Chris Carter

Election Results has a piece on Te Atatu which makes for interesting reading. Certainly more interesting than Bombers mad rantings at Tumeke on a similar subject.

Carter may yet decide to run as an independent or for another party and a stock on this issue is currently rating this as an 11 percent chance.

It is unlikely Carter could win the seat, but despite his reputation in some circles for arrogance he was a hard working local MP who could hurt Labour’s chances if he felt like doing so.

Carter won the seat with a majority of 5289 over National’s Tau Henare, but National in fact won a greater share of the party vote by 13,183 to 13,171.

Henare is standing again for National against Labour’s Phil Twyford, though the iPredict market does not rate his chance highly.

Henare has been working hard in the seat for some years and Twyford is a relative newcomer to the area as his hunt for an electorate to call his own finally came to an end.

Another possible wild card is a third serious candidate throwing their hand in the ring.

Te Atatu is the one of many seats Winston Peters is rumoured to be considering standing in.

If this is the case and he does stand a chance then the other candidate winning the seat stock for Te Atatu could be considered to be seriously under priced, though even if Peters does stand it would seem extremely unlikely he could take it.

One thing the article doesn’t take into account is the utter collapse of Labour’s committee and organisation structure since the controversial selection of Phil Twyford. National seems to be under-priced in Te Atatu according to all this.

Even by Labour’s low standards standards Phil Twyford is a loser. Around Auckland at candidate selection time the strategy at electorate after electorate was “anyone but Twyford”.

It’s not hard to see why.

Yesterday Twyford posted on Red Alert 5 written Parliamentary Questions to the Prime Minister and 6 to Rodney Hide.

These are the winning questions from Labour designed to unsettle National and dislodge them from Government come November. These are clearly part of the Stealing Underpants election campaign strategy brilliantly thought up by Trevor Mallard.

Clearly Phil Twyford is wondering what on earth was Rodney Hide doing skulking over in Te Atatu taking pictures of Twyford’s and Henare’s offices that are dead opposite each other in Te Atatu Road and using VIP Services. I mean the cheek of it travelling down a main road in a Labour…oops…I mean Chris Carter’s electorate.

To save taxpayer money on the Parliamentary Questions I risked life and limb and rang Hide.  He abused me some more for being a dirty coup plotter.  And when he had calmed down said he had been with Labour’s Kelvin Davis and Carmel Sepuloni opening the new Arohanui Satellite Class at Edmonton School plum in the middle of the Te Atatu electorate.  Tau Henare couldn’t make it but sent along his electorate agent Alex Sie who was duly acknowledged.

Hide was there as the Minister Responsible for Special Needs.

But where was Twyford?  And how come he didn’t know about the big occasion in a school in his own wanna-be electorate?  And how come Kelvin and Carmel didn’t tell Phil?  And how come Phil is drafting Parliamentary Questions to government ministers to find out what is happening in what he thinks is his own electorate?

I asked Hide why he stopped to take the picture? He said it was because he had never seen anything as absurd as two List MPs’ offices dead opposite each other, and in an electorate of a another MP as well.

From where I am sitting this certainly looks like a Stealing Underpants campaign strategy to me.

The strategy is really working too from the latest polls and some of the tactics are becoming apparent. We’ve had David Shearer endorsing a government policy, Trevor Mallard trying to beat me in an asymmetrical war that he can’t possibly win, Labour trying to hack my website in retaliation for outing their silly information security, and now we have Phil twyford drafting umpteen written questions in order to get an answer that if he had attended a local electorate school opening he would have known the answers to.

Yep the Underpants Stealing plan is working. They must be winning votes with those cunning stunts.

There is an interesting case in the US at the moment where the outing of closeted politicians has actually led to a likely outcome that is beneficial for the human rights of the homosexual community in New York State.

New York’s state Senate is going to vote, again, on legalizing same-sex marriage. The last vote, held when Democrats had a tenuous majority, failed after every Republican and a number of Democrats voted against it. This time, though, there is a better chance at passage. Three former Democratic “no” votes (and one Republican) have announced that they now support marriage equality. The most interesting switch is that of Carl Kruger, who didn’t just vote “no” last time, he participated in a legislative coup designed to punish Democrats for even attempting to hold the vote to begin with. What changed?

Yes what changed was that one of those, Carl Kruger, it turns out is gay.

While the FBI investigated Kruger for bribery, they learned that he lived with his longtime male partner while pretending (or at least allowing people to believe) that his partner’s mother was his girlfriend.

I find this to be pretty compelling evidence that reporting on a politician’s sexual orientation serves the public interest.

