Frank Bainimarama

This commentary, through historical perspectives, analyses the flight of Bainimarama’s former right hand man, Ratu Ului Mara to Tonga and the disappointing role of media.

As the Air Pacific’s French built turbo prop ATR 42 glided into Apia’s Faleolo International Airport, I was overjoyed with the prospect of visiting Nukualofa. The year was 1988, in the aftermath of Sitiveni Rabuka’s coup in Fiji which had an interim government. I was an internal auditor with the Carpenter Group of Companies which owned Morris Hedstrom (MH) stores in Fiji, Apia (Molesi), and Nukualofa. I, together with my fellow auditor Chattur Singh was scheduled to audit MH Nukualofa after the Apia stop.

However, this dream of visiting Tonga was dashed when Tonga imposed a racially discriminatory rule that Indo Fijians from Fiji were prohibited from entering the Kingdom. Then, Fiji’s interim Prime Minister was Ratu Ului’s father, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara who was defeated in 1987 Fiji’s elections by Dr Timoci Bavadra’s Fiji Labour Party. Bavadra’s government was overthrown on 14 May, 1987 in a coup executed by Rabuka just after a month in power. It had been widely speculated and also exposed by Rabuka that Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was aware of the coup and had given his blessings for the rape of democracy in favour of indigenous superiority and ethno nationalism. Mara Senior claimed he accepted the position of Fiji’s Interim Prime Minister because he could not stand by and watch his house burning.

Ratu Sir Kamisese remained silent and failed to raise any objection against this blatant racism by his cousins in Tonga against half of his subjects in Fiji. It therefore should not now come as a surprise at accusations that the Tongan government aided and abetted the escape of Ratu Ului to Tonga by breaching Fiji waters, supposedly in a sea rescue mission. The evidence from the murky waters suggests that Ratu Ului may be less than honest about his escapade. His checking into a hotel under a false name, hiding his identity, the customary protocols of fishing alone by a chief, and the failure of respective New Zealand and Fiji navies to detect any distress signals indicate that the truth is somewhere out there.

This case also exposed New Zealand mainstream media’s blind dependency on a political blogsite, Coup Four Point Five, which hardly resembles a respectable, free and independent media. This site has anonymous and faceless publishers and editors whose credibility has been under scrutiny by various academics and this author because of their selective, unsubstantiated and unbalanced news-postings. This is Qarase’s SDL Party site tasked with getting the racist regime back into power under the sham of democracy. It is such questionable blogsite that the mainstream New Zealand media, including NZ Herald and TVNZ, have relied upon as a source.

The Indo-Fijian bashing angle is used once again. With Tonga’s history of racially humiliating Indo-Fijians in 1988 with ban on entry, it is no wonder Ratu Ului had a field day in using the race card as well, where he said that Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum, Fiji’s Indo-Fijian Attorney General was solely calling the shots in Fiji.

What a gullible media fails to realise is that Fiji’s military is 99.95 per cent indigenous Fijians. Of the 21 Permanent Secretaries, only three are Indo-Fijians, only two ministers are Indo-Fijians and other top echelons of the civil service comprise of some 80 per cent indigenous Fijians. Yet, Ratu Ului, supported by NZ media, wishes us to believe that one Indo-Fijian had Frank Bainimarama in a trance. Ratu Ului is degrading and shaming his own race by saying that Khaiyum single-handedly manipulates Fiji’s administrative, political and military machinery dominated by indigenous people. This is the biggest insult hurled on indigenous Fijians since the unceremonious flight of Ratu Ului’s’ father from the Government house.

Ratu Ului’s defence of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) and the Methodist Church as saviours of democracy is highly laughable. These two institutions have been the biggest threat to democracy, human rights and social justice in Fiji. I still remember, how in 1987 after Rabuka’s coup, the churchgoers from the Methodist Church used to go and man the roadblocks which were put in place to persecute non-Christians. During 2001 Fiji elections, the Assembly of Churches, led by the Methodist Church, took out paid advertisements, urging indigenous Fijians not to vote the heathens and non-believer Indo-Fijians into the leadership of the nation. Is this the Methodist Church which is now identified as the defender of democracy? The Chiefs were so immensely engrossed in politics, supporting ethno-nationalism of George Speight that the non elected GCC lost all its credibility, respectability and neutral advisory status. The GCC which had been an initiative and legacy of the British colonists had been banished by Bainimarama after 2006. Its absence had hardly been felt by the rank and file indigenous people in the last five years.

