David Shearer

Labour has finally caved to the mounting pressure on Shane Jones after serious inconsistencies developed in his stories.

On Monday David Shearer ruled out standing down Jones over his involvement in the Bill Liu cash for citizenship case with Larry Williams on Monday night.

He explicitly said says it’s meaningless anyway.

What new information has he received that made him change his mind?

Perhaps it was the information that the herald brought to light on top of the sterling work done by Wishart on the Bill Liu case back in 08/09.

This Herald article from 2009 also makes an interesting observation:

Liu was considered a high-risk gambler by the DIA’s casino monitoring division because of his volatility, high-stakes gambling and history of self-barring, the Herald was told.

A DIA spokesman confirmed that Liu was of interest. “Mr Liu is one of a number of gamblers of significance whom the department has discussed in its interaction with SkyCity”.

Liu’s gambling also attracted the attention of the police. That interest was at times intense and included surveillance, a source told the Herald. “The focus was to see whether evidence of money laundering could be detected.” No charges have been laid.

… so Liu was being watched by the DIA and police for potentially laundering money – as well as his immigration issues – but Jones still approved citizenship.

Has Labour only just googled this stuff?

It is also interesting that apart from claiming that he would be executed he also claimed membership of Falun Gong. There is a little problem with given his propensity for gambling. Falun Gong prohibits gambling so his claim to be a member (which Jones appears to have accepted) seems a bit convenient:

As part of its emphasis on ethical behavior, Falun Gong’s teachings prescribe a strict personal morality for practitioners, which includes abstention from smoking, drugs, gambling, premarital or extramarital sex, and homosexuality.

David Shearer has kicked this to the Auditor-General but their request is for the Auditor-General to look at the process….not the decision. This is farcical.

“I’ve asked for the Auditor-General to look into all the departmental as well as ministerial processes involved in this case.

“Shane has encouraged me to take this action because he has been left in the impossible position of not being able to clear his name. An inquiry will enable him to do so.

“While the inquiry is underway, Shane Jones will stand down from his portfolio responsibilities and from Labour’s Front Bench.

Based on what Labour has asked of the Auditor-General they are simply trying on what Helen Clark did with Philip Field. There really should be a full indepedent inquiry now.

There are many reasons why Shane Jones’ story on Bill Liu doesn’t stack up.

Liu claimed to be involved in ‘formalising’ agreements and good relations between NZ and China.  What agreements? Officials said they could not confirm this was true.  And how does a fugitive who supposedly faces torture and organ harvesting in China find himself helping develop good trade relations?

Of course, citizenship can be revoked if you tell porkies on your application, just like residency (and a fake name certainly qualifies) – extradition/deportation can then follow.

Jones knew this.

Furthermore - this advice to Jones (see the top of Page 7) explicitly rules out the humanitarian clause as a reason to grant citizenship.

“It is therefore considered that Mr Liu is not eligible for the grant of citizenship under the former section 9(1)(d) of the Citizenship Act 1977.”

Jones’ decision last night to parrot the claims made by Dover Samuels, made the whole thing look even more murky.

Time for David Shearer to show some leadership and demand a full independent inquiry into this cash for citizenship scandal.

ᔥ NZ Herald

Emmerson is brilliant…Shane Jones movie viewing pleasures, carpet cleaners and dodgy behaviour…nice.

ᔥ NZ Herald

The NZ Herald notes that David Shearer is applying an interesting test in his reasoning for not standing down Shane Jones:

Shearer has rejected Key’s claim he is being hypocritical and says he would stand his MP Shane Jones down if Mr Jones was under police investigation.

Interesting…using that test…why isn’t Charles Chauvel now warming the naughty chair, or Megan Woods? they are currently being investigated by Police.

Of course the Shane Jones case is much worse than the other two, and certainly worse than the manufactured allegations against John Banks who was a private citizen at the time.

Shane Jones in contrast was a minister, making a decision that benefited materially a donor to the Labour party and to several MPs.

It is hugely ironic that Labour is making leadership an issue in the lead up to the budget on Thursday.

I say ironic because Labour appears bereft of leadership.

With the Bill Liu/Shane Jones cash for citizenship affair making its way through court and the political beltway it can;t have been a surprise to labour that this was going to cause problems.

Phil Goff certainly has known about it for all the time he was a minister, and leader of the opposition. He would have been hoping and praying it didn;t come to court while he was leader.

Shane Jones has certainly known about it, he was even called to give evidence on Monday. So it is somewhat bemusing to watch Labour, Shearer and Jones claim that they know nothing except what Shane Jones has told us and he has told us he can’t remember much as it was 4 years ago.

Let’s hope he was more forthcoming with evidence in the court room than he has been so far with the general public.

Given that this case can have been no surprise to labour, after all it involves Shane Jones and David Cunliffe but also other Labour names including their fundraisers, you have to wonder why David Shearer has been caught flat-footed and stumble mouthed over the whole issue.

It just shows how politically out of touch Labour’s leadership has been for some time.

Bryce Edwards though sums up Shearer’s dilemma he created for himself:

Quickly accumulating unwanted baggage is a reality for most travellers. On his journey towards the Beehive’s 9th floor David Shearer, the “non-politician” elected with no political baggage, is quickly getting weighed down.