Kruger’s secret life was surprising to many, but in Albany, his weirdness was well-known. It was known that he was unmarried, but he sometimes appeared at photo ops or events with a fake (rented?) “family.” Most signs pointed to closeted pol. But it took the FBI to actually do the legwork involved in outing him. And now, though he still insists he’s a victim of “media attacks,” Kruger has seen the light, and says he has “a better understanding of the impact that this bill will have on the rights to countless New Yorkers.” I bet he does!

So the corrupt politician turned out to be a corrupt gay politician with a fake family and gay lover. No wonder he has changed his vote.

The ethical argument against outing closeted public figures is that, basically, it’s “none of our business.” Their private lives are not relevant or newsworthy. But in the case of anti-gay politicians, their private lives seem very relevant. Ted Haggard has certainly sounded more tolerant — or he has at least ceased engaging in hypocritical political activism against gay rights – since he was outed. (“I don’t judge people anymore,” he said, which is about as much as you can ask for.) Barney Frank became one of the most prominent gay politicians in the world since his outing, long ago. Ken Mehlman now fights for marriage equality. Carl Kruger switched his vote. Keeping “open secrets” that “everyone knows” from the public is already a questionable journalistic practice, and now there’s a great deal of evidence that the private lives of politicians have very real effects on public policy.

I agree that politicians private lives are not relevant or newsworthy….except when they are. Kruger was a hypocrite, he got caught, he never would have been if he had been honest about his background.

Likewise in New Zealand we have seen a media frenzy over Darren Hughes. It was an open secret that Darren is gay, amongst the beltway folk…If Darren had been more open the just maybe it would have stop his drunken behaviour and stopped him from having to chase a naked 18 year old down the streets.

No one cares that he is gay, we are well used to this in NZ politics now. Grant Robertson, Chris Finlayson, Charles Chauvel, Chris Carter and many others are open about their sexuality, and it matters not a bit. Same goes for rooters or those in open relationships…it is far better to be open and honest about it than beholden to fear and blackmail. It is only news when you get caught out otherwise.

So Chris Carter’s looking forward to working with his old boss in the New York office of the Labour Party.

Pleased to see that on Good Morning yesterday he continued to maintain message discipline.

Just exactly what sort of dirt did Howard have on Gerry and Simon?

Why did John Key support them?

How can someone be put forward for a gong when they were still in the job in February when nominations closed?

Is this corruption?

Why does National always reward its enemies?

What do Pike River, Howard Broad and the Red Zone all have in common?

How are they going to chase votes in Auckland when their party list ignores Auckland?

When will Metiria Turei stop telling lies and making shit up about MMP?

Was a Swiss Ball used while they were “hanging” together?

It took 266 days from Richard Worth’s resignation till the Police closed the investigation, so why are Labour calling for a quicker conclusion for Darren Hughes when only 73 days have elapsed since he fell on his sword/was pushed?

Why did they travel to New York together in 2009?

Why did Darrren Hughes use a ministerial car for the same trip with Paul Henry?

Why are tax-payers paying for Chris Carter’s travel for a job interview?

Why did Chris Carter tell anyone who would listen in the Koru Club that he spent 3 weeks with Helen on holiday?

Were you just a little bit sick in you mouth with the news?

I’ve found Labour’s attack on the Government’s use of the air force just a bit thin.

Phil Goff would never use the airforce for a photo op… would he? Surely not?

Wasn’t Phil Goff the defence minister and in charge when “the Flight of the Toothbrush” took place?

“Conservation Minister Chris Carter called on a Royal New Zealand Navy helicopter to deliver a toothbrush he left after staying on the frigate Te Mana.”

And as I pointed out yesterday, Phil’s mate David Shearer thinks he’s on to a winner by attacking Murray McCully for using the airforce to get to Vanuatu for a Pacific Islands meeting on Fiji where commercial flights were few and far between and other Pacific VIPs piggy backed on his flight.

Really? Goff and Shearer, as people who’ve worked in international relations, should be ashamed.

Both of them understand the importance of the Pacific to us, and I have no doubt both of them have used airforce assets in an effort to further our messages during short visits to countries where we have responsibilities.  I imagine Goff’s 24-hour flying visit to the Solomons is something he would defend strenuously.

A generous observation of this current campaign is that it’s increasingly desperate and horribly hypocritical. Like I said, I look for as many opportunities as I can to bas Murray McCully up, this wasn’t one of them…and that really grates that I can’t give him a kicking. Labour have literally screwed the pooch on this one.

Phil Goff is in serious trouble. TV3 has quotes from senior Labour MPs about him, Farrar has helpfully transcribed them.

“I wouldn’t say I’m on Phil’s side but there’s no one else.”

“A few of the guys are rattled but not enough for a spill.”

