She’s got to go

98 comments on “She’s got to go ”

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1. Gabby 1

   14 June 2016 at 9:33 pm

   It would be lovely to see the staff member being interviewed. apparently it’s not Puller’s place to go into it.
   • Muttonbird 1.1

     14 June 2016 at 9:53 pm

     This. In a proper society it should be easy to find out who called who with respect to this conversation between Bennett’s office and TV One.

     Not in National’s NZ though.
2. Paul 2

   14 June 2016 at 9:33 pm

   Shameful by Bennett.

   “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go”
3. NZSage 3

   14 June 2016 at 9:35 pm

   It takes integrity to resign due to your own or your subordinates failures.

   Integrity is not a word in Bennett’s vocabulary so don’t hold your breath.
   • Draco T Bastard 3.1

     14 June 2016 at 9:49 pm

     Integrity isn’t a word that any National MP knows the meaning of.
     • Mosa 3.1.1

       15 June 2016 at 6:21 pm

       Spot on Draco !
4. Paul 4

   14 June 2016 at 9:39 pm

   Many questions to ask after this interview by John Campbell.
   Her story does not add up.
   • Chris 4.1

     14 June 2016 at 9:53 pm

     It’s incredulous that she’s talking about “them” and “their”, the language of the “other”, distancing herself as much as she can. Talking about “beds” as if it’s some kind of institution/patient relationship, that the people she’s talking about need treatment, need to get “fixed” because the problem’s really about “them”. She makes my fucking skin crawl.
     • Paul 4.1.1

       14 June 2016 at 9:56 pm

       “It had about it the campaign trail sense of boxes being ticked rather than being examined.”
     • Chris 4.1.2

       15 June 2016 at 2:25 am

       When asked about the housing crisis Bennett says:

       “And it’s those who’re most vulnerable who’re affected the most.”

       Just moments before when asked about the huge motel debts in the tens of thousands Bennett says:

       “They borrowed under those circumstances and we’re not looking at going back.”

       Those huge debts aren’t about borrowing money in a normal sense as Bennett’s trying to make out. People have to meet pretty strict criteria that’s governed by legislation. In fact, an applicant’s circumstances have to be regarded as “exceptional” for those debts to get up around the $1500 to $2000 mark in the first place, let alone $60k or $70K. But according to Bennett people are going to be lumbered with that debt. And there’s no discretion now not to recover debt that’s not the result of the ministry’s error, (thanks to government legislation voted for by Labour).

       Bennett agrees that it’s the most vulnerable who’re affected the most. Does this mean, then, that she thinks it’s okay to screw the most vulnerable over in this way? That by deciding the assistance a family needs to meet the cost of emergency accommodation must be paid back even when that assistance could have been made non-repayable? Even when it’s $60k or $70k? Heck, that’s more than some students end up with and we try to justify that by saying a tertiary education leads to better paying jobs so students can afford it. We’re talking the poorest of the poor here, under Bennett’s own admission “the most vulnerable”.

       Bennett also said it was not true to say that she and the government didn’t care. That’s right, sweetie, that’s really caring for the most vulnerable.
       • Paul 4.1.2.1

         15 June 2016 at 6:57 am

         Hopefully the media will note the holes in her arguments.
     • M. Gray 4.1.3

       15 June 2016 at 8:46 am

       Agree with you Chris shes not the only one and remember she is serving her master
     • mary_a 4.1.4

       15 June 2016 at 12:34 pm

       @ Chris (4.1) … good points raised.

       I guess in the eyes of NatzKEY, including the venomous Frau Bennett, “THEY” are subhuman, so are treated with contempt. Best to depersonalize “THEM.”

       If looks could kill, John Campbell would be dead by now. Boy, was she giving him the evils during that interview!

       Now we wait for RNZ to receive some funding reductions! In the best interests of the nation of course!
   • Mosa 4.2

     15 June 2016 at 6:22 pm

     Right credentials for Keys replacement then !
5. Paul 5

   14 June 2016 at 9:41 pm

   “Why do you think that something that Hurimoana Dennis told the minister on Friday is public on Tuesday?”

