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Why are the Greens hiring signature collectors?

by Whaleoil on May 29, 2012

↬ Keeping Stock

Inventory at Keeping Stock has found an online ad placed by the Greens looking at hiring students to help them collect signatures in a petition. I wonder of any parliamentary services cash is being used for this?

…the Green Party, that last bastion of honesty and principle in New Zealand politics is paying people to go out and collect signatures for their petition against the Government’s Mixed Ownership Model, which they still misleadingly refer to as “Asset Sales”.

Two questions come to mind immediately; is it so hard to get people to sign this petition that the Green Party has to pay for people to accost members of the public and bully them into signing; rather like Scientologists do? And can the Green Party give us a categorical assurance that no taxpayer funds are being spent on this initiative?

With various opinion polls putting the Green Party in the mid-teens, you’d think that there would be plenty of Green Party activists willing to get out and do this as an act of service. But if nothing else this reinforces the perception that principles are just an abstract concepot to the Green Party, and that anything goes if the price is right; especially if someone else is footing the bill.

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  • http://twitter.com/HandsMegan Megan Hands

    I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes! Who’s paying for it and is $18 a living wage? 

    • http://twitter.com/HandsMegan Megan Hands

      http://www.greens.org.nz/jobs/out-parliament-support-green-mps-0 and the application link goes to a parliamentry services application form.

      • http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/ Inventory2

         My daughter is a student at UC; maybe she could get the job, then the dog could eat her signatures; even though she hasn’t got a dog…

  • Johnbronkhorst

    Make all those “professionally collected” signatures…..inelligible!!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/scott.miller0 Scott Miller

    It only gets worse when they start promoting it on the Green Party Website http://www.greens.org.nz/jobs/out-parliament-support-green-mps-0

  • Phar Lap

    They could use the army of vandals who destroyed the Nats signs prior to the last election.Wonder if the ratbag, whose partner is in the employ of the squeaky whimp  Russel Norman  is back in the fold.Would be interesting to get a line on him.They could put out an S.O S
    for budding “green” party sickos to respond.

  • Kosh103

    The fact that National spends millions upon millions on consultants and what not, the fact that the Greens are after a few students (who will benifit from the extra cash) to go signature hunting is hardly worthy of an uproar.

    • Blokeintakapuna

      They could always recruit down at the WiNZ office – and get government subsidies for the work based “training” no doubt!

      • Kosh103

        Given it would only be a very short term job, would it be worth the hassel WINZ would put the people through.

      • Chris

        Paul Ruddell,
        Paul Ruddell,
        Paul Ruddell,
        Paul Ruddell

      • http://www.whaleoil.co.nz Whaleoil

        Stop being a dick Chris

    • Mark C

      That would be ‘benefit’, Paul.

      • Kosh103

        Incase you missed the news 1: intimidation doesnt work on me and 2: the owner of this site frowns upon using anything but the name provided by the poster.

      • TravisPoulson

        Paul Ruddell, stop being so paranoid!

      • Kosh103

        Travis you really should be less of a fucking fucktard. Might increase your brains abilities.

      • Pukakidon

         Kosh

        School teacher using that sort of school yard discriminating language again eh.   No wonder Northland is having problems with so many unemployable, especially when you are the level of teacher in that area.   You are failing them Kosh.

        Try using grown up language, without resorting to discriminaton.

      • jsrret

        mr ruddell, that would be ‘brain’s abilities’. amazing what passes for a teacher these days…

      • Kosh103

        Oh Puka you are just another know nothing fucktard. But it is amusing to watch you blather like a fool and get it wrong almost in every post.

      • TravisPoulson

         ”Oh Puka you are just another know nothing fucktard”

        “Travis you really should be less of a fucking fucktard”

        Here’s a whole damn jar of “fucktard”, now you can apply it even more liberally!

      • Kosh103

        My my Traivs what a 2 faced fucktard you are.

        You levelled demands at me for using it, you threatened me, attempted and failed to intimidate me – and now here you are using the word fucktard.

