Interesting line of questioning from some reporters about whether the PM is aware of other inappropriate relationships of Ministers. Parliament has always been a hotbed of sexual hijinks, you can bet the Press Gallery know about plenty more!
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Interesting line of questioning from some reporters about whether the PM is aware of other inappropriate relationships of Ministers. Parliament has always been a hotbed of sexual hijinks, you can bet the Press Gallery know about plenty more!
Jacinda Ardern has fired Ian Lees-Galloway because he has not modelled he behaviour she expected from him as Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety. He had an entirely inappropriate relationship over a sustained period of time. It was his role as minister to set ethical standards in a workplace and he has not maintained those standards. He showed a long term lack of judgement over a period of time. He has not modelled behaviour in keeping with his office.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...e-relationship
Wait now for more revelations to come out.
What a shambles for Comrade Cindy - first she under-reacts towards the summer camp scandal and now she appears to have over-reacted to an affair before checking if the female in question is similar to the woman who entrapped Mayor Len Brown?
Jacinda Ardern said she was not aware of the rumours and allegations when asked by the Press. She said "However in many cases these are allegations are not true."
She said this was the first time she had heard such allegations about Iain Lees-Galloway. The allegation came from a third party not the woman herself. She did not know the third party.
She was acting on a confirmed situation and discussed it with the Minister. She said “I deal with the circumstances that are presented to me.” It was not a current relationship, it was a historical situation. She said "regardless of the circumstances, ultimately I would have done the same thing, circumstances that justify action. I don’t want to get drawn into hypotheticals. I don't want to respond to unconfirmed rumours. I was acting on a confirmed situation."
Barry Soper saying she must have been the last person in the Labour Party to know about this . Good to see her finally clearing out the deadwood ... Twyford must be walking on eggshells .
I note that when dealing with inappropriate sexual behaviour by men how quickly the focus moves from the man = the perpetrator, to the woman = the victim. It also applies to Jacinda Ardern when she responds to inappropriate sexual behaviour. In the summer camp scandal she was not the appropriate person to deal with it (under-react), and in this case she was (over-react.)
It becomes a no win situation, where women are over-reacting or under-reacting, so the focus moves from the perpetrator of the inappropriate behaviour to the female who has made him into a victim (entrapped him) by expecting him to be accountable for his behaviour.
This is just bloody sad. All this BS from MPs on both sides and it all being dropped into the political arena on the eve of an election. No discussion in media abut real policies and real issues ! Totally pathetic.
Breaking: there is one new case of a disgraced politician in New Zealand
The number of active cases remains astronomical.
Hopes of curbing community transmission of political disgrace in New Zealand are fading, with a succession of new reported cases raising fears that the so-called “Bowen cluster” is out of control.
At a press briefing this morning the director general of parliamentary misconduct announced there was one new case of political disgrace, bringing the total number of active cases to heaps and the overall confirmed cases to totally heaps. This is the number that is reported to the World Health Organisation.
The director general said the new case suggested the elimination strategy had failed. With political disgrace now in the community, the focus would shift to flattening the curve. Experts have demanded a ramping up of testing.
Anyone who has come into proximity with a politician in recent weeks is advised to contact Healthline immediately.
The outbreak has seen a series of new cases over recent weeks, with a succession of politicians being placed in mandatory isolation after returning positive tests for disgrace.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/22-...n-new-zealand/
What I am saying is that it is Jacinda Ardern’s behaviour that comes under close scrutiny and attack, rather than the perpetrator of the inappropriate behaviour. It becomes shoot the messenger for bearing bad news and in this case daring to raise an issue that some would rather was ignored.
There is a lot of focus on what Jacinda said, what she did, why didn’t she act earlier, how she has to be accountable rather than looking at his inappropriate behaviour and how it has been ignored for so long.
Persistent media questioning about possible misuse of government funds by Mr L-G. Media generally know the answer to questions before they ask, especially if asked persistently. Ministerial Services now checking.
I think we need to see more details.
Yeah surely there was more to this.
If it was consensual and his 'only' wrong doing was that he was married at the time, that's barely worthy of firing and a public lynching.
Not so sure ,it says former staffer . What say she got a job at an immigration consultancy business...then any decision he made for that business would be in question .