Ratu Sir Kamisese’s son, now absconded to Tonga, appears to suffer from memory loss. In 2000, the GCC and the Methodist Church hierarchy fully backed George Speight in cruelly removing his esteemed father, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara as President of Fiji. In a hugely undignified manner, Ratu Sir Kamisese had to flee in the night, fearing for his life. He was transported by navy boat to the safety of his home in the Lau Group, never to recover from this humiliation. He died a very sad, bitter and lonely man.  What Mara’s son Ratu Ului forgets is that this was the unkindest act of betrayal by the Fijian chiefs against one of their greatest chiefs.

Today, for convenience and expediency, Ratu Tevita Mara has heaped insult to the memory of Ratu Sir Kamisese by embracing and praising those who had disgraced, humiliated and indirectly exterminated Fiji’s greatest political leader- his own father.

Nowhere in the NZ media has there been any reports that other prominent businessmen, bureaucrats, civil servants and chiefs have gone through Fiji’s justice system, so what was particular about Ratu Ulai who absconded. There is hardly any mention of investigations and alleged fraud of $3 million from Fiji Pine Commission.

New Zealand Government and John Key should take heed of this revelation. They have been warned not to bend rules to welcome Ratu Ului, who still has connections with the Military personnel in Fiji, thus further distancing and provoking Fiji. Any such action less than six months before the Rugby World Cup, in which Fiji plays, and the general elections, are not advisable. With a sizable Indo-Fijian population and Indians and Asians sympathetic to Fiji’s cause of self determination, Key needs to play his cards wisely, before officiously embroiling in a domestic squabble of Pacific relations.

NZ needs to be reminded that despite history bestowing him with this honour, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara had not really been that last bastion of multiracialism and social justice in Fiji. Neither is his son Ratu Ului Mara.

(E-mail: thakurji@xtra.co.nz]

(Thakur Ranjit Singh is a political commentator and had been through Rabuka’s and Speight’s coups. During the latter, he was the publisher of Fiji’s Daily Post newspaper, which has since been closed because of past government interference. He was AUT/PIMA Pasifika postgraduate scholar in 2009/10).

I have been saying for many years that our policies over Fiji, whilst deeply hypocritical, are also not working and allow China to increase its influence in the Pacific to fill the void left by Australia and New Zealand. It turns out that i ahve been right all along. China is funding huge amounts to Pacific nations.

China’s secretive aid programme to Pacific nations over five years totals just over $800 million, according to the latest Lowy Institute report on assistance from the communist state.

And the institute’s estimate for 2009, the most recent review, is that China pledged almost $270 million in loans and aid grants to Pacific nations that year.

Australia, at least the Liberals in Australian have woken up to this fact with their spokeperson for Foreign Affairs calling for a change in policy.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said Australian aid money was spread too thinly in the region, allowing China to fill the void and gain greater influence through “diplomacy dollars”, as the influence of Australia and New Zealand fell.

“I don’t see it as a threat as such, but we should be very well aware of what is going on, and the significant influence China is able to achieve through aid and development projects . . . and the role it has throughout the region,” Ms Bishop told Sky News’s Australian Agenda. “What I would do is, with New Zealand, look to see if we could joint-venture some project development assistance in the Pacific with China.

While our policy and Australia’s has been to tut-tut over Fiji and to wag the finger at other Pacific nations, Chinas policy has been to shower them with money. Little wonder that our freezing out of Fiji has largely been ineffective. The failure of the policy is most stark in regards to Fiji.

The Deputy Opposition Leader has also called for a new approach to Fiji.

She says while the Government should not condone the country’s military regime, it was clear the current approach had failed.

“It’s some years since we imposed sanctions and we have to ask, are they being counterproductive?” she said.

