WTF? CERA’s party political broadcasts

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, September 13th, 2013 - 30 comments
Categories: accountability - Tags: ,

James Dann at Rebuilding Christchurch has picked up on some seriously concerning signs of political partisanship from CERA. The government agency’s twitter and facebook account have been publishing John Key’s earthquake political advertising:

Key CERA 1

But this isn’t a single lapse of judgement:

Key Cera 2

It appears the offending tweets have been deleted and the facebook page is down, but the posting of party political statements by a government agency, especially an agency with as important and immediate role as CERA, is deeply concerning. I think an explanation is in order.

30 comments on “WTF? CERA’s party political broadcasts ”

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  1. Ad 1
    13 September 2013 at 7:49 am

    Great precedent for Mayor Dalziell. She will be able to get all the Christchurch Holding companies to advertise for her.

  2. Hayden 2
    13 September 2013 at 8:28 am

    Don’t worry, the Electoral Commission will get to this once they’ve finished making sure no-one makes a comedy skit with Winston Peters:

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9159640/Peters-comic-turn-prompts-complaint

    • amirite 2.1
      13 September 2013 at 1:41 pm

      And yes, this has already a lot more prominence in the news than this blatant Nats’ electioneering. Hypocrites have forgotten their outrage at Helen’s pledge card.

  3. Greywarbler 3
    13 September 2013 at 10:08 am

    Going to another item from the one about Key using a government agency to broadcast his personal promotion and propaganda in Christchurch, there is another about the UberSkool in Aranui – from whoa to go, cradle to cave (still no houses to live in), it’s going to have large roll with differing ages in cuddly, cosy, intimacy and community.

    Unfortunately it is dearer than other options being considered. But no worries, it may be one of the public-private partnership projects, where we all get Pee’d on from a great height. And one of the features of that system is that the private company decides on a use profile for the school, and it may not be available freely to the community whenever it is wanted. So community centre which is a word being thrown around in government descriptions of their intentions, will be a lie and a misnomer.

    This is mainly from memory of a radio news broadcast so E&OE. Check up on Radionz News where they have headings in their differing focus – there is one for Christchurch, try that.

  4. ghostwhowalksnz 4
    13 September 2013 at 11:26 am

    Of course making “Christchurch a livable small city” doesnt really apply when it comes to going to

    school- they have shut down quite a few small schools in order to run public private partnerships order to let someone make money from rebuilding

  5. Greywarbler 5
    13 September 2013 at 12:40 pm

    NACTs could let SkyCity build another casino in Christchurch and put those extra pokies there. People really need fun places to go to take their minds off the cracks and the cold. They could get their heating in the pokie hall. In that was they could get the low-income people to pay for their own schools with the taxes from the casino profits, they do get some don’t they?

    And the convention centre in Auckland, could get transferred to Christchurch. With the money being put into a PPP for part of the Town Hall there. What a good idea to do more in Christchurch which is really struggling when Auckland has fairly good amenities already.

    There’s one for Brownlee. And the NACTs will be helping Christchurch, at the same time as they are screwing it, which is just right for their machiavellian reptilian brains Clever clogs like them should have thought of this themselves.

  6. chris73 6
    13 September 2013 at 12:48 pm

    Good tactics by National

    • One Anonymous Knucklehead 6.1
      13 September 2013 at 12:52 pm

      Yeah, no-one cares about corruption and illegality. Why even pretend?

      • chris73 6.1.1
        13 September 2013 at 1:09 pm

        Nationals just following Labours lead in playing fast and loose with the rules so its ok

        • SpaceMonkey 6.1.1.1
          13 September 2013 at 1:19 pm

          And Labour were just following the previous National Government’s lead… yawn!

        • Pascal's bookie 6.1.1.2
          13 September 2013 at 1:22 pm

          You wait til the next government starts following this one’s antics. Hellooo GCSB, and no votes for anyone in jail. Woot.

          • chris73 6.1.1.2.1
            13 September 2013 at 1:30 pm

            Are people in jail allowed to vote? If they are thats something I’d definately change

            • Pascal's bookie 6.1.1.2.1.1
              13 September 2013 at 1:32 pm

              But you’re an idiot, so of course you would. Keep up anyway manchild.

