Police have reopened the Barclay investigation

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, June 27th, 2017 - 129 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, accountability, national - Tags:

Press release

Re-investigation of allegations begins

Tuesday, 27 June 2017 – 11:00am

National News

Attribute to Assistant Commissioner (Investigations) Richard Chambers:

Police has commenced a re-investigation of allegations that the private communications of an individual were intercepted by Mr Todd Barclay MP.

This follows assessment of a range of information and comment in the public domain over the last week.

Police have commenced speaking to a number of individuals who may have relevant information.

Any new evidence which is gathered will be carefully considered to determine what, if any impact it has on the outcome of the original investigation.

This will be a thorough process with oversight from a senior detective, however at this stage we are unable to put a timeframe on how long it might take.

END

Media please note that Police will not be providing details or confirming specific steps being taken, as is standard for any investigation.

Issued by the Police Media Centre

Update for media coverage – 

Stuff

News of the police investigation broke while National MPs were in their weekly caucus meeting.

It was understood English had only just found out as he left because MPs could not take phones into the meeting.

Barclay was not at the meeting and English said he did not know if Barclay would be in Parliament later on Tuesday.

Asked whether Barclay should go early English said: “No, police are starting an investigation. I don’t think it changes the fact that he’s decided to retire at the election.”

It was “up to police” whether they wanted to get back in touch about his earlier statement, English said.

Barclay refused to cooperate with the original police investigation more than a year ago, which left it to stagnate with police saying they did not have enough evidence to issue warrants and obtain the recordings.

But English’s eventual admission that Barclay had made the recordings, which English relayed in his own police statement in April last year, appear to have opened the door for police to resume their investigation.

In a short statement late Tuesday evening, Barclay said he accepted English’s version of events.

That statement is one of a number of new pieces of information police are assessing, in consideration over whether to open the police investigation.

It could be treated as an admission from Barclay that he made recordings of Dickson without her knowledge and without being in a conversation with her.

The statement may add further weight to a text from English to the Clutha-Southland electorate chair that recordings existed.

Questions have been raised over whether police let the matter drop too soon, when Barclay went back on public statements that he would cooperate with the police investigation, only to have his lawyer communicate to senior officers heading it that he would not be speaking with them.

129 comments on “Police have reopened the Barclay investigation ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Anne 1
    27 June 2017 at 11:21 am

    Well, they had no choice. Hopefully this time it will be thorough and impartial.

    • Muttonbird 1.1
      27 June 2017 at 12:08 pm

      Unlikely. Our police force does the government’s bidding, and this particular government isn’t afraid to use them for political ends.

      This investigation is for appearances only and nothing will come of it. All arranged from the ninth floor.

      • dukeofurl 1.1.1
        27 June 2017 at 2:39 pm

        I agree . Its a sop to allow English to say nothing ‘as its under police investigation’

        It will shut down debate in parliament as well- any excuse will do

        Nothing will happen till well after the election and the usual carpet will be bought out to sweep everything under. Barclay will never talk to the cops now, yes circumstantial evidence is overwhelming but this is not US and the cops will want to push this aside

        • Richard Christie 1.1.1.1
          27 June 2017 at 2:47 pm

          The ultimate police response should be very carefully compared to their blow-hard statements at the conclusion of the Teapot tape investigation.

          I predict the comparison will be enlightening.

    • mary_a 1.2
      27 June 2017 at 7:31 pm

      @ Anne (1) … We can hope, but we won’t hold our breath will we?

      I’d say the police doing the re investigation will have been “briefed” to come out with a “favourable” result!

  2. The decrypter 2
    27 June 2017 at 11:22 am

    Another victory for Bill to celebrate, two in one day. You beauty!

  3. Cinny 3
    27 June 2017 at 11:29 am

    Good, may they be equipped with the time, resources and common sense to be transparent and unbiased before the spring equinox.

    May those involved not be bound by a confidentiality agreement when answering police questions.

    Does anyone know what the deal is there please? Are people who have such an agreement allowed to answer police questions, surely the agreement would be part of any evidence?

