October 2009

Labour has conducted a revision of their website that would do Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong proud when it comes to re-writing history.

Rick Barker – my word hasn’t he been in the press for all the wrong reason, but he has also covered up the humiliating losses in Tukituki to Craig Foss but omitting them all together.

Mr Steve Chadwick – ousted in ignominy by Todd “Boris” McLay, nothing, not a word. I still remember fondly her running from the camera at the Rotorua market the day David and I tried to interview her.

Damien O’Connor – only got back in on the list after a resignation being one step ahead of Judith Tizard, but no mention of his humiliation at the hands of Chris Auchinvole.

Even better, and I bet this is a shock for Chris “Cruising” Carter, Helen Clark is still listed as the spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and the bad news for David Shearer is that he actually isn’t the MP for Mt Albert because Helen Clark is.

Whaleoil’s spies have been busy. So busy that I have more than information now to start a regular column of Crime Tip of the Week.

This weeks Crime Tip is how to spot a real boy-racer.

Boy-racers are actually the motor racing equivalent of cruising poofs looking for a random hookup. The secret to their communication is actually quite simple and similar in many ways to cruising poofs who put bananas a certain way in their shopping trolley or who cruise by the well known “gloryhole” public conveniences.

What the boy racers do is have a For sale sign on their car, have you ever noticed how many of them do? the For Sale sign has two distinguishing features;

[quote]

1. the For in For Sale is actually a number 4 but written backwards
2. Their cellphone number

So there you have it. How to spot a boy racer. They are like cruising poofs, looking for random shag, always with an eye out for a reversed 4 on a for sale sign on the car. Next time you pull up beside such a vehicle wind down the window and calling them cruising poofs….that’ll soon put an end to the boy-racer phenomenon, that and crushing the cars.

It would appear from the HoS story of Labour’s rort of the system to pay for polling that they do this only whilst in opposition, when they don’t have any cash or big buckets of government cash to hide polling in.

Company Office records show that Trevor Colin Mallard, the Vladimir Putin of New Zealand politics, was one of the last company dorectors when the company was struck of 12 years ago. This was when Labour was on the rise in opposition against the Bolger/Shipley/Peters governments. They would have bee recieving more in donations back then and possibly stopped doing their own research using parliamentary funds and started there long term relationship with multi-national polling company UMR Research.

It would seem that with Labour resuming their own polling from parliamentary offices and from the Leader’s budget that they are again out of funds of decent troughs to use professional and ethical polling companies and are resorting to trying to revitalise the old Data Research rort.

It also suggests that they have been doing this for quite sometime and possibly Trevor “Putin” Mallard put them up to it in an internal bid and creating a scandal to unseat the tempoorary leader Phil Goff.

Phil Goff hasn’t fronted but the real question is, What does “Putin” know?

Labour, perhaps the biggest troughers known to man have been caught well and truly with their pants down by the Herald on Sunday, essentially running a polling scam out of Rick Barker’s office using funding from Phil Goff’s leaders budget under the control of senior MPs and former Ministers, Rick Barker and Darren Hughes.

The Labour leadership is embroiled in a murky polling operation run by a senior MP who has instructed volunteers to deliberately deceive people about their identities and the reason for their calls.

The polls were being run from Parliamentary offices by former Cabinet minister Rick Barker, who has admitted instructing staff to use false names and claim they were calling from a company that no longer exists.

Labour Party president Andrew Little last night said all polling was out of Phil Goff’s Leader’s Budget. Little said he knew nothing about the operation. “It would concern me very deeply,” he said.

Details of the polling emerged after a volunteer involved approached the Herald on Sunday claiming the practice was “unethical”.

Andrew Little has dropped his leader right in it by essentially speaking for him and telling us all that the taxpayer is funding Labour’s polling scam. Even better, it is a Green party member who has dobbed on this blatent abuse of taxpayer funds.

The volunteer, who is a Green Party member, said it was run by Barker and, when the volunteer participated, took place in Barker’s office at Parliament on October 14.

The volunteer said Barker instructed all the helpers, including a Parliamentary staffer, to say they worked for a non-existent company called “Data Research”, and to not disclose that they were really working for the Labour Party.Barker also told staff members they could make up names to use when calling members of the public.

Even worse, when initially approached by the HoS about his scam Rick Barker denied he knew anything about it, then called back to “clarify” his position, clearly the act of a guilty party. Darren Hughes has also tried to defend the indefensible.

Barker, when questioned, initially said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about”. When provided with details, including dates, Barker said he would call back.

Two hours later, Barker rang and admitted he had encouraged the use of false names by callers. He said he did so to make people feel more comfortable cold-calling.

“I told them: ‘You could use another name, if it makes it easier for you to make phone calls. For example, I could be Bill’.”

Labour whip Darren Hughes, who sits on the party’s leadership council, said he was aware of the polling. He said Barker had spearheaded three polls.

