Hamish Price

The National party, in the past, has been very effective at cutting out cancer. After the 2002 debacle the board moved very quickly to cut cancer out and Boag and English were knifed.

Now one of those fools is back meddling and it cost Auckland a centre-right council. Michelle Boag is a cancer in National. Maurice Williamson once described her as a boil that needed lancing. That has not changed.

The knives are out in the National Party after the centre-right’s disastrous result at last weekend’s local elections in Auckland.

Mayoral candidate Vic Crone trailed Labour Phil Goff from start to finish.

Goff’s name recognition and political experience were too much of a mountain to climb for Crone in 10 months. Having two other centre-right contenders, John Palino and Mark Thomas, confused voters and made matters worse.

The immediate post mortem is focused on National’s de facto ticket Auckland Future, which bombed horribly.

Auckland Future set out to create a citywide ticket and secure a majority of centre-right councillors on Auckland Council. It stood seven council candidates and endorsed media personality Bill Ralston in Waitemata and Gulf. It came away with one seat. Of the 25 candidates who stood for a Local Board, six were elected.

On the North Shore, where National holds every electorate seat, Auckland Future was taken to the cleaners by four centre-left, liberal candidates. From a base in Parnell, Auckland Future nobbled the sitting centre-right North Shore councillor George Wood, who could have won.

On election day, not a single National MP turned up at Crone’s function at the Cav tavern in Freemans Bay. Act leader David Seymour was the only MP in attendance. Seven National MPs, including junior cabinet ministers Maggie Barry, Paul Goldsmith and Nikki Kaye, were at her campaign launch.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Despite the best efforts of shadow-dweller Hamish Price to beat up a conspiracy not a single shred of “evidence” has been produced to counter what I have said all along.

It is claimed that Stephen Cook and I, along with my father and John Palino MUST HAVE KNOWN about the affair of Len Brown and Bevan Chuang…and yet not a single piece of evidence has been produced.

In another manufactured Hamish Price story…in todays Herald on Sunday he shamelessly pushes Bevan Chuang further into the spotlight by now making claims of exoneration from blackmail…a story manufactured by him all along. The evidence the HoS cites shows no such intimation of any affair, only discussions of texts and rather tame ones at that. Inf act very piece of evidence splashed by the Herald has proved what I have said all along.

If someone came to me with texts with that content in them and tried to suggest I stand down I would laugh in their face.

Luigi Wewege has also broken his silence and confirmed what has been said my myself, my father and John Palino…again there is no contradictory evidence. Just a personal vilification by the Herald against opponents of Len Brown…with no corroborating evidence…they must be running very close to a defamation action or at the very least accusations of harassment.

The fact remains…unchallenged by any evidence that Bevan Chuang never revealed details of her affair with Len Brown to me or anyone else until Monday the day before I broke the story.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Kerre McIvor speaks out and makes some really good points.

[W]hat an ignominious beginning to his second term as Auckland’s mayor. The horror began two days after the votes were counted, when an affidavit was published on a right-wing blog that revealed – in excoriating and excruciating detail – an affair between the married father-of-three and a wannabe politician 23 years his junior.

Chuang disclosed information about her liaisons with Brown that nobody ever needed to know.

She claims she was pressured by yet another lover, who was working for a rival mayoral candidate, to go public with the affair. Luigi Wewege – it just keeps getting more bizarre – was certainly pressing her through Facebook messages to give up the dirt on Len.

But there was absolutely no need for her to go into the detail she did. It was utterly tasteless. It was completely unnecessary and cruel. Chuang has been trying to play the victim card in recent days and that galls me. She is feeling, she wrote on Facebook, “used, abused and manipulated”.