    Wonder how many search warrants will be issued?

    Where’s the PM who quit? Will he be questioned, he should be.

    • Anne 3.1
      27 June 2017 at 11:34 am

      I should have thought they have a case to break confidentiality if the information is relevant to a criminal investigation being conducted by the police.

    • weka 3.2
      27 June 2017 at 11:40 am

      it will be good to get a legal opinion on that, but afaik you can’t sign away statutory obligations or rights. So if you have legal right or obligation to talk to the police and be honest about it that will supersede any confidentiality agreement.

      I assume the Barclay can keep refusing to speak to the police up until the point that they compel him. Nothing to do with the confidentiality agreement.

      I also think that Dickson has a legal right to lay a complaint, and that will take precedent over any confidentiality agreement.

      And we don’t know what the confidentiality agreement said. It might just have been about not disclosing the amount paid and details of that in employment terms. That Dickson has already spoken to the media suggests to me that either she wasn’t bound by such an agreement, or that the agreement had already been broken by someone else.

      • Ross 3.2.1
        27 June 2017 at 12:56 pm

        Weka

        If police can compel witnesses to speak, they would have done so the first time. Police cannot compel Barclay to talk. If Barclay was to be charged he could also refuse to testify at his trial.

        But as Key was fond of saying: if he has done nothing wrong he has nothing to worry about, so he should do the right thing and front up to police.

        • weka 3.2.1.1
          27 June 2017 at 12:59 pm

          I was meaning that he can’t forever avoid them e.g. if they charge him he will have to respond, as compared to him having avoided them completely thus far. But thanks for the clarification, and yes what he says at that point, or doesn’t say, is up to him.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.3
      27 June 2017 at 12:03 pm

      May those involved not be bound by a confidentiality agreement when answering police questions.

      They’re not.

      Or, to be more precise, they can’t withhold information in such a way as to cover up a crime.

      Does anyone know what the deal is there please?

      You cannot contract out of the law.

      • Cinny 3.3.1
        27 June 2017 at 12:10 pm

        Thanks, I’m very happy to hear that. The fact that Todd did some illegal taping is just the beginning.

    • paul andersen 3.4
      27 June 2017 at 12:55 pm

      good point. last weeks P.M. has varnished,er, vanished from the scene. wonder if he will put in an appearance with the cup somewhere, might be a good time to back him into a corner for some hard questions.

  4. BM 4
    27 June 2017 at 11:35 am

    Decision sometime in November.

  5. Tamati Tautuhi 5
    27 June 2017 at 11:47 am

    I wonder if the tapes are still around, or were there any tapes in the first place ?

    The plot thickens ?

    • SpaceMonkey 5.1
      27 June 2017 at 11:50 am

      My guess is the tapes have been destroyed.

      • Ross 5.1.1
        27 June 2017 at 1:04 pm

        It was reported recently that cctv cameras may have been used to record the convos. If true, someone local might know who installed them.

    • weka 5.2
      27 June 2017 at 11:50 am

      My guess is that they’ve been destroyed, or if not, they contain something else that we don’t know about yet (hence the reason for keeping them). Highly speculative though, Barclay could just be really stupid and still have them.

      • McFlock 5.2.1
        27 June 2017 at 12:06 pm

        or it was deleted but recoverable.

        • Draco T Bastard 5.2.1.1
          27 June 2017 at 12:08 pm

          But what can the law do now that there’s a probability that the tapes did exist at some point?
          Can they progress a prosecution without the actual recording?

          • McFlock 5.2.1.1.1
            27 June 2017 at 12:31 pm

            Doubtful.

            If he played the tape to several people, who then all reported it to the police, maybe.

            If he just told people he had recordings… well, Trump does thesame. Bignoting.

            But if he told people he had recordings and other people got together to pressure Dickson not to press charges, if one of those people gets shakey and coughs up then a few folks might get done for obstruction.

            • Ross 5.2.1.1.1.1
              27 June 2017 at 1:06 pm

              So why did the Nats pay out for an alleged breach of privacy if there were no tapes? How did the alleged privacy breach occur?