But Hughes defended the use of false names and for callers to not identify that they were representing the Labour Party.

“The name of Data Research was used to get as close to a scientific result as you could, to not influence results because of the way that people feel about a particular party.”

He said the use of false names in polling was common: “I’m sure that half the people try to sell us things on telemarketing aren’t giving us their real names.”

Hughes said the polling was legitimate use of Parliamentary resources because the results were used to understand what the public was thinking and to formulate policy.

The Labour Party once ran a business called Data Research as a polling company but the Companies Office Register says it was struck off in 1997.

So, lets just get this straight, using parliamentary funds from the leaders office, running a polling company out of parliamentary offices, using false names, using the name of defunct company, denying it all existed then saying the equivalent of  “Oh that polling”. Sounds like straight out fraud to me. Barker and Hughes are both List MP’s they should go immediately. This is simply unconscionable and reprehensible behaviour for those two.

Phil Goff also has failed to front. I think his demise must be imminent, with his mis-handling of the Richard Worth scandal, the non-management of the real leader of the Labour party Trevor “Putin” Mallard, the the ongoing debavle that is Chris Carter, it certainly looks like Goff’s days are numbered as leader.

A spokesman for Goff said the leader of the opposition was not available to answer questions, but he had consulted members of the leadership council and been told the method of polling carried out by Barker was a mistake. “It won’t happen again.”

Bryce Edwards, a politics lecturer at the University of Otago, said that the episode appeared to show a misuse of Parliamentary resources: “I would say that any phone polling at Parliament would fall foul of the rules.”

“This is very clearly partisan political activity, and pretty hard to sell as a legitimate use of Parliamentary resources.”

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said the details of Barker’s polling operation raised serious questions and could breach the Privacy Act.

And all of the above shows precisely why the parliamentary Services should be immediately opned up and included in the OIA jurisdiction so that rorting and troughing of this most despicable kind can’t happen again.

Goff, Barker and Hughes should go, a new leaser should step up and then they can have the fun of having the tizard effect come into play as well.

The latest Roy Morgan poll continues the never ending string of rogue polls that show National leading Labour by a substantial margin.

The latest NZ Morgan Poll shows support for John Key’s National-led Government is 59% (down 3.5%) comprising National Party 53% (down 4.5%), Maori Party 3% (up 0.5%), ACT NZ 2.5% (up 1 %) and United Future 0.5% (down 0.5%) according to the Roy Morgan New Zealand Poll conducted October 5-18, 2009. Support for Opposition parties is 41% (up 3.5%); Labour Party 30% (up 2%), Greens 7.5% (up 1%), NZ First 2.5% (up 0.5%), Progressive Party 0.5% (up 0.5%) and Others 0.5% (down 0.5%).

Goff’s position is untenable but the problem for Labour is that they have no real alternatives.

Our race car for the Targa is now ready after months of work by the team to take apart the old car that got smashed and then put the best parts into this car a Nissan GTR.

We have had to dial back the power because at 525hp it is pretty lethal. We had all 4 wheels spinning and smoking by chopping into second at 80 km/h and flooring it.

Before anyone says that this is a boyracer car, in order to enter the Targa race the car has to have a certified roll cage, 5 point harness system fro driver and co-driver, pass a race inspection and scrutineering, have a full first aid kit and fire extinguisher on board, the drivers are race licensed, they race on legally closed roads and/or racetracks and it is supervised as a legitimate motorsport in conjunction with local Police. If you want to play with cars this is how you do it. Following the rules and enjoying legitimate motorsport rather than impromtu gatherings of hoons thinking they are tough guys with dangerous cars.

Nissan GTR

Labour made a massive fuss this week about Rodney Hide and ACT running fundraisers. It was a stupid attack because it was always going to come back and haunt them.

Exhibit A in what will become I am sure a regular expose of their hypocrisy is this flyer from Steve Chadwick. It was sent out with an email on 9 Apr 2008.

From: patrick.leyland@gmail.com
Subject: Women’s Sector Fundraising Breakfast – Saturday 12th August

Dear all,

Please find attached a PDF flyer for the Women’s Sector Fundraising Breakfast on Saturday morning, at 7am at St Andrews on-the-Terrace.

The guest speaker is Hon Steve Chadwick, Minister of Women’s Affairs.

Please Rachel Boyack (details below) know if you would like a ticket for this event, or purchase one at Congress on Friday. Look forward to seeing you there!

I’d appreciate if you could forward this throughout your networks.

Kind regards,

Rachel Boyack
Vice Chair | Harbour Branch
Women’s Liaison Officer | Wellington Central LEC
Labour Women’s Sector Councillor
New Zealand Labour Party

What’s with all this unwaged B.S? Don’t they mean with a job or un-fucking -employable? Bet there was no bacon or sausages at that breakfast.