And she should get ready for more…since claiming on Facebook that she wasn’t going to speak to the media anymore she has engaged one of Auckland more distrusted weasels to spin on her behalf….Hamish Price. If she thinks she was manipulated by Luigi Wewege then she is going to be really shocked to find that Hamish Price, an acolyte of Michelle Boag’s is further manipulating her in order to seek revenge for not being employed by John Palino’s campaign. It is no wonder Boag has been out there sticking up for Len Brown. He also deeply loathes me and my father and he will be seeing this as an opportunity to get us. Normally he skulks int eh shadows leaking information as an “unnamed National party source”, now however he is out of the shadows…that may not play out so well for Ms Chuang now we know of the Boag connection via Price.  Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

It is no secret that Deborah Coddington hates my guts…she called ma a c**t on Twitter last night. However she has a good piece in the Herald On Sunday about the aphrodisiac of power.

When Henry Kissinger said power is the ultimate aphrodisiac, I doubt he was referring to women politicians.

I’ve had to go back to Catherine the Great to find a woman at the top prepared to risk losing all for the dubious thrill of a roll in the hay.

Len Brown’s no stud muffin and young, sexy Bevan Chuang admitted she only got loved up for two years because he’s Auckland’s boss.

There must have been pulling power swirling around Parliament when I was there, judging by the number of male MPs who had to resign because they’ve been caught – not quite in flagrante delicto but before media could make it messy for their parties. But I never noticed this intoxicating aura which turns boring men into lotharios just because they’ve garnered more votes than their rivals.

Here’s the mystery. Why men? Why don’t elected women leaders risk all for a quick naughty?  Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

The tipline has been running hot on this one. Apparently the only MPs taken aside and told to publicly distance themselves from Michelle Boag were Nikki Kaye and Murray McCully. So her reach within caucus was non existent.

Several other MPs have called to tell stories of how Michelle shafted them one day then tried to get her corporate clients favours from them the next. They agreed she was the most shameless woman within National, although some fairly complained that this is not a gender specific position, and she is just the most shameless person in National.

The other part of her faction are the activists in Auckland, collectively known as the buggers muddle. Leading light Board Member Alastair Bell’s issues with the Dominion crossword were dealt with yesterday, and he is just part of an inept, useless clique who are so inept and so useless they have failed to bring a single new MP into parliament in Auckland in two elections.

Long term friend of Whaleoil, Scott Simpson, ended up MP for Coromandel, where the buggers muddle ran an unethical campaign whispering about opponents, saying National needed men not women, and generally carrying on in a manner that I should have shined light on. The crossword solver was right in the thick of it, distributing information printed off the internet, just as he had in Rodney when LTFOW was running up there.

Also close to Boag and a key member of the Buggers Muddle is Peter Keily. Peter is National’s lawyer, and like all good lawyers charges an arm and a leg for legal work, while at the same time forcefully demanding amateurism from all others. He sounds like a member of the bonehead rugby union just before the professional era, except a lot more hypocritical as he can get paid, whereas others must be amateur. Peter has a rather unfortunate nickname, and new Young Nats are taken aside and quietly advised not to accept an offer of a spa with him.

An aspirant buggers muddle member and a “regional power broker” is also in the Boag faction, mainly on the grounds that the rest of the party thinks he is, in the immortal words of Rowan Atkinson “either this man is suffering from serious brain damage or the new vacuum cleaner has arrived.”

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Following on from the lessons post of Friday, this post identifies the winners and losers from Botany.

Winners

Jami-Lee Ross: Winner on the night and likely to have a long career as an MP. A very safe pair of hands, and a guy that Len Brown will be pleased not to have on council holding him to account.

Maggie Barry: For a last minute sign up who needed board approval she did well to beat long time National Party activist Aaron Bhatnagar. The media have clearly pointed out that Maggie has huge appeal to the grey power crowd, and she is the antidote to Winston.

Ed Saafi: Ed was knocked out in the first round, but as a highly educated Pacific Islander he has a very good chance of picking up the board selected nomination in Mangere, and winning a list seat if National’s vote holds up.