        Tut tut, shame on you. You 2 faced idiot.

      • TravisPoulson

        There we go, I knew we were long overdue for a “my my”.

        “and now here you are using the word fucktard.”

        goodness me, you’re too dense to see that I’m mocking you. 

        Don’t bring a hollow head to a blog fight. 

      • TravisPoulson

         kosh: Your memory seems to be lacking as well, as I explained yesterday about my ulterior motive re: your use of “fucktard”. Perhaps I should refresh your memory from yesterday:

        “Nothing to do with making you “quiet”….the paranoia is well entrenched now. Truth is, I kind of knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself from saying “fucktard” again, it was just an ulterior motive for me to bring you out in public and make you accountable for your abusive manner. ”

        You see, it wasn’t the reason, it was just the excuse. 

        With you still going on about it tells me you still haven’t figured out you’ve been had. Exposing you was always going to happen. Didn’t make a difference if you were calling people “fucktard” or something else. 

        Looks like Mallard wasn’t the only one to get “served” this week.

      • Pukakidon

         Once again Kosh turns up to a battle of wits totally unarmed.

    • BR

      So you would have no objection if ACT used public money to pay people to solicit signatures for a referendum promoting crown ownership of the seabed and foreshore?

      Bill.

      • Kosh103

        If it comes from their tax payer provided funding -  no. But given how little they must get, it would be money they can ill afford.

    • WayneO

      Why can’t you spell correctly? You are a teacher, yes?

    • toby_toby

       Uh… National is running the country. I think they’re allowed to hire a few consultants here and there.

      • Kosh103

        its rather reckless given they are trying to save money and the number alone in the PMs office cost a rather large amount. A few consultants is acceptable, into the millions of dollars is not.

    • Johnbronkhorst

      fucking idiot kosh…….consultants are hired by….THE GOVERNMENT…who work on behalf of the tax payer & citizens of NZ…The greens are doing this to attempt to make a political point on behalf of THEIR party!!!! MASSIVE difference!!!

      • Kosh103

        No you simple minded fool. There is a difference between getting outside adivce and spending massive amounts of money hand over fist when it is not needed.
        And in a time when the Govt is putting the boot into the poor and middle class, they might want to look at themselves and where their own offices in the Beehive could save money.

        As opposed to taking money from 12 year olds.

    • Dion

      Kosh – like Megan said above – it’d bloody well better be a living wage.

    • excuse me

      The vitriol from Kosh on this thread is disgusting, demeaning and unacceptable. He uses gutter language and intemperate abuse liberally, seemingly incapable of stringing two coherent thoughts together in a meaningful way.

      It’s a shock to learn from other contributors that he is a teacher. What
      chance have the poor kids got that are subjected to his standard of
      role-modelling, behaviour and “teaching”? God protect our kids from this
      kind of “teacher”, cowering behind the unionised one-income-fits-all
      brigade that have captured our schools and betrayed the future potential of our most valuable resource.

      • Kosh103

        Poor thing, did I upset your little ears? If you are of the soft nature perhaps this isnt the best place for you.

      • Markm

        Excuse me

        You should have sympathy for the children this fool teaches.
        They will be scarred for life , and that’s the best they can hope for

  • JC

    Isn’t it about time there was a compendium made up of these astroturfing pollies and put out so we can get the message out to the public by way of blogs, email, newsgroups etc?

    JC

  • Apolonia

     The problem for the Greens is that they are only allowed to spend $50,000 promoting the petition. Whatever they pay the collectors will need to be included as part of the 50k limit.

  • JC

    Oh, and we need a campaign out there accusing the media of collusion with these astrofurfing bastards. Its up to them to show they are just dumb and gullible repeaters rather than full partners with Labour and the Greens.

    JC

  • Pukakidon

    If one of these wimps come up to me then I cross out at least five names off the list for wasting my time.