Massively compromised , now we know why he only glanced at the file of the drug dealer, he was busy elsewhere .....
Reckon Mr L-G has been hard done by actually. Not sure the punishment fits the 'crime'.
There will be a few MPs and Ministers looking over their shoulder.
That is one possibility of what she could be angling to do?
Remember Len Brown & Bevan Chuan?
So surely Comrade Cindy must investigate what really was the nature of the relationship before forcing LG to resign & to destroy him so completely?
It’s clear imo Cindy knew about the affair and is panicking now her hand is forced - attempting to shut the scandal down. So much for being judiciously kind & fair.
Word is that there’re more revelations yet to emerge about inappropriate things?
Inappropriate activities on the left; inappropriate activities on the right; who knows what in NZ First: Last MP left uncompromised in the House becomes PM for life!
Collins crushed Comrade Cindy - it's politics and Cindy came out today looking like she fell into a smelly puddle. Two if you count her feeble response to Winston's freebie trips to Antarctica to two dual citizenship Malaysians to get donations.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350209
Does anyone actually believe the PM fired Iain Lees-Galloway over just an affair?
Come on.
This affair's been known about for months down in Wellington. Even senior Labour MPs knew about it for months, and did nothing.
Unless there is more to this, it looks like he's been fired because the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was politically snookered. She couldn't do anything other than fire him because she had to match new National leader Judith Collins.
She gave Collins dirty information last week. Collins was decisive. Andrew Falloon lost his job.
So, tit for tat. Collins gave the PM dirty information yesterday. Ardern needed to look decisive too. She had to fire him.
She basically got snookered by a Collins power play.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political...ed-by-nz-first
Let’s keep moving?
More like ‘Let’s Not Do Anything!’
A real crock of woke pixie star dust BS.
Peters' plans for Tiwai
On the same day ministers visited Invercargill, Peters published an opinion piece, saying a buyout of the smelter would be best for workers.
Peters has been advocating for a worker/management buy-out for Tiwai since 2011 and heads to Invercargill tomorrow to make a major policy announcement, understood to be a commitment the smelter would be saved if New Zealand First returns to power.
-----Now I wouldn't trust winnie ...but I'm sure the state could pick-up the smelter for a song as RIO knows the refurb return the land to nature costs will run past $250mill++ ....So if the NZ Govt don't stuf it up they could get a smelter for next to nothing ...secure a long term contract for cheap power(Or even just purchase the power plant outright) and keep a clean producer of Aluminium (Vs Coal plants of the world)in production as the Commodity boom is coming
If the Govt truely believes in an EV future ,,,Aluminium is a big part of that future...not only export earnings but downstream NZ jobs... I work on a Aluminium Boat that was built in Invercargill with Tiwai Alum... 500+ boats worth tens of millions have been built over the last 20yrs locally ...
We all know when National was selling off state-owned assets ...we were told if Labour / NZF get into power they would buy them back ....well here's your chance .. to not only save 4000+ jobs (many more jobs will be affected in the south than just the workers) but you will be securing the future of Clean low emission NZ Alum...... you can't tell me in this PC world that manufactures won't see the PR upside in stating their alum comes from clean NZ waters ????
Wouldn't they also need a long term contract for supply of alumina - at market prices?
Look no further than MMI Metro Mining Ltd.
They are waiting for Winnie's call.
Countries with female leaders, they discovered, have had lower death rates than countries with male leaders.
This might seem like a stark, even stereotyped, distinction between male and female leadership styles, and there are surely grey areas, but recent events in New Zealand politics also cause us to reflect on such differences. To put it simply, it is hard to imagine female politicians resigning or being dismissed for the kinds of actions that ended the careers of National MP Andrew Falloon and Labour Cabinet Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
When former National MP Jami-Lee Ross went rogue in 2018, he claimed that half of Parliament were engaged in inappropriate relationships. He should know as he was involved in two of them.
The inference is that a code of silence was long maintained among politicians, staffers and journalists to keep the grubbier side of political life out of the public eye. On the day that Lees-Galloway’s affair was made public, pundits with long memories recalled former male prime ministers whose extramarital liaisons were open secrets.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/1222...sgalloway?rm=a
Speaking tonight before a launch event for a new private online high school, Crimson Global Academy, Key said he was not aware of any of his ministers who had affairs during his eight years as Prime Minister, despite Parliament's reputation.
