Two lies in 20 seconds

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, November 28th, 2014 - 50 comments
Categories: accountability, john key - Tags: , , ,

Key is digging himself deeper and deeper into a pit of lies. It’s just embarrassing now.

In the first 20 seconds of this video (yesterday) Key claims:

“I was asked a specific question about the Chisholm report. All the questions were on the Chisholm report, including the primary question”.

“When the particular question was asked there was quite a lot of noise in the house … and so I genuinely only heard the first bit.”

Please compare with the video of the actual event.

The primary question was indeed on the Chisholm report, but the specific questions Key was asked were, at 1:55 in the video:

Woods: Did his office have communications with Cameron Slater between the 23rd and 25th of November regarding the Chisholm inquiry or the Inspector General’s inquiry?

Key: “I don’t think so, I’m not aware of that no”.
…
Woods: Did he have communications with Cameron Slater between the 23rd and 25th of November regarding the Chisholm inquiry or the Inspector General’s inquiry?

Key: Mr Speaker no.

Contrary to Key’s claim he was directly asked about the Inspector General’s (Gwyn) inquiry. Twice.

Contrary to Key’s claim the questions were asked in perfect silence (there was some noise with the second answer, the Speaker didn’t hear it because he himself was speaking and he asked Key to repeat it).

Two lies in 20 seconds trying to cover up the original “no” lie (Key had exchanged texts with Slater on the 24th). A personal best? Probably not.

50 comments on “Two lies in 20 seconds ”

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  1. tc 1
    28 November 2014 at 7:23 am

    Keep digging John, finally sections of the MSM are supplying spades making the likspittles like rawdon, RNZ, Hosking etc stand out for the shills they are.

    Oh and ask Johnny who raw shark is as he also claimed to know who that was…..isn’t that obstructing justice given the Hagar raid ?

    Now how about some focus on the inadequately focused report that ‘clears’ Collins please and some more sunlight on the deranged Slater so muddle nz gets an overdue wakey wakey.

    • Paul 1.1
      28 November 2014 at 7:47 am

      So far I’ve heard of Armstrong, Garner and Plunket breaking ranks.
      Never listen to Christie or Hosking..are they ignoring the story or defending their Dear Leader’s actions?

      • tc 1.1.1
        28 November 2014 at 9:14 am

        Reserve judgement till they consistently and objectively challenge shonkey, plenty of times in the past they do this hand wringing till the CT spin lines get refocused which they adopt and it’s move along nothing to see here.

        Their form is true blue tory so they’ve got plenty of runs to rack up to get across to the ‘objective’ column.

  2. Ashoka's Hell 2
    28 November 2014 at 7:44 am

    Better reporting by RNZ this morning about this issue of JK forgetting e-mail exchange (i.e. not introducing off topic questions that undermine the opposition). Awesome.

    This time the variables D + U where missing (JK still gets a free sound bite before the interview with Little though)

    “Formula for Manipulative media

    A-B+C-D-E=Better Interviewing from RNZ:

    A = ask the PM and opposition to come on and discuss the allegations of X against JK

    B = JK declines to discuss X

    C = RNZ asks opposition Leader about X

    D = RNZ then hijacks halfway through asking about U (taking focus off X)

    E = JK gets a free sound bite later in the day with a scripted press release about X introducing U

    U= anything unrelated to X that at has little merit only in that it shifts the focus onto the opposition.”

    Note JK claims he was far to busy and forgot when questioned about his exchanges with CS.

    Q.1 How busy was JK over that period (COMMUNICATIONS: note this covers definitions of e-mails, texts, meetings, conversations, agendas)

    Q2. Where was he and who was he with over that period.

    • Paul 2.1
      28 November 2014 at 7:51 am

      Yes, with RNZ you pay the price for turning up.
      Declining to appear is given the easy ride.
      Compare how RNZ deal with politicians who fail to front with Campbell Live’s more combative approach …cardboard cut outs of Brownlee, Sutton, reminders about how many times people don’t front etc

      • Ashoka's Hell 2.1.1
        28 November 2014 at 7:56 am

        Paul,

        “cardboard cut outs of Brownlee, Sutton”

        How do you do that on Radio…..