“Are we actually achieving a return to democratic rule? I don’t believe we are.”

Fiji was suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum and the Commonwealth in 2009, over its refusal to hold elections, since the 2006 military coup.

Last year Fiji’s military ruler, Frank Bainimarama, said he wanted to ditch ties with Australia and New Zealand and align his country with China.

Ms Bishop says sanctions have not managed to bring about democracy in Fiji.

“I would engage with Bainimarama on the question of electoral reform, provide assistance to draft a constitution, provide assistance to hold an election, so we could see a return to democratic rule,” she said.

Julie Bishop is dead right. For the all the hubris, finger-wagging and tut-tutting over Fiji not a single thing has been done to assist Fiji to return to democracy. Meanwhile China has assisted where we refused to. The policy wonks in Canberra and Wellington who thought that these actions would work clearly need to be fired.

Wikileaks is fascinating. What we have found out today is that Winston Peters was too lazy to try to stop the coup in Fiji. (Emphasis mine)

The surprising part of the approaches is revealed by then US Ambassador Bill McCormick who advised Washington on what was to be said to Bainimarama.

He revealed that Winston Peters was “on travel in Auckland” and was too busy to see Bainimarama.

Unusually, New Zealand’s “talking points” were then put to Bainimarama by the British Defence Attache based in Wellington, Nigel Lloyd, at a lunch.

The sharp tone of the “talking points” and the open threat over grandchildren probably explains Bainimarama’s now abiding hostility toward New Zealand.

The lazy prick lived in Auckland, in Argyle Street, and yet he was “on travel” and “too busy”. He was the Foreign Minister and he was too busy to meet someone who had stated publicly that he would conduct a coup in November 2006.

We also know now from the cable that New Zealand’s sole response to the threat of  the coup was to threaten to withhold access to Bainimarama’s grand-children. What an embarrassment. Not only that they didn’t have the gumption to tell him to his face, instead enlisting the aid of the wife of the British Defence Attache.

Full cable below (page 344 of Bryce Edwards pdf);

date:2006-11-23T17:32:00

source:Embassy Wellington

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STATE FOR D (FRITZ), EAP/FO, EUR/RPM, AND EAP/ANP

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SECDEF FOR OSD/ISD JESSICA POWERS

PACOM FOR J01E/J2/J233/J5/SJFHQ

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016

TAGS: ASEC, PREL, PGOV, FJ, NZ

SUBJECT: GNZ TO DELIVER STRONG POINTS TO FIJI’S BAINIMARAMA

REF: STATE 190257

Classified By: DCM David J. Keegan. Reasons: E.O. 12958, 1.4

(b) and (d).

1. (C) The GNZ MFAT has prepared strongly worded points, which it has passed to the British Defence Attache Nigel Lloyd (DA), who will convey them to Commodore Bainimarama at a private lunch with Bainimarama on November 23 at the DA’s residence. (The points are repeated below at para 3). Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who had originally planned to deliver the points, will be unable to do so personally before November 24, as he will be on travel in Auckland.

2. (C) MFAT has also informed Poloff that they are approaching the President of the UN Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and the EU to encourage them to press on Bainimarama to abandon his stated plans to remove the Fijian government in early December. MFAT is also seeking the assistance of the British DA’s wife to emphasize to Bainimarama’s wife that should there be a coup, the Commodore and she would no longer be able to travel to New Zealand to visit their grandchildren. MFAT indicates that GNZ’s strategy is to focus on the consequences of a coup to both Fiji and to Bainimarama personally.

3. (C) Begin talking points for Foreign Minister Peters’s discussion with RFMF Commander Frank Bainimarama:

– I gather you are down here on a private visit for your grand-daughter’s first communion – a significant family occasion. I hope you enjoy your visit.

– You have stated publicly that you are planning to make certain demands of the Fiji government when you get back, and that if those demands are not met that you will take steps to remove them on 4 December.

– I would counsel you very strongly against taking such steps. You need to understand that there would be serious consequences if you do go ahead.

– New Zealand unconditionally supports the rule of law, and the right of a democratically elected government to govern without coercion — and there is no question that the Fiji government is democratically elected. We would not be able to stand back and let that happen without responding.

