Two more examples of senior Nats hiding their conflicts of interest, in violation of Parliament’s rules, were revealed on The Standard this week. This time, however, the Nats were smart enough to have the issue fronted by chief spin-doctor Kevin Taylor and Gerry Brownlee, who knew that a robust response was the way to satisfy the media, whose attention would be move on in the swirl of the campaign before anyone thought to check whether their denials made sense. By not fronting with Key, they avoided a repeat of those ‘Tranzrail eyes’. This was also the week everyone got excited about the H-fee story, which turned out to be an absolute fizzer. Not one of Labour’s best plays by far, and an important lesson in what not to do in a campaign. It’s time to move back to policy, the one thing National really doesn’t want. For this final week, the Left must make the choice clear – continuing stable, inclusive government, that grows wealth while making sure people get a fair share, we invest in the future, and protect the environment, or a slash and burn right-wing government that would privatise ACC, gut Kiwisaver, cut work rights, weaken environmental protections, and let wages drop. Here are our favourite posts of the week:
More redunancy protection
we’re starting to see from Labour a pretty solid plan to provide security for workers and their families as the economy starts to deteriorate…[more]
Prisons for profit
Like the rest of their programme, National’s corrections policy is the same old ideological formula: remove control from the public sphere so the private sector can profit…[more]
Standard Scoop: Key exposed again on secret shares and Tranzrail
When the Tranzrail shares came to light, Key was asked whether he had any other undisclosed shares entailing a conflict of interest. He said he didn’t. That was not true…[more]
Standard scoop: Another senior Nat failed to disclose conflicts
[Gerry] seems a little upset about the drop in Contact’s share price, doesn’t he? Well he might, because Gerry Brownlee was a Contact shareholder; he had a financial interest in Contact‘s performance and share price… [more]
On moral mandates
Key and the Herald can cry all they want, the fact remains: the legitimate and moral government is the one constituting the largest alliance of parties, whether or not it includes the single largest party…[more]
Don’t forget to check out our Standard lines series.
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