Losers

Aaron Bhatnagar: Aaron is a mate and so hopefully he will take this commentary as it is intended, cold hard facts from the Whale, acting as a mate. By finishing third his reputation has taken a dent. He was graceless in his immediate response to Pansy’s resignation, and the negative campaign run against Jami-Lee and Maggie by his supporters hurt him. He now runs the risk of becoming the Phil Twyford of the National Party but without the Tizard Timebomb to gift him a seat. Needs to get new advisors and break his habit of playing dirty. It didn’t work for Banks, it doesn’t work for Boag and it didn’t work for Bhatnagar. Aaron should now crack on and do what he was going to do all along and challenge Allan Peachey in Tamaki. He would have my full backing in doing so.

Maggie Barry: Impatience damaged her reputation. She could have negotiated a list only position and not suffered a selection loss that harms her reputation. Also needs to get some proper advisors who are not considered loonies by the party membership.

Hamish Price: Aaron Bhatnagar’s offsider. Self styled “regional power broker” who didn’t realise that in politics leaks are everywhere. Ran an exceptionally negative and scurrilous campaign against Jami-Lee Ross while pretending to be his friend. Stupid enough to tell tales to the media and party members without understanding that The Whale has sources everywhere. He is a nasty, offensive and divisive self important fool of a man that should be avoided at all costs by any candidate.

Final Thoughts

Maggie Barry could well fit into caucus but she cannot afford another loss at selection. She needs to get a board appointment, either as a list only candidate or by getting a red seat appointment in a seat like Mt Roskill or Mt Albert where there are not 200 members and the board make the appointment.

The challenge for Maggie is she will have to understand she is a saleswoman, and will have little influence over policy. She wont change the world in the short term, and may have to sell her soul to sell policies she disagrees with, but she could easily position herself as the replacement for Nick Smith, as there is a big gap in the environment portfolio area. One other seat that would suit her would be East Coast Bays. The current MP is long in the tooth, not well liked, and has purposely kept membership under 200 as a deliberate tactic. By mounting a challenge it is at the Board’s discretion and could well see McCully farmed off as Ambassador to Italy to share war stories of his conquests with Silvio Berlusconi. The demographics of the electorate suit an older candidate with gardening credentials.

If Maggie does decide to pursue a career with National she should do what this blog recommends to all candidates. Get proper professional advise from discrete and competent people with a track record of winning. There are a number of people who work behind the scenes and shun publicity, and candidates can call the tip line for their details.

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

As this blog has predicted, the 60 delegates in Botany made a sensible decision about their candidate, and the likely MP for Botany. Jami-Lee Ross is a proven local body politician with a great work ethic and good fiscal conservative values. He will be a valuable long term addition to the National Party.

National are undergoing selection processes in Northland, Rodney, North Shore and Coromandel where incumbents have stood down. Word is that Tamaki will also see a contested selection if the incumbent does not retire gracefully.

Candidates should think about what happened in Botany and think about what it means for them.

• Candidates who have proven themselves in a local community are preferred over all others.
• Celebrity candidates do not wow grizzled old veterans of the National Party, they have to win on merit not celebrity.
• Negative campaigning never works in selection, nor does spreading malicious and untrue rumours.
  • Self-styled Regional Power Brokers who spread rumours get found out rapidly and this reflects badly on their candidate. It also means they are going to be invited to stay away from the electorate in question forever, and it is hard to broker power when an MP refuses to talk to you because you are two faced, lying scumbag who should be taken out the back and shown the error of their ways.
• Candidates need to carefully select advisors who are not nasty, negative manipulative losers or bat shit mad. Advisors should be discrete, remain behind the scenes and should have sound endorsements from more than one successful candidate. Reference check carefully.
• The National Party do not rig selections. Mainly because HQ is really just an admin office and not political, and the President is too useless to rig anything.
• The PM or Caucus do not support any candidate. So forget spreading that rumour, as you will be ridiculed on this blog and forced to retract your alleged endorsement.
• Never f*ck with the Whale. EVER. I hear everything and will not be cowed by HQ tosspots. I will speak the truth. I will not be silenced.

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz