Treachery and silly season political snippets

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, December 23rd, 2015 - 61 comments
Categories: accountability, afghanistan, Andrew Little, death with dignity, Ethics, housing, iraq, john key, journalism, labour, Media, Minister for International Embarrassment, Minister for Overseas Holidays, national, parliamentary spending, Politics, public services, same old national, spin, Syria, war - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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With most New Zealanders concentrating on getting through the Christmas break, our politicians have largely abandoned the Beehive to enjoy the sort of holiday-leave most workers can only dream of.  There’s still a few MPs “on duty”. Their function is to maintain the semblance of active government and to roll out a bunch of announcements they hope will escape full scrutiny.

Labour, for example, now supports the neoliberal corporate slaughtering of Middle Eastern innocents. The softening-up process to manufacture consent for “mission creep” has been going on for a while now.  Labour joined in with a tentative press release on December 10. Now with a recent UN resolution providing apparent legitimacy for continued western imperialism, Andrew Little’s spent the last couple of weeks fawning around US military types. He popped up last week to lay down the various conditions required by Labour to support sending in the SAS to carry out more murders on behalf of international corporations. Since Little is conveniently unavailable for direct questioning about this position, it was up to Phil Goff to provide a public demonstration of semantic gymnastics.

Labour’s treachery is one of a number of  big stories which, so far, have not attracted enough attention. Watch this space. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of wee snippety-type items which might be of interest to fellow political trainspotters.

Just days after returning to New Zealand from COP21, John Key expresses doubts about the science behind climate change. Apparently, New Zealand doesn’t have to worry about it.

The perpetually useless  (and, thus, handy-to-have) State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, has white washed National Ltd™’s intended misuse of public funds for political purposes. Nick Smith’s office was setting up one of Housing New Zealand’s road-show events to promote list MP Parmjeet Parmar. After what must be the quickest State Services Commission inquiry ever to have been held, turns out it was a mistake by officials and nothing to do with National Ltd™.

While no one is looking and Parliament is empty, National Ltd™ introduced a new bill. Its a sneaky, wee bugger of a bill which allows National Ltd™ to spend millions and millions of dollars which have nothing to do with, nor are even mentioned within, the official parliamentary appropriations.

National Ltd™’s Tamaki MP and Chair of Parliament’s Health Select Committee, Simon “Father” O’Connor has been called out for what appears to be a significant breach of ethics. The Health Select Committee is currently hearing submissions in regard to euthanasia. In a barely concealed call to arms  for fellow Catholics to get their submissions in, O’Connor was featured in the NZ Catholic newspaper. He took the opportunity to muddy the waters and state that even though he was Chair of the Committee, O’Connor felt quite free to openly sate ” . . . Some people think the government should help people take their own lives and others, such as myself, feel we have to do everything possible to ensure no one ever looks at suicide as a solution to a problem . . . ” <– emphasis mine, conclusion obvious.

As part of its drive to deliver better public services, National Ltd™ has been introducing high levels of stress into the lives of cancer patients. The latest New Zealander to enjoy this amazing “improvement” to public services was leukaemia patient Jason Leger. Work and Income received his various medical documents confirming his condition and the fact that he moved cities in order to receive the specialised treatment he required. Didn’t stop WINZ from sending him letters demanding that even though he was in a hospital bed, Jason still had to be actively looking for work. Things suddenly changed, however, when the media got hold of the story. A PR apology was immediately issued. These days, when such examples hit the headlines, Anne “Chopper” Tolley would have us believe that the introduction of high stress levels into the lives of cancer patients was an “administrative error” and nothing to do with the fact that since July 2013 there is no longer a sickness benefit, only a “job-seeker allowance”.

Thanks to the Department of Internal Affairs, charities supposed to benefit from pokies are being made to pay for the upgrade of 8000 machines which cannot accept the new currency being introduced. The charities will lose something like $12 million which, instead, will go to foreign-owned multinational companies such as Aristocrat Leisure. Readers will be happy to learn SkyCity isn’t really affected. According Sky’s chief spinner, Colin Espiner, there’s been no financial cost to the casino because its 1600 gaming machines only needed a software upgrade to accept the new notes. Lucky for some.

