NRT: Exposing dirty politics

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, August 22nd, 2015 - 39 comments
Categories: Dirty Politics, john key - Tags: , , , , , ,

I/S at No Right Turn:

Exposing dirty politics

Back in April it was revealed that Prime Minister John Key had systematically and repeatedly assaulted and sexually harassed a cafe waitress (while his police bodyguards stood around and did nothing). Shortly afterwards, dirty politics operative and sewer-columnist Rachel Glucina ran a smear-job on the victim. When he was asked under the OIA whether he had had any communications with her about it, Key refused to respond. That refusal was one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and so naturally enough the requester took it to the Ombudsman. On Wednesday we learned that the Ombudsman was investigating the refusal. Key response to this has been to stand by his stonewalling , citing a “long-standing view” and a “convention” that his interactions with the media shouldn’t be released. The problem? None of that is in the law. The OIA specifies a number of conclusive and non-conclusive reasons for withholding official information – and the Prime Minister having a “long-standing view” that he should be above the law isn’t one of them. And the grounds he does cite – “privacy” (his own) and “confidentiality” (offered for his own convenience) – are simply not applicable. If the system works as it should, Key should be forced to reveal whatever information he holds (subject to legitimate redactions for privacy – things like names and phone numbers, not whether he or his minions talked to a journalist).

As for the supposed consequences, I’m perfectly comfortable with them. As I noted earlier, if Key is so ashamed of his contact with Rachel Glucina that he is blatantly ignoring the law to avoid admitting it, maybe he shouldn’t have contacted her in the first place. And if the threat of exposure deters him from making such contacts in future, then that would a victory for the OIA.

[Disclosure: I’m a party to this complaint, having complained about the refusal of my request for information regarding the existence of information]

39 comments on “NRT: Exposing dirty politics ”

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  1. Pat 1
    22 August 2015 at 10:35 am

    all record will be long destroyed

    • Mike the Savage One 1.1
      23 August 2015 at 3:43 pm

      Yep, Official Information Act 1982, section 18 (e) and at other times section 18 (f) are very convenient provisions, commonly used by state sector agencies and ministries.

      And what is being discussed here is just the tip of the iceberg of the OIA shambles we have had for a long time. There is the ever under-resourced Office of the Ombudsmen, there are the at times rather reluctant two “Ombudsmen”, who do less often bother to investigate and take some action, and there is increasing public indifference, as most people do no longer pay much attention to such important matters and processes.

      I pointed out some other OIA issues that I learned about not so long ago:
      http://thestandard.org.nz/john-keys-brighter-future-is-not-for-everyone/#comment-1061098
      http://thestandard.org.nz/john-keys-brighter-future-is-not-for-everyone/#comment-1061313

      Now this OIA request for info on John Key’s and his media team’s actions may get some wider attention, given he is the PM, but there are hundreds if not thousands of people who have been let down by the Ombudsman’s Office over recent years, not getting much attention at all, no matter how justified their concerns may have been.

  2. fisiani 2
    22 August 2015 at 10:58 am

    For goodness sake/ trying to smear Honest John again. Every time you do so National rise in the polls.

  3. Sirenia 3
    22 August 2015 at 11:33 am

    This is about ethics and ethical behaviour. Seems to be out of fashion at the moment but it would be very good if NZ had some ethical leadership again. I don’t think the current PM understands that term.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.1
      22 August 2015 at 12:39 pm

      +1

      National do anything, quite literally anything as Dirty Politics proves, to gain and hold on to power. Ethics be damned.

      • maui 3.1.1
        23 August 2015 at 1:23 am

        Ethics… I think that word was flushed down the 9th floor of the beehive toilets sometime in 2008. Now floating round somewhere underground in the sewerage system bumping into other words like “accountability” etc.

        • NZJester 3.1.1.1
          23 August 2015 at 3:13 am

          Those word have not been flushed away. It is only the old definitions for those words that have been flushed away with certain people having inserted their own replacement definitions. The words Ethics and accountability now mean what ever the National Government decides that they mean.

          Examples of the new definitions.

          Publicly accountability = Being accountable to keep the public happy by hiding the ugly truth from them.

          Ethical behavior = Making your opponents look as unethical as possible by any means necessary in order to appear as to have higher ethical standards than them. Or to claim they do it to in order lower the expected standards of ethical behaviour.

  4. philj 4
    22 August 2015 at 11:56 am

    When you are in control of the levers of power, its not surprising Key is not held to account. The Emperor’s clothes …

  5. hoom 5
    22 August 2015 at 2:00 pm

    ‘Look, at the end of the day I’m comfortable with my illegal shenanigans. I have absolute confidence in my corrupt practices and shonky deals’

  6. Reddelusion 6
    22 August 2015 at 6:21 pm

    Keep on waiting for your day of reckoning girls and boys, on what I am not sure barring some extreme leftist physcosis about honest John, predict the day of reckoning is as likely and will happen around the same time as the rapture

    • BM 6.1
      22 August 2015 at 6:55 pm

      Yeah, it’s all a bit pathetic to be honest.

      Left have obviously realized they haven’t got what it takes to beat Key and National and are just desperately holding out for some ‘scandal’ to see him off.

      Sad reflection on what was once a impressive operation.

      • Tracey 6.1.1
        22 August 2015 at 7:32 pm

        🙄

      • Lanthanide 6.1.2
        22 August 2015 at 11:55 pm

        Painting-gate anyone?