   “Simply because Hurimoana Dennis has come out in the last month and shown the government that it has holes in its social housing policy and that Paula Bennett has not been doing her job in terms of fixing these problems…..”
   • Muttonbird 5.1

     14 June 2016 at 9:57 pm

     “Why do you think that something that Hurimoana Dennis told the minister on Friday is public on Tuesday?”

     Yikes. When you read it laid bare as simply as that it looks awful.
     • emergency mike 5.1.1

       16 June 2016 at 12:52 am

       Doesn’t it.

       Paula would have you believe that this information that she received in the spirit of full disclosure, which had nothing to do with the issue at hand, was repeated to her staff member, who then repeated it to at least one journalist. If that last step had really happened without the minister’s instruction, the staffer would have been sacked.

       It might not have been a secret, but it was not ‘in the public domain’. But it is now eh.

       But hey what do you expect when you have a go at the govt by, um, doing your best to help homeless people.
6. Richard Rawshark 6

   14 June 2016 at 9:50 pm

   I can get the truck, but we’ll need to borrow a forklift,and a crowbar.
7. Greg 7

   14 June 2016 at 10:02 pm

   The question should be, is how did the staffer know about the police investigation,

   leaked info is bad, looked what happened to police Commissioner Doone,
   when Helen railroaded him out of the position.
   she appointed chicken sex Broad as commissioner,
   • Paul 7.1

     14 June 2016 at 10:03 pm

     The staffer knew because Bennett told her.
     or maybe the staffer did it because she knew what Bennett wanted.
     “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

     Bennett has form on this.
     • Kiwiri 7.1.1

       15 June 2016 at 9:29 am

       ‘Tis convenient outsourcing of a leak!
     • Skinny 7.1.2

       15 June 2016 at 10:46 am

       Make no mistake the leak is a smear by implying a policeman sheltered an apparent sex offender. Which of course is a total beat up. One was 16 & the other a 15 years old, puppy love really.
       It is typical of this nasty woman, what really annoyed me was Bennett comes out saying no action will be taken against the staffer. In most instances the offending staffer would be stood down on garden leave pleading a full investigation.

       No such process as Bennett appears to have vetoed such a process.

       Leave her there she tars the Natcorp brand which is a good thing.
       • Anne 7.1.2.1

         15 June 2016 at 10:55 am

         It is understood Mr Dennis has been under investigation for about a year for helping a 16-year-old boy leave the country, after it was discovered the boy was having a relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

         He probably did it with the best of intentions but maybe it was a mistake. Whatever… sounds like a ‘misdemeanour’ very much at the lower end of the scale.

         http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/306371/minister-apologises-to-te-puea-marae-chairman
       • Kiwiri 7.1.2.2

         15 June 2016 at 1:15 pm

         Yeah, smear, indeed it is.
   • Muttonbird 7.2

     14 June 2016 at 10:16 pm

     They’re saying the staffer, the one she threw under the bus, what at the Friday cafe meeting between Bennett and Dennis.

     They are also then saying the staffer took it upon his/herself to release this information to the press.

     What is so far unclear is whether the release was engineered (according to TVNZ), or if it was dropped in at an appropriate time (Bennett’s version)
     • AB 7.2.1

       15 June 2016 at 3:25 pm

       If the staffer was at the meeting – it seems improbable that they would come out of that meeting mistakenly thinking the information was in the public domain and that no harm would come from mentioning it to the media.

       You can imagine the tenor of that meeting – most likely Hurimoana Dennis was confidentially disclosing something that wasn’t public in order to be upfront with the Minister and to ensure there would be no surprises if the Government chose to work with the marae on helping the homeless.
8. NZJester 8

   14 June 2016 at 10:48 pm

   I find it laughable that Paula Bennett in a recent article was talking about being a victim of online bulling. Meanwhile she is an even bigger bully to anyone that makes her look bad in the public eye.
   • Paul 8.1

     14 June 2016 at 10:56 pm

     She was whining in that John Campbell interview about what a tough job she has.
     Simple.
     Resign.
     Tomorrow.
     • Stuart Munro 8.1.1

       14 June 2016 at 11:06 pm

       I don’t think she fancies being on the other side of the counter from Winz post her brutal and stupid ‘reforms’.
       • Gangnam Style 8.1.1.1

         15 June 2016 at 5:22 am

         Remember this?

         http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10720149

         “And for someone in control of such a large chunk of the country’s purse strings, operating a cash register was worryingly tough. “Paula was intimidated by the till. She was grappling with it,” said Gardner.”