              • marty mars …
                27 June 2017 at 1:12 pm

                Yep I wonder what shonkey knows – perhaps he’ll be interviewed – between his sales gigs of course.

              • McFlock …
                27 June 2017 at 1:12 pm

                I know, it’s awesome, ain’t it.

                And why didn’t the payout come from parliamentary services.

                But the privacy breach could have been gossip, or whatever. as long as nobody outright says “he played me the tape”, it’s whether an alternative explanation is reasonably plausible.

              • Matthew Whitehead …
                27 June 2017 at 1:34 pm

                While that’s very good inductive evidence that a crime occured, it’s not actual proof.

          • Matthew Whitehead 5.2.1.1.2
            27 June 2017 at 1:33 pm

            If they have evidence the tapes were destroyed, that might actually put them in a good position to prosecute, right?

            • dukeofurl 5.2.1.1.2.1
              27 June 2017 at 2:42 pm

              The dictaphone was likely purchased with parliamentary service funds, so was owned by them.
              How is he going to explain its disappearance , buy another one ?

        • weka 5.2.1.2
          27 June 2017 at 12:26 pm

          Good point. Although wouldn’t it be that if you delete and then record to fill up the recordable space then the original is not recoverable? or the dictaphone doesn’t exist anymore. He’s had ample time to figure this one out.

          • McFlock 5.2.1.2.1
            27 June 2017 at 12:43 pm

            If he made recordings like he apparently claimed, did he make copies? Was the dictaphone bought especially for the job (is he an habitual ‘dictator’)? If he made copies, were they emailed as attachments so he could get them wherever? Were they automatically backed up to a cloud?

            Rawshark wrote about using dedicated equipment to hack and access dox dumping accounts and tweet, and then disposing of gear once done. Was deBarclay that thorough in his planning without once getting some perspective on his “employment dispute”? Or was he just an entitled little shit who was so sharp he cut himself – in which case the question become “how deeply and stupidly did he cut himself”?

            Followup question: was his stupidity enough to overcome police lethargy? 🙂

            • marty mars 5.2.1.2.1.1
              27 June 2017 at 12:56 pm

              Surely the police will have to go through all his electronic devices to check the recording isn’t there. That could prove troublesome for Todd and Bill I think.

            • weka 5.2.1.2.1.2
              27 June 2017 at 1:01 pm

              True. I’m thinking like a non-millennial. Who has time to put shit in the cloud? 😉

              • McFlock …
                27 June 2017 at 1:06 pm

                lol one of my current employers has a neat wee thing I didn’t notice – part of my “documents” library is actually stored on their server, not my local drive. It just connects automatically whenever I have net access. All archived nicely.

                • weka …
                  27 June 2017 at 1:09 pm

                  I have this leftie hippy distrust of the cloud but have to admit that lately I’ve been thinking about house fires and how my computer backups will burn just as fast as my laptop. Theft too, seeing as how the storage drive sits next to the computer. Automatic remote storage is starting to look attractive.

                  • McFlock …
                    27 June 2017 at 1:16 pm

                    Well, “cloud” is just another name for “someone else’s server space”. Whenever I have something precious but that is too confidential for facebook, I have a locket on me with a micro-usb inside. But them I’m a wee bit pretentious.

                    You can always zip it and email it to yourself in installments, too. It depends what you want to back up.

                    • weka …
                      27 June 2017 at 3:00 pm

                      How big is the micro-usb/locket?

                      Basically I just run backups of the laptop’s 500GB HDD. Most of that’s stuff I could live without, but some of it is important. Not sure I can be bothered trying to separate out the important stuff and update that separately. I don’t store it on the laptop in one discrete area.

                      I could do a separate back up and store it outside of the house. Been meaning to setup an outside of house emergency kit so maybe that’ll be the motivation. Or not, lol.

                    • McFlock …
                      27 June 2017 at 3:11 pm

                      old one, only 8GB, but more than enough for any important shit I need personally and to do my job.