More than half of all government agencies audited by the Chief Archivist fail to meet the requirements of the Public Records Act 2005. This is of “serious concern” to the Chief Archivist, and so it should be: most of the agencies audited are in the justice sector.

And so it goes on . . . the steady dribble of silly-season news our political masters would rather we didn’t pay much attention to. There’s bigger stories which are best left for more detailed analysis in the new year, not that the MSM is likely to follow through. Instead, it has been making use of the silly-season to pad out its pages with opinion pieces. With so few eye-balls around,  now is a safe time for it to pretend there’s such a thing as balance by including a wider range of critical views. There’s been quite a few scathing accounts of John Key’s behaviour during 2015, particularly in relation to his on-going support for New Zealand’s rape-culture.  Not quite so serious, but equally scathing, was the Northern Advocate’s Joanne McNeill’s Report Card  for John Key. The Prime Minister gets an F for Social Studies . . .

. . . John lacks empathy for anyone unlike himself except famous sportspeople. If the only good reason for government is to take from the rich to give to the poor, John’s mission is the opposite. While fostering elite private wealth, he deflects attention by persuading sycophantic middle classes to point the finger at the poor . . .

. . . heh! Funny, but also true, and sad.

Meanwhile, our Minister of Tourism has announced that  “New Zealand at Christmas is a magnificent place. It’s a time where we can really see the best of New Zealand on display.” Seems a bit odd, then, that he made this statement on the eve of his departure to his favourite holiday destination, the United States, where will be spending Christmas. He obviously isn’t interested in seeing the best of his nation on display. Or, maybe, he was just lying. Again. As usual.

61 comments on “Treachery and silly season political snippets ”

  • Comments are now closed

  2. DH 2
    23 December 2015 at 9:38 am

    Speaking of the MSM and opinion pieces, there’s a curious editorial in today’s Herald…

    Editorial: Cost of fibre optic cable is competitive
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11564935

    They mention referring to this previous editorial

    Editorial: Govt move on fibre has left us the poorer
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11562854

    Something has put the wind up the powers that be at the Herald. The first editorial was bollocks but it wasn’t the type of article the Herald could be sued for, they’re not potentially defaming anyone, so what’s really behind the fawning retraction.

  3. left for deadshark 3
    23 December 2015 at 10:28 am

    BLiP…thanks for this post, I would argue that Anne “Chopper” Tolley, should be “fly over” Tolley, Chopper is at least more honest, and smarter than her I’m afraid.

    We can tease out the fly over’ handle, sometime later.

  4. fisiani 4
    23 December 2015 at 10:37 am

    Wow. You really think the NZ SAS with the support of Labour will “carry out more murders”.
    Can you point out the previous murders committed by our illustrious SAS? I take it you do understand what murder means.

    • Matthew Hooton@exceltium.com 4.1
      23 December 2015 at 10:45 am

      You forgot to note that the murders will be carried out “on behalf of international corporations”.

      • Tim 4.1.1
        23 December 2015 at 3:32 pm

        Disappointing comments from BLiP in my opinion – really brings into question his whole list of John Key’s supposed lies. Obviously John Key has lied many times but equating support for UN mandated SAS support in fighting Daesh as requested by the Iraqi government with ‘neoliberal/corporate manslaughter of innocents’ and to say casually that Labour NOW SUPPORTS IT (manslaughter of innocents) makes me think BLiP is prone to exactly the same sort of trickery Key is.

    • Matthew Hooton 4.2
      23 December 2015 at 10:47 am

      You forgot to note the murders have been and will be carried out “on behalf of international corporations”.

      • Skinny 4.2.1
        23 December 2015 at 12:16 pm

        “Seems a bit odd, then, that he made this statement on the eve of his departure to his favourite holiday destination, the United States.”

        John Key was in such a hurry to avoid getting stripped of the white ribbon ambassadors role that he left early to get to his Hawaii bolt hole ( more like a rock to hide under). Unfortunately first class had sold out and Key was spotted slinking down the back of an airnz plane.

