Simon’s unfortunate pecuniary register omission

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, May 10th, 2019 - 31 comments
Categories: national, Politics, Simon Bridges - Tags: ,

The latest Parliamentary Register of Pecuniary Interests has been published.  This is where MPs are meant to disclose all sorts of information about what gifts they have received.  And it is an important aspect of our democratic system.

I reckon they should post every single benefit they receive.  Just so we can make sure they are not being influenced by overly generous donations from interesting sources.

MPs are meant to disclose every gift worth more than $500. 

Here is Simon Bridges’s declaration:

But it seems that Simon may have omitted something.  From Tova O’Brien at Newshub:

Jami-Lee Ross has attempted another attack on Simon Bridges – this time accusing him of failing to declare wine, food and gifts from National Party donor Zhang Yikun. 

Ross, a former National MP, said it all happened at the same dinner that he alleged Bridges received the controversial $100,000 donation from the Chinese businessman. 

Bridges, the National leader, has completely denied the allegations and said they are defamatory. 

Ross has declared food, alcohol and gifts from Zhang Yikun in the Register of Pecuniary Interests – where MPs must officially declare gifts over $500. 

The Botany MP sent Newshub pictures from a dinner, and said he and Bridges helped drink five bottles of $200-a-bottle wine, ate a lot of expensive food, and were given a case of wine each – all adding up to more than $500.  

Yikun was not mentioned in Bridges’ Pecuniary Interests. 

“It would be against Parliament’s rules for an MP not to declare gifts over $500 in value, so I’m surprised Simon hasn’t declared it – he probably should,” Ross told Newshub. 

Again, Bridges has denied he ate or drank that much or received a case of wine. 

Ross said Bridges gave the wine to him to look after and it got cleared out by the National Party when he was sacked from Caucus. 

Despite Bridges’ denials, Newshub has reported this because the allegations are serious – omitting details in the register is tantamount to misleading Parliament. But Bridges maintains he didn’t and won’t be amending the record. 

There is heightened sensitivity about Bridges relationship with Zhang Yikun and a Serious Fraud Office investigation into the undisclosed donation discussed at the dinner which has been linked to a possible favourable National Party list position. So this particular disclosure is not helpful.

It makes you wonder what else Ross has on Bridges.

31 comments on “Simon’s unfortunate pecuniary register omission ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Incognito 1
    10 May 2019 at 7:57 am

    Did Mr Bridges drive himself home that night or did he take a cab or a Crown Limo?

  2. Sanctuary 2
    10 May 2019 at 8:09 am

    I wonder if Simon Bridges wakes up in the night wondering what that distant slow dripping sound is.

    It's the sound of doom Simon, the sound of doom.

    • Cinny 2.1
      10 May 2019 at 8:22 am

      Like this……

    • NZJester 2.2
      10 May 2019 at 11:12 am

      It might be his tears dripping under his bed after he has been crying in his sleep knowing the only reason as I have seen mentioned in an article that he is still National Party leader is not because he has the majority support of his party but because there are more people that don’t like him voting with his small number of supporters to keep him there because they say better him than Judith.

  3. Chris T 3
    10 May 2019 at 8:31 am

    Apart from the humour in people suddenly taking JLR as a serious source again.

    Can people make up their mind whether he is your hero source or baddy btw? It keeps switching

    It is getting worse than Slater being the number one go to for honesty over the JLR issue temporarily, then back to bad guy.

    From reading it. It sounds like by eating and drinking it's a dinner.

    Would imagine PMs go to a lot of expensive dinners. Are they all listed?

    • Cinny 3.1
      10 May 2019 at 8:37 am

      jlr is no ones hero source, he provided some topical information which is being discussed.

    • mickysavage 3.2
      10 May 2019 at 8:39 am

      Simon did list the Barak Obama dinner event so yes they can qualify.

      The thing about Ross is he has recordings and photos and bank details.

    • Gabby 3.3
      10 May 2019 at 9:18 am

      The wine was just in a doggy bag christy. Just leftovers.

      • patricia bremner 3.3.1
        10 May 2019 at 12:03 pm

        $200 wine? Leftovers? Yeah that'd be right!! Or get Jaimie to carry them? Hmmm!

    • Psycho Milt 3.4
      10 May 2019 at 9:23 am

      Can people make up their mind whether he is your hero source or baddy btw?

      People who aren't simpletons are capable of sorting others into more categories than just "goodies" and "baddies." So, was your question disingenuous or are you a simpleton?

    • woodart 3.5
      10 May 2019 at 10:33 am

      it was only last year that ross was one of your heroes christy. as with slater, and many other right whingers, that pedestal gets quickly kicked away, when the scum rises to the top.

