When John Key leaves Parliament he wants to …
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9:00 am, March 24th, 2014 - 52 comments
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The Herald this morning had another puff piece on beloved leader John Key. The paper is starting to resemble a North Korean propaganda sheet such is its blind regurgitation of beloved leader’s musings.
So what does John Key want to work towards when he leaves Parliament? Will he work towards alleviating the effects of poverty or making the world more sustainable or oppose discrimination or spearhead action towards the abolition of nuclear weapons?
The answer is an emphatic no. When Key leaves Parliament he wants to go back to the foreign exchange markets and smack around the renminbi.
The Herald thinks that he was joking. I am not so sure …
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The jealousy is almost palpable
Why is that PR? For hopeing that someone who is already very wealthy may set out to achieve some good?
Jealousy of the press John Key gets, jealousy that nothing sticks to him, jealousy that after 8 years theres still no traction for Labour, jealousy that John Key can crack a joke and the voting public knows its a joke, jealosuy that John Key has an easy rapport with everyone from the general public to heads of state
Take your pick
What was the joke?
Money trader says he’d like to trade money.
Can you explain where the humour in such a statement lies? Seems very straightforward to me.
No, it wasn’t a joke.
It was the comment of a smart aleck trying to appear casual and cool.
Very adolescent.
And the term ‘smack around’ is a bit too revealing of the general attitudes of money traders. I imagine it’s a common phrase in the industry, which says a lot about how they really see what they do.
I would rather that my Prime Minister had not imbibed those kinds of attitudes over the years towards matters that can have severe consequences for individuals’ lives.
It’s no joking matter and it should not be an invitation to be a smart aleck.
Where is the wisdom, the self-reflection? Where is the consideration of the broader consequences of one’s actions? Where, even, is the self-respect?
Yes very revealing, especially when we consider that he is reputed to have spent a bit of time “smacking around” the NZ dollar.
And not a care for how it might impact on the people of his own home country, his friends, his family, his neighbours.
should the leading national daily be an avenue for jokes?
thats the point – nothing at all to do with you calling criticism of that, jealousy
your blatantly ignoring the rather obvious point and engaging in some rather silly framing
Not jealousy – disgust:
– that money traders actually can ‘smack around’ national currencies
– that they joke about it
– that they can become prime ministers in a democracy
– that 40-45% of the population of said democracy don’t loathe them
Ah yes. It’s the last of your points that I keep coming back to.
Maybe a good old fashioned dose of Baptist catechism would do much of NZ the world of good.
Never mind, PR. In your next life you may make it to being a currency trader. In this one, you’ll just have to be satisfied with (mis-guided) hero worship.
Had the misfortune to watch “The Wolf of Wall St”, another overlong $100 mill! Scorsese backside numbing effort involving New York. “Trader” De Caprio snitches after living the high life for a bit after fleecing mom and dad investors.
My son asked why I only laughed at a couple of physical laff scenes, the movie was ironically hilarious apparently. But no, it is how the John Phillip ShonKeys of the world actually live. With selfish arrogant disregard for their actions. JPS of course has not been caught with a couple of teenage girls in the back of the limo yet and departed Merrill Lynch before he could be tagged. But…
Nothing productive inside speculative currency trading.
What ever company ConmanKey joins it will Go bankrupt BT ML.
Yes, but, you have to understand the deliberation which these people act with, such companies are merely ‘tools’ for their use, once they have sucked enough coin out of the pockets of the working class they then move on to suck all the coin out of such companies,
In the world of instant international money transfer all the money has long disappeared befor the empty shell of the company is allowed to be exposed and collapsed…
Do you think for a second that he is not at the moment, or at any time in the past 10 years, not been involved heavily in Forex trading?
I have never doubted that for even a moment. It’s all he has ever done.
The Herald is now fully given over to being a National Party daily newsletter. Just accept it and move on. It is no longer a newspaper, nor part of the fourth estate. Consider it the Auckland print version of Fox News. Go elsewhere for “news” coverage or anything resembling ‘fair, accurate and balanced’ reportage and comment on matters of public interest.
“The Herald is now fully given over to being a National Party daily newsletter.”
The did have Martyn Bradbury writing for them yesterday.
Token lefty so they can claim they are ‘fair and balanced’?
Ok, let’s be generous and say they’re merely 95% corrupt tory rag then.
They do have articles on things more supported by the left in the Herald. But they tend to be the minority, and also tend to be buried away from the main pages and explicit headlines.
Martyn who? Oh yes of course the guy with the hate for Labour Party
EiE that would explain his increase inside wealth as the NZ dollar has escalated inside value against the US dollar Key has benefited from Reserve Banks damaging of the productive sector inside favour of the speculative sector.
Not Go mention the US?$65 billion bailout Go save Bank of America ML.
Now doubt other shares Key owns will have recieved billions of corporate welfare.
Key could be called NZs wealthiest welfare bludger.
From cradle state house widows pension to US federal Reserve quantitave easing.
Ladder puller extrodinare.
and ex-PM John Key would also want to be…
… an official wine taster when not involved in currency trading. You meet the most interesting people doing this.
I couldn’t care less what Key does when he leaves parliament and becomes a private citizen. I just wish he would start doing his current job properly.
Surely Key will become the Governor General for a few years and by then NZ will be a republic and Key will become President for life
He is doing his current job correctly – he’s selling out NZ as his employers in the US want him to do.