        Imagine that Hooton? stuck in cattle class, something a toff like you would never tolerate….he must have been desperate.

    • BLiP 4.3
      23 December 2015 at 11:09 am

      . . . “carry out more murders” . . .

      As Phil Goff pointed out, a large part of the NZ SAS operation in Afghanistan was calling in drone strikes and, as The Intercept has shown, most of those drone strikes resulted in the murder of innocents – https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/.

      As for those international corporations which have most benefited, there are all sorts of details available. Start here: https://www.quora.com/Which-corporations-have-profited-the-most-from-Americas-wars-in-Iraq-and-Afghanistan

      • Nick Morris 4.3.1
        23 December 2015 at 1:36 pm

        Wanna list the conditions, like UN approval?….Nah, too much trouble. This is after all the silly season where hack wannabes step in and pretend it is business as usual.

        • BLiP 4.3.1.1
          23 December 2015 at 2:19 pm

          ‘

          The list of Labour’s conditions, including UN approval, is linked to in the OP. Handy for Labour then, isn’t it, that the UN has given its approval. What a shame Labour’s list of “conditions” does not include an exit strategy. I guess, just like National Ltd™, Labour is quite happy to participate in the slaughter innocents for so long as the US demands that we do so.

      • fisiani 4.3.2
        23 December 2015 at 2:56 pm

        Ah right! You do not understand what murder means. Thought so.

        • Grant 4.3.2.1
          23 December 2015 at 4:22 pm

          I would bet that if you were a civilian living in Yemen or Pakistan who had family members killed in a drone strike as ‘collateral damage’, that you would consider their deaths to be an act of murder, ie. the unlawful killing of an individual without justification or excuse. Tell me it isn’t so.

          In addition, you do know that the issue of the legality of ‘targeted killings’ is very much in dispute, and that this is so even without taking into account the huge toll of unintended civilian deaths?

          Perhaps you could also explain why it is that a civilian contractor (not a sworn member of the military) employed as a drone operator, is any less an unlawful combatant than the individuals who are labelled as such and are therefore judged to be fair game for targeted killings.

        • ropata 4.3.2.2
          23 December 2015 at 6:46 pm

          Don’t worry, FJK will pass retrospective legislation to make illegal drone strikes OK

        • Macro 4.3.2.3
          23 December 2015 at 7:23 pm

          I thought we lived in a country where one was innocent until proven guilty, and we had abolished the death penalty years ago. Apparently John Key doesn’t agree. He allowed information to be supplied to the US so that a NZer could be the subject of a US drone attack.
          http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/9948795/Kiwi-believed-killed-in-US-drone-strike
          Yes Key is responsible, for it is within his department that that information was held and it should only be on his say so that that information should be released to the US.
          So Key is a murderer – that can be the only word for it. To knowing bring about someone elses death without trial. The duty of the government is to protect ALL NZers whatever their circumstances and the presumption of guilt was not theirs to make.

  5. Tory 5
    23 December 2015 at 11:19 am

    Oh Blip, in the Xmas spirit I was hoping for a scathing review of the NZ justice system in anticipation of Dot Com being extradited and Penny loosing her house.
    Still a character assanation of the Lefts beloved Labour will suffice, especially regarding Andrew “flip flop’ Little and the killer SAS.
    Boots Bombs and Bullets gets my approval, however disappointed Jerry has indicated that won’t happen 🙁 (with labour supporting deployment of the SAS and National saying no it appears Tony Blair is advising the NZ Labour Party?)

    • Stuart Munro 5.1
      23 December 2015 at 11:47 am

      I’m glad your holiday season will be replete with the usual trimmings of Tory work – poverty, corruption, vice, economic stagnation, despair, global warming and the prospect of dead Syrian civilians. Makes it easy to understand why they ran your lot over with trucks during the Spanish Civil War – bullets are too good for you.

  6. Macro 6
    23 December 2015 at 11:51 am

    Thanks Blip for another excellent Post.