Madeleine Flanagan from M&M has a very good post on ACC as it relates to Tort law and how the system is failing people from a peronal and legal perspective. It deserves a wider audience it is very well written. Now before you dismiss Madeleine as some sort of mad christian nutter you really should attend Auckland Bloggers Drinks before making that assessment. I took Cactus with me last time and Cactus told me Madeleine wasn’t at all as she expected and actually enjoyed her company. Now for those who know Cactus that is VERY difficult to achieve. Now onto Madeleine’s very good post.

There is not point in repeating what most bloggers of my political persuasion have already opined, I’ll just throw down a few thoughts from my own perspective as an ACC client.

My first point is that ACC is not welfare. It is an Accident Compensation Scheme. Accident compensation is about restoring a victim of an accident that was not their fault to as close as possible the state they were in pre-accident. Tort law is the area of law that, in the absence of state interference, covers injury caused by people’s negligence – what we call “accidents” here in New Zealand. Tort law says that you must take your victim as you find them; restoration, assessment of harm, is not to be based on the average person but on that person, the victim.

The whole idea behind ACC was to stop lawyers enriching themselves and impoverishing their clients by pursuing cases of fault for accidents and the avoidance of fault. Madeleine is quite right when she says that the focus should be on the person who suffered the “accident”.

My next point that I’d like you to keep in mind as you read this is that I think that ACC should be private and fault based. This is my ideal. My ideal is not reality as in New Zealand, accident compensation is state run. While it remains state funded, while the option to sue my injurer remains unavailable to me by statute, it must function as a just and fair accident compensation scheme, run in line with tort jurisprudence.

Right there is the answer to all the problems that besets ACC. It needs to turn from a no fault system to a fault system even if that fault lies with ones own stupidity. As it is now ACC is merely another welfare department doing a sub-optimal job for the taxpayers and for the people the system was set up to help in the first place.

Madeleine then goes on to outline exactly how appalling the ACC scheme has become. I know how she feels because i am going through exactly the same type of malarky except in my case it IS with a private insurer who is going to become very famous if they continue down the path they have chosen.

She finishes;

If you think I am starting to sound like a bludger who wants to get picky whilst resting on the taxpayer I remind you that ACC is not welfare, it is compensation, it is supposed to restore me to my pre-accident life because, due to no fault of my own, I was a victim of someone else’s negligence.  This policy will fall well short of that goal. If I am made to go waitressing our family will have to take a $30,000+ drop in pay and I’ll be stuck with a mind-numbing, dead-end job. Why? because I lawfully stopped at a traffic light and the state has set up the law so that the person who injured me was allowed to just walk away, I cannot sue and we are all penalised so hard via taxation that only the wealthy can afford to pay twice and get private accident insurance? How is that just?

I am not saying that I don’t think I should have to go back to work, when/if I am recovered and able to unless I have a job every bit as excellent as the job I had before the accident (that is probably unrealistic as I had it very good) but it is reasonable to want something close surely? To want something at least in the ball-park pay wise and with a future attached it it? Is that asking too much given that several years of pain-hell will have passed before I ever/if I ever get to that point?

If ACC cannot provide good support and restore people to something at least resembling the victim of an accident’s pre-injury life then it needs to be axed and handed over to the private sector. It cannot, see above, so axe it now.

To those of you insisting it remain state owned and protesting raises in levies ask yourself, how would you cope if you  were injured and were in my situation? Your career cut-off, your income slashed, the treatment options that were working now just out of reach and your future bleak? Is it worth the socialist-joy of knowing that “we own it”?

A better question, if you had to pay for accident compensation and you had the money to do so would you choose a company who gave the cover as outlined above or would shop around?

Go and read her story and then tell me that ACC is best. i of course await with baited breathe the immediate posting of the defence of ACC by the usual trolls who won’t go and read Madeleine’s story.

Jeanette and Helen will be kicking themselves that they didn’t think of this idea before the election, now Hugo Chavez will get all the credit for what, I am sure, the Greens will soon be adopting as a policy.

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has called on his countrymen to stop singing in the shower to help save water and electricity.

The left-wing leader said they should attempt to wash in less than three minutes and breaking into song distract them.

“Some people sing in the shower, in the shower half an hour. No kids, three minutes is more than enough. I’ve counted, three minutes, and I don’t stink,” he said during a televised Cabinet meeting.

Getting into his stride, he went on to label baths and jacuzzis anti-communist.

“If you are going to lie back, in the bath, with the soap and you turn on the what’s it called, the Jacuzzi… imagine that, what kind of communism is that? We’re not in times of Jacuzzi,” he said, to laughter from his ministers.

Venezuela has suffered several serious blackouts in the past year because of rapidly growing demand and underinvestment.

It has been aggravated by a drop in water levels in hydroelectric dams that provide most of its energy.

Mr Chavez said he would create a ministry to deal with the electricity shortages, which have affected the image of his socialist revolution.