Memo from Crosby Textor: Murray McCully and the Hagaman donation

Written By: - Date published: 2:01 pm, April 24th, 2016 - 35 comments
Categories: David Farrar, journalism, making shit up, Media, spin, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: , ,

To the National Party:

We note recent controversy concerning the donation of a substantial amount of money by Earl Hagaman and the subsequent awarding of the management contract for the Niue resort to his company.  The $7.5 million award for improvements to the resort in the next year only heightens the murkiness of the arrangement.  Clearly a strategy to deal with reputational risks is all important.

Can we repeat what Matthew Hooton said about the Minister responsible Murray McCully.  If he organised a sausage sizzle for local hospice, he’d find a way to do it corruptly.  He is a well known control freak and micro manager who has all but destroyed the quality of New Zealand’s aid program by insisting that aid to the Pacific follows commercial imperatives.

We are pleased that our advice concerning the handling of any scandal which hits the Government is still being followed.  Any scandal should be responded to by claiming it is all Labour’s fault and/or Labour does it too.  If this line is not available then Andrew Little’s handling should be criticised and presented as further evidence that he is struggling, even if his performance is perfectly adequate.  We sense increasing despair and hostility amongst the public with National’s performance.  As long as a perception can be created that changing support will have no effect then support for your party will remain, even if it is very soft.

We are also pleased at main stream media’s willingness to keep repeating our attack lines.  Tracy Watkins, Claire Trevett, and Rodney Hide amongst others have criticised Little for not presenting any proof even though in most western democracies the timing of the donation and the awarding of the contract should have attracted an immediate investigation by the authorities.  And the Government pollster is also following our instructions to the letter.

But the issue presents considerable risk and a public inquiry into the matter must be avoided at all costs.  We have no faith that Murray McCully has not interfered in the process and are concerned at what a proper inquiry will establish.

Our invoice will follow in due course.

35 comments on “Memo from Crosby Textor: Murray McCully and the Hagaman donation ”

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  1. ianmac 1
    24 April 2016 at 2:56 pm

    Thankyou so much Crosby. Some of we National folk are a bit uneasy about the perception that National’s integrity has slipped down a bit. The end justifies the means so those people in the Pacific will just have to go without welfare and sooner or later the millions invested in places like Niue will trickle down to the natives. So thanks for the support Crosby, and thanks to the town criers employed by National like Tracy Watkins, Claire Trevett, and Rodney Hide.
    Where would we be without them?

  2. Incognito 2
    24 April 2016 at 4:01 pm

    Would it not be very (!) interesting if there were a leak or data dump from the IT systems of the C|T Group: the TC Papers?

  3. weka 3
    24 April 2016 at 4:03 pm

    You forgot the satire tag 😉

  4. Rob 4
    24 April 2016 at 6:26 pm

    Yes Tracy must be concerned
    That is two weeks in a row she has had to come out in support!!

  5. AmaKiwi 5
    24 April 2016 at 8:09 pm

    Transparency is the cornerstone of honest government.

    If McCully has nothing to fear, he has nothing to hide.

    The public and press demand all of the documents on the table NOW.

    • srylands 5.1
      24 April 2016 at 8:33 pm

      I think you will find that this story will be dead by the end of this coming week.

      • mickysavage 5.1.1
        24 April 2016 at 8:43 pm

        Why is that? Do you have access to the polished version of the release?

      • Tricledrown 5.1.2
        24 April 2016 at 9:10 pm

        Bigger scandals coming a Spylands.
        Like the Saudi sheep Deal .
        It will keep giving.

      • AmaKiwi 5.1.3
        24 April 2016 at 10:23 pm

        srylands sense of humor: “this story will be dead by the end of the week”

        Concealment and bribery is THE story of the times. The rich and powerful became rich and powerful by concealment, stealth, denial of transparency.

        Compared to the Panama Papers, Hillary Clinton, Edward Snowden, etc., McCully is small potatoes. But a potato none-the-less.

        What part of my statement did you not understand?

        “Transparency is the cornerstone of honest government.
        If McCully has nothing to fear, he has nothing to hide.
        The public and press demand all of the documents on the table NOW.”

      • seeker 5.1.4
        24 April 2016 at 11:22 pm

        @srylands@8.33pm
        you mean ‘buried’ by the nzme and others on behalf of the ‘walking dead’ national government.

      • Matthew Whitehead 5.1.5
        25 April 2016 at 9:43 am

        If this doesn’t sink McCully, it will act as an embarassment and an anchor around the government’s heel, especially as he has previously been involved in other scandals of a similar nature. (I expect it won’t sink McCully, as if Key could have dumped him, he already would have)

        That this sort of dodgy dealing can pass the relevant checks that should be in place to stop deals that could be perceived as corrupt is just more evidence that this government’s time deserves to be up.

      • leftie 5.1.6
        25 April 2016 at 12:51 pm

        You wish srylands

  6. Nessalt 6
    24 April 2016 at 8:50 pm

    I always know when a seeded left wing dirty politics attempted hit doesn’t take root and it’s seeders acknowledge its failed. It’s when I see a poor attempt at humor that tries to somehow link national with CT and dirty politics and corruption. it’s the last resort and then quietly never mentioned again by the left and fades into a collective obscurity

    • mickysavage 6.1
      24 April 2016 at 9:03 pm

      Update from Crosby Textor:

      Can you train your trolls better? Every time they claim that the left engages in dirty politics the left and the media laugh. I know that Cameron Slater thinks that he is the victim and not the proponent of dirty politics and that everyone including the media is against him but the suggestion that dirty politics is something that the left does is really preposterous and it is the one thing that will cause the media to laugh at the right.