            • Matthew Whitehead 6.1.1.2.1.2
              14 September 2013 at 7:21 am

              Yeah and then you’d also stop them voting after they got out, and institute restrictive ID requirements to stop students and the elderly voting. And then there’d be literacy tests, am I right?

              No thanks, this isn’t the USA, we don’t need disenfranchisement.

        • thatguynz 6.1.1.3
          13 September 2013 at 1:28 pm

          What an asinine response Chris. Do you not have even a vague semblance of right and wrong or does everything come down to “Well they did it first na de na de na”?

          What a cop out.

          • chris73 6.1.1.3.1
            13 September 2013 at 1:31 pm

            And yet when you translate all the BS that comes out of politicians mouths it pretty much comes down to that

            • thatguynz 6.1.1.3.1.1
              13 September 2013 at 1:44 pm

              That is quite true but I wasn’t assessing a politician – god knows we half expect them to speak with forked tongues, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t call them on it.

              In this case however, it was your personal justification that it must be okay because the previous govt also did it that I called asinine and a cop out.

              As a hypothetical example, fast forward “x” years to a Labour (or Greens) led government who increase the powers of the Intelligence community and use it to further their own agenda which is then justified by pundits on the premise that “It’s ok, National did it first”.. There would be an absolute uproar (and quite rightly I might add).

              Past behaviour doesn’t make for an adequate justification of current or future action…

              • burt …
                13 September 2013 at 2:22 pm

                Past behaviour doesn’t make for an adequate justification of current or future action…

                So if a political party said ‘that’s the way we have always done it’ after being told what they did was illegal – would we retrospective validate what they did because it’s the way they have always done it – OR – would we expect them to now be accountable for their current behaviour and their past behaviour ?

                • thatguynz …
                  13 September 2013 at 3:26 pm

                  Silly question Burt – we both know the answer there. The answer is unequivocally the latter for current and future behaviour at the very least.

        • burt 6.1.1.4
          13 September 2013 at 2:05 pm

          chris73

          It’s different when Labour do it !!!!!!

      • burt 6.1.2
        13 September 2013 at 2:08 pm

        Yeah, no-one cares about corruption and illegality. Why even pretend?

        The ref made a bad call – nobody knows the intent of the law like parliament… retrospective validations spanning 14 years is apparently the sign of a strong and competent leader….. The best PM ever was retrospectively validated to keep her job – Key will sink this low in his third term (if he gets one)…. Perhaps we should allow Key to spend close to $1m illegally on advertising so he too can have a third term ….

        • framu 6.1.2.1
          13 September 2013 at 3:01 pm

          one eyed, repetitive, out of date

          for the love of god, burt – get a new complaint

          • burt 6.1.2.1.1
            13 September 2013 at 3:50 pm

            It’s hardly out of date – many of the same people who voted to give the free pass for 14 years of breaking the law are still in parliament… 1 of them might soon be the leader of the self serving “It’s different when we do it – it’s the way we have always done it” party.

  7. Sable 7
    13 September 2013 at 2:02 pm

    CERA couldn’t find its ass with both hands. Given what a disorganised, inept mess it is, its no wonder Keys has scuttled out of the woodwork to try and apply a thick layer of whitewash or is that hogs wash with the election looming ever closer.

    Expect more DIY from National surrounding other failing projects in the not too distant future. Maybe Keys dishing out free anti depressants outside of WINZ offices?

  8. Populuxe1 8
    13 September 2013 at 2:30 pm

    You would have to be spectacularly thick not to have noticed the partisan nature of CERA from the begining.

  9. BrucetheMoose 9
    13 September 2013 at 9:40 pm

    CERA is a complete failure. It spends more time trying to window dress and candy floss up the real situation in Christchurch instead of fulfilling it’s proper duties. In short, it has become a Propaganda Machine for this inept government.

  10. tracey 10
    14 September 2013 at 9:17 am

    Pop1

    +100

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