Moving on after FJK

Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, December 12th, 2017 - 65 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, john key, Politics - Tags:

I wrote this post back in March, the week Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson published Hit and Run, and FJK left parliament. It didn’t get published for a number of reasons, but now seems an opportune moment. 

_______________________________________________________

I know there is a convention for parliamentarians to be good to one of their perceived own when they leave. And I know that some including the MSM like to look at how clever or successful bad people are. Or maybe the mainstream just can’t bring itself to look the destructiveness of the last 9 years fully in the face so it’s better to pretend that he did some good things too, or at worst he “bequeathed a backlog of neglect and deferred decisions“.

Yeah, nah. FJK.

This could have been a really long post, there is so much to be said about what has been done to NZ in the past 9 years. I’m just going to pull out the ones that come most immediately to mind and some of what was being reflected upon on twitter in the past day.

Amanda Bailey

Tania Billingsley

Roastbusters rape gang

Rape Crisis funding

Pro-rape Minister of Corrections

Rape jokes

Party politicising rape culture

All of those together point to something seriously wrong in both Key himself as a person, and the National Government as a whole. I’m not surprised, because it fits with their particular brand of beyond neoliberalism that is amoral and disconnected from what is true and real about being human.

https://twitter.com/GGrucilla/status/844442901702684672

https://twitter.com/BMHayward/status/844690877666680832

https://twitter.com/DawgBelly/status/844416309584691201

Then there are the poisoned rivers, hungry kids, families living in cars, losses of democracy, Christchurch, the utter ridiculousness of our position on climate change, and on and on. I believe we will come to look back on this decade in the same way as the 1980s, where a revolution happened which we didn’t quite understand until well after. We didn’t need a Tr*mpville, we just handed over our country on a platter. NZ leading the way again, just like last time.

Which brings us finally to this week.

That’s the legacy.

There’s something deeply disturbing about Hit and Run that I haven’t quite gotten to yet, as if the bald facts weren’t bad enough. Part of it is that it happened only 2 years into the first term. There is some kind of time dissonance, as if we are only now just coming to understand what has happened, what has been done in our names, the extent of the corruption that leads to the deaths of children and the destruction of homes, and that this wasn’t some long build up, but they were doing this shit right from the start.

A little too close to home, it’s a mirror we didn’t expect to have held up at this late stage of smile and wave. Like others I expect there will be an inquiry or not, probably depending on whether we get a change in government. Here is yet another opportunity for NZ to do the right thing, turn in the right direction, start to turn the tide. But even if there is no inquiry, this will still deeply impact on our national psyche. We can go into denial about it, and there will be people already running the line that middle NZ doesn’t care, but we can’t make it not true. It happened, the raid and the revolution, they can’t be undone. We can however make amends and it’s never too late to change.

Thus I am eternally grateful to Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson* for, in addition to everything else, the timing.

(*or Providence).

Whether or not we ever find out if he was hoisted on his own petard, let the smarmy little fucker run. We’ve got work to do. We have two tasks now. One is #changethegovt. The other is repairing the damage from the scouring of the Shire. There are still many good and important and true things about New Zealand, things we can reclaim, things we can build on. Time to remember who and what we are and then get on with it.

_______________________________________________________________________

Task one, completed.

65 comments on “Moving on after FJK ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. One Anonymous Bloke 1
    12 December 2017 at 1:05 pm

    A passage from HST’s obituary of Richard Nixon seems apt:

    …the record will show that I kicked him repeatedly long before he went down. I beat him like a mad dog with mange every time I got a chance, and I am proud of it. He was scum.

  2. Philg 2
    12 December 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Thanks Weka, well said.
    Don’t forget the throat slitting gesture of JK in Parliament just prior to the 2014 General Election.

  3. adam 3
    12 December 2017 at 1:19 pm

    No wonder john was such good friends with Hekia.