Nice to see Key’s thoughts going toward life after politics – the sooner he leaves the better it is for the quality and soundness of NZ politics.
count his money?
according to roy morgan labour/greens poll about 45% as do national…
not an enormous advantage for the “popular” mr key.
still, he seems to be enjoying his threesome with the us and china. strange bedfellows indeed.
puckish rogue, jealousy is bandied about too readily as a method to stifle contrary comment.
i dont envy mr key, i dislike where he takes and has taken nz, and to whose benefit… following an ideology born in the late seventies and which has repeatedly failed to delivery equity or prosperity to more than half the population.
usually jealous people want to be like, or have, what the object of their jealousy has or is. i have spent my life avoiding becoming like folks like mr key
Seems like you’re in the minority like the rest of the lefties on here which, of course, doesn’t mean you’re wrong but does make it more difficult to win an election
It’s only the RWNJs that are jealous of Key. The rest of us are disgusted by him.
envy not jealous. they want what he has and think if they support him they have a better chance to get it.
greena/labour 45% national 45%
so not as big a minority as you and others seem to think.
as for the jokes smacking around the rimimbi is funny? wow, and you think most kiwis would be chuckling about that?
considering that (according to legend) back in the day the NZ govt rang key and his chums up and told them to “get the fuck off our currency” – his talk of smacking round the rimimbi isnt anywhere near funny
unless you think ruining other peoples currency for personal gain is a total wheeze of course
Hang on. I’m no Key apologist but this seems like an attempt to make something out of nothing.
The full quote from the Herald is: “So, life after politics, I might go back to the foreign exchange markets and smack around the renminbi. Maybe not.”.
You take tone and context, and you can see it’s clearly a joke.
You’re better than this. These sideshows are doing nothing for the credibility of the left. Why pick on this when you have Parata? Or Collins?
can you not see the collins and parata threads
Greetings.
Did you read the last line of the post, The Herald thinks that he was joking. I am not so sure …?
The intent of the post was to ask why Key should talk about money trading, even as a joke, rather than trying to achieve something of public good as well as to wonder why this particular incident should be considered to be news worthy.
reading is a skill, so is comprehension.
i wonder what the Chinese think about our PM looking to smack their currency around? And do you reckon Key will be advised to go softly, softly on the jokes for fear of offending them? Just as the advice was given to Labour to tone down criticism of Collins – when that is actually a NZ matter?
They’re probably amused by it – it’s not as if it’s a freely floating currency like ours.
“You take tone and context, and you can see it’s clearly a joke.”
the problem is tone, context and john key dont ride the same bus
That would be like the joke that he wanted to lower wages?
“You take tone and context, and you can see it’s clearly a joke.”
So what’s the joke? He might trade currency and he might not isn’t a joke. Is it?
sadly it appears he wasnt joking when he told patrick gower he used russel normans tibetan flag incident with xi jinping to forge a strong personal relationship…
it makes sense that he would be laughing during mandelas memorial
it seems john key thinks whatever the person he wants something from thinks.
If we get a decent government in, the only currency Key will ever trade again will be cigarettes. He’ll be spending his energies avoiding getting raped in the shower by Mr Big who’s in with the warders.
And back in the day before he was prime minister didn’t someone ask both Helen Clarke and John Key what they would do if they had a large sum of money at their disposal.
Helen wanted to do something for others John Key wanted to buy a plane for himself?
Maybe that renminbi isn’t a joke, much as a past manipulation of NZ currency wasn’t a joke.
A puddle so shallow that no one would ever drown in it.
“A puddle so shallow that no one would ever drown in it.”
A puddle so shallow that no one would ever drown in it.
how apt
“how apt”
How do we know NZ Prime Minister has ever left the foreign exchange markets?
Seriously?
The opportunities for ‘insider trading’ when you’re the Prime Minister must be absolutely enormous…….
I did ask Prime Minister John Key to open all his bank accounts, trust accounts, monies held in Swiss Bank accounts / tax havens when I made a submission on the GCSB Bill.
“You show me yours – I’ll show you mine…”
(It actually got reported in the Herald by Audrey Young, 3 July 2013)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10894454
“Bright started with a lecture about how Key does deals like the Sky City convention centre – “your deals over dinner, deals over the phone – that might be customary practice in how you do things as a foreign exchange dealer or the head of derivatives for Merrill Lynch but that is no way to run a country”.
On the spy bill, she wanted him to open up all his trust accounts, bank accounts, Swiss bank accounts, tax havens. “Nothing to hide, nothing to fear, come on Prime Minister; you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”
Key looked like he really wanted to engage: “Okay Penny, thanks very much. Your time has expired.” ”
Come on Prime Minister – open YOUR bank accounts – so we the public can ‘follow your dollar(s) (and renminbi?
‘Nothing to hide – nothing to fear’?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation Public Watchdog’
Key will finish his destruction of NZ by crashing the NZ $ and will walk away smirking..
Take that for tossing me out
That would be good for exporters wouldn’t it? Doesn’t Labour have a policy of wanting a lower dollar?
Last time he took it down to 40 cents US. I think conventional wisdom is that volatility isn’t especially good. The effect on interest rates will be significant. But every serious commentator agrees that the $NZ is at present seriously overvalued. It’s the real purchasing power that is the clue. An $NZ gets you next to nothing – a result of accumulated deadweight losses at every step in the supply chain.
I’m sure Obama’s promised Key the kingdom of North Korea once he’s finished ‘bugging’ New Zealand. Or maybe Lizzie’s promised Johnny a peerage and a Castle somewhere remote – the outer Hebrides, or some such like!
he will need to hire a good lawyer.