                      Ultra-confidential stuff like datasets are backed up offsite as part of enterprise policy (with lots of encryption etc), the locket normally just has the emergency kit on it – basic scripts, templates, some generated reports and web stuff. Theoretically if the place burns down we can relocate and work off new machines within a day or so.

                      Oh, and a couple of movies to play on flights 🙂

              • Draco T Bastard …
                27 June 2017 at 4:10 pm

                Who has time to put shit in the cloud?

                I spend more time making sure my stuff doesn’t go up on the cloud. Almost every single electronic device (including scales and video cameras) automatically does it these days.

            • Anne 5.2.1.2.1.3
              27 June 2017 at 1:03 pm

              It must also be remembered that Glenys Dickson talked in the newsroom interview about Barclay disclosing information that could only have come from the recorded phone conversations. (For the sake of the pedants among us I paraphrase what she did say, but that was the understanding I took from her comments.)

              If the police interview the recipients of those conversations then I think Barclay could be in big trouble.

              • marty mars …
                27 June 2017 at 1:06 pm

                I wonder if Todd or bill told her some of the content.

              • Sacha …
                27 June 2017 at 1:27 pm

                I imagine any people or matters she was talking about might be relevant to the inquiry, especially if recordings were subsequently destroyed. What’s the bet it’s not all about Lil Toddy?

              • weka …
                27 June 2017 at 3:04 pm

                I’d forgotten about that, she did indeed say that were things known that couldn’t have been known otherwise. Hard to prove that though, that the other person hadn’t spoken to someone else etc.

      • Red 5.2.2
        27 June 2017 at 2:28 pm

        Probably kept at the Same place trump has the Comey tapes

  6. Tamati Tautuhi 6
    27 June 2017 at 11:55 am

    I would say he would have had good professional advice on what to do with the tapes.

  7. Draco T Bastard 7
    27 June 2017 at 12:06 pm

    Copied over to keep the discussion in the right thread:

    That press release from the police sounds like the police are searching for reasons to drop it despite the fact that the recording, an actual crime, has now been confessed to.

    • Muttonbird 7.1
      27 June 2017 at 12:12 pm

      Exactly.

      • garibaldi 7.1.1
        27 June 2017 at 12:17 pm

        Hey it’s pretty obvious this will be yet another whitewash by our biased police, as muttonbird said at 1.1

        • Red 7.1.1.1
          27 June 2017 at 2:31 pm

          The real question is Will Barclay make future editions of crimes of the century

    • ianmac 7.2
      27 June 2017 at 12:32 pm

      “…the fact that the recording, an actual crime, has now been confessed to.”

      The comment by the PM questioning whether the tapes exist, may be the line to be taken by police. No body? No crime.

  8. ianmac 8
    27 June 2017 at 12:29 pm

    It would seem unlikely that the Police would admit that they were remiss in previous investigations, so after a spell they would reaffirm their previous decision.

    Since it is now again under investigation, questions in the House will be ruled out of order. Sub Judice is it called?
    Will they be allowed today:
    1. Rt Hon Winston Peters to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements on the Clutha-Southland electorate office issue; if so, how does he do that?

    3.Andrew Little to the Prime Minister: Have all the answers given by him and given on his behalf to questions in this House regarding Todd Barclay been fully accurate and complete?

    • Anne 8.1
      27 June 2017 at 1:09 pm

      They probably can still ask the questions but English will hide behind the “I cannot comment as there is now a further police investigation in progress”.

    • weka 8.2
      27 June 2017 at 1:11 pm

      Is if sub judice even if no charges have been laid yet?

    • Cinny 8.3
      27 June 2017 at 1:35 pm

      Number 12…

      Stuart Nash to the Minister of Police: Does she believe her Government has to accept any responsibility for the fact that almost 60 percent of Police staff do not believe New Zealand Police delivers on the promises it makes to the public; if not, why not?

      As well shouldn’t Barclay be stood down immediately?