  5. DH 5
    12 December 2017 at 1:38 pm

    I was a bit surprised more wasn’t made of his recent Parnell house sale. I thought it surely had to be seen in the context of a recent Prime Minister who refused to act on housing inflation or curb overseas buyers. His actual profit wasn’t revealed but I’d think surely he banked over $10 million in tax free earnings. Even for someone of his (original) wealth that’s still big money.

    Not a bad pay packet was it, a million bucks a year on top of the generous PM salary. How much of that did he donate to charity?

    • Ad 5.1
      12 December 2017 at 2:57 pm

      He subdivided off the tennis court as a future new house site.

      Power, Ryle, and Key have been the standout big next-career movers since leaving Parliament.

      • marty mars 5.1.1
        12 December 2017 at 4:24 pm

        Lol what’s keys big career move again? Travelling salesman.

        • Naki man 5.1.1.1
          12 December 2017 at 4:34 pm

          “Lol what’s keys big career move again? Travelling salesman”

          Chairman of ANZ is sir Johns new career, not a bad number really
          You can call it travelling salesman if it helps you get over your bitterness.

          • marty mars 5.1.1.1.1
            12 December 2017 at 4:55 pm

            Yeah he’ll really use his dino brain doing that. Have you ever been on the board of anything big? If you had you’d know the truth of these things. Mind you even if he was in prison im sure you’d be fawning over him.

          • UncookedSelachimorpha 5.1.1.1.2
            13 December 2017 at 12:12 am

            Yep, helping a bank extract unearned millions from the populace by virtue of powers granted to them by legislation.

            Fitting.

            • DH 5.1.1.1.2.1
              13 December 2017 at 9:37 am

              He didn’t do too bad for himself either, which was my point. The Herald was very cagey about the price Key paid for his Parnell property but we do know housing in Auck doubled in price under Keys reign. One might assume he made a good $10 million profit on it, an income three times greater than his PM salary. It wasn’t the only property he owned & profited on either.

              I honestly thought more people would put 2+2 together. How many times did Key deny foreign buyers were affecting our property market, and refuse to curb them? And who bought his house?

          • NZJester 5.1.1.1.3
            13 December 2017 at 8:21 am

            To be fair John Key well and truly earned that job at ANZ by helping the banks like ANZ ship huge profits out of New Zealand and fleece the little guys for every cent they could. Not to mention the large profits from super high mortgages they are earning from the housing bubble, and all the dubious money he let flow in and out of New Zealand unchecked for them to also profit from.

    • Siobhan 5.2
      12 December 2017 at 3:44 pm

      “But a real estate industry source said the 763 sq m house and about 1650 sq m of land with a large pool house and in-ground pool was sold to a buyer in China last month.”

      He sold the house etc for around 20 mill. and kept a little slice for a future build worth around 5 million.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11919697

      But. to be fair, no one is looking to stop the meteoric rise of the ‘Property Market’, infact ‘Affordable Housing’ is always framed in terms of helping people “hop on the property ladder”.

      Until we can stop with that rhetoric Housing will always be a life size game of Monopoly

      • DH 5.2.1
        12 December 2017 at 4:03 pm

        It’s that he was personally enriched from policies he, as Prime Minister, had large responsibility for that matters IMO Siobhan. He then cashed in his earnings not long after retiring, which frankly should have raised some eyebrows.

      • Carolyn_Nth 5.2.2
        12 December 2017 at 4:25 pm

        Agree with you on “affordable housing” and the “property ladder”. That’s an enabling culture for the likes of Key.

        And it is that culture that needs to be changed.

        • AB 5.2.2.1
          12 December 2017 at 5:36 pm

          Ladders are very useful tools. Why anyone would sully the reputation of ladders by likening them to a completely useless, greed-fuelled casino like a housing market, I have no idea.

  6. SpaceMonkey 6
    12 December 2017 at 3:18 pm

    I honestly believe that John Key was the worst Prime Minister we’ve ever had in my lifetime. My memory goes back to Robert Muldoon.

    Having worked in two of the companies John Key worked for (I believe we were both at Bankers Trust at the same time – he in NY and myself in London), knowing the type of people traders were… I felt sick the day he became leader of the National party. But I never foresaw the sh*t he would leave this country in.

