SkyCity deal gets sleazier

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, October 23rd, 2013 - 14 comments
Categories: same old national - Tags: ,

It raised a few eyebrows when the Catholic Church appeared to back the SkyCity deal. Seamus Donegan appeared before the select committee for the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, saying they couldn’t find a link between pokies and problem gambling.

Turns out that Donegan’s submission was the opposite of the Commission’s real position, and he’s National MP Sam Lotu-Iiga’s electorate chair – a fact that neither Donegan or Lotu-Iiga declared.

With all the shenanigans going on, David Cunliffe is completely right to say that his government will do what is right to deal with problem gambling, not bind itself to National’s sleazy deal.

14 comments on “SkyCity deal gets sleazier ”

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  1. fender 1
    23 October 2013 at 12:00 pm

    Another crook from National who fails to declare a conflict of interest, not surprising.

    PM: “Sources in Auckland”, your friend Slater by any chance John?

  2. Ad 2
    23 October 2013 at 12:02 pm

    St Patricks Cathedral’s main annual fundraiser is this weekend: it’s a day at the races.

    Catholic Church in Australia and NZ is neck deep in social gambling as fundraising since inception.

    Speaking as a convert and weekly mass-goer from a low church background, it sits uneasily.

  3. Tat Loo 3
    23 October 2013 at 12:14 pm

    I think this story and Seamus Donegan’s misrepresentations could be escalated up the Catholic Church hierarchy.

  4. tc 4
    23 October 2013 at 12:16 pm

    How totally unsurprising to see smiling sammy the double dipping former akl city councillor and big city lawyer.

    This is the bloke who effectively reintroduced Beaumonts legislation that they voted down on loan sharking and then went around electorate meetings in 2011 crowing about it.

    Smiling Sleazy Sammy has a certain ring to it and like his leader doesn’t provide proof he donated his second salary to charity but it sure sounded good.

    • greywarbler 4.1
      23 October 2013 at 12:49 pm

      tc
      Loan sharking has been a thorn for some time to me.
      If you have a handy link I’d appreicate it. If not no problem – I will do a search.

  5. shorts 5
    23 October 2013 at 12:26 pm

    Seamus Donegan our own Father Ted?

    A raffle coming your way soon to repair a roof or two

  6. MrSmith 6
    23 October 2013 at 12:48 pm

    The Catholic Church and misrepresentation, hand glove!

  7. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 7
    23 October 2013 at 1:52 pm

    I recall that Seamus Donegan and Charles Chauvel were locked in a mortal battle for control of the Princes’ Street branch of the Labour Party in 1987.

    It was hilarious.

  8. One Anonymous Knucklehead 8
    23 October 2013 at 3:33 pm

    Perjury much?

    The National Party makes no secret of its contempt for the select committee process – dealing as it does with inconvenient things like expert opinion and facts.

    It’s much easier to corrupt the process. Far more efficient that way.

  9. aerobubble 9
    23 October 2013 at 4:43 pm

    Key says Banks seat on the board of SkyCity is like the unions association with Labour.

    I’m sure Key won’t explain how a virtual entity who shareholders have little say, is like a union where members vote regularly, even vote individually in the Labour leadership.

    But hey, turn it round. Is Key suggesting that a MP invited onto the board of a company, is paid for his contribution (unlike union members who pay to contribute), has no conflict of interest.

    Shame. Its totally different. Honest people give their free time, or their hard earned money, to support pressure groups, and they are the same as some MP whose paid up on a board of a company that only seeks its shareholders opinion once a year????

    Shonkey thinking Mr Key.

    • Hanswurst 9.1
      24 October 2013 at 3:05 am

      Additionally, the declaration of a conflict of interest is in and of itself a mechanism to safeguard the practice and appearance of members acting in accordance with the values and aims for which they were elected, rather than private interests that may or may not correlate with the same. The Labour Party is called “The Labour Party”, ferchrissakes, and its affiliation with the unions is common knowledge – indeed, part of the platform on which it gets elected. There is no cause for declaration of anything in that regard. Last I checked, however, John Banks was not elected to parliament as an affiliate of SkyCity. End of.

  10. BLiP 10
    23 October 2013 at 11:34 pm

    ‘

    Not particularly suprising to see Sam Lotu Iiga involved in another slice of sleazy caek. This is the guy who finagled $4.8 million out of the government with his PEDA Scam to capture public funding for the promotion of National Ltd™ aligned Pacifika political aspirants. His commitment to his stated Christian principles are as tenuous as those of his electorate chair, Seamus Donegan. Still, a fish rots from the head so these wannabe political princelings are taking the lead of He who they aspire to be: John Key. And lets make to mistake about it, when it comes to the SkyCity Scam, John Key has set the tone when it comes to the acceptable level of mendacity . . .

    the Sky City deal will provide 1000 construction jobs and 800 casino jobs

    all five bidders for the convention centre were treated equally

    my office has had no correspondence, no discussions, no involvement with the Sky City deal

    I did not mislead the House (8)

    I can’t remember what was discussed at my meeting with the SkyCity Chief Executive on 14 May 2009

    I have no record of the 12 November 2009 email from Treasury advising that the SkyCity deal was dodgy and needed to be referred to the Auditor General

    there was nothing improper about the Sky City deal

    SkyCity will only get “a few more” pokie machines at the margins

    any changes to gambling regulations will be subject to a full public submission process

    Sky City has approached TVNZ about the purchase/use of government-owned land

    I did not mislead the House (9)

    this government has been very transparent about all its dealings with SkyCity

    I did not mislead the House (10)

    the Auditor General has fully vindicated National over the Sky City deal

    I did not mislead the House (11)

    the Deputy Auditor General supports the view that there was nothing inappropriate about the Sky City deal

    I did not mislead the House (12)

    I did not breach the confidentiality of the Auditor General’s Report into the Sky City deal

    the Labour Government did exactly the same sort of deal back in 2001

    Labour has promised to not revoke the Sky City legislation

    . . . Iiga and Donegan are amateurs.

  11. Chooky 11
    24 October 2013 at 8:43 am

    +1 damning!….and it is the people of Auckland who pay and suffer

  12. Will@Welly 12
    25 October 2013 at 11:50 am

    A “good Catholic boy” giving evidence. Just like in the bad old days in the confessional with the local parish priest when he used to hold “your hand” – some things never change for the dysfunctional Nats.