …
                      16 February 2012 at 10:35 pm

                      Go take your crocodile tears somewhere else. The buyers of these tickets paid exactly what they were prepared to pay for a purely discretionary item. Something they obviously could afford. Their fault entirely if they really wanted them that much and they weren’t organised enough to buy the tickets back when they were available at face value.

                      No-one got ripped off.

                      Scalping is bulk buying tickets with the express intention of re-selling them at a profit; that isn’t what happened here.

                      What did happen is that Mallard made a total doofus of himself … over the sort of fuck up people make all the time.

                • burt …
                  16 February 2012 at 7:55 pm

                  Your principles are may be very, very big… but they are mighty selective it would seem.

                  Because this forum (the standard) is one place I vent – don’t assume it’s the only one.

                • livingday2day …
                  16 February 2012 at 10:11 pm

                  Sorry RedLogix he knew exactly what he was doing as someone offered him face price and he called them cheeky and then he let the auction auto extend to scalp the price.

                  You can not cover that up for him, you are making yourself look as low as he is by trying to justify his actions.

                  • ScarFace Claw …
                    16 February 2012 at 10:16 pm

                    Amen……..

                  • RedLogix …
                    16 February 2012 at 10:24 pm

                    Nowhere am I trying to justify what he did. What do the words “Fuck up” mean to you?

                    I’m just pissed by the faux outrage .. all over $120.. when the rest of the world is screwed over to the tune of trillions of dollars and nothing but complicit silence from the right.

                    Fuck off.

                    • burt …
                      17 February 2012 at 7:57 pm

                      Hey RL,

                      Apparently he made $276 worth of profit. You said $120 … and then proceeded to tell me other stuff that was ‘true’ about National telling lies….

                      So I should trust your facts ?

  26. Carol 26
    16 February 2012 at 2:37 pm

    I’m not keen on this ticket re-sell being more inline with neoliberal values than with solid left ones: ie anything’s OK for making a profit, as long as it doesn’t actually break the law.

    And this comes after Mallard has had a long term relationship with iPredict, which also seems to me like a rightie kind of speculative gambling…. plus Mallard’s support of the seemingly centrist Shearer, rather than Cunliffe who put forward some more solidly left policies.

    Mallard has done some good stuff, eg doggedly pursuing some government dodginess in the House. But he’s looking to me to be too into some right-wing values.

  27. SHG 27
    16 February 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Mallard’s TradeMe history shows this isn’t the first time he’s on-sold tickets to sporting/entertainment events for a profit.

    Question: how did he get the tickets to sell?

    I hope for his sake that he bought them out of his own pocket.

    • burt 27.1
      16 February 2012 at 6:52 pm

      A socialist… spending his own money… You’re on fire today SHG – very very funny.

      • SHG 27.1.1
        16 February 2012 at 7:35 pm

        Well, I’d be pretty unimpressed if he was getting things of monetary value as “goodwill gestures” in virtue of being an MP and former Minister of Sport and Recreation, then privately selling those things and pocketing the money.

        • burt 27.1.1.1
          16 February 2012 at 7:54 pm

          We’ll need to take them honourable member on his word I suspect.

          We could demand he produce evidence he paid for them but he’s not obliged to produce that.

  28. phillip ure.. 28
    16 February 2012 at 5:04 pm

    he was just on national radio..complaining how hard done by/unfairly treated he has been..

    ..just digging a deeper and deeper hole…

    ..he has a chronic case of tin-ear..if nothing else..

    phil at whoar..

  29. chris73 29
    16 February 2012 at 5:39 pm

    I don’t think hes guilty of corruption (at least I seriously hope not) nor of scalping but he is guilty of being a grade A doofus

    • felix 29.1
      16 February 2012 at 6:36 pm

      Yeah. I don’t know if there’s anything illegal about using his office or whatever, but either way it’s weird behaviour.

      And sometimes weird behaviour hurts you more than illegal behaiour.

  30. livingday2day 30
    16 February 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Trevor Mallard is morally corrupt!!!! Same thing of someone who participates in the highest court in the land….. Hes got to go!!!

  31. burt 31
    16 February 2012 at 6:55 pm

    So the standard MPs response has played out exactly as the play book dictates….

    I screwed up… I’ll pay it back and everything will be OK !

    That’s it folks…. when you make the laws you seem to have the option of only complying with them retrospectively by making good on what you did wrong in your own way. You can’t be held accountable for your actions if you undo what you did wrong….

    Next person caught shoplifting… just put it back in the shop and all is forgiven…. Yeah right!

  32. Conway Captain 32
    16 February 2012 at 7:17 pm

    If tghis is the standard of behaviour fro, a very senior MP and ex Minister of the Crown he should resign from Parliament IMMEDIATELY.

    He is a disgrace, it is NOT a laughing matter.

    • burt 32.1
      16 February 2012 at 7:41 pm

      Agree. But don’t hold your breath – he’s going to pay the money back and that seems to be all that is required for an MP no matter what they did.