    John Key sold NZ out to the US here and the Chinese there, and in deal after deal with dodgy corporations. As far as I am concerned, it was treason and he should be accordingly held to account.

  7. roy 7
    12 December 2017 at 4:31 pm

    I don’t remember hating any politicians as much as I do him – Muldoon was a old bastard in many ways, Douglas and Prebble too, and Brash is just sad now… but Key…
    Maybe it’s his insincerity combined with his cruel policies that makes him a special case?

    • ropata 7.1
      12 December 2017 at 7:29 pm

      I think the country had high hopes that the Key administration would continue the good work of Clark and Cullen, Key was elected on a platform of no asset sales, helping the underclass, and taming the property market.

      Of course his true lizard nature was only revealed years later when all those high Obama-like dreams were shattered amidst earthquakes, financial crises, and massive dislocation of NZ citizens in the name of property prices. (Not to mention #dirtypolitics and endless lies and #momentoftruth)

      I share your disgust and deep disappointment at what could have been.

      • WILD KATIPO 7.1.1
        12 December 2017 at 8:01 pm

        … ” I think the country had high hopes that the Key administration would continue the good work of Clark and Cullen, Key was elected on a platform of no asset sales, helping the underclass, and taming the property market ” …

        Yeah maybe ,… but after the Aroha Ireland episode …

        Aroha of McGehan Close flees NZ | Stuff.co.nz
        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10468960/Aroha-of-McGehan-Close-flees-NZ

        It didn’t take long for something to start smelling rank in this country and it all centered around the stench emanating off John Key…

        Rebel Son – From a Mile Away – YouTube

  8. Philg 8
    12 December 2017 at 8:02 pm

    An electrician I spoke to before the 2014 Election admitted that he first voted for JK because he thought he knew how to make money and the country needed this expertise. Never again, he said

    • BM 8.1
      12 December 2017 at 8:24 pm

      He does know how to make money, dudes worth around 100 million.

      Your electrician mate sounds a bit simple.

      • Psycho Milt 8.1.1
        12 December 2017 at 8:29 pm

        He does indeed. Skills in enriching yourself by facilitating currency speculation aren’t obviously useful to a country and it’s not clear why anyone would imagine they would be.

        • BM 8.1.1.1
          12 December 2017 at 8:37 pm

          Shows how little you know about currency trading.

          Very few make money from it, the fact key did speak volumes about his skill and nerve.

          Those skills equate well to being a PM, quick-witted, being able to rapidly ascertain what’s going on and act correctly on that, knowing when you’re wrong and cutting your losses.

          Compared to Key, Ardern is a joke, she’s been pampered and treated like a child for last 9 nine years. heaven help NZ if something serious happens over the next three years.

          • Muttonbird 8.1.1.1.1
            12 December 2017 at 8:40 pm

            Yet New Zealand voted for Ardern. That’s damning.

            • BM 8.1.1.1.1.1
              12 December 2017 at 8:43 pm

              NZ didn’t vote for Ardern.

              Peters made her PM, that’s MMP.

              Personally, I think she’s a joke and has about as much strength as a chocolate teacup.

              Like I say hopefully nothing serious happens within the next three years otherwise we’re fucked.

              • marty mars …
                12 December 2017 at 9:12 pm

                She’s certainly the most preferred PM and billshitter continues his losing runs. I love it when quality shines through and dirty stinking liars get exposed.

              • ropata …
                12 December 2017 at 9:30 pm

                BM misses Key’s stupid blokey jokes, smarmy teflon evasions, and relaxed attitude to everything.

                Ardern strikes me as sharper and more forthright than Key, far less prone to weasel words, and excellent grasp of policy details and current events. She just seems like a more honest person, with the wellbeing of ordinary Kiwis at heart.