– We would be obliged to take steps to underline our utter disapproval of any unconstitutional action and we would do so in close collaboration with our friends, the Australians, the British, the Americans and the region.

– From a military perspective this would include suspension of all defence ties. That would include any training or assistance with peacekeeping activities, regionally and internationally. The MAP programme would be discontinued.

– We would moreover encourage like-minded countries to take similar steps, and seek international condemnation of yourBryce Edwards –Wellington US Embassy cables Page 345 of 613 actions, including in the UN Security Council and the Commonwealth. We would urge the Commonwealth and the Forum to take the strongest possible steps to register the unacceptability of such actions.

– New Zealand’s relationship with any government installed as a result of a coup would be correspondingly restricted.

– You need to understand that if you do something stupid you will not be able to operate around the Pacific. Neither we, Australia, Britain nor the United States would be able to work with you, or offer any assistance.

– Your reputation and that of the RFMF would suffer irreparable damage both within the region and as a participant in international peacekeeping operations. Without the support and training of the Australian and New

Zealand defence forces Fiji’s deployment in international peacekeeping operations would become very difficult.

– We are considering the level of our travel advisory in the light of the threats you have been making. Upgrading our travel advisory would have a significant impact on tourist flows to Fiji and significantly affect Fiji’s economy.

– There would also be personal implications for you and your family. We would ban you, as well as others associated with a coup, and possibly your family, from entering New Zealand.

– The Government permitted your entry to New Zealand on the basis that yours was a private visit. That does not sit well with the public threats against the Fiji Government that you have been making since arriving in New Zealand. Consistent with the purpose of your visit we require you to make no further public statements during your stay.

End points.

4. (C) Embassy Wellington has sought to contact Bainimarama through his personal assistant Ben Naliva, who said Bainimarama is on “private leave and does not want to be disturbed.” When told that Washington regards the conversation as extremely important and reminded that Bainimarama has spoken to the NZ press so his visit is no longer private, Naliva said he would check. A half hour later he called to again say the Commodore was not available. Naliva did not answer any of our follow-up calls. Ambassador McCormick has discussed the matter with Minister Peters, who has admitted he’s had trouble getting an appointment as well and encouraged us to be persistent. We continue to work with MFAT and our defense attache to identify a way to deliver reftel demarche to Bainamarama.

McCormick

That cable makes for sorry reading. If you look at all the threats New Zealand has pretty much failed to deliver on any of them except the spiteful travel ban. Is it any wonder that Commodore Bainimarama has little time for the New Zealand Government?

What this shows though is a complete mis-understanding of Fiji, Fijian politics and a typical bully-boy attitude from the US, New Zealand Britain and Australia over Fiji. Little wonder then that Fiji is now essentially a client state of China, driven there by our foreign policy and attitude, a policy and attitude that Murray McCully has continued to this day.

photo - The Australian

While Murray McCully is dreaming about 2014 in Afghanistan he has another debacle on his hands with Fiji. I have posted extensively on developments that have seen China take a forward role in Fiji at the expense of Australia and New Zealand and it is our attitudes towards Fiji that are to blame. Given that we won’t change our ways it seems we have a foreign policy of enabling China’s hegemony to extend in the Pacific.

Fiji’s interim government has accused New Zealand of snubbing it by not attending the Engaging Fiji meeting in Nadi.

The five-member Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) group cancelled its summit in Fiji this month amid lobbying for it to be postponed, and concerns about democracy and governance.

Suva responded by expelling Australia’s acting high commissioner and announcing that its own meeting of Pacific leaders, to be called Engaging Fiji, would go ahead next week regardless.

Fiji’s self-appointed Prime Minister Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama accused New Zealand and Australia of causing problems with the MSG.

There are good people working in Frank Bainimarama’s government – good Australians! Chief censor and media strategist Australian Sharon Smith-Johns sounds like the right person for the job! So is the other Australian Peter Thomson who is UN representative in New York.

(And the Solicitor-General Christopher Pryde is a Kiwi so not all those who in the Fijian Government are in the Military).