        Maybe, say for Johns No show, you could intersperse the news with Qs to a recurring sound bite from John….

        Maybe “Snapper” of “I wont raise taxes” or….” achually” or one of his slurred lines.

        • tc 2.1.1.1
          28 November 2014 at 9:17 am

          easy pitch a question to the no show and then 10 sec of dead air followed by a ‘ well I’m not sure you’ve answered the question …’

        • Tracey 2.1.1.2
          28 November 2014 at 2:18 pm

          Before you ask a follow up question, you say this is when we would seek xxxx view but he/she declined to appear

    • David H 2.2
      28 November 2014 at 2:25 pm

      Morning report got a caning on Twitter yesterday, and Espiner in particular was called out for his bullshit questions

  3. wyndham 3
    28 November 2014 at 7:47 am

    The carefully constructed image of John Key as the smiling, straight-up, honest Kiwi joker that everybody knows and can trust is a product of the Nact PR machine. It is vital to their continued shafting of New Zealand as we once knew it. Take him away and what do you have as the public face of Nact Inc.? Stephen Joyce ? Simon Bridges ?

    On National Radio this morning I heard a whining, ‘everybody’s out to get me’, ‘ I can’t remember everything’ John Key. Interesting and, I suspect, the real John Key.

    • Skinny 3.1
      28 November 2014 at 10:29 am

      Crap Happy John Key’s own caucus were silent because they knew their leader is full of it. The public are are slowly catching on to the corrupt practices.

  4. North 4
    28 November 2014 at 8:03 am

    The citing of ‘noise’ is itself a lie. Watch the clip. No ‘noise’ during Megan Woods’ primary question nor during her supplementary question. Watch the clip.

    The situation disgusts. The Right Honourable the Prime Minister of New Zealand is a patent liar. Again and again and again. Without conscience.

  5. Ashoka's Hell 5
    28 November 2014 at 8:08 am

    Two lies in 20 seconds

    Reminds me of the song by Living Colour:
    http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/livingcolour/thislittlepig.html

    “This Little Pig”

    56 times in 81 seconds…something like this

    This little pig has a mind of his own
    This little pig thinks he’s cool
    This little pig thinks that he’s all grown
    And this little pig needs school

    This little pig has something to prove
    This little piggie, he wants to be down
    Now this little pig wishes that he can undo
    The little pig that he shot down

    This little pig’s on a mission
    This little pig needs a plan
    This little pig’s got ambition
    This little pig does what he can

    This little pig’s got cum on his hands
    This little pig needs money to talk
    This little pig comes up with a plan
    This little pig whistling rock

    This little pig thinks he’s runnning the show
    This little pig thinks he’s king of the hill
    This little pig, well he doesn’t know
    He’s the next pig to be killed

    56 times in 81 seconds

    http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/livingcolour/thislittlepig.html

  6. Jenny Kirk 6
    28 November 2014 at 8:29 am

    Mathew Hooten on Breakfast TV this morning had an interesting analogy suggesting John Key was following Bill Clinton’s example of lying.

    Apparently Clinton’s team ran a poll asking should he be upfront and apologise or lie and “defuse” the Lewinsky scandel. The majority said “lie” so Clinton did. I wonder if Key’s office has been finding a similar response from their focus groups or whoever they poll secretly .

    • ianmac 6.1
      28 November 2014 at 9:36 am

      Matthew might be right. Lie. Bluster. Confuse.
      I suspect that because of the huge amount of information available on modern technology, the claim and counterclaim, the facts and counter-facts will totally blunt the interest of the general public. The very hugeness of the pile will negate whatever gems are there.
      So Key will continue on his grinning way regardless.