                CV said this:

                Although to be honest, Key's former position as a Merril Lynch senior banker marked him as an able, handpicked servant of the banking mafia.— Tat Loo (@Tat_Loo) December 12, 2017

              • Priss …
                13 December 2017 at 1:46 pm

                Need we remind you that 55% of voters voted AGAINST National, BM?

                Peters didn’t maker Ardern PM, the voters who voted Labour, Greens, and NZFirst did. If you can’t get that into your Tory-addled brains, you need to go back to Primary School.

                Politics 101: Learn to count, BM.

              • Tracey …
                14 December 2017 at 7:23 am

                It is all about perception. Yours is that Key was a great leader. Mine is he lacked anything other than the ability to be, and attract, self interest. As a result he presided over and encoyraged a mean self interest in NZ which has seen health and education crumble. In the case of health, literally.

                We will never agree on such things BM. But your certainty of Arderns lack and Key’s bounty is as reliable as those who suggest the reverse… except none of us yet has proof of Arderns leadership ability as a PM but plenty of Key’s.

                He is lucky he didnt get a job in Hollywood or some of his behaviour would now see him outted and jobless.

          • Bill 8.1.1.1.2
            12 December 2017 at 8:41 pm

            There’s a wee note for you over on “daily review” BM.

            • BM 8.1.1.1.2.1
              12 December 2017 at 8:45 pm

              What’s that Bill? I can’t see anything?

              • Bill …
                12 December 2017 at 8:47 pm

                Your deleted comments 2.1 and 2.1.1.1

                I wouldn’t go ripping the piss here BM.

                • BM …
                  12 December 2017 at 8:50 pm

                  Ok, I saw that I thought there may have been something else and I’d missed it.

                  A bit like when Weka leaves a note and you’ve got to tell her you’ve been naughty and won’t do it again.

                  Anyway, I won’t make any more comments about that posters mental state.

                  • weka …
                    12 December 2017 at 9:34 pm

                    The main reason I do that is because some commenters insist on behaving like children and ignore the moderation (others genuinely haven’t seen it). Saves me wasting my time if I ask for an acknowledgment.

                  • Tricledrown …
                    13 December 2017 at 7:49 am

                    BM uninvited playing with other people’s hair a sign of sexual harrasment.
                    Latest research has shown.
                    Whose daughter has to get naked to make a name for her self

            • Ed 8.1.1.1.2.2
              12 December 2017 at 9:13 pm

              He’s very tiresome this evening.

          • mauī 8.1.1.1.3
            12 December 2017 at 8:49 pm

            “quickly ascertain what’s going on and act correctly.”

            Yep, what the hell happened to those skills in Christchurch, Havelock North, Kaikoura and Pike river.

            Ok folks you’re on your own, but we will provide some help but its goin to be real shitty.

            • WILD KATIPO 8.1.1.1.3.1
              12 December 2017 at 9:05 pm

              Yeah , – like all good practiced con men – he knew where the exit door was and made a hasty retreat when he knew the tide was turning against him.

              Mussolini tried the same thing but the Italians were a bit quicker than the Kiwis.

              That mans responsible for much of the destructive moves against our democracy , – and , – true to how he was when he earned the reputation as the ‘ smiling assassin ‘ when he sacked over 600 other employees, he smiled merrily as he lied about the XKEYSCORE program and mass surveillance.

              John Key, mass surveillance and what really happened … – NZ Herald
              http://www.nzherald.co.nz › New Zealand

              What a total piece shit.

          • Psycho Milt 8.1.1.1.4
            13 December 2017 at 7:40 am

            Those skills equate well to being a PM, quick-witted, being able to rapidly ascertain what’s going on and act correctly on that, knowing when you’re wrong and cutting your losses.

            You could say the same for being a successful con man, gambler or drug dealer. In any case, the people with Key’s skills turned out to be great at lining their pockets and delivering a global financial crisis, but not much else. A PM who doesn’t think politics is just another high-stakes game they’re playing will make a very pleasant change.

          • patricia bremner 8.1.1.1.5
            13 December 2017 at 8:34 am

            8.1.1.1 Still Bloody Minded BM. Jacinda is far more than you paint her. The first 50 days are testament. You will choke on your bile BM.