      • AmaKiwi 6.1.1
        24 April 2016 at 10:31 pm

        Nats speak: “There is nothing to hide which is why we won’t show you anything.”

        Trust me. I’m a politician, a very wealthy politician.

      • Rodel 6.1.2
        24 April 2016 at 11:23 pm

        Cameron Slater? Who?

      • Nessalt 6.1.3
        27 April 2016 at 11:58 am

        day 3 and no new information or further publications about mccully interfering in niue. dirty politics fail 937 for the left since john key came to power.

    • Rodel 6.2
      24 April 2016 at 11:29 pm

      I always know when a seeded right wing dirty politics attempted denial doesn’t take root and it’s seeders acknowledge its failed. It’s when I see a poor attempt at sarcasm that tries to somehow deny the real links of national with CT and dirty politics and corruption. it’s the last resort and then quietly forever mentioned again by the right and is repeated ad nauseum . ( ie. . they say it a lot)

      • seeker 6.2.1
        25 April 2016 at 12:32 am

        Ain’t that the truth Rodel @11.29pm. Well corrected. Nessalt @8.50pm. take note.

        • Nessalt 6.2.1.1
          27 April 2016 at 12:00 pm

          Any more news about this? any more mud left on your boot that you hope might stick? no, take a bow labour, for showing us how not to do dirty politics. Labour got called and couldn’t answer with anything cogent beyond throwing shit around

    • framu 6.3
      26 April 2016 at 8:01 am

      is dirty politics…

      a) raising a potential conflict of interest and then capitalising on it publicly in the usual manner of most parties?

      or

      b) running a secret smear machine out of the PMs office designed to launch secret attacks on political opponents while keeping the PMs hands clean?

      which is it? – an “a” or a “b” will suffice as an answer

      this attempt to muddy the waters and paint perpetrators of dirty politics as victims is real low stuff – and it only comes from a place of deceit or ignorance

      • Nessalt 6.3.1
        27 April 2016 at 12:02 pm

        It’s half A and half B. you can’t have one without the other. the high ground gets taken by the leader while the baseless accusations and insinuations go out through the attack blogs and compliant media. this is the basics. thought you new that?

  7. seeker 7
    24 April 2016 at 11:44 pm

    “we actually support a view that says there should be no corruption in the world..” said ‘archangel’ john key with a straight face on a Q&A tvnz interview with Corinn Dann today 24.4.16 @ 12.48 mins into the clip
    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/q-and-a/24-04-2016/series-9-episode-7

    Oh how I laughed and laughed and laughed until sadly I cried……..

    • whispering kate 7.1
      25 April 2016 at 8:33 am

      I heard that interview as well with Corin Dann, he said in a conversation about China we were corruption free and had a free press – I choked on my glass of wine, he should be on the bloody stage, I wonder how he would respond hooked up to a lie detector.

  8. Rolfcopter 8
    25 April 2016 at 8:49 am

    We note recent controversy concerning the donation of a substantial amount of money by Earl Hagaman and the subsequent awarding of the management contract for the Niue resort to his company.

    Got a simple fact wrong on the very first sentence… keep trying ol’ chap.

  9. Gosman 9
    25 April 2016 at 9:13 am

    Labour party leader accuses Nuie Premier and top NZ diplomats of potential corruption and somehow the National party is on the back foot. Do you know what overreach means?

  10. Gosman 10
    25 April 2016 at 9:13 am

    Labour party leader accuses Nuie Premier and top NZ diplomats of potential corruption and somehow the National party is on the back foot. Do you know what overreach means?

  11. brian 11
    25 April 2016 at 12:59 pm

    No need to remember the 500K donation to the Labour Party from Mr Glenn who wanted to be an consular official somewhere. Mr Little is not struggling at 7% – it comes naturally to him.

  12. Chuck 12
    25 April 2016 at 8:31 pm

    Guys please stop flogging a dead horse…its embarrassing to think this is all you have.

    By all means let’s have an AG investigate, it will only further hasten Andrew Little’s exit.

    • Incognito 12.1
      25 April 2016 at 9:31 pm

      It is the duty and responsibility of the AG to provide assurance to Parliament and the public that nothing untoward has occurred. It was the right thing to request the AG to investigate irrespective of the findings and outcome of the investigation. It is a hallmark of a properly functioning democracy that the Leader of Opposition holds the Government to account through the proper channels and structures, which is exactly what AL has done. You were saying?

      • Chuck 12.1.1
        26 April 2016 at 8:42 am

        Your reasoning is correct Incognito, if Little only did ask for a AG investigation.

        However Little went on to say “it stinks to high heaven” implying a bribe was made by the Hagamans and the tender process was rigged – which implicates all the trustees and the board along with his target the NZ Government.

        • Incognito 12.1.1.1
          26 April 2016 at 11:43 pm

          I know that this is what some people have read into AL’s words “it stinks to high heaven”. However, my take on it is was that he used it more colloquially to suggest that it was not a good look at all; it seems a bit farfetched that it, by default, implied anything beyond that and implicated all those other people as well – don’t forget that AL is a lawyer by training. I do believe that AL did put his words in context but, as usual, that got ignored or conveniently forgotten.

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