         I also remember reading in another article where Bennett was worried people were going to be rude to her, but no one was, because not everyone is a crazy psychopath in the real world, its called projecting I think.
         • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1.1.1.1

           15 June 2016 at 8:41 am

           The perception is that people have reached this situation through their own fault through drug or alcohol abuse…

           She actually came close to denying the liturgy there. I wonder who’s “perceptions” she isn’t quite ready to call out as vicious lies.
   • M. Gray 8.2

     15 June 2016 at 8:51 am

     Sounds like you are describing most of the pnats Brownlee is one of the worst offender as many of them think they are above the law they breach peoples privacy and break the law on a regular basis its in their DNA ( dirty nasty arsewholes attitude)
9. the pigman 9

   15 June 2016 at 12:32 am

   Even if she didn’t instruct the staffer to leak the information, the fact that she passed it on to the staffer at all shows a tremendous lack of judgment. Future PM material indeed…

   Collins communes with those same dark forces through arms’ length operatives like Slater, but is really a bird of a feather.

   Collins or Bennett the next National PM? Both are more toxic than Shipley.
   (Not saying the male candidates are any more capable. Joyce? Bridges? Bishop? *shudder*.)
   • Chris 9.1

     15 June 2016 at 1:31 am

     Bennett is incredibly thick.
     • red-blooded 9.1.1

       15 June 2016 at 7:01 am

       Don’t let’s underestimate her. She’s a toxic bully, but she’s not thick. She’s playing to an audience that doesn’t comment on this site.
       • Hanswurst 9.1.1.1

         15 June 2016 at 9:22 am

         I don’t think you need intelligence to play to that audience (which is not to say that that audience is necessarily thick).
       • Stephen Doyle 9.1.1.2

         15 June 2016 at 9:35 am

         I dare not go over to Kiwiblog, but my guess is they love her over there.
       • Chris 9.1.1.3

         15 June 2016 at 9:57 am

         You can equate being a toxic bully with a lack of smarts because if that’s all she’s got then one kind of follows the other. Her performance on Checkpoint gave her away yet again.
     • M. Gray 9.1.2

       15 June 2016 at 8:55 am

       Shes not the only thick one in the pnats party
   • tc 9.2

     15 June 2016 at 6:38 am

     The PM’s office has increased media resources under nact so similar matters can be dealt with by minions many steps removed from the PM.

     So if she makes PM such trifling matters as taking care of dissention and items getting in the way in the neoliberal path can get the ‘Jason Eade’ division assigned.
   • M. Gray 9.3

     15 June 2016 at 8:53 am

     They are all toxic and have damaged our country and will continue to do so because stupid NZers keep voting for them
10. Keith 10

    15 June 2016 at 6:25 am

    The National Party reverting to type. Looks like the dirty politics smear machine is alive and well.

    And anyone who thinks she acted alone has forgotten what a well oiled coordinated machine National is. The truth is she should have been fired years ago leaking that beneficiary’s private information after she showed them up but Key did nothing. What we didn’t know then was the disgusting low life smear machine operating out of our Prime Ministers office.

    National are a disease, Bennett is simply one of the symptoms.
    • Paul 10.1

      15 June 2016 at 6:30 am

      30 years of neo-liberalism creates people like Bennett.
      30 years of neo-liberalism creates people like Hosking.

      Greedy, uncaring, selfish and cruel.
11. dave 11

    15 June 2016 at 6:42 am

    we have the cure labgreen 2017
    • Paul 11.1

      15 June 2016 at 6:55 am

      I am not sure Labour has denounced Neo-liberalism.
      Shearer, for example, is a product of the 1980s and such thinking.
      People prepared to vote for the TPP are not on the side of the people.
      • Colonial Viper 11.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 11:14 am

        Plenty of people in the Labour Party who still see Rogernomics as painful, but very necessary.