“Come on Bro – who would want that job?”

Judith Tizard has heaped even more pressure on Goff by saying she will take a week to think about saying yes.

Meanwhile, former Labour MP Judith Tizard said last night she may take at least a week to decide if she wants to return to Parliament.

Party leader Phil Goff rang her yesterday to ask if she was planning to take the spot vacated by Hughes.

Tizard said she had “some unfinished business” and it would also be nice to say “stick it up you” to those who didn’t want her back.

Tizard plans to speak to friends, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark before she decides.

Asked if she supported Goff as leader, she said: “He has to decide if New Zealanders see him as a future Prime Minister. Phil could be a Prime Minister. I think a Prime Minister has to lead, has to be very fair, very generous. The question for Phil is if he can step up to that.”

Chris Carter has also piled into the scrap.

INDEPENDENT MP Chris Carter last night renewed his plea for Labour to replace leader Phil Goff, saying he “made a brilliant bureaucrat, but was never born to lead a country”.

“I’ve said all along, he is a hard worker but he ain’t got the X-factor,” Carter said.

A cabinet minister in Helen Clark’s government, Carter said Goff had demonstrated by his handling of the Darren Hughes affair that he was a “hopeless” and “indecisive” leader.

The Te Atatu MP was suspended last year for trying to undermine Goff, and his comments are sure to infuriate him when speculation over his leadership is mounting.

Even Matt McCarten says Goff has to go. Worse he says that Goff has blown any chance of saving Labour.

Why is the Labour opposition so hopeless? I had assumed that leader Phil Goff was competent enough, albeit lacking in charisma, to survive until the November election.

Now I don’t. His performance this week has been appalling.

I reluctantly swallowed the line that he was the best of the bunch after Helen Clark’s departure and was handed a poisoned chalice to do the best he could to rebuild his party.

In retrospect, maybe the Labour Party should have picked someone else as a break with the past.

I think that is what Labour are doing right now. There is blood in the water and Goff is a poor swimmer.

The handling of the Darren Hughes incident exposes Goff’s hypocrisy, his lack of judgment and, more importantly, his political smarts. You couldn’t get a more inept management of a crisis.

It was always a long shot for Labour to win November’s election, given the dismal polling of the party and their leader.

Goff’s mismanagement this week has taken any chance now. The Hughes affair will now dominate the media and cloud any positive profile Labour was sure to get in the period leading up to the Budget.

The failing economy and a record deficit budget is a gift for Labour. Goff had two weeks, for goodness sake, to work out a strategy over Hughes – and he blew it. He appeared confused and then changed his mind about Hughes staying on, probably under pressure from his caucus. Because of that, Hughes is certainly a goner whether he’s charged or not.

Labour has no chance in the next election if Goff remains. Labour needs more urgency, more mongrel and more seriousness about its obligations to its supporters who are really hurting under this Government.

They desperately need a circuit breaker.

I’m sad to have to say it but Labour needs to face the reality that its leader is now a liability and has to go.

Goff is a corpse, if Labour leave him stinking up the joint then they will start to smell like him. The birds are already picking out the eyes but once the maggots  start then the stench is really going to permeate everything about Labour.

Time for the undertaker and the body bags.

I see Phil Goff appears to be getting his political advice from David Farrar now.

He was expecting a late-November election, after the Rugby World Cup. “If the government goes before November it will be a vote of no confidence in the All Blacks and that would be unwise, or a sign of panic that the economy is failing to deliver.

Hmmm..He should channel Reagan via the Whale instead of the Manatee.

On another note in the same article, it also appears that Shane Jones is tumescent again.

Disgraced Labour MP Shane Jones is set to be returned to glory by party leader Phil Goff in a reshuffle early this year.

He is tipped to be handed the Maori Affairs portfolio and placed on the frontbench as Labour prepares its lineup for the election.

That means that the pie run is over for Parekura Horomia. The front bench seat he is currently wedged into will be breathing a huge sigh of relief. Personally I don’t think Shane Jones warranted a demotion, his troughing was minor, albeit embarrassing, compared with Chris Carter and Clayton “Three Suits” Cosgrove.

It is a good move to promote Shane Jones, though one probably necessary for Phil Goff to survive until the election. I think it is also brilliant, for National, that he is thinking of promoting Jacinda Ardern. We will now be able to see what other have up close, that despite the impressive political CV building there is actually nothing between the ears. I can just imagine her acceptance speech on the promotion now….”I am incredibly privileged….”