      • Red 8.3.1
        27 June 2017 at 2:34 pm

        Answer every once and a while we get a labour government, thankfully not often but things do go backwards and need to be tidied up

        • McFlock 8.3.1.1
          27 June 2017 at 2:43 pm

          Nine years in government, still blaming Labour. 🙄

          • Red 8.3.1.1.1
            27 June 2017 at 3:53 pm

            Stupid answer for a stupid question 🙄

            • McFlock 8.3.1.1.1.1
              27 June 2017 at 3:56 pm

              Nah, it’s only fair to ask if a minister takes responsibility for the failings of their department. Give the minister an opportunity to actually show integrity for once.

              But I agree that you gave a stupid answer.

            • Ed 8.3.1.1.1.2
              27 June 2017 at 10:15 pm

              Troll

        • ianmac 8.3.1.2
          27 June 2017 at 3:06 pm

          Red. Do you mean that the current Government’s mess needs Labour to “tidy up” the mess. I read your comment twice and that’s what it says to me.

  9. Robert Guyton 9
    27 June 2017 at 12:46 pm

    If the investigation is thwarted by a technicality, Southlanders, at least, will know they’ve had the wool pulled over their eyes and they won’t like it. Winston will make hay though. The last time I spoke to Todd Barclay was to tell him that Winston was about to win in Northland. If I see him around the traps, I’ll tell him Winston’s on track to do the same down here.

    • marty mars 9.1
      27 June 2017 at 1:09 pm

      Yep. Bet the wires are humming down there Robert with all sorts of rumours and speculation at the moment. ☺

    • Tamati Tautuhi 9.2
      27 June 2017 at 2:15 pm

      NZ First have announced Mark Patterson a Lawrence sheep and beef farmer as their candidate for Clutha Southland, could Winston and NZF do what they did in Northland last year ?

  10. Sacha 10
    27 June 2017 at 1:31 pm

    What’s the story behind the staffer from the Queenstown office resigning just before Dickson did?

    • Cinny 10.1
      27 June 2017 at 1:54 pm

      From last April….

      “He (Barclay) told Fairfax Ms Swan (Queenstown staffer) resigned to travel and spend time with family and had given plenty of notice. “

      LMAO yeah right Todd you are so full of it, Key resigned for the same reasons, family reasons… oldest trick in the book when trying to cover something up.

      Notice how this has only really gained traction since Key left?

      • Graeme 10.1.1
        27 June 2017 at 6:39 pm

        Barbara Swan and her group effectively ran Queenstown, you didn’t mess with them, and if you did it wasn’t going to end well. Made for a lot of entertainment watching people try though.

        The same could be said for Glenys Dickson in Gore.

        But both had a reputation for being pretty straight and running a good electorate office.

        What hasn’t come out yet is what the fallout was over.

        • Andre 10.1.1.1
          27 June 2017 at 6:59 pm

          “What hasn’t come out yet is what the fallout was over.”

          Seems to me Barclay being an entitled arrogant little dick trying to lord it over established hard-working electorate staff is more than sufficient explanation. You reckon (or know) there’s more to it than that?

          • weka 10.1.1.1.1
            27 June 2017 at 7:05 pm

            What remains unanswered for me is why National stuck with Barclay for so long after they knew he broke the law. There are things here we don’t know about yet.

            • Andre 10.1.1.1.1.1
              27 June 2017 at 7:14 pm

              They may have thought they had successfully brazened it out and covered enough that after the police closed the file it would raise new questions if they cut Barclay loose. Arrogance and entitlement and Key’s success at brazening things out can do that to people’s thinking.

              Of course, even though that might be sufficient reason, it doesn’t preclude there being more. On the form displayed so far, if there is more it will likely get fed to us over the next wee while.

              • weka …
                27 June 2017 at 7:39 pm

                Arrogance explains a lot but still, something’s not right. Melanie Reid reckons there is probably more, and she also reckons the board won’t be wanting her to release all the copies of letters sent to the board about Barclay. Police are probably interested in those though.