        And Little has recently reiterated that the Labour Party stands by “free trade.”
12. bernard 12

    15 June 2016 at 7:16 am

    you can see it in her face-she cannot stand being held to account even a little.Would be good to see a reporter really hound her and get stuck into her,see if they can get her to spectacularly blow up.
    • Rae 12.1

      15 June 2016 at 8:48 am

      Paula Bennett’s facial expressions are a dead giveaway. Trying watching her answering some of these questions with the sound off, and tell me what you think is going on inside her head.
      In fact, her facial expressions are so obvious, you can see them, even if all you have is sound.
      Wouldn’t mind a few hands of poker with her.
      • Gangnam Style 12.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 2:26 pm

        When she was interviewed by Jack Tame she coudln’t handle it, it was unusually long for NZ, about 10 minutes? & Bennett had this twitch in her eye that wouldn;t go away when she couldn;t answer the questions straight & being called out for it. Was on Q&A or The Nation around the time she went to that Climate Change thing in the USA a month or so back.
13. Puckish Rogue 13

    15 June 2016 at 8:29 am

    I’d sack her, far too many trips to the well in my opinion
14. Sabine 14

    15 June 2016 at 8:40 am

    Well, if the guy would have been a prominent New Zealander who is of importance to the National Party then of course his identity would have been protected at all cost, but alas he is just a suspended copper and as such he is fair go.

    I wonder what the Police thinks about a Minister gossiping to the media about an ongoing investigation? But then I guess the police by now knows that this current National Party led Government can’t give a flying fuck about the police and the work they do.

    Cut funds
    Close Cop shops
    Complain about Coppers enforcing speed limits
    and now outing a police investigation.

    Fuck these National Party MP must be the biggest gossip tarts ever. Who needs a newspaper when you have Paula Bennet on your payroll.
15. Colonial Viper 15

    15 June 2016 at 9:13 am

    Paula aint going anywhere until the front pages of the dailies are calling for her head.
    • Keith 15.1

      15 June 2016 at 9:21 am

      The Herald is silent.
      • Colonial Viper 15.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 9:29 am

        of course they are. And Bennett isnt going until Key pushes her, and Key isn’t pushing her until mass media pressure forces his hand. Does the Left get this.
        • Kiwiri 15.1.1.1

          15 June 2016 at 9:37 am

          And if Bennett falls on a conveniently placed sword, she will return pronto from the grave just as Collins did (remember Collins announced standing down in the middle of the graveyard shift on a Saturday afternoon of an election campaign?) or Nick Smith.

          While it is important to hold Ministers to account, keep the bigger picture in view and hammer harder on the issues and the much needed policies.
          • Colonial Viper 15.1.1.1.1

            15 June 2016 at 9:46 am

            Exactly. The NATs have already got contingency steps all planned out. Why can’t people see that these are the very same plays from their same playbook.
        • AB 15.1.1.2

          15 June 2016 at 4:23 pm

          “Does the Left get this?”
          Can’t speak for “the left” but I do. She will survive because there is no channel for popular outrage and because, well, there is no popular outrage. Any smear that somehow associates Maori and criminality will just tick so many mental boxes for Kiwis.
    • Rosie 15.2

      15 June 2016 at 11:36 am

      And let’s not forget how hard it was to get rid of Judith Collins for her ministerial misbehaviour……….Pullya Benefit has her seat seriously bolted to the trough side.

      Collins in the end, only got to go sit in the naughty corner for a bit and then her constituents happily returned her in 2014.
      • Colonial Viper 15.2.1

        15 June 2016 at 11:40 am

        And Collins does not have the favour of Key and English, as far as I can discern. I think Bennett does – at least more so than Collins does.
16. Neil 16

    15 June 2016 at 9:13 am

    Nothing will come of this & Bennet will not be made to stand down. Everyone who voted national are responsible for this debacle.
    • Colonial Viper 16.1

      15 June 2016 at 9:31 am

      the real blame goes on the Official Opposition for not providing a clear and attractive alternative to voters.
      • mauī 16.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 10:08 am

        Paula Bennett is all Labour’s fault in 3, 2, 1…
      • marty mars 16.1.2

        15 June 2016 at 10:10 am

        Lol yep that’s where the REAL blame lies – #brokenrecordboringrightwingmemes
      • Colonial Viper 16.1.3