        Helen Clark wrote her name on a painting for charity – no one thought that this meant she had painted it herself – is hounded for months by the right.

        John Key repeatedly breaks the law, then tries to avoid the OIA on the basis that it incriminates him. The right stonewall with “nothing to see here”.

        Pathetic.

  7. adam 7
    22 August 2015 at 6:57 pm

    Silly technical question.

    Is a gossip columnist a journalist?

    Because even following Key logic, if the person in question is a gossip columnist and not a journalist per-say – then via his own vague logic, his point is moot, is it not?

    • Macro 7.1
      22 August 2015 at 7:37 pm

      Just off the top of my head – If she wasn’t a “journalist” then she would not have the protection of keeping her sources confidential which could lead to all sorts of litigation I would have thought -especially as her type of “gossip” tends to be particularly nasty.
      http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2006/0069/latest/DLM393681.html

      • Sacha 7.1.1
        22 August 2015 at 10:22 pm

        She might have a confidentiality right *if* regarded as a journalist – but the PM does not, and that is who the OIA request has been lodged against.

        • Macro 7.1.1.1
          22 August 2015 at 10:26 pm

          Quite right.
          I was just offering an opinion on the question posed by adam
          “Is a gossip columnist a journalist? “

          • Sacha 7.1.1.1.1
            22 August 2015 at 10:29 pm

            It’s an interesting question, given that Mr Hosking insists he isn’t a journalist despite having several daily media platforms to spread his reckons from.

            • Tracey 7.1.1.1.1.1
              23 August 2015 at 9:40 am

              he wont mond constant disclaimers throughout his shows then

              • Sacha …
                23 August 2015 at 9:42 am

                And reminders that offended audience members should complain directly via their lawyers rather than to the BSA or Press Council.

            • Smilin 7.1.1.1.1.2
              23 August 2015 at 10:57 am

              Yeah hes a motormouth commercial radio host and a card carrying member of the national party, box him off and put to the right side of the desk

  8. marty mars 8
    22 August 2015 at 7:38 pm

    “The OIA specifies a number of conclusive and non-conclusive reasons for withholding official information – and the Prime Minister having a “long-standing view” that he should be above the law isn’t one of them.”

    So true. kingkey thinks he is above the law, above the rest of this country’s people – about the only thing sicker is his acolytes and sycophants, and the are lightweight indeed, come on here moaning that the ‘left’ don’t like key and offering all their pathetic and simpleton excuses. bm and delusion and fisi – your man is a liar and he would tread on you lot if it meant he would make an extra 10c – he laughs at you and mocks you and then spits on you and you lean back and want more. The left know who john key is – you lot are so delusional you think he is your buddy – you are so dim – it makes my day to read your slimey grease up to key.

    when key is caught he won’t be able to gnaw his leg off to get away – maybe today? maybe tomorrow? It is coming…

    • Drowsy M. Kram 8.1
      23 August 2015 at 1:05 am

      “On a trip to White Sands Missile Range, Toftoy met a Texan man who was prone to making unbelievable statements. Whenever anyone expressed doubt about the man’s claims, he would respond, “Why, around these parts, I’m called ‘Honest John!'”

      “Honest John” – fisiani

      “honest John” – Reddelusion

      “Yeah, it’s all a bit pathetic to be honest.” – BM

      Agreed. Sycophants* all.

      *”toady, creep, crawler, fawner, flatterer, flunkey, groveller, doormat, lickspittle, kowtower, obsequious person, minion, hanger-on, leech, puppet, spaniel.”

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1
        23 August 2015 at 9:48 am

        They’re described very well in The Authoritarians. How they defend their leaders no matter what atrocious actions or lies that those leaders have done and here they are doing exactly that. These people really would prefer it if Key was Dictator for Life of NZ. They do not like, or want, democracy.

  9. Redelusion 9
    22 August 2015 at 10:40 pm

    Marty Mars can hear the trumpets

  10. Robert Atack 10
    23 August 2015 at 8:21 am

    Just thinking ahead, do we have an extradition agreement with Hawaii ?

    • Jones 10.1
      23 August 2015 at 2:36 pm

      Depends on the individual… if it’s John Key he will be under the full protection of the global banking and finance cartels… and the law doesn’t apply to them…

  11. North 11
    23 August 2015 at 9:33 am

    The fecal substance will expel in torrents and it will stink. Until then Key’s idolators will lower and re-lower the bar to accommodate their idol. Inevitably though a critical point will be reached at which the fecal substance will expel in torrents and it will stink. Asphyxiating first the unthinking and casual and then even the most pathological of idolators (if you know whom I mean).

    The varied arsenal of “whom” – hubristic/thuggish/flailing/scoffing/’Trumpist’ scoldings, launched to sanitise, to popularise moral paradigm-shifting – it simply will not cut it.

    Discredited, Profumo-like “whom” will throw “whom” selves into ‘good works’. What a hoot – “whom” down the City Mission where all is fragrance unlike “whom” whom are stinky…….

  12. Tracey 12
    23 August 2015 at 9:43 am

    I wonder why Key just doesnt say glucina does personal PR work for him so he has no obligation to disclose the details. You know, it being no big deal and everything?

    I mean he declassified documents to pretend it made him a truth teller (which they didnt when you read them all) so why not this simple thing? BM et al?

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