  7. Tory 7
    23 December 2015 at 11:54 am

    Stuart, until you mentioned Syrians I thought you were ranting about the socialist Utophia of Venezuela

    • Stuart Munro 7.1
      23 December 2015 at 11:59 am

      I’m not surprised – though I am impressed that you could spell it – you must be a professional troll – do they pay you more?

      • Tory 7.1.1
        23 December 2015 at 12:11 pm

        Spell checker. Professional Troll?, http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Professional+troll
        Nah, just one of the 50% who support JK and looking forward to the summer BBQ season.

        • seeker 7.1.1.1
          23 December 2015 at 2:20 pm

          @tory12.11pm

          key has a 49% approval or popularity rating because he makes everything that is wrong sound right or OK and obviously 49% of our population love to do the wrong things and get away with it….and he is the arch enabler for them to do this……
          hence, like you, they love him , and in many msm characters like mike hoskings they will do everything they can to twist and colour their rhetoric to support and enable their enabler…..

          I wrote these words earlier in the week on another post, but they seem very suitable to repeat to you at this moment in time.

          Enjoy your BBQ, many in New Zealand won’t be able to this year because of the likes of key and his ‘team’ mates like you.

        • Stuart Munro 7.1.1.2
          23 December 2015 at 2:23 pm

          Awesome skills – now try it on utophia.

          So you’re one of the 50% too lazy to find out why you shouldn’t support Key? No surprises there – but shouldn’t you be on kiwiblog celebrating 7 years of oppression, fraud and economic sabotage with the rest of the invertebrates?

          • Tautuhi 7.1.1.2.1
            23 December 2015 at 4:07 pm

            JK is the most preferred PM ever and blows former PM’s out of the water with his easy going nature, the $105 Billion debt is not an issue as he has developed NZ into truely international “Rockstar Economy”.

            He can get access to the White House that former PM’s could only dream about, plays golf with Obama regularly.

            The man understands business and gets thing done and we as New Zealanders are all benefiting under his and Bill English’s safe pair of hands.

            • ropata 7.1.1.2.1.1
              23 December 2015 at 5:03 pm

              Fools like you are why the reason Wall St sharks like JK get away with stealing billions and offloading toxic derivatives onto taxpayers

              Keep buying into his crap and the whole country will pay the price eventually. At the moment he’s “only” wrecking the lives of the working class, but don’t worry, the NZ middle class will be gutted soon enough, just like the good ole USA

      • Tracey 7.1.2
        24 December 2015 at 1:34 pm

        Now who else is fixated on venezuela at TS thinking thinking ….

    • North 7.2
      23 December 2015 at 8:13 pm

      Literacy problems there Tory ?

  8. RedBaronCV 8
    23 December 2015 at 12:04 pm

    Oh and MOBIE is trying to outsource the workplace mediation service in the provinces. Both sides don’t want it because of the huge potential for conflict of interest appointments. And no doubt not so far down the track there would be funding cuts and mojor charges for service recovery so that it becomes as inaccessable as the rest of the justice system

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1512/S00430/privatisation-plans-for-mediation-services-rejected.htm

  9. RedBaronCV 9
    23 December 2015 at 12:35 pm

    I had an interested look at the Northern Advocate column. Obviously this is acceptable to the general consensus up there.
    While in theory Nact enjoy a solid lead in this seat ( hard to see why but there you go) has the Winston victory in surrounding Northland put this seat into doubt? Are they not so enamoured with NAct anymore that a determined tilt at the seat by a good candidate would shift NAct out? There was also a passing comment somewhere the other day that Whangarei unemployed were being bussed to jobs further south? Poor Nact polling in the background?

    And interesting isn’t it that some of our more forthright MSM opinions are coming as allways from the provinces and also from women.

    • Skinny 9.1
      23 December 2015 at 12:42 pm

      The hapless Nat MP Dr Reti is commonly known as doctor no show. The useless fucker never shows up at any gig that may ask the hard questions of what is his outfit doing about it.

      • tc 9.1.1
        23 December 2015 at 1:01 pm

        Hapless and useless to you and the wider electorate maybe but handy to the hollow men and salivatingly loyal to their cause so he’ll be kept on.