"I don't know about the other side. You hear those rumours, but whether they are true I don't know."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350553
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350426
Yet another huge problem ready to blow up on this government’s mishandling of quarantine.
Nurses moonlighting in quarantine facilities while still working in their normal jobs, in some instances while caring for vulnerable patients.
This is basic!
So does this fall under Megan Wood, Quarantine or Kiwibuild minister or Chris, last minute Health minister.
Big surprise, Comrade Cindy is not clear!
I'm more and more convinced we've escaped community transmission through good luck rather than the actions of "Go hard and early" Cindy.
This is what happens when you have a PM and news media fixated on diversity over competence when appointing Cabinet Ministers.
Furthermore, it makes you wonder about the fear mongering from Cindy. The health authorities don't seem overly bothered? Why is Cindy so intent on ramping up the fear?
Full credit to our Govt . Constant improvements and tweaks mean we are the envy of the world thats indisputable. Imagine if national was in, go hard and go early opening up the border lol. We would end up like all those countries and have to lock down again or have huge covid cases. Competence and diversity is what this country needs more then ever.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350762
Coalition government tearing itself apart.
Hell of a coalition partner Comrade Cindy has got herself and her team of incompetents into bed with!
About the the decision to grant Manus Island resident Iranian Behrouz Boochani refugee status.
The Australians will be livid.
I hope they do not retaliate by ending visa free entry into Australia for Kiwis.
Boop boop de do
Marilyn
Technically, going by the Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition, woke means “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”, but today we are more likely to see it being used as a stick with which to beat people who aspire to such values, often wielded by those who don’t recognise how un-woke they are, or are proud of the fact.
westerly
It seems to me that Joshuatree was judging the government’s behaviour, by saying “constant improvements and tweaks mean that we are the envy of the world.” You are judging the person, love them or hate them because of who they are – female leader, Labour Party = the wrong party, and wanting to find fault with them to confirm your bias.
It has now been 84 days since the last case of community transmission. We are getting most of it right, making a few mistakes, and learning from those mistakes. For me that demonstrates two aspects of competence, our track record and the constant improving of our performance. Managed isolation is uncharted territory so lets celebrate our success compared to most other countries.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350707
Times change, the meaning behind words can also change.
Gay used to be a descriptive word for someone who’s jovial, happy and generally uplifting. These days, gay means homosexual.
Likewise, woke now has a different meaning from what it used to mean.
Election 2020: New Zealand First Coalition agreement - progress report
New Zealand First has achieved or partially achieved about 80 per cent of the commitments in the agreement which sealed the deal on the Coalition Government in 2017.
Almost 70 promises were made in the Coalition agreement between NZ First and Labour. This is how they've done on the NZ First commitments
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...=recommendedv1
Speaker Trevor Mallard's warning to bad MPs: Shape up or be publicly exposed.
The Code of Conduct has seven commandments:
1. Show that bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment, are unacceptable - and promising to hold people to account.
2. Speak up if we observe unacceptable behaviour - and expect complaints to be investigated without reprisals against the complainant.
3. Use our position of power or influence to help others, and avoid harm - and ensure power or authority are used for good and not abused.
4. Act respectfully and professionally - and be considerate of people's boundaries and respect their right to a private life.
5. Behave fairly and genuinely, treating others the way we would like to be treated - including being trustworthy stewards of information.
6. Encourage diverse perspectives, and the free and frank expression of views - and provide opportunities for people with different ideas and perspectives.
7. Foster an environment where people feel safe and valued - including being kind and recognising the contributions of others.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350798
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political...-the-beginning
What a sham of a government - NZF & Winston who picked Labour (37% poll) to be government openly fighting, disrupting and criticising Comrade Cindy & her bunch of incompetents.
The truth now surfaces for all NZers to see - they should vote accordingly.
80% of bugger all = bugger all.
The big ones (housing, local government revenues & costs) are where they have not been able to get progress on and we now see that in open conflict on major economic directions & initiatives (the last thing NZ can afford is economic confusion):
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12350559
"This week, however, marked a turning point in Coalition relations as Peters used more extreme language and descriptions for his colleagues in Government. Peters did not just present his own policy yesterday in Invercargill; he suggested others who had been to Invercargill recently had indulged in BS - bovine scatology."