Sir Paul Reeves told Mike Hosking on NewstalkZB a few weeks ago that he would like to return to Fiji  if invited. Sir Paul could have gone over to today’s Engaging with Fiji special meeting in Fiji – the replacement for the Melanesian Spearhead meeting that Vanuatu Prime Minister aborted at the last minute.  Twist in the tale – the Vanuatu Foreign Minister is now attending the replacement meeting and NZ and Oz should have been there too.

This is a missed opportunity. The NZ Government should not have snubbed today’s Fiji meeting.

Even better are a series of interviews with Commodore Bainimarama by Graham Davis that go with the Fiji stories published in The Australian today.

The Dictator on Pacific Relations one is good – Frank has a sense of humour about the Samoan Prime Minister. He says Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has done no reforms in his country – just changed the driving side of the road!

People, particularly those who never venture past the beltway do not get Fiji. These videos should give readers a far better understanding than the dribbles from our own media. Make no mistake, our continued non-engagement with Fiji will ensure than the Melanesian nations, at least will move further away from New Zealand and Australia, and into the arms of China and the non-aligned movement. The Pacific is changing and all we do is stand by and watch. From my perspective Fiji looks more and more attractive as a place to live. At least their government takes the hard decisions.

Interview with the dictator

FIJIAN dictator Frank Bainimarama explains in an exclusive interview with The Australian why Australia's Acting High Commissioner Sarah Roberts was expelled.

The dictator on strained ties

Frank Bainimarama talks about Fiji's strained relations with Australia.

The dictator on Pacific relations

Frank Bainimarama talks about Fiji and the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The dictator on democracy

Frank Bainimarama talks about his plans to restore Fiji to democracy.

The dictator on the media decree

Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama explains why he believes the media decree is necessary.

The dicatator on the economy

Frank Bainimarama discusses the Fijian economy.

It has been a while since I blogged about Fiji. Some brain-farts from our Foreign Minister and the his Australian counterpart certainly warrant some comment.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully’s comments after the Forum’s Ministerial Contact Group meeting “broke up” in Auckland recently, (Monday May 31st), haven’t helped in mending bridges with the Fijian Government. The Forum members were invited to visit Fiji by Frank Bainimarama, but the invitation has now been withdrawn because of the attitude of the NZ and Australian Foreign Ministers. Once again they have acted all bellicose, arrogant and misinformed about Fiji.

Murray McCully was asked if there was any move to relax the travel ban placed on leading members of the regime, Mr McCully said: “We have nothing to reward.”

On the other hand we certainly haven’t gone out of our way to try and help Fiji return to democracy. Instead New Zealand and Australia have placed impediments in the way of progress.

Why won’t the NZ and Australian Foreign Ministers admit that the travel bans are not working? They have been in place for nearly 5 years now and it hasn’t altered the Commodore’s stance one bit. Fiji simply doesn’t care anymore what the “rest” of the world thinks and is moving on to fresher, newer pastures – leaving NZ and Australia behind. All the travel ban has done is stop good, capable Fijian civilians from taking up government positions because a lot of them have family and friends in NZ and Australia and want to be able to travel freely – so the Military take on the government positions – someone has to do the job. The travel bans need to be relaxed. If it makes the NZ and Australia governments feel better then keep them on Frank Bainimarama and the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum – they are probably too busy to come to NZ or Australia in any case. Relaxing the travel bans on civilians (and judges) will mean that instead of working behind the scenes, good and capable Fijian civilians can openly help the Fijian government without fear of reprisal and a travel ban being slapped on them.

In the end, all that the NZ and Australia travel ban stance has done is just hinder and slow the Fiji Road Map progress towards democracy and a one man-one vote democratic election.

I doubt if the Pacific Forum members have actually read the Fiji “People’s Charter”. It’s no wonder Helen Clark went so nasty against Frank Bainimarama and his government – the reference to “God” and “Creation” at the beginning of the “People’s Charter” would have gone down like a  cup of cold sick.

Emeritus professor of the University of the South Pacific, Crosbie Walsh,  has just written a special feature on Fiji, examining beyond the veneer of reportage in a three-part analysis piece. – now published in Pacific Scoop.

