Posts Tagged ‘murray mccully’

Why hasn’t Key sacked McCully?

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, February 16th, 2012 - 10 comments

If you or I or, say, an Mfat official were storing confidential work files or, worse, officially classified information in our personal email and those files were hacked, you or I or the Mfat official would get the sack for gross misconduct. So when’s McCully being fired? Or is Key’s flippant “if it was really sensitive it would be out by now” what passes for security standards in the government?

Garner rips useless Nats

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 15th, 2011 - 76 comments

Joh Keys Party Central

Duncan Garner has demolished the government’s disgraceful excuse-making over its woeful lack of preparation  for the World Cup. “I was there. It was scary. It was a disgrace. There were few police. There were no barriers. It was NOT family friendly. It was a tragedy waiting to happen.And that’s just Party Central. That’s the bit the Government was responsible for. Don’t forget that.”

Incompetent and insulting

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, September 15th, 2011 - 82 comments

The government’s handling of the RWC opening and the resulting chaos has been both incompetent and insulting to Auckland.  “Seizing control” is simply adding insult to injury.

Couldn’t organise a party at Party Central

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, September 14th, 2011 - 58 comments

Keen to shift the blame for the RWC opening fracas Murray McCully has used reserve powers under his very own CERA-like powers to seize control of the whole Auckland waterfront. John Key wants it run like Party Central, which he says “worked absolutely perfectly”. Yeah, tell that to the waka paddlers who were assaulted by a drunken mob there.

Whaddarya?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 pm, September 13th, 2011 - 39 comments

There once was a time tory leaders would wield the power of the state like the powerful tyrants they were.

Nowadays that might is lent to important things like… throwing a wee party.

Those tough old bastards must be rolling in their graves.

Resignation watch

Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, September 12th, 2011 - 39 comments

Which minister(s) will John Key fire this week? Bill ‘Double Dipton’ English, is embroiled in yet another personal corruption scandal involving a job for his brother. Gerry ‘The VIIIth’ Brownlee’s Christchurch fiefdom is seeing a peasants’ revolt among redzoners. Murray ‘drowned rat’ McCully delivered Key a huge embarrassment on Friday at the RWC opening.

Own goal by National flunky

Written By: - Date published: 6:09 am, May 4th, 2011 - 24 comments

Cameron Slater has the inside word on Murray McCully’s $75,000 trip to Vanuatu on a New Zealand Air Force plane that involved flying the 126-seater there and back to drop him and seven staff off, then there and back again the next day to pick them up. This story gets worse the more details come out.

McCully joins Flying Squad

Written By: - Date published: 5:31 pm, May 3rd, 2011 - 6 comments

With his RNZAF jaunts to photo-ops, John Key has set an example his ministers seem keen to follow. Having seen Key use Air Force helicopters to enjoy the V8s and do karaoke at the Parachute festival, Murray McCully has learnt that our Air Force is there to ferry about ministers. On 13 February our Foreign […]

Key, Brownlee & McCully have questions to answer

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, December 22nd, 2010 - 45 comments

It seems we don’t have a government at the moment. John Key is incommunicado in Hawaii. The Acting PM, Bill English, and Key’s press people refuse to speak for him. Someone needs to front up because serious questions are emerging about the honesty of statements Gerry Brownlee and Murray McCully made in Parliament and to the New Zealand people.

Wikileaks NZ cables

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, December 19th, 2010 - 53 comments

Odd timing as everyone powers down for Christmas, but The Herald has published the NZ Wikileaks cables.  A rather far fetched attack on Clark (covered by Eddie yesterday), the Nats breaking promises and misleading Parliament.  But if that’s the worst in the cables then I’m guessing that politicians on both sides, past and present, will be vastly relieved.

Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony

Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, November 13th, 2010 - 35 comments

The NBR reported yesterday morning that Murray McCully had awarded the $8 million RWC Opening Ceremony contract to Aussie firm David Atkins Creative.  Over on Red Alert, Grant Robertson was rightly appalled. The story seems to be being largely retracted now, with McCully trying to distance his meddling hands from the affair and the NZRFU […]

Murray “The Meddler” McCully

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, October 7th, 2010 - 9 comments

Our Minister for Sport now gets to pick the teams.  He’s pushing out two of our best ever Olympians from coaching, because Murray knows best.

McCully’s Autocratic Cronyism

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, September 22nd, 2010 - 9 comments

McCully doesn’t believe in the tender process.  Or accountability.  Cronyism?  Well, that’s a different story…

McCully does have vision..

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, August 24th, 2010 - 17 comments

There have been a lot of complaints that Murray McCully is useless as our offshore representative and shows a complete lack of vision. Stop complaining.

John Black shows you what the alternatives could be…

McCully backs down – for now

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, July 17th, 2010 - 10 comments

Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully says “we don’t need to have winners and losers here” but he has had to bow to the decision of the ARC to keep at least one of the sheds on Queen’s Wharf. While this may appear to be a change to the construction of “Party Central” it is […]

Needs a caption?

Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, July 15th, 2010 - 27 comments

From the Flicker pages of William Joyce, we have this cogent visual comment on Murray McCully and his diplomatic skills. But the image needs a good caption… 😈

Fat little lapdog

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, July 13th, 2010 - 123 comments

New Zealand hero Pete Bethune isn’t one for mincing his words – now that he’s free to speak them. He’s described the New Zealand Government as a “fat little lapdog” to Japan, eager to roll over and submit to the bullying of any power, no matter how unprincipled its actions, just as long as there’s a promise […]

Party failure

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, July 11th, 2010 - 21 comments

Joh Keys Party Central

“Why, if you are an international rugby fan, would you leave Eden Park and hop on a train, eschewing the delights of Kingsland’s cafes, going directly past the thriving night life of Ponsonby and taking a right on to a bleak windswept wharf instead of a left to the maelstrom that is the Viaduct?”

Indeed!

Aspiration and absurdity

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, July 4th, 2010 - 7 comments

John Key’s government has had many “aspirational goals”. One of them was a secret plan to end whaling. With the recent collapse of the international whaling negotiations in Morocco that plan, if it ever really existed, has failed. In response, Foreign Minister Murray McCully takes the politics of aspiration to a whole new, some would say absurd, level.

Groser and McCully’s booze breaches the rules

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, June 21st, 2010 - 31 comments

Tim Groser and Murray McCully charged thousands of dollars to his ministerial credit card when it’s clearly against the rules on Travel, Accommodation, Attendance, and Communication Services Available to Members of the Executive: 2. Examples of goods and services that will generally not be paid for:… (i) Alcohol unless it relates to a portfolio/ministerial function. They’ve got to go.

Ball back in Key’s court

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, June 12th, 2010 - 118 comments

Shane Jones and Chris Carter are for the chop. Labour will lay down the gauntlet to John Key to apply those same standards to Murry McCully and Tim Groser. Key is desperate to avoid that, we know how lax his standards are. Maybe its hard on Jones but Labour needs to clean up its act and heads have to roll. Expect Key to squirm as he refuses to hold his ministers to account, once again.

Sack ’em all

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 pm, June 10th, 2010 - 100 comments

McCully and Groser put their drinking habits on the taxpayer bill. Jones charged his own, um, habit. Carter played far too loose. All broke the rules. Carter and Jones paid the money back eventually. Groser and McCully better soon.
I say we deserve better. And if one’s gotta go, they’ve all got to go. Goff, Key, which one of you is going to set the standard? Sack ’em all.

It’s not ok. It’s racist

Written By: - Date published: 9:42 pm, May 31st, 2010 - 33 comments

McCully, Key, listen up. The real problem with Haden’s comment isn’t using the term ‘darkie’. The problem is he thinks limiting the number of Polynesians in their team is a key to the Crusaders success. Something the Blues should imitate. Haden apologised to the ‘darkie’ line. Hasn’t apologised for the real racism. How much is he being paid by the government? Do we want a racist representative?

Haden stays, McCully seeking 7ft carpet

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, May 31st, 2010 - 25 comments

It seems former All Black Andy Haden will keep his job as Rugby World Cup Ambassador after having apologized and withdrawn his allegations that the Canterbury Crusaders have a limit on the number of Polynesian players they recruit. Fair enough, perhaps. But Murray McCully’s decision to not “shoot” Hayden on the grounds that if he […]

The Revenge of The McCully

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, May 28th, 2010 - 18 comments

Murray McCully is still smarting from the Aid community so strongly (and correctly) objecting to his destruction of our world leading NZAID program, that he continues to kick them. Not content with last year’s 75% cut to the funding of the NGOs umbrella group The Council for Development, he has now suspended $26 million paid to NGOs like World Vision, Oxfam and Save the Children.

Couldn’t organise a piss-up on Queens Wharf

Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, April 14th, 2010 - 21 comments

John Key and Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully have been at their do nothing best ever since Key dazzled the media with his party central ‘vision’. As the days tick down, they still haven’t made any decisions, and the plans for Queens Wharf have become less and less grand. Now, they’re looking at just chucking up a big tent.

Nats all at sea on whaling

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 14 comments

In Kaikoura, John Key said commercial whaling “might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others”. You gotta love the leadership there. But you’ve also got to question what kind of two-faced game the Nats are playing because in the House, Murray McCully said precisely the opposite – that the Government opposes commercial whaling.

Carter leads on whaling

Written By: - Date published: 3:04 pm, March 10th, 2010 - 26 comments

Good on Chris Carter. He’s the only politician on Left taking some leadership in opposing the National Government’s abandonment of New Zealand’s anti-whaling stance. Today he launched an online petition against the government’s position. Carter writes: “John Key’s great plan to save the whales is apparently allowing the Japanese to hunt them commercially. This appalling […]

Labour and Greens “stealthy” on whaling

Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, March 8th, 2010 - 43 comments

You’ve really got to hand it to the Greens and Labour. They have completely defied expectations on the whaling issue. See the simple option that most political parties would go for would be to be seen to stand by their principles – loud and proud. But the Greens and Labour are too clever for that. Instead, they’ve cunningly said next to nothing!

Outrage at Key’s pro-whaling plan

Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, March 8th, 2010 - 55 comments

The Key Government has, without public consultation or mandate, thrown decades of political consensus in the trash. They are proposing the reintroduction commercial whaling. The Nats say this will reduce the number of whales killed but no-one is buying that. When did the commercialisation of a resource ever lead to a reduction in its use?

On the news value of questioning Ministers’ shares

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, February 24th, 2010 - 39 comments

A certain National Party pollster is having a cry over the story I ran yesterday on Murray McCully’s shares in Widespread Portfolios.

The story got widespread media coverage because it raised legitimate questions that needed to be answered.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.