Shearer’s office, along with Government politicians, are no doubt poring over the Labour Leader’s previous statements about political corruption in light of the daily revelations about Shane Jones’ involvement with William Yan (aka Bill Liu), currently on trial in Auckland. Revelations in court yesterday show the link goes further than just Jones, as Shane Phillips (also known as Shane Te Pou), a professional Labour Party fundraiser, had close links with Mr Yan, taking Yan on a trip to Hawke’s Bay which included a visit with then Labour Internal Affairs minister Rick Barker. His brother also worked in Shane Jones’ office.

David Shearer unwisely tied his leadership to a now meaningless statement about avoiding “gotcha” politics. No sooner had he uttered those fateful words, he was jumping in boots and all playing “gotcha” politics like a pro. That lack of political nous and leadership displayed right there will see David Shearer forever marginlised and mumble-mouthed when it comes to ethics. But if you are going to call others to account then you must also hold your own to account.

David Shearer has painted himself into a corner and bizarrely he chose the paint and the brush. He must live with that and start to show some of the reputed leadership skills he was supposed to bring to the job.

If he fails in this most basic of tasks, then he is dog tucker and labour crisi of leadership will continue.

ᔥ Kiwiblog

David Farrar has come up with a good idea. I think it has much merit and David Shearer should really look at this as a way to extricate himself from the ditch he has dug so far.

We definitely need a full inquiry into this. The problem is that if the National Government establishes an inquiry into the actions of a Labour Minister, it looks hopelessly partisan no matter how credible a person is appointed.

But if David Shearer was to come out and agree to an independent inquiry, and agree on the terms of reference with the Prime Minister – then that would be a great sign of bipartisanship – and would allow the true facts to be established.

The whole case is very murky. The person who helped Liu apply for citizenship was a fundraiser for the Labour Party. His brother worked for Shane Jones. Liu had donated to at least three MPs (two Labour, one National) and may held fundraisers at his restaurant which may have raised tens of thousands of dollars. And not only was the citizenship granted despite the official advice, a Labour MP arranged a special citizenship ceremony in the Maori Affairs Select Committee Room at Parliament just a few days later.

Speaks for itself, but David Shearer was in full frontal attack when going after John Banks on Breakfast.

Very different to the David Shearer that fronted on Larry Williams NewstalkZB show last night.

ᔥ NZ Herald

John Armstrong has excoriated the double standards of Labour leader David Shearer:

A straightforward case of glasshouses and the indiscriminate chucking of large rocks by Labour’s leader therein?

David Shearer took a firm line on John Banks’ recent troubles, demanding the Act leader be stood down as a minister while police investigate whether he breached local body electoral law.

That stance has come back to bite Shearer big-time in the form of Labour MP Shane Jones and the case of his four-year-old ministerial approval – despite officials’ advice – of citizenship for a Chinese millionaire who also happened to be a donor to the Labour Party.

The Prime Minister is accusing the Labour leader of hypocrisy. John Key is right. In failing to stand down Jones from his front bench, Shearer has not been 100 per cent consistent in applying the same standard to one of his MPs as he demanded should be applied to Banks.

John Armstrong forgets that John Banks was a private citizen whereas Shane Jones was actually a minister when he made the decisions.

He goes further:

That said, the conjunction of citizenship approvals, claims of having mates in Parliament and political donations make for a nasty smell which needs the application of political disinfectant. Jones could make life a lot easier for Shearer and things a lot clearer if he explained exactly why he approved Yan’s citizenship despite Yan being red-flagged by Interpol. Jones, however, is not commenting until Yan’s trial on fraud charges is over.

One thing that all political pundits and tragics should be aware of…that when Trevor Mallard is flinging around accusations about some sort of dodgy behaviour in National then he is covering from similar behaviour coming to light about one of Labour’s own. Labour attacked John Banks because they knew the Bill Liu case was coming up and they were hoping to bury their dodgy and shonky dealings under the political death, or so they hoped, of John Banks.

ᔥ NZ Herald

There is a reason that David Shearer won’t act on the Shane Jones corruption allegations. It is the Beaumont Effect.

If he acts and Shane jones exits parliament then the next person on the Labour list is Carol Beaumont. Shearer would lose a vital vote and David Cunliffe would gain one. Neither Shearer nor Labour really need another hard left unionist back in parliament.

Labour MP Shane Jones has spoken publicly for the first time on his granting citizenship to a Chinese businessman against official advice, saying he stands by his decision.

It comes as Prime Minister John Key accused Labour leader David Shearer of being “hypocritical” in demanding Act leader John Banks be sacked while accepting his own MP Shane Jones’ word he had acted properly in the case.

Mr Shearer yesterday said he accepted Mr Jones’ assurances that he followed proper processes when he approved a citizenship application by William Yan, also known as Bill Liu, in 2008.

At the time, there was concern about Yan’s multiple identities and a warrant for his arrest in China.

Yan has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying immigration documents and his trial in the High Court at Auckland ended yesterday.

The judge is expected to make a reserved decision on Thursday.

We will all know when Labour are serious about winning back power. They will show they have a moral compass. At the moment they are oscillating from one disaster to the next.

Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little have shown contempt for the law, their peers and their opponents by acting like school boys over being served papers. David Shearer should have told them to arrange to receive the papers and either go to court or apologise, as by avoiding being served they give the impression they think they are above the law.

Shearer himself has had an absolute shocker on the Shane Jones Bill Lui scandal. Whatever this blokes name really is he should never have been given citizenship and should never have had a function in the Labour caucus room celebrating getting his citizenship. A moral leader would have asked Jones to leave parliament.

The problem for Labour is while they have ethical and moral issues surrounding them they cannot put pressure on National over their ethics violations. An opposition is supposed to be very moral, and Labour are not.