February 2008

Fran O’Sullivan: Taking up the Peters media challenge – 01 Mar 2008 – Politics: New Zealand Political News, Analysis and Comment including 2008 election coverage – NZ Herald

Fran O’Sullivan fact checks Winston.

Peters: “We have not made a decision with respect to even having a consul in Monaco … It’s an ongoing matter for consideration and has been for 12 long years.” (Parliament press conference on Thursday).

Fact: In June 2004, former foreign minister Phil Goff categorically ruled against appointing a consul to Monaco saying there was “no proven need” for one.

Peters: “Since the formation of New Zealand First, we have assiduously at all times complied with the electoral law of this country.” (Parliament press conference on Thursday).

Fact: Auditor-General Kevin Brady believed NZ First was responsible for $158,000 of a total $1.17 million in unlawful spending of parliamentary funds by political parties at the 2005 election.

Peters contests this saying its expenditure was pre-approved by Parliamentary Services and the Chief Electoral Office.

Peters: NZ First has “had no big business backing since its inception”. (Close Up on Thursday).

Fact: NZ First’s electoral donations returns indeed show the party has not come within cooee of attracting the big business backing which has swelled the campaign coffers of the main parties.

But Contact Energy – surely a big business – did give $10,000 to the party in 2003 and again in 2005.

Peters: “This is a party (NZ First) that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a great case to do with tax evasion in this country and we don’t recall any journalist or any media group joining us in these battles.” (Parliament press conference on Thursday).

Fact: New Zealand news media companies – particularly the National Business Review, Independent and Television New Zealand – between them spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting injunctions during the 1990s to get the big wine box tax avoidance issue in front of the public.

It is true that NZ First paid for a subsequent challenge to the wine box inquiry commissioner’s findings right through to the Privy Council.

Suggesting the media are a spineless lot hardly fits h the facts – but it does suit Winston’s story.

NZ student loans reach all-time high – 29 Feb 2008 – NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

…and didn’t the leftist all howl us down. Looks like that Debt monster is going to be making a return this election.

The number of students with loans reached an all time high in 2006, Statistics New Zealand data released yesterday shows.

The Statistics New Zealand figures – Student Loans and Allowances 2006 – showed the number of students borrowing under the Student Loan Scheme had increased by eight per cent from 2005 to 2006.

The number of students who received an allowance in 2006 increased for the first time since 2002, but the number of students who only received an allowance – not a loan as well – declined.

Oh well another bribe off of the back of the poor supplicant taxpayer.

Petition for smacking referendum reaches Parliament – New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz

The anti-anti-smacking petition was delivered to parliament today complete with 322,000 signatures. If a referendum has to be held, I bet Clark will try to put it off until after the election.

Porn comes out of the shadows – New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz

Stuff are running an online survey to go with an article on pornography and a new book.

The traditional stereotype of a porn user is a dysfunctional middle aged man in a grubby raincoat, but that is being challenged by an unlikely newcomer to the scene, according to a new book on pornography in Australia.

That newcomer, says author Catharine Lumby, is likely to be a woman aged under 35 who lives in the suburbs, votes for a progressive party like the Greens, is in a monogamous relationship with a man and earns slightly more than average.

The book puts to bed a number of myths about who’s doing pornography in Australia and what they are watching, looking at, reading and clicking on.

These include the belief that “no sane woman” would look at pornography unless she was forced to by a male partner, Lumby says.

“One of the myths (about pornography) suggests that women aren’t consumers but we have very clear evidence that there’s a growing proportion of porn consumers who are women,’ she says.

“The statistics are so high now that that (that myth) doesn’t seem correct.”

The question: Do you approve of pornography involving consenting adults?

Choices to answer are: Yes, Yes – but nothing too hardcore and No.

The result so far are rather illuminating. Basically just under half of respondents are a bunch of prudes, nearly forty percent of us are no holds barred and almost 12% are a little squeamish but will give it a go.

Add the to yes questions together and that means that 51.1% of us approve of porn. Way to go NZ.

Pumpkin’s father caught in US – New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz

Murder suspect Nai Yin Xue was found by police with his pants around his ankles and his hands tied with his own belt after being captured by a group of angry Chinese Americans. Not only that six of them were sitting on him while waiting for the cops.

“They had basically taken his pants and tied his legs up and taken his belt off and tied his hands up, so he was very much in custody by the time our officers got to the scene,” he said.

“They had seen his and his daughter’s picture in a Chinese newspaper and recognised him and took matters into their own hands.”

“It’s not often you have somebody turned over to you tied up with their pants and belt.”

Xue was purported to be a martial arts expert but Chamblee assistant police chief Mark Bender said he “didn’t give the police any resistance”.

I hope he tries to escape while in transit over the Pacific.

The Hive: Labour Leadership Coup: Are We Missing The Real Action?

A coup is on and Helen’s loyal deputy is in the thick of it. The Hive has the full details on some interesting coincidences.