In 2010 I created following chaos and mayhem:

• told the truth repeatedly about Andrew Williams, the Clown of Campbells Bay. This resulted in his unemployment from anything to do with local body governance in Auckland.
• made Len Brown tell us something he said he would never reveal. The only pity was the lying, deceit and interference by officials thwarting the Ombudsmen for so long. In the end Len Brown rewarded the main obstruction, Leigh Auton, by giving him a cushy board appointment despite him robbing rate-payers of a nice 6 figure redundancy package.
• got charged with 10 counts of breaching name suppression and convicted of 9. In the process I made the government have a discussion and make changes with the name suppression laws in this country.
• appeared on 60 minutes and in every news outlet in New Zealand. This show was one of the top 5 shows for the year, both in ratings for 60 minutes and also with online views (20541 views so far).
• Got Simon Power‘s nickname, FIGJAM, written into case law.
• had someone write a song about Name Suppression.
• created an urban myth about Jim Anderton and his Earthquake statement.

• Uploaded a video to Youtube which then made the news and went on to have more than 440,000 views.

• made Len Brown slap himself silly.
• made Mangrove throw a hissy fit in a Sunday paper.
• outed veteran Maori troughers Te Reo Marama and Shane Bradbrook. They have since had all their funding cut to nothing.
• appeared at the Maori Affairs select committee to talk about Maori troughers ripping off the taxpayer.
• screwed up a story about Chris Carter, but apologised for it.
• rooted up Veuve Clicquot and NBR, making Barry Colman cough an extra $7000 in piss. BTW when is the party you slack cow???
• scared Michele Hewitson into a soft story with my “dead eyes”.
• Hijacked the Qantas Media Awards best Blog awards by holding the NZ Bloggers Union and Air New Zealand Blog Awards…real awards voted on by blogging judges.
• Outed Len Brown for touting for donations using council email. This was a story that Bernard Orsman refused to cover saying there was no evidence of it despite me publishing a full copy of the email.
• Called time on a content thief, Rich Henry.
• Made National Party president, Peter Goodfellow have his own extreme makeover after I compared him to Ned Flanders. Thousands of dollars of botox and a moustache trim, eye brow pluck and a new hair cut, he now thinks he is okalee-dokaly.

• Upset Mangrove on 7 Days
• It was the blog’s 5th birthday
• had more than 3 million page views and over 1,200,000 visits to my website.

I was reading through several commentators articles about the political year and was thinking they had it about right until they all made silly mistakes.

First up Matt McCarten – he runs through various politicians and his opinions of them and then finishes up with complete tosh about Len Brown and the “victory” of the left wing in Auckland.

Instead, Brown united the left, raised as much money as the other side and gained a huge majority for his team. Even more impressively, he destroyed the right-wing C&R machine. Since he’s been mayor, he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He’s spread around the jobs to include his opponents, but made sure his supporters are in the key posts.

Uhmmm…Matt is dead wrong. There was only one left wing candidate so no need for uniting, there isn’t a huge majority and that will become apparent next year. He didn’t destroy C&R, and if he did then he also destroyed City Vision/Labour. Since being mayor he has put a great wrong. His secret trust revealed his utter hypocrisy on transpacrency and honesty, he appointed his campaign pals and former toadies into crony positions, his 100 things in 100 days has produced about 5 things so far and we are so far 56 days into the 100 days, and jacked up rates by more than 3 times what he promised.

Then we have Mrs Colin Carruthers QC, who must have got her husband to write all but the last paragraph, and that shows her utter ineptitude at political musings.

Act needs a hard taskmaster, a leader who when he barks “jump” has his MPs squeal “how high?” as they work like navvies, punching above their weight.

And with Winston Peters looking like returning, this Act leader must be someone who’s already proved to be more than a match for Peters in the House.

It’s a desperate situation, and calls for a comeback.

So, Richard Prebble – leave a Brian Lochore note on the kitchen table: “Gone to Wellington. Saving Act tomorrow.”

Anyone who thinks that Richard Prebble is the answer to anything is bat-shit crazy.

The lsat lot to look at are the fools from the Fairfax political team. The fact that it includes pinko Vernon Small shows up in the trite rubbish that masquerades as commentary.

Apart from rating Simon Power about 20 places above his true station in life, I think it is funny that they rate David parker, essentially an invisible man in labour’s caucus above even Simon Power. You know they are vacuous when they write this about Phil Goff:

The Labour leader can be satisfied with his performance in 2010. The party didn’t go up in the polls, but at least it didn’t see its support nosedive either. Has given Annette King, David Parker and David Cunliffe their heads as they revamp party policy, and dealt decisively with the disloyal Chris Carter. But at the same time, he has failed to land a serious punch on John Key and will need to do more to fire next year.

Satisfied? Only a complete twat could be satisfied with Phil Goff’s performance. Oh wait…Vernon Small is a Fairfax political journalist.