  33. Livingday2day 33
    16 February 2012 at 8:01 pm

    I don’t like it, that he buys all these tickets that appeal to the 18 – 25 year olds. He knows they don’t have the money, but they will pay anything to attend these events. Once the price is up…. low and behold someone has a birthday……. If this is truely the case why did he not sell them to the buyer that offered him just over the cost price? instead of calling them “cheeky”…… Come on he is dishonest, you must be very gullible if you believe what he is saying, he acted as if butter wouldnt melt in his mouth.. Of course someone in the position of an MP must be beyond reproach….. He is not!!!

  34. Rosemary 34
    16 February 2012 at 8:42 pm

    Was hoping Labour would get things sorted pretty, but no. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse something else happens, and it’s going keep on happening.

    The problem is that Shearer has said or done nothing that indicates things are going to change. Labour will remain irrelevant until this happens. Labour need to rediscover its traditional Labour roots. It’s the only way. Competing with the right for the centre-right territory just makes Labour look like a bunch of fools, gutless bloody fools.

  35. burt 35
    16 February 2012 at 9:15 pm

    This is actually very very funny. Question time in parliament;

    http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/02/question_12.html

  36. Jimmie 36
    16 February 2012 at 9:30 pm

    I really don’t know why he bothers. I mean he’s been in Parliament for goodness knows how long earning as a back bencher a salary some 4-5 times the national average. He was a cabinet minster for many years at $200K plus a year. Does he really need a paltry $120 profit from some silly tickets?

    Does he have a secret gambling addiction or something? Sadly Mallard epitomizes the stereotype much beloved by the left of a greedy rich capitalist for whom enough money is never enough.
    Definitely time the old war horse was put out to pasture.

    • RedLogix 36.1
      16 February 2012 at 11:05 pm

      Nah it’s not that complicated .. the simplest explanation is the Mallard is like most other Kiwis and likes to make the most of a deal.

      It’s called ‘rational economic behaviour’. It’s the dominant paradigm. If Mallard had paused to think about what he was doing he’d mostly likely asked face value for the tickets, but pausing to think is something most of us don’t do most of the time.

  37. Greg Moore 37
    17 February 2012 at 1:22 am

    I am from the darkside ( a Nat voter) but I have always liked Trev because he says it the way he sees it, and I respect that.
    I don’t want him to go, but can some body please give him some ” social media” training!

    PS webmaster, I am running server 03 R2 and I am always getting corrupted cgi objects here, needs flushing some where.
    Good site guys, cheers G.

    • lprent 37.1
      17 February 2012 at 3:20 am

      Umm – what effect are you seeing? And is it IE?

      I always get informed multiple times when the site has a problem from the regular commentators. Haven’t seen anything that would be consistent with a cache type problem in the last couple of weeks.

      The site got reinstalled several weeks after a kernel update to 3.0 trashed my customized FastCGI setup. I shifted to php5-FPM http://php-fpm.org/about/ and have been testing intensively since over several browsers and OS’es. I have also been looking at the PHP5 kernel diagnosics to ensure that the memory space gets cleaned – and it does – better than the old fastcgi.

      The only caching that the server does is the usual file system caching, and the caching of the loaded PHP pcode with APC.

      It does tell the client how to cache and that is where i see most issues. Some browsers just want to make up their own damn rules about caching.

      The safari on my iPad for instance is a real pain for showing me pages from yesterday whenever I back up apage on the herald, this site, and quite a few others.

      If it is IE, then I’d suggest installing Chrome or Firefox, both of which will do a better browsing job with less drama. My 03 R2 downstairs never gets its IE used, despite being up to date, because it seems to do strange things with its cache. Makes it bloody hard to test sites on it. The same IE version on the vista boot on the laptop works perfectly.

  38. Chris Oden 38
    17 February 2012 at 2:17 pm

    Was key ever interviewed by anyone about his throat slitting gesture to Phil Goff in Parliament, and accusing Labour for orchestrating the incident.And then realising he had been taped so he “cut and ran” Also not much mileage was made media wise about his blatant lie re Standard and Poors downgrading and waving about his grocery list,pretending it was an e mail from a “reliable source”Trevor Mallard was an absolute twat for selling his tickets for a profit and getting pinged, but its a small budgie in a large cage compared to keys keys destructive shenanigans. Ups to Mallard for fronting Campbell live at least.

  39. Anne 39
    17 February 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Was key ever interviewed by anyone about his throat slitting gesture to Phil Goff in Parliament,

    Not that I recall. TV3 played the video on air, but studiously avoided any negative comment concerning Key’s role in the affair. I don’t think TV1 gave it any pertinent coverage at all. It was utterly disgraceful behaviour on Key’s part, and I guess that’s why the MSM were so low key in their coverage. The last thing they dared portray to the masses was the real John Key – the two-faced cowardly a——e most of us here recognised a long time ago. He didn’t even have the balls to apologise to Phil Goff for his insulting behaviour.

    The most telling aspect of that incident that the MSM avoided mentioning at all, was Key’s total lack of concern for the distressed man who tried to take his own life or the Labour members sitting immediately beneath where he would have fallen.