      • seeker 6.1.1
        28 November 2014 at 10:20 am

        “Lie. Bluster. Confuse.”

        Here is the one clip I have archived of that actually happening……..watch and be amazed

        PM John Key grilled on Fletcher’s GCSB appointment
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics-videos/news/video.cfm?
        c_id=1503464&gal_cid=1503464&gallery_id=131968

        Doesn’t bode well for us as regards the type of people who will be involved in “surveilling” us. Soooooo trustworthy! Help!

    • Lanthanide 6.2
      28 November 2014 at 10:08 am

      Sounds like bullshit to me. When would the public ever (knowingly) endorse a politician lying to them?

      The question may actually have been “should he apologise, or downplay the situation”, which is not the same asking if he should lie.

      • miravox 6.2.1
        28 November 2014 at 10:33 am

        Yes. If Chris73 is questioning the strategy, well I question it too.

      • Puddleglum 6.2.2
        28 November 2014 at 11:53 am

        “When would the public ever (knowingly) endorse a politician lying to them?”

        Good question. The answer might be quite revealing.

        One answer might be that they endorse it when they think a PM is only lying to the ‘opposition’ the ‘haters’ the ‘leftie media’, etc. and not actually to them (the public) about something they think matters. When they think, for example, that those questioning the PM are just ‘out to get him’.

        That is, when they think the audience at the receiving end of the PM’s lies deserve to be lied to and ‘they’ (the public) are not included in the audience.

        When they think politics is a game played by certain people but not by them so they, as a matter of fact, can’t be the ones being lied to.

        When we don’t actually have a democracy because many people (the ‘demos’ ) have little interest in actually governing their own affairs at the collective level – they just want to be ‘left alone’ by those ‘playing politics’.

        Sigh.

        • Murray Rawshark 6.2.2.1
          28 November 2014 at 8:19 pm

          The people polled could also have been a selected group of died in the wool Tories. I’m sure a lot of them are quite happy for him to do anything against the mad Marxists.

    • Tracey 6.3
      28 November 2014 at 2:20 pm

      Well at least 47% of voters think lying is ok

      • NZJester 6.3.1
        29 November 2014 at 12:04 am

        Correction only 47% of the 77.9% of registered voters who cast a vote.
        So it is only about 36% of registered voters.
        It is also only about 33.3% of eligible voters in New Zealand including those who did not registered to vote.
        So National only got a third of all eligible voters.

    • Tracey 6.4
      28 November 2014 at 2:22 pm

      Except he is not lying about his personal life, he is lying about how our govt goes about its work… A pretty big difference just there

      I suggested when key started differentiating between his office, the pm, himself that he was running a clinton defence

      ” it depends on the definition of me”

      Farrar wrote in his eulogy of brash that effectively brash was too honest (against farrarswishes)

      Prior to the election curia polled me and asked which leader i preferred. It included bill english in the list.

      Farrar could easily put in a question or two framed to get the answe and direction Farrar wants.

  7. Zolan 7
    28 November 2014 at 9:07 am

    Imagine the effect if ministers were to routinely append —
    “… And can the Prime Minister confirm that his answers apply to the question immediately preceding this one?”

    • mac1 7.1
      28 November 2014 at 9:35 am

      To which would come the Nixonian reply, “That statement is no longer operative.”

      We all know the opprobrium that Nixon enjoys as a serial and outed liar.

      Does John Key really want his legacy as a three term Prime Minister to be that of Nixon?

    • Ashoka's Hell 7.2
      28 November 2014 at 10:00 pm

      I had a good laugh on that one:

      “… And can the Prime Minister confirm that his answers apply to the question immediately preceding this one?”

      You shall be known hence forth as Zolan The Great

  8. RedLogix 8
    28 November 2014 at 9:39 am

    Another small – but perhaps telling – inconsistency to consider.