Lets look at some of the facts

Mid last week word starts being leaked out of the Labour caucus that Cullen is unhappy with the way that the emissions trading legislation has been handled

Moleworth and Featherston last week reports negatively on two of Goff’s triumphs – China FTA and US entry into the P4 process

The next day someone high up in the Beehive leaks the news that the Labour party President has offered to resign. This embarasses both Williams and the PM

The Standard and some pro-Labour media start really pushing the Cullen originated beat up of Key over lower wages – it is still running in The Standard

Yesterday Vernon Small suggests that Williams and Heather Simpson are for the chop and leaves the question of the PM’s position dangling

Later in the day Molesworth and Featherson leads with a piece on the Government re-think on emissions trading implying that the whole policy has been mishandled There is also an article critical of the Clark/Simpson election strategy ” Labour’s strategy of trying to minimise mistakes and waiting for National to slip up is playing disastrously, but there is no move to change course. Leadership speculation this week never had substance, but the party needs to re-think its plan.”

So what does this all add up to?

To get the answer you need to know why we are focussing on the link between Vernon Small, Moleworth and Featherson and Michael Cullen.

Who owns and writes Moleworth and Featherson? It comes out of Inhouse Media Limited and Sugar Media Limited

According to the Companies Office the Directors are:

Inhouse Media Ltd

CAVE, Shane Antony 5 Miro Rd, Raumati Beach

GRIGGS, Kim Marie 52 Helston Rd, Johnsonville, Wellington

SMALL, Vernon Albert 75 Grafton Road, Roseneath, Wellington

Sugar Media Ltd

HARBUTT, Josie 31B The Esplanade, Raumati South, Wellington

PAGANI, John 31B The Esplanade, Raumati South, Wellington

Interesting list isn’t it?

Isn’t John Pagani one of Cullen’s speech writers?

Well, well, well there will be executions at dawn now this has got out.

The missus went to Wellington today leaving the care of the pod to me.

So I get this morning, make the kids breakfast, mke their lunches, make sure they are in uniform, hair done, teeth brushed etc, etc

So I went to get the keys….they are nowhere to be found. No-fucking-where.

I had to call a cab for the kids, I felt so South Auckland sending the kids to school in a taxi. I turn the house upsode down, still no-fucking-keys.

Guess where they are.

Not on the hook by the door where they belong. Not in any of the multitude of handbags that reside in the wardrobe, not on the desk by the computer, not in any of the fucking doors.

No, they are in Wellington with the soon to be ex missus.

Applicants for the two positions available are to send photos via email. Points can be gained for any reason whatsoever but having the Whaleoil brand either tattooed or on a wet t-shirt will definitely get you selected.

Blogger targets ‘political’ editing of Wikipedia in Beehive – 28 Feb 2008 – NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

NZPA and NZ Herald carry an article today about Russell’s post wanting more transparency of people editing controversial areas of Wikipedia. I actually agree with Russell on this. I blogged on the strange occurrence of people behind parliamentary IP addresses editing things that are not in anyway related to their jobs back in August last year.

After a new piece of software, WikiScanner, was released last year, an Auckland blogger, Cameron Slater, who writes as “Whaleoil” used it to track changes to the popular internet encyclopedia being made on computers at Parliament. “202.22.18.241 is by far and away the busiest little beaver in Parliament on Wikipedia,” said Slater, who endorsed Brown’s call for transparency in the use of Parliamentary computers and staff to edit online encyclopaedia.

“Because of the IP address, we don’t know whether that is a National Party staffer, or a Labour staffer who is running a disinformation campaign to make it look like a National worker is doing this.”

At the the folk at The Stranded won’t be able to cry like babies over what the NZPA called me.

Union muzzled while awaiting poll watchdog’s ruling – 29 Feb 2008 – NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

The EPMU can’t campaign or spend any money campaigning because they are waiting for the Electoral Commission to adjudicate. The irony of one of the biggest supporters of the EFA being caught up in the provisiopns of the Act is delicious.

It shows just how stupid, reactive and vindictive this law was. Of course the EPMU should be able to campaign, they should also be able to spend as much as their members will stand in campaigning. The fact that they are currently caught proves the stupidity.

Sacking of DHB stirs public fury – 29 Feb 2008 – NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

Public anger over the sacking of the HB DHB, ostensibly to protect Annette King from allegations of cronyism, is rising. Labour will struggle to crack 20% in the Hawkes Bay.

When news gets out that the arms of the State are also trying to suppress information by using the courts to shut down dissent the public will rightly march in the streets.

The Government last night gagged the news media from revealing details of a draft report of an inquiry into the Hawkes Bay District Health Board.

It deals with alleged conflicts of interest of a board member and how the board handled the conflicts.

The Director-General of Health won an interim High Court injunction preventing newspapers, television and radio stations from publishing anything from the first draft of the report, which was subsequently changed before the board was sacked.

John Boscawen should organise a march for next weekend in Napier. This smacks of an oppressive regime shutting down dissent, then again we do live under the Electoral Finance Act.