        15 June 2016 at 10:15 am

        I see. So how is your political strategy of blaming Kiwis for being self serving and ignorant, while giving a pass to political parties who get millions in tax payers money, working for you?
        • marty mars 16.1.3.1

          15 June 2016 at 10:24 am

          Are you asking yourself???? Oh dear. Even being generous your question is bizarre and self serving
          • Colonial Viper 16.1.3.1.1

            15 June 2016 at 11:04 am

            If you don’t get my question, then you don’t get why people keep voting for National.
            • marty mars 16.1.3.1.1.1

              15 June 2016 at 11:19 am

              And you do? because?

              Watch out for hubris – I don’t think you know as much as you think you know.
              • Colonial Viper …

                15 June 2016 at 11:24 am

                Hey mate, if you think that blaming a million plus kiwi voters for Paula Bennett does anything positive for the Left then good on ya. Your political compass has demagnetized.
                • marty mars …

                  15 June 2016 at 11:30 am

                  Yeah you’d rather blame Labour -you aren’t left as you’ve said so what you say about ‘good for the left’ can be taken like any other non left uninformed commenter.
                  • Colonial Viper …

                    15 June 2016 at 11:35 am

                    Next Roy Morgan due out Fri (if they can get it out on time). It’ll capture the initial public reaction to the MOU announcement.

                    And I’m not Left. But unlike you I can see why each move like this makes the traditional Left increasingly irrelevant.
                    • marty mars …

                      15 June 2016 at 11:53 am

                      Iirrelevant to you and your ideology. If you live by the poll’s you die by the poll’s – I prefer to see them as fixes for political junkies – for that purpose they are useful.
17. Sabine 17

    15 June 2016 at 9:16 am

    Question time in Parliament will be fun.

    I wonder if she is going to chicken out of these ‘interviews’ as well.

    Ahhh, poor Ms. Bennett, clearly the job she got is too big for her shoes, her plate and even her ego.
    Time to go home and spend time with the family, knitting socks and eating cupcakes. Or something like that.
    Heck, she could even get a job in her beloved ‘ private market’.
    • Anne 17.1

      15 June 2016 at 10:03 am

      I’m picking Madam will not be in the House for question time today. She will be… otherwise engaged on pressing ministerial business.
      • Colonial Viper 17.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 11:37 am

        There is a housing crisis somewhere out there which undoubtedly requires her personal attention
        • Kiwiri 17.1.1.1

          15 June 2016 at 1:12 pm

          Need to magic away the issues for her boss, well in advance before election year kicks in from Jan 2017.

          So some magic pop-ups will make their appearance very soon, to be accompanied by many tactically arranged photo-ops.

          Pity can’t shrink some homeless citizens to fit under mushrooms that can be grown overnight 🙂
    • mary_a 17.2

      15 June 2016 at 1:35 pm

      @ Sabine (17) … “Question time in Parliament will be fun.”

      Yes, literally fun for the hideous sideshow to the right of the biased Speaker … NatzKEY that is! Because the ministers don’t actually answer questions do they? Instead preferring to either skirt around them, or make insulting comments directed at Labour, past and present!

      And even more galling is the fact corrupt Speaker Carter continues to allow this behaviour, without reprimand or warning to the ministers concerned!

      I doubt Frau Bennett will be there today … best way to avoid responding to challenging questions is to go AWOL. Either that, or make sure she follows in dear leader’s footsteps when embarrassment is likely (FJK and the Panama Papers), play up, so she is forced to leave the House!

      The NatzKEY mob are as cunning and dodgy as sewer rats and even then, I’m sure they could teach the sly rodents a thing or two about playing dirty!
18. BM 18

    15 June 2016 at 9:50 am

    Why would a reporter leak their source?

    Also, who is her Press secretary?, the last one left in Jan this year

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/76274216/Top-government-spin-doctor-to-Paula-Bennett-resigns

    Who replaced him?
    • weka 18.1

      15 June 2016 at 10:13 am

      Why are you asking here?
      • BM 18.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 10:18 am

        This is a political board, full of people who are interested in politics?