      • JC 8.1.2
        12 December 2017 at 10:58 pm

        Don’t usually feed the trolls!

        But you’ve hit a Raw nerve! Just once on this, I’ll question your Values. (And or lack of them)

        So the Prick might have made a mint, (by whatever means), legite or Not.

        But what did he do for his country….?

        Pretty Simple. Nothing! And even worse …

        Why dont you just Fuck Off. Just like your mate

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 8.1.3
        13 December 2017 at 12:14 am

        “dudes worth around 100 million.”

        Telling language from BM there. I always dislike that expression.

        Key has 100 million. He is worth no more than anyone else.

        • patricia bremner 8.1.3.1
          13 December 2017 at 1:39 pm

          8.1.3 No, JK is not worth more than anyone else. He has more than anyone else. That is what it was all about. Not being better, being richer.

          Poor stupid sod thinks we envy him. LOL No, not really!!!

          Happiness.

          You can’t buy it!! It requires caring commitment and heart. “Nuff said”.

      • Tricledrown 8.1.4
        13 December 2017 at 7:44 am

        BM if not for the trillions of US Dollars printed in the GFC Key’s shares would be worth nothing.
        Main Street was bankrupted house foreclosures while Wall Street got Welfare.
        Par for PM who was brought up on Welfare.

    • Obtrectator 8.2
      13 December 2017 at 10:09 am

      Sounds like your electrician confused “making money” with “creating wealth”. They are not the same.

  9. WILD KATIPO 9
    12 December 2017 at 9:18 pm

    And this ones for BM – just to remind him that his love affair for Key didn’t extend to all people of this country at all. In fact , there was a VERY large number who thought he was a fake.

    Like these people.

    John Key booed off the stage at the Big Gay Out – LGBT … – YouTube
    john key at the big gay out getting booed you tube▶ 3:14

  11. mosa 11
    12 December 2017 at 11:25 pm

    I saw through him right from the start.

    My wife always said he had dead eyes and she was right as there was nothing there at all.

    Those kiwis who have never had an original idea in their lives and believe in celebrity star status as their guiding light and think poverty is the name of a reality tv show voted for this man ” that nice Mr Key ”

    And a lot got wealthy and credit him for lifting them into the monied class and keeping them there.

    But most of his support came from the ” hear no evil , speak no evil and see no evil kiwi who bought into the marketing campaign and never questioned his motives and agenda.

    His time in office was one of the biggest political con jobs ever seen in this country and i really believe he got away scot free and with a knighthood to boot and if the media had not been so compromised it would have uncovered the true extent of his crimes that remain hidden from scrutiny.

    • patricia bremner 11.1
      13 December 2017 at 8:48 am

      11. So did I Mosa. The moment he crossed the hall with all those G-men in tow, I thought, we have a wolf in sheep’s clothing here.

      I have watched Michelle Boag closely, as she promoted JK to the National party as a replacement for Brash. Same firm, different mask.

      Everything he said, I believed the opposite, and generally that worked.

    • halfcrown 11.2
      13 December 2017 at 11:39 am

      I also saw right through him. My experience living a wartime childhood in the East End he is a typical East End bombsite spiv we were so aware of. As the saying goes pinch your watch at one end of the market and sell it back to you at the other end. Very wary of the prick and trust him no further than the length of his fucking nose. Being brought up in that environment one get very wary of this type of prick. That is why I always refer to him as The Fucking Spiv.

      • the PinkPostman 11.2.1
        13 December 2017 at 1:54 pm

        as I did Half crown they were all over the East Lane market ,I remember one bloke who sold “A potion that cured everything “. And as you pointed out one did not wear your best watch at the Sunday Market in East Lane. I remember as a kid I bought a tin of peaches for my parents that turned out to be swedes. .

  12. Priss 12
    13 December 2017 at 1:47 pm

    Key’s legacy? Nothing.

    Except for artificial “anniversaries” like this, who talks about him these days? No one.

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