            • dukeofurl 10.1.1.1.1.2
              27 June 2017 at 7:26 pm

              Any woman would have had to be twice as good as Barclay to get all these opportunities.
              There is some saying hes part of the Collins faction and thats why hes been protected.
              Some stories mentioned Saunders- Unsworth were roped in to ‘wrangle’ his first pre-selection. Why would they bother with Mr Average and they cant have come cheap.

              Is he Big Tobacco’s/ FGC man on the inside ( along with a few others). Like the GOP in America are they doing the long game ?

          • Graeme 10.1.1.1.2
            27 June 2017 at 7:35 pm

            I’m not close enough to “know”, but in observing how the government has effectively taken over planning in Queenstown I’ve been wondering what the fuck is going on.

            One comment of toddles’ that has had me really wondering, going back to when this first started, was that the reason for moving a lot of the Gore office’s functions to Queenstown was “because that’s where the business was”. I’ve been trying to find the source in the last week without success.

            In terms of votes cast, Queenstown is only 13% of the electorate. Don’t add up if it was normal electorate stuff.

            There’s also the depth that the dissatisfaction goes into the community.

            • weka 10.1.1.1.2.1
              27 June 2017 at 7:48 pm

              Didn’t they threaten to suspend the council over housing?

            • Gabby 10.1.1.1.2.2
              27 June 2017 at 7:51 pm

              13% of the population maybe, but possibly a bit more of the capital (the getettable capital).

              • Graeme …
                27 June 2017 at 10:19 pm

                13% of votes cast, more like 25% of population. Turnout up here is pitiful, total opposite to down south where it’s pretty good

            • Paul Campbell 10.1.1.1.2.3
              27 June 2017 at 10:36 pm

              yes but it may be where the money is, Queenstown has a whole lot of Auckland rich-lister second homes and presumably they’re a mine for political money

        • BM 10.1.1.2
          27 June 2017 at 7:09 pm

          She didn’t rate Barcley thought he was a poor choice so decided along with a few others to try and get rid of him.

          Barcley found out which is why he was taping her.

          In the rush to hang Barcley little focus seems to have fallen upon Dickenson and the reason behind why Barcley was taping this individual.

          Young Man getting undermined by his staff, how does one get proof? unfortunately, the option he chose was not the legal one.

          • dukeofurl 10.1.1.2.1
            27 June 2017 at 7:18 pm

            he was bad mouthing the staff and blaming them for his mistakes- that was the heart of the breakdown. It seemed all Bills staff quit on him but Dickson wasnt a quitter

          • Graeme 10.1.1.2.2
            27 June 2017 at 7:24 pm

            Nice attempt at minimising this, but the dissatisfaction with toddles goes a lot further than the electorate staff.

            This covers part of what’s been spoken around the place https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/20-06-2017/who-the-hell-is-todd-barclay/

          • Anne 10.1.1.2.3
            27 June 2017 at 7:35 pm

            It was the other way around. Barclay would have viewed someone like Glenys Dickson (you can’t even get her surname right) as a threat to him. Especially as we now know there were ‘sex and drugs’ involved in his off-duty behaviour. Hence the reason he recorded her conversations to find out how much she knew? Having done so, he then discredited her by spreading false claims about her. For instance, he made up a story that Parliamentary Services had received complaints about her. P.S. were forced to refute the claims. In other words he lied.

            As I said last week on TS… a sociopath in the making:

            10 signs for spotting a sociopath

          • weka 10.1.1.2.4
            27 June 2017 at 7:37 pm

            sounds good BM until you understand there are processes in place for exactly this kind of situation so that new MPs don’t end up having to deal with disgruntled staff bent.

            Then there’s the fact that Dickson oozes integrity and Barclay is a smarmy little shit. On the balance of probabilities I just can’t see her conspiring to get rid of him if he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Even when it’s obvious that he was doing something wrong, I still can’t see her conspiring. FFS, they went through the National Party processes to raise attention to the problems and those higher up ignored them.

            Get used to it, the party you vote for are corrupt.