      • Tautuhi 9.1.2
        25 December 2015 at 12:57 am

        Don’t worry Northland are going to get new bridges and roads according to John Key?

  10. Draco T Bastard 10
    23 December 2015 at 1:33 pm

    He obviously isn’t interested in seeing the best of his nation on display.

    Oh, I’d say that he’s quite interested in seeing the best of his nation on display – it’s just that NZ isn’t his nation.

  11. NZJester 11
    23 December 2015 at 2:21 pm

    The fact New Zealand, America and Israel are the top 3 first world countries that have high numbers of people who apparently have no problems with the deliberate targeting and killing of civilians, none of what was mentioned shocks me anymore.

  12. Tautuhi 12
    23 December 2015 at 4:10 pm

    JK and Paula B would make a perfect couple a match made in heaven.

  13. Stuart Munro 13
    23 December 2015 at 5:09 pm

    I’m sure that, like the elephant seal, Paula Bennett is graceful in the water.

    • left for deadshark 13.1
      23 December 2015 at 5:30 pm

      I had one land on my kayak a few years ago, no not pretty. No not PB, a seal.

      • Stuart Munro 13.1.1
        23 December 2015 at 6:02 pm

        Fast things seals – we often got overtaken by them while steaming at over 12 knots. Penguins too.

  14. Esoteric Pineapples 14
    23 December 2015 at 8:24 pm

    The scariest thing of all is that we have a climate change denier for a PM. He thinks his opinion on the subject is more accurate than those os scientists.

    • In Vino 14.1
      23 December 2015 at 8:48 pm

      That is because he can always find a scientist who will obediently agree with him.
      What is wrong with these venal scientists?

      That is our problem – too many of us are venal.

  15. North 15
    23 December 2015 at 10:45 pm

    Get the dead eyes. And the bimbo.

    http://spy.nzherald.co.nz/spy-news/max-key-pines-away-in-hawaii/

    We’re meant to weep for the gargoyles of the Plastic New Camelot are we ?

    Meanwhile kids in South Auckland are squirming with scabies, hacking with bronchial, just knowing that they’re underclass. And understanding that not only do the gargoyles not give a fuck……they positively blame them. For being so poor as to be ugly. Marie Antionette Bastards the lot of them !

    Karma Karma Karma Do Answer.

  16. Bruce 16
    25 December 2015 at 4:05 am

    Goodbye Peter (pan) Goodfellow and Mr Key.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atn65lPABhs

    Say hi to Peter and Karl from Mi6 for me.

  17. Bruce 17
    25 December 2015 at 4:13 am

    Sorry, I’m confusing Peters.

  18. Bruce 18
    25 December 2015 at 4:14 am

    Fuck off you Masonic bastards.

  19. Bruce 19
    25 December 2015 at 4:17 am

    My father, my grandfather, always hated you lot. Now I understand why.

  20. Bruce 20
    25 December 2015 at 4:25 am

    Worth revisiting:

  21. Bruce 21
    25 December 2015 at 4:28 am

    Think twice before you treat people like this again in our country. Perhaps one of the privileged “old boys association” might take issue with it, and come, again, directly for your throats:

  22. Bruce 22
    25 December 2015 at 4:34 am

    Kamu anging, Peter dan teman. Anging!

  23. Bruce 23
    25 December 2015 at 4:36 am

    Treat people like animals and die in a political ditch, even less than an animal.

  24. Bruce 24
    25 December 2015 at 4:39 am

    Oh but I wouldn’t bust the name of the long-time head of Mi6 here on the standard, Mr Nick Charles!

  25. vaughan little 25
    25 December 2015 at 5:35 am

    I got this from one of my favourite movies: we weep for the cry of the bird but not for the blood of the fish. pity those who have no voice.

    liberals are for murder and they stink of death. not sated with the blood of a million children that were sliced from the wombs of their mothers, they turn their eyes to the born and desperate. euthanasia translates to” good death”. ask a liberal to give you a philosophically cogent explanationof the term “good” and all you end up with is capitalist anthropology. and they can’t look directly into the eyes of Christ the father of their parricidal bumscratch of a movement. sign of guilt if ever I saw.