        Chances of some one knowing who Paula Bennett’s new press secretary are is probably quite high.
19. Takere 19

    15 June 2016 at 11:09 am

    Poor Pullah has still not recovered from her mental illness. Having to deal with poor people reminds her of the days when she was on a Bene and having to deal with them all now too is a painful reminder of herself when she was surrounded by all of these people at the WINZ office when she was a Beneficiary. Its a memory she wants so badly to forget. The only way she feels she can do this is to eliminate poverty, the poor and those that remind her from where she came from and who she is. A Westie, a solo mum. (She needs to do this to become PM she feels). Anybody that tries to impede her mission is seen as an enemy, an impediment an adversary. Her only MO is to treat them with absolute contempt, vindictiveness & cruelty as well as hostility with no acknowledgement or recognition of their plight which is caused by her incompetence! Her only “Tools” are Bullying, Threatening and Undermining anybody that gets in her way.
    Because of her mental state and inability to accept who she is, its best that she resign as she is not fit to be the an MP to serve the public who some are poor, impoverished and those in need of the very same help she received when she was a poor (you have to be when you are in receipt of a bene) many years ago.
    With the Housing Crisis & Poverty and a Collapsing Economy ….the slow car crash is in progress. I’m guessing an early election somewhere August-Early Oct 2017 or earlier if the Bubble Burst Officially in the next few months. Bye Bye Pullah!
20. Corvidae 20

    15 June 2016 at 11:11 am

    One has to ask why the staffer hasn’t been relieved (or have they been – what has become of the ‘staffer’?) Isn’t this government big on accountability? We all know what would happen to any of us if we did this in our jobs? Perhaps some financial recompense may be in order for the marae? And what effect will this have on the course of justice. Is this sub-judice (something this government uses when it suits them) or still being investigated? Will this taint a future jury?

    However, ‘at the end of the day’ this is what this episode tells us: people from all sorts of backgrounds are working to relieve us of the societal wrong of poverty and homelessness through charity and sacrifice. The Minister, the person paid by the nation to solve this problem, could perhaps draw some guidance from that.

    No matter how this was made public, it is irrelevant. The government needs to be told it is irrelevant; the Minister having to apologise is about a problem with her own Ministry is a secondary issue. It is a ‘meanwhile’ issue. Poverty and homelessness remains relevant.

    Keep your eye on the ball.
21. Gabby 21

    15 June 2016 at 12:05 pm

    I’m not understanding the coyness in naming this press secretary. S/he would surely be eager to chat with the press, that being his/her job.
    • Rosie 21.1

      15 June 2016 at 3:30 pm

      “She” apparently, according to this quote in the RNZ piece linked below at 23

      “Mrs Bennett said the staff member involved had offered to resign but she had not accepted, “because I don’t think she needs to resign”.

      “She deeply, deeply regrets it and I just can’t apologise enough.”
    • Tiger Mountain 21.2

      15 June 2016 at 4:22 pm

      Ms Bennett’s press secretary will likely immediately join the ranks of the “disappeared” like Jason Eade from the PM’s office did a couple of years back, a decent media would give her a good old fashioned tabloid hounding till she coughed, but then that would be mean right?

      except when the PM does the hounding, that is fine, like he did with Eleanor Catton and Nicky Hager and Glen Greenwald and even Paul Buchanan I am told
      • Rosie 21.2.1

        15 June 2016 at 4:29 pm

        “………but then that would be mean right?”

        And Pullya Benefit would cry crocodile tears as the hypocrite who talks about “bullying”. She would have that angle well and truly covered.
22. Bearded Git 22

    15 June 2016 at 3:15 pm

    Bennett in the house today refusing (at 2m35s though the whole video is worth a watch) to confirm who leaked the info re the police investigation. This stinks.

    http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/43961
    • Anne 22.1

      15 June 2016 at 4:02 pm

      We know who it was. Her press secretary. We know it’s a she… we just don’t know her name. Come on someone. It’s not a “national secret”. Who is she? If she was in on the smear campaign (and she obviously was) then she doesn’t deserve to be protected.
      • Chris 22.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 4:49 pm

        Who’s that woman in the blue standing behind Bennett when she’s talking to John Campbell? There are a couple of moments in the clip where she’s walking behind Bennett, too.
23. Rosie 23

    15 June 2016 at 3:28 pm

    She’s got to go, but won’t:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/306440/bennett-refuses-to-resign-over-leak
    • Anne 23.1

      15 June 2016 at 4:07 pm

      From the link:

      Mrs Bennett said she could understand Mr Dennis was disappointed and concerned this whole situation had reflected badly on the marae and the work it was doing with the homeless.