            • BM 10.1.1.2.4.1
              27 June 2017 at 7:50 pm

              Dickson oozes integrity

              Have a read of this

              http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/06/about_todd_barclay.html

              • weka …
                27 June 2017 at 7:51 pm

                you want me to read the opinion of the spin doctor of the political party that’s just been shown to be full of liars?

                • BM …
                  27 June 2017 at 7:56 pm

                  Good grief,
                  If you want to know what;s going on in National, it makes sense to read the views of someone that actually is part of the National machine.

                  Have a read weka, it’s not going to hurt you.

                  Btw, you do know this Dickson woman ended up working for Ria Bond, so much for integrity.

                  • weka …
                    27 June 2017 at 8:47 pm

                    1. Farrar is spinning.
                    2. I already have a reasonable understanding of the Nat spin here.
                    3. if you think Dickson lacks integrity, make the argument. Referring to a spinner doesn’t count, for obvious reasons.

                    What’s wrong with Dickson working for Ria Bond?

                  • Ed …
                    27 June 2017 at 10:19 pm

                    Farrar is a spin merchant and not reliable.

          • Cinny 10.1.1.2.5
            27 June 2017 at 7:50 pm

            What kind of ‘bad mouthing’? Maybe she was a hard working, STRAIGHT, loyal team player, who believed and backed her party… until Todd came along.

            Maybe too many people turned a blind eye to her concerns, maybe she tried so very hard to stop something which could bring down more than one person in her preferred political party. 17 years of loyalty…..

            Sometimes people will do what is right, rather than what is easy no matter what their political convictions are.

            What do people in their 20’s get up to now when they are out at night partying? Do they drink? Do other things? NZs P epidemic is out of control. Or are they STRAIGHT and stay at home reading reports and drinking tea?

            Police are already conducting interviews.

            • BM 10.1.1.2.5.1
              27 June 2017 at 7:53 pm

              Would have been better for Barclay to give everyone the boot and hire staff that had his back

              Having said that I reckon Barclay was far too young, 30 should be the minimum age for an MP.

              • Andre …
                27 June 2017 at 7:57 pm

                You don’t reckon being able to work with an established team is a valuable skill for an aspiring young politician to learn? The civil service bureaucracy all pollies have to work with is pretty well entrenched.

                • BM …
                  27 June 2017 at 8:00 pm

                  I’d sack the lot of them, clean state, no baggage.

                  • Robert Guyton …
                    27 June 2017 at 8:05 pm

                    You’d sack Bill English’s proven long-standing friend and supporter, out of hand?
                    Why?

                    • BM …
                      27 June 2017 at 8:09 pm

                      Too old.
                      40+ years difference in age it would never work.

                      And it didn’t.

                    • marty mars …
                      27 June 2017 at 8:27 pm

                      gotta be something other than what everyone else thinks – this is called sowing doubt

                    • McFlock …
                      27 June 2017 at 8:42 pm

                      40+ years difference in age it would never work.

                      That’s another thing most tories lose from bitching about students’ associations: lessons on how to work with gender, ethnic or age diversity to its best advantage.

                      The concept of respecting someone else’s significantly greater experience while supervising them just blows their fucking mind.

                    • Muttonbird …
                      27 June 2017 at 9:02 pm

                      If Todd Barclay was any sort of leader with the support of the National Party he’d have been able to bring the existing employees with him on his vision.

                      This is basic stuff.

                      However, Todd’s not a leader, and he didn’t have any support from the National Party.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                27 June 2017 at 8:00 pm

                Would have been better for Barclay to give everyone the boot and hire staff that had his back

                Translation: We need more corruption and crony-ism in this country

              • Andre …
                27 June 2017 at 8:05 pm

                Y’know, looking through the “Baby of the House” list for New Zealand, there’s quite a few illustrious names that got their start before turning 30. Maybe the quality of their character matters a bit more than their age?

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_of_the_House#New_Zealand

          • Draco T Bastard 10.1.1.2.6
            27 June 2017 at 7:57 pm

            Young Man getting undermined by his staff, how does one get proof?

            Wrong question but that’s not really surprising as you’re still looking for defence the deBarclay.