    Look at the text exchange where Slater claims that ‘they were trying to kill me’. Now if I received a text like that from someone I knew well and respected, I would be very, very concerned. At the least I would ask more questions to qualify exactly what was going on. I’d likely follow up in some fashion to see if everything was going to be ok.

    But Key does absolutely none of that. Because he knows Slater is a fantasist.

    Yet at the same time while in the House under pressure to account for the collusion between Slater and Ede over that original OIA request – he explicitly says that he prefers Slater’s version of events over Gwyn’s.

    If nothing else Gwyn must be seething to have the PM prefer Slater’s word over hers.

    • karol 8.1
      28 November 2014 at 9:44 am

      And on Campbell Live (who Slater says he doesn’t talk to), Slater said people were pressuring him to top himself because they knew of his depressive history.

      A nasty thing for anyone to do to CS or anyone, though not very credible from Slater – but not the same as plotting to kill him.

      • RedLogix 8.1.1
        28 November 2014 at 9:59 am

        Well over the years I’ve generally avoided slagging Slater personally. For a very long time I simply ignored him; even today I very rarely look at WO. I think maybe once recently I’ve labelled him a slug. For a long time he’s been a liability and embarrassment to the NZ blogsphere. Various approaches have been taken to isolate and contain him.

        None have worked, he hasn’t gone away. The opposite; he now leaves behind a trail of toxic wreckage wherever he has been. Everything is spinning out of what little control there ever was and there is indeed a non-zero chance of this all having a very bad ending.

        He probably only has a handful of genuine friends left. One of them needs to step up and intervene.

        • karol 8.1.1.1
          28 November 2014 at 10:04 am

          I also avoid going to the WO site. I just comment on what he says in the MSM or via other non-WO sources.

          In terms of his public and political activities, Slater does seem to be locked into a downward spiral – and he threatens to take Key with him.

          • Jones 8.1.1.1.1
            28 November 2014 at 12:10 pm

            Key may be taking the biggest gamble of his Wall St career when it comes to Slater. He will be well aware that the Slater/Blubber brand is toxic but any attempt to divorce himself from Slater will result in Slater paying back double.

            I can imagine Key having his own “et tu?” moment when his tenure as part-time PM comes at the hands of insiders and it is finally revealed what the leverage was that Slater had over Key all this time.

      • Murray Rawshark 8.1.2
        28 November 2014 at 8:23 pm

        After the ten minute chat, the reporter should have thanked Blubber Boy for not talking to him.

    • miravox 8.2
      28 November 2014 at 9:57 am

      I don’t think Key would respond the same as you RL. He’s a no responsibility kinda guy I reckon. John Galt looks after himself, others can look after themselves. That’s how Key runs the country and I expects that’s how he runs his acquaintances. (Does he actually have any friends?)

  9. logie97 9
    28 November 2014 at 10:16 am

    Does anyone have a chain of events and record of his comments around the “I was in Hawaii remember …”
    I can recall that somewhere in this story Key admits to be being fully aware, reads/learns of some comment from his office and makes immediate connection with his office. He then almost immediately reverts to the line of “I was in Hawaii remember … so couldn’t have been involved.”

    Given his economy with the truth in the last couple of days, it might be worthwhile revisiting his accounts of that “Hawaii time”

    Where oh where is Fran Mold. Remember she called him out in that notorious interview over his Tranzrail shares.

  10. tc 10
    28 November 2014 at 10:41 am

    Mold and Beatson showed how easy it is to catch them out, just ignore the distractive tangental answers and ask the question again with a ‘you haven’t addressed my question…’ they either implicate themselves or show how unwilling they are to answer as such guilty by default.

    Beatson smashed Blinglish with this simple approach on the now defunct stratos (thanks NACT) over the GST rise to 15% hurting low/middle income families, piss easy and journalism 101 stuff.

  11. Clemgeopin 11
    28 November 2014 at 10:48 am

    On Tuesday when the IG report came out, Sean Plunket of Radio Live interviewed Cameron Slater. What CS stated half way through the interview was VERY interesting!