      • Chris T 3.5.1
        10 May 2019 at 11:25 am

        I'd never heard of JLR till his breakdown and trust me. Slater has never been a hero of mine

        • woodart 3.5.1.1
          10 May 2019 at 5:21 pm

          if you had never heard of ross before his breakdown, you are obviously extremely new to NZ politics, or havent been paying attention. try and catch up….

  4. Bewildered 4
    10 May 2019 at 8:39 am

    oh Mickey really ? Is this how you spend your time and this keeps you awake at night Suggest a bit more focus and analysis on the year of delivery might be more fruitful for you

    • vto 4.1
      10 May 2019 at 8:58 am

      Trying to unravel cheating and sly deals that is corruption is paramount. Do you not understand that?

    • Gabby 4.2
      10 May 2019 at 9:19 am

      Comradecolonel Jian says it's all fine, quit pokin your nose in.

    • Enough is Enough 4.3
      10 May 2019 at 9:46 am

      Come on Bewildered. Its fun reading MS's almost daily tabloid take on Bridges or National.

      Those clowns mocked us for years so now its their turn to feel the heat.

      • Tuppence Shrewsbury 4.3.1
        10 May 2019 at 11:57 am

        When you don't have any policy wins in government, all you can do it hope the opposition is worse.

    • patricia bremner 4.4
      10 May 2019 at 12:09 pm

      They are delivering. Far more crooked employers are being pinged and held to account, far more people housed and far more first time homeowners getting into the market.

      It is hard in a coalition, but you know that you well named "Bewidered"
      And you TS.

  5. Dukeofurl 5
    10 May 2019 at 9:29 am

    I thought a gift could be only narrowly defined as an 'object' but no it includes hospitality

    (3) For the purposes of subclause (1)(b), gift—

    (a) includes hospitality and donations in cash or kind other than donations disclosed under Part 6A of the Electoral Act 1993:
    (b) excludes gifts received from family members (that is, any of the following: the member’s spouse or partner or any parent, child, stepchild, foster-child, or grandchild of the member).

  6. cleangreen 6
    10 May 2019 at 10:12 am

    National had planted Chinese spies inside their caucus of course, in 2011 including the one most vocal of late last week in our Parliament.

    Obviously Bridges in in ‘their pocket’.

    Chinese Government involved spy called Jian Yang.

    Early life
    Yang grew up in Jiangxi Province in southern China. He earned his MA and PhD in international relations from the Australian National University.[2]

    In 1999 Yang joined the University of Auckland as a Senior Lecturer in Political Studies.[3] He was granted New Zealand citizenship on 14 June 2004.[4]

    Member of Parliament
    New Zealand Parliament
    Years Term Electorate List Party
    2011–2014 50th List 36 National
    2014–2017 51st List 33 National
    2017–present 52nd List 33 National
    Yang was ranked at 36 on the National Party list for the 2011 New Zealand general election. He was the highest ranked new candidate on the list and was seen as a replacement for Pansy Wong, a Chinese MP who had resigned since the previous election.[2]

    Spy allegations
    On 13 September 2017 accusations were raised in the media that Yang “taught English to Chinese spies but was not a spy himself”. Yang admitted he had a background as a civilian, or non-ranking, officer in the Chinese military. In response to the accusations, the National Party released a copy of Yang’s CV from 2012, which mentioned his time at the Air Force Engineering College and Luoyang PLA University of Foreign Languages.[1] The Financial Times says the Foreign Languages Institute is part of China’s military intelligence apparatus, training linguists to intercept foreign communications. Yang was a lecturer at the Foreign Language Institute and his immigration file shows he taught the English language and American studies. Yang claimed he taught his students to simply monitor communications, rather than carry out “the physical act of spying”.[1] He conceded he could be seen as having taught spies.[5] The New Zealand Herald later reported that Yang did not disclose his links to the schools in his citizenship applications and instead substituted “partner” universities.[4][6]

    Yang also confirmed that he had been a member of the Communist Party of China but not since coming to New Zealand.[1]

    • Gabby 6.1
      10 May 2019 at 10:30 am

      I wonder if the comradecolonel's communications with the motherland are being monitored. Of course he might just pass on copies to Goodfellas to keep him up to date.

  7. Stuart Munro. 7
    10 May 2019 at 10:20 am

    The leaker must be sooo smug at the moment.

    They got Simon to alienate his bag man, the one with all the dirt on him. Then Simon dismissed his phlegmatic senior staffer. And the leaker is still there.

    The leaker must feel like the very god of dirty tricks. Those that the gods would destroy they first drive mad.

  8. SHG 8
    10 May 2019 at 4:00 pm

    You wouldn't believe how little I care about anything from Jami-Lee Ross.

  9. AB 9
    10 May 2019 at 6:06 pm

    Great photo – when a man puts on a tie, it makes him much more likely to tell lies. And if he is already prone to it – watch out.

  10. infused 10
    12 May 2019 at 2:55 pm

    tova has a real stick up here ass when it comes to simon. i'd take this with a gain of salt.