  • Mully

    I’m not surprised – it’s very easy to be “green” when it’s not inconvenient. “As long as I can drive my Range Rover and use my clothes dryer, I’m all for the environment”

    Case in point, Gareth Hughes – Scum List MP with the biggest travel bill in Parliament.

  • Johnboy

     Why are the Greens hiring signature collectors?

    Cause our fucking stupid political system funds the melons and dope and lentils are cheap?

  • manuka416

    I met one of these green-hired students outside my daughter’s netball game on Saturday. Asked me to sign the petition for a referendum on the asset sales. I told the insistent young fella that I’d already made my decision at the election, and I didn’t want any new referendum getting in the way of the sales proceeding (obviously I favour MOM). 

    • AngryTory

      (obviously I favour MOM).

      Well I can’t help it that you’re a communist (from the 1960s even the USSR allowed “mixed ownership models”) 

  • BR

    “If it comes from their tax payer provided funding -  no. But given how
    little they must get, it would be money they can ill afford.”

    I say you are a liar.

    You would be spitting blood if ACT were guilty of such expropriation.

    Bill.

    • Kosh103

      You can call me whatever you like. Doesnt make you correct.

      I dont think the Greens should be wasting their money on this, there must be more than enough people out there willing to do this for free to help the party. But if thats how they want to spend their money, thats their right.

      • http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/ Inventory2

         And at last we agree Kosh; that’s the very point I made in the post which Cameron has linked to:

        Two questions come to mind immediately; is it so hard to get people to
        sign this petition that the Green Party has to pay for people to accost
        members of the public and bully them into signing; rather like
        Scientologists do? And can the Green Party give us a categorical
        assurance that no taxpayer funds are being spent on this initiative?

        With various opinion
        polls putting the Green Party in the mid-teens, you’d think that there
        would be plenty of Green Party activists willing to get out and do this
        as an act of service. But if nothing else this reinforces the perception
        that principles are just an abstract concepot to the Green Party, and
        that anything goes if the price is right; especially if someone else is
        footing the bill.

        The Greens can waste THEIR money on whatever they want (and I wish they would!), but this is inappropriate use of taxpayer funds; a bit like Gareth Hughes’ non-stop travel up and down the land on my coin.

  • AngryTory

    WHY ARE THE GREENS HIRING SIGNATURE COLLECTORS?

    Because they can’t compel civil servants to pay their expenses via effectively compulsory state sector unionism…

  • Jester

    I did see that on the ad that “some flexibility is required”

    That little fucker Wussell is trying to casualise the position!

    If he thinks I’m going to sit by the phone all day waiting for him to call he has another thing coming!

  • Azza

    I’ve been a National supporter all my life… right up until the last election. I signed the petition the Greens were touting all over town. 
    Selling off an income stream is a band aid approach to sorting out New Zealand’s financial issues. Once they are sold then what?

    “The concern I have overall is that the government is talking about selling at a time the market’s most depressed. It’s really a cop out to try and avoid the realities of the economic problems. What they should do is address the economic problems, not try to hide them behind asset sales”. (Bolger, 1988, in response to the Labour Government’s asset sell off)

    Bill English keeps trotting out that same old tired rubbish…it’s about time someone strung him up from a lamppost with a sign around his neck declaring him guilty of selling out his country…along with those involved in assets sales in the past (on both sides of the political spectrum).

    If this country wants to start sorting out it’s financial issue it needs to create a 100% taxpayer owned company, start putting drill rods into the ground and export our mineral wealth offshore. Once the foreign money starts rolling in it should be invested/used to set up new technologies/idea’s to keep cash rolling in once the minerals run out.

  • Ben

    This would be the same Green party who demanded more public $ to fund their deaf MP right?

    I wasnt dead against that, but it does highlight the hypocrisy (shield of sanctimony right Cam??) that they said they couldnt afford to fund it out of what they’d already been allocated.

    Wonder how Mojo feels to know this was a higher priority for the party than her needs?

  • Paulsmum

    Is Paul still in purgatory at MB2? That’s not nice.

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