    Sean said to Slater : ‘I know the Prime Minister did not give any evidence to the inquiry. It just seems funny that Phil De Joux and Jason Ede were running around doing all this stuff on their own without any oversight!’

    What Slater replied to that was quite revealing. He said:

    ‘If you believe that, then I have a bridge I can sell you!’

    Interesting, isn’t it?

  12. John 12
    28 November 2014 at 11:19 am

    So we have a bun-fight about an answer about a text about a leak on a report about a request about a briefing about Israeli tourists…… who were doing touristy things.

    You can look at actual important things happening in the country and the world, or you can carry on wasting hours and days of your lives over minutiae.

    You’ll never get those hours and days back.

    And you’ll never change a thing by wasting them.

    • logie97 12.1
      28 November 2014 at 11:46 am

      We have the prospect of someone being proven to be a totally untrustworthy individual continuing to run the country. You reckon that is okay?
      Watergate started as a triviality and in the end had Nixon impeached.

    • Puddleglum 12.2
      28 November 2014 at 12:00 pm

      “So we have a bun-fight about an answer about a text about a leak on a report about a request about a briefing about Israeli tourists…… who were doing touristy things.”

      More simply, we have searching questions over a Prime Minister lying to Parliament. For some arcane reason, lying to Parliament is not considered trivial.

    • Draco T Bastard 12.3
      28 November 2014 at 1:42 pm

      And a RWNJ pops in to try and distract from the corruption of our government that National are engaging in.

  13. Draco T Bastard 13
    28 November 2014 at 1:40 pm

    On the subject of John Key’s texts the Greens have thrown this into the ring. It’s a request to the Chief Archivist to ascertain if John Key was actually breaking the law in regards to his texts.

    • Murray Rawshark 13.1
      28 November 2014 at 8:53 pm

      I wondered about that when Joyce said it. Nixon got in the shit over the Oval Office tapes, so maybe Key thinks he’s smarter than Tricky Dick. They may have to retrieve them from the mobile operator to keep the national archives intact.

      I’m glad the Greens picked up on it.

  14. emergency mike 14
    28 November 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Key’s tone of voice on the RNZ clips this morning was very annoyed and stressed sounding – ‘poor me why u so mean to me.’

  15. BLiP 15
    28 November 2014 at 5:19 pm

    ‘

    Never ends, does it? I mean, just since his re-election in September, John Key’s lies have included:

    I have not been in contact with Cameron Slater ahead of the release of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn’s report into the SIS’s role in Slater’s 2011 political attack on former Labour Leader Phil Goff.

    The New Zealand military personnel are just attending a regular ordinary meeting in the United States (x 13 times)

    New Zealand is not involved in any coalition to fight in the Middle East

    It is not currently illegal for someone to fight overseas for a terrorist group

    When it comes to requests for official information, my ministers always act within the law.

    I have never called or texted Cameron Slater in my capacity as Prime Minister

    No, I did not mislead the House. (??)

    I did not admit to having abused the OIA process.

    I did not mislead the House(??)

    The review into Judith Collins has got nothing to do with the release of information to Cameron Slater

    My office had nothing to do with the release of informaton to Cameron Slater

    No, I did not mislead the House (??)

    I was being asked a specific question about the Chisholm report when I said I had had not contact with Cameron Slater

    No, I did not mislead the House

    When the particular question was asked there was quite a lot of noise in the house and so I genuinely only heard the first bit.

    I can’t remember all the phone texts I exchange except when I say I can

    The DPMC head attended the Roger Sutton PR conference because his department is taking over Cera next year.

    New Zealand was one of the very few countries in the world that were settled peacefully.

    No, I did not mislead the House (??)

  16. philj 16
    29 November 2014 at 10:39 am

    What is the porky number up to now? And counting …

  17. Akldnut 17
    1 December 2014 at 11:21 am

    Key’s lies are only exceeded by his own hubris.

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