            The right question is: Why did his staff think he wasn’t worthy of the position?

            And the answer to that is that he’s an incompetent schmuck.

            • BM 10.1.1.2.6.1
              27 June 2017 at 8:01 pm

              Nope, Ageism.

              Also, it’s not their fucking call, support staff support, that’s their only role, you can’t do that, fuck off.

              • marty mars …
                27 June 2017 at 8:17 pm

                Yeah obvious you’re too junior to have ever had support staff.

              • Cinny …
                27 June 2017 at 10:09 pm

                Support staff aren’t so awesome when you are dodgy and they are not.

                For goodness sake get rid of the straight staff and grab some dodgy ones to cover the bosses ass instead of questioning their behaviour.

                Or at the very least someone you are able to manipulate enough to keep quiet.

                Maybe some threatening phone calls might shut them up… your son’s girlfriend is a pretty wee thing….

                Glenis would have been terrified, and now people questioning her behaviour, bloody cheek of it.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                27 June 2017 at 11:12 pm

                Not ageism and it is their role. Not calling out a bad manager only makes things worse.

                Of course, you’re a RWNJ and so only think that people are only there to kowtow and kiss arse to those in power.

  11. Carolyn_nth 11
    27 June 2017 at 1:48 pm

    More from Melanie Reid today:

    Parliamentary officials knew details of the Todd Barclay tapes and confirmed their content to the lawyer of the woman he clandestinely recorded.

    The Parliamentary Service told Christchurch lawyer Kathryn Dalziel that there was a tape and her client, Glenys Dickson, was recorded discussing the MP.

    Dalziel was told one intercepted conversation involved talk of “sex and drug matters”.
    Dickson was Barclay’s electoral agent based in Gore.

    Yesterday, she was re-interviewed by police in Gore – and police headquarters has now confirmed it is re-opening the investigation into Barclay under a senior detective.

    The information regarding Dalziel’s discussions with the Parliamentary Service is contained in Dickson’s original statement to police on February 29, 2016.

    Newsroom has Dickson’s un-redacted statement, which has not previously been made public.

    I get the impression the sex,drugs stuff was about Barclay.

    • mickysavage 11.1
      27 June 2017 at 1:50 pm

      With sex and drugs now in the picture this story has at least another week to run …

      • Carolyn_nth 11.1.1
        27 June 2017 at 1:50 pm

        I see there’s now another TS post about this latest article and its revelations.

      • dukeofurl 11.1.2
        27 June 2017 at 2:47 pm

        Could he be quitting parliament much sooner than the election and going on a European OE?

        • ianmac 11.1.2.1
          27 June 2017 at 3:08 pm

          Could just get leave to swan around on OE on the $80,000 taxpayers money perhaps. Be on a “fact finding tour.”

          • dukeofurl 11.1.2.1.1
            27 June 2017 at 7:16 pm

            Not in the 3 months till election time- they are all expected to be working in electorates in any time not in Wellington

  12. mary_a 12
    27 June 2017 at 3:40 pm

    Barclay will only be required to attend Parliament when some murky legislation is required to be passed to get the numbers.

    Todd Barclay’s valedictory speech should be very interesting at the end of this parliamentary term! Wonder if he will be invited to the retiring MPs knees up, when Parliament goes into recess mode prior to the election?

  13. Whispering Kate 13
    27 June 2017 at 4:18 pm

    Well, with all this going on all I can say is – like Buck Shelford – bring back Nicky Hager to collaborate with Melanie Reid and get to the bottom of this murk and bring out another book. Sooner or later the lazy hobbits will realise we have a sleazy lying Government and they need to be removed from office. Until now National lovers have rubbished Nicky’s books – well there seems to be far too much dodgy stuff going down, that now it cannot be rubbished or ignored. The previous PM needs to be questioned ASAP.

    Fun and games ahead in his election year.

    .

  14. patricia bremner 14
    28 June 2017 at 12:15 am

    Why Barclay? Follow the money!! Phillip M??? Greed is usually the big motive/or power.

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