Whaleoil is the only person John Key apologised to this year

Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, December 15th, 2014 - 12 comments
Categories: john key, national - Tags: , , ,

John Key Cameron Slater cartoon

It appears that John Key has made one formal apology this year.

Not to Tania Billingsley even though he had promised to.  Not to any of the victims of dirty politics smeared by leaks sourced from Key’s office.  Not to Adam Feeley or Sean Hughes who were attacked for doing their jobs.  Not even to Simon Pleasants who received death threats after being wrongly accused of leaking information.  Not to the estimated 250,000 children living in poverty in a land of plenty.  Not to future generations for running climate change policies rated the seventh worst in the OECD.  Not even to the complainant in the CERA case when Roger Sutton was allowed by the State Services Commission the opportunity to ridicule and minimise her complaint.

John Key’s one and only formal apology was to Cameron Slater.

As reported in Stuff this morning:

John Key delivered just a solitary written apology in 2014, ironically to one of New Zealand’s most controversial political figures.

According to Key “to the best of my recollection”, the prime minister wrote just one letter of apology this year, parliamentary questions asked by the Labour Party show.

Perhaps ironically, that single apology was delivered to Cameron Slater, the WhaleOil blogger who largely supports National but has brought much controversy upon the Government.

Key wrote a letter of apology to Slater earlier this year in relation to the Government’s decision to release an email Slater wrote to associates claiming that former justice minister Judith Collins was part of a campaign to undermine former Serious Fraud Office boss Adam Feeley.

This really is descending into farce.  You have to wonder what National’s back room is doing.  Key’s association with Slater is very damaging to the brand and undermining the Crosby Textor created illusion that has required years to construct.  The need to stop any contact with Slater would appear to be a no brainer.

But yet Slater has this unholy hold on Key.  And he is willing to allow Key to be publicly damaged by requiring Key to give him a grovelling apology. This is the weird bit.  A serial privacy breacher insists on an apology for having his privacy supposedly breached even though this damages the party he supports.

I hope that Slater continues in his actions.  He is doing a better job in undermining the authority of the Prime Minister than any of Key’s critics have been able to do.

12 comments on “Whaleoil is the only person John Key apologised to this year ”

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  1. Iceberg 1
    15 December 2014 at 8:27 am

    David Cunliffe made one apology too. That worked out well.

    • TheContrarian 1.1
      15 December 2014 at 10:03 am

      What’s Cunliffe have to do with anything?

    • Naturesong 1.2
      15 December 2014 at 3:51 pm

      The response to David Cunliffe’s speech at the Women’s Refuge Symposium and the Liu form letter smear involving Slater, The Herald, coordinated by the PM’s office and Michael Woodhouse were the twilight zone moments for me this year.

      My horror at watching it unfold was not the information, or how it was used to create a false impression, it was that so many people and agencies with public platforms saturated New Zealand with it for weeks, and how many people either bought into it, or thought to themselves, “You know what? Where there’s smoke there’s fire. I’m not going to take the chance.”

      My faith in the fundamental humanity and basic intelligence of New Zealand society has been seriously damaged this year.

      This is the first time in my life I feel embarassed to be a New Zealander.

  2. vto 2
    15 December 2014 at 8:42 am

    Excellent post. It was to be the matter I was going to comment on.

    This defines Key.

    Both Slater and Key are pigs of men. (with apologies to pigs)

    And I love the way that Stuff puts this bit this way … “According to Key “to the best of my recollection”, the prime minister…”

    Stuff is taking the piss out of Key

    • cogito 2.1
      15 December 2014 at 9:40 am

      Wherever there is filth, Key and his alter ego Slater are within half an inch of it. This country reeks of the stench of both of them.

  3. Tracey 3
    15 December 2014 at 8:48 am

    on tv3 this morning two media people were doing an assessment on the year, and john key. The mtro editor, simon wilson, and david slack. It is worth a listen when you get a chance. It was only half an hour ago so i dont think the link is available yet.

  4. Skinny 4
    15 December 2014 at 10:28 am

    Crap happy Key would have privately given an apology to other bloggers and lobbyists too, for having to cut back-hander’s with the heat being on. It does make sense as Hooton has been spinning Key’s retirement this term.

  5. Rodel 5
    15 December 2014 at 11:10 am

    I’ve thought about the dictionary meaning of ‘cam’ … It’s nearly an appropriate description of the relationship between Slater and the National party machine.

    ‘cam |kam|
    noun
    a projection on a rotating part in machinery, designed to make sliding contact with another part while rotating and to impart reciprocal or variable motion to it.

    In any case, Slater should be referred to as a ‘National Party ‘ blogger rather than a ‘right wing ‘ blogger.

  6. Donald Niven Rutherford 6
    15 December 2014 at 11:40 am

    To be really on the bastard ,CAM A LUG on a shaft causing another part of a machine to move up and down”so welcome welcome to the machine”
    Keys always up and down like a yo yo or the other one in the house so we know now how that action occurs cause it certainly doesnt have any thing to do with the content of his answer which are boring arrogant lies

  7. Treetop 7
    15 December 2014 at 4:16 pm

    They both deserve one another. Collins just might be the one who exposes them for what the are…

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