      Well now, wasn’t that the whole point of the exercise? To discredit the marae chairman and therefore the marae?
      • Rosie 23.1.1

        15 June 2016 at 4:38 pm

        Exactly. You know, I think she’s really sunk to a new low with this one.

        She just doesn’t have the cool aloof commanding unflappability of Collins that would have this matter brushed under the carpet in seconds. That is the only difference between these two nat women. They both deceive, deflect and divert but one does it more expertly than the other. Hopefully the weakness in Bennett will bring her down but it would seem she’s lucky, it won’t, because the PM ain’t bovvered.
    • Tiger Mountain 23.2

      15 June 2016 at 4:16 pm

      yes heard our glorious leader at 3pm endorsing Ms Bennett’s position, no resignation, no censure, staff member to stay without sanction (perhaps she enjoyed the shade of the nearby bus she spent the last two days under)

      meanwhile nearly 3000 state houses remain empty
24. save nz 24

    15 June 2016 at 4:07 pm

    Goodbye Bennet. Shut the door behind you.
25. Sorrwerdna 25

    15 June 2016 at 4:13 pm

    Why has no one here perhaps thought TVNZ may also be to blame for making the information public? If this was a “hit job” wouldn’t the reporter consider protecting her source?
    • lprent 25.1

      15 June 2016 at 4:19 pm

      Why? If Paula Bennett had wanted to do one of her oh so typical hitjobs, then she’d have just found someone else to do it. Probably someone creepier and with fewer morals. Like the sleazeball Mike Hosking or that other idiot friend of National who does a TV morning comedy
26. mac1 26

    15 June 2016 at 4:26 pm

    Parliament today.
    Supplementary question to Minister Paula Bennet from Phil Twyford, “Why did she discuss the information about the police investigation with her staff.”

    Reply, verbatim, from Ms Bennett “In the context of just the whole meeting, I’d gone through the meeting from start to finish, and as a consequence of that was why it was raised in that context.”

    Who can make meaning of that? Two uses of the word ‘context’ which has become a catchword to allow wiggle room for later challenges.

    All I can read from that answer is that she, Paula Bennett, went through the meeting from start to finish and introduced the issue of the police investigation when she said “and as a consequence of that, (referring to her going through the entire meeting with her staff, which sounds like her reporting what went on), was why it was raised in that context.”

    So Bennett told her staff about the police investigation. Why did she do that? Bennett told the House that a staff member talking to a reporter “in an aside she discussed these issues.”

    I ask when does an ‘aside’ become a ‘discussion’? An aside is not a discussion. An aside is a short comment. A discussion is a two-way conversation. So which was it?

    Whichever way it was, it should not have happened.

    The important question is, though, did the staff member in question have the Minister’s approval, tacit or otherwise, to smear the man and the marae?
    • Rosie 26.1

      15 June 2016 at 4:46 pm

      “The important question is, though, did the staff member in question have the Minister’s approval, tacit or otherwise, to smear the man and the marae?”

      Well, it’s very whiffy isn’t it? Especially after the reply to Phil Twyford, you supplied us with.

      Given Pullya’s track record, nat MP and Minsterial behaviour in general, and their inclination to revert to dirty politics styled tactics to achieve political gains and goals I’d be surprised if Pullya didn’t, either covertly or directly, direct her staff member to leak info about Mr Dennis in an effort to discredit him as punishment for making her department and herself personally look indifferent and ineffective.
27. emergency mike 27

    15 June 2016 at 11:50 pm

    It says a lot about about Bennett, and by this govt, that a political opponent deserving of a smear campaign is such because he is doing to good a job of charitably helping the homeless. Says it all really.

    No one is sacked, John Key is comfortable with it. A new low indeed.

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