Special Feature: Inside Fiji’s shoes and why NZ and Australia need to rethink strategically

1. Bainimarama and McCully: the Way Backwards
2. What Bainimarama May Be Prepared to Do
3. What New Zealand Can Do to Help Resolve the Fiji Political Situation

P Holmes, also, has just been to Fiji staying on an island at a resort called Qamea. Last Sunday he wrote his usual NZ Herald on Sunday column about his present holiday in Fiji. His anecdotal comment on Frank Bainimarama was interesting because he has not been as positive in the past – more neutral to negative. No doubt he learnt first hand about the changes that have been going on in Fiji – from the grass roots people. There are definitely two distinct types of reports emerging from Fiji. One is from the politicians and dignitaries and NGO’s from foreign countries and the other from the Fijian government and the grassroots people who actually live in Fiji.  The question is which one should we believe?

As for Commodore Frank Bainimarama? Well, on the odd occasion when his name has come up, and it hasn’t very often, I hear nothing but good. People seem to feel that he is doing well, rooting out corruption in the army and the police.

There is consternation at the attitude of Australia and New Zealand. Bainimarama has made transport to schools free. This is particularly good for people on outer islands such as this one, where going to school involved a boat ride and then a bus, twice a day. And with us turning up our noses at Bainimarama, the Chinese money is pouring in, wouldn’t you know.

P Holmes is right about Chinese money too. Why would Fiji want to go cap in hand to Australia and New Zealand for aid money when the strings attached to that are onerous when they can get pretty much as much as they want out of China at less than 1% interest, especially for infrastructure related work. There are billions available and if I was the Commodore I would be availing myself of it as much as possible.

Meanwhile our citizens vote with their feet, ignoring the weasely platitudes of our government.

Fiji has recorded the highest number of tourists ever for the month of April with 44,996 visitors compared to last year April record of 39,302.

This was revealed by the Tourism Minister Aiyaz Saiyed-Khaiyum at a press conference yesterday.

Saiyed-Khaiyum said that the increase is good news as this has never been recorded for the month of April, and the last highest number of visitors recorded in the country was in 2006 and this year’s record has surpassed it.

Saiyed-Khaiyum said the government will continue to invest in the main tourist countries Australia and New Zealand.

He said the countries that have recorded a growth are Australia by 19.6%, New Zealand by 11.2% and the US by 26.2%.

Other countries included are China, India and Taiwan

So while our government pursues and signs Free Trade Agreements  with non-democratic nations such as China we seem to be stuck on the idea that if Fiji doesn’t have a democratic government then they must be punished. We don’t see the same media and government scrutiny of China as we do for Fiji.

At least the Government’s bankers still seem to love Fiji.

With all the political interference going on in the back rooms over the Privileges Committee and in the open about the Serious Fraud Office it takes a brave man to stand up to the bullying of Helen Clark and Michael Cullen.

Jim Farmer QC is such a man. He has come out backing the Serious Fraud Office and essentially scotched any of Labour’s and Winston Raymond Peters, 63, List MP of no fixed and proven liar’s obfuscations about the legality of the SFo approaching the Privileges Committee with evidence.

Clearly Clark et al wanted the SFO to use Crown Law because it is one of their hopelessly compromised departments that runs off tittle-tattling to their minister at the drop of a hat.

Helen Clark won’t look at SFO evidence to privileges committee – Prime Minister Helen Clark says she has no plans to look into Serious Fraud Office evidence that shows Winston Peters misled the privileges committee and the public. [3 News Politics]

Helen Clark is acting the classic “See No Evil” monkey by refusing to look at the privileges committee report and in aprticular the Serious Fraud Office evidence regarding his lies to the the same committee.

She said so in parliament and now she has said so outside of parliament. Check out this classic case of narcissistic hypocrisy and blame laying;

“No I don’t propose to waste any more time on the matter,” she said.

“I haven’t had any close look at that evidence. I have to take my position from what I’m advised by senior members who sat through many hours of evidence and considered all evidence in writing.”

Even though she had no intention of looking at the SFO evidence, Miss Clark tried to differentiate Mr Peters’ case from the Dalziel and Benson-Pope cases.

“That was a very clear cut case of a lie probably being told to the media and to me and colleagues.”

So it is ok for a minister to lie to parliament, it is ok for a minister to lie to the public and doubly so if that minister is Winston Raymond Peters, 63, List MP of no fixed abode and proven liar. I don’t think you could get a more clear cut case of proven lying, yet still he stands by him. Boy his dirt file must be massive.

And that is the point that Dr. (but can’t write a script) Cullen and Helen Clark seem to be missing, 62 MP’s have found that Winston raymond Peters, 63, List MP of no fixed abode is indeed a liar.

She can’t just sit there and do the see no evil routine. That she does shows that she and WRP, 63, LMPONFAAPL have finally reached the third stage of evil.

NZ First lay complaint over SFO evidence – New Zealand First have laid a complaint with police over the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry. [3 News Politics]

George Groombridge is simply performing a stunt at the behest of his soon to be in jail leader.

The argument holds about as much water as a collander.

I would have thought that the remaining supporters of Winston First should be making preperations for the Great Leader’s incarceration.

I know a fair bit about money laundering and not for reasons you think. I also know a few experts in legal fields surrounding money laundering.

Right now the media and almost everyone else has focussed on Owen Glenn and his fabulous evidence before the Privileges committee without thinking that trucking along sweetly in the background is the Serious Fraud Office investigations into New Zealand First and Winston Raymond Peters, 63, List MP of no fixed abode.

The media would do well to examine our money laundering laws and associated information, all conveniently located in one place at the Ministry of Justice website. Of particular note are the methods of money laundering.

It is acknowledged that their are three stages to money laundering;

1. Hide: to reflect the fact that cash is often introduced to the economy via commercial concerns which may knowingly or not knowingly be part of the laundering scheme, and it is these which ultimately prove to be the interface between the criminal and the financial sector
2. Move: clearly explains that the money launderer uses transfers, sales and purchase of assets, and changes the shape and size of the lump of money so as to obfuscate the trail between money and crime or money and criminal.
3. Invest: the criminal spends the money: he/she may invest it in assets, or in his/her lifestyle.

Our money laundering laws are very broad-brush and almost certainly New Zealand First staffers are caught by these laws, certainly Brian Henry, Winston Raymond Peters, 63, List MP of no fixed abode, The trustees of the Spencer Trust including the previously un-named third trustee Roger McClay, the present and past presidents of New Zealand First including Dail jones and Doug Woolerton are in the firing line. It is not not a matter of if, but when the SFO puts the squeeze on these folk that the truth is going to come tumbling out.

Mark my words, people are going to jail and it will be our money laundering laws that put them there. Obfuscations about the exact locations of the funds merely add to the evidence that this was a wilful deception on hiding the source of funds. As soon as you change the appearance of the funds you commit an offence under the money launder laundering laws.

Australian minister resigns over semi-naked dance – SYDNEY – An Australian state government minister was forced to quit following reports that he danced in his underwear at a parliamentary office party, the state premier said. Matt Brown resigned late yesterday, only three days… [NZ Herald Politics]

In Australia a minister dances in his budgie smugglers while under the influence and gets sacked. End of Story.

Meanwhile in new Zealand Winston Raymond Peters, 63, steals $158,000, refuses to pay it back, says he has donated the money he nicked but not one single charity will admit to receiving it, votes for retrospective legislation to make legal his illegal spending, gets caught taking bribes, has hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal undeclared donations, breaks electoral law repeatedly, lies to the country, lies to parliament, lies to the Privileges Committee, falsifies evidence to the Privileges Committee and supports the disbanding of the Serious Fraud Office which coincidentally just so happens to be investigating him for “complex and serious fraud”. Does he get sacked?

No way, the Prime Minister calls all of that “some discrepancies” between protangonists and stands him down from doing the work required of a minister but lets him retain all the baubles and privileges of a minister.

Helen Clark now stands accused of the same corruption that has infected New Zealand First and WRP, 63, LMPONFA. By prevaricating over this errant and corrupt minister she displays that she is no longer fit for office.