Well, we can see Comrade Cindy & her bunch of incompetents are scratching like mad & getting rattled from the fleas - this is what they get from sleeping in the same bed with the known dog Winston 'Owen Glenn' Peters. Recall how Helen Clark had to hold her nose while attempting to distant herself from Owen Glenn & Winston NO Peters?
Especially since it isn't.
Attachment 11807
That doesn't make sense, because the cross-infection rate with no lockdown in place is in the order of 2-5 per infected case, so it would show up really quickly if there was a 'secret infection'. I was briefly in Melbourne a few weeks before we locked down, and the public and tourists there were crammed into buses, trams, queues outside restaurants etc, so I wasn't surprised Covid took off over there.
We have eradicated it, except at the borders. A direct result of the coalition listening to the experts and shutting down hard early, and not keeping anything but the most essential businesses trading. I don't for a moment think that National/Act would have done it as well. Most voters would appreciate this, so I'm expecting a landslide Labour-Green coalition in September.
The point is Artemis claimed he found it hard to believe it was zero, which it isn't. Get with it eZ. Anyway welcome back now that you've crawled out from under your rock. Just in time to remind us how wonderful the Labour party is in time for the election no doubt.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/l...el-peace-prize
Geez bet this makes you spew Balance :lol:
Good for her and good for NZ if Comrade Cindy gets the prize.
And of course, laying the groundwork for what she really wants to do post PM.
She will be a better choice than Trump who is still upset he did not get it for his peace deal with North Korea.
And she would be in the same company as Obama who got the peace prize for ? Can anyone remember?
Poll result - Collins crushed...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12351077
Rogue leader with a history of dirty politics,can National swim from here,dont think so ,sinking into a quicksand swamp sadly of their own making ,deeper and deeper .Will they stop squirming,they cant,its in Judiths power crazy nature,Glug!
It's NZ which will be sinking into the economic swamp of despair if Comrade Cindy & her incompetents run the country into the ground for another 3 years.
Some of us don't really mind as come sunshine or rain, there's ways to make things work - Labour lop-sided 'beneficiaries breeding' policies are there to be taken advantage of.
Let's DO This!
This is the sad thing for me Balance. It is like the posters admiring the Current NZF run Government, do not realise that we are probably watching the biggest transfer of wealth from the "poor" to the "rich" (for want of better words) we've seen in our lifetimes. Very sad and will get worse.
Unemployment will sky rocket from September onwards and bankruptcies will reach unprecedented levels in 2021 & 2022.
Most times we cannot control & influence what's happening out there but we certainly can control how we respond and react to what's happening.
Don't have to look further than how the developers of sub-standard housing were bailed out by Phil '10,000 houses a year Kiwibuild' Twyford and the consultants are enjoying a bonanza doing feasibility studies by the hundreds for this government.
Let's DO this!
I think you are shooting the messenger and not addressing the issue of misconduct and bullying that is rife in Parliament as per the Francis Report. You have just deflected the discussion onto the behaviour of one person, ignoring the bigger issue. Trevor Mallard has acknowledged his past behaviour was inappropriate and says he has improved. And that is progress. If he goes how many others should go? A code of conduct is a start.
This article discusses the flaws in the way the Speaker is selected which is archaic, unfair and unacceptable in falling well short of meeting acceptable constitutional standards. In short, there is a drastic need for reform.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-...aments-referee
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/05/speaker-trevor-mallard-acknowledges-his-behaviour-hasn-t-been-perfect-after-bullying-review.html
But don’t expect reform of the Speaker’s role – or any other parliamentary procedure – any time soon, says Danyl Mclauchlan. He argues it’s not in the interest of the government and nor will it be in the interest of the next government – because they always benefit from the backward arrangements – see: How the Bennett vs Mallard standoff exposes a paradox at the heart of politics.
https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/22/...of-parliament/
Yes, there will be a big transfer of wealth from the "poor" to the "rich", but it will happen no matter which party is in power, and it will be worse under National. It is not happening because of the policies of the current government but because of a global pandemic which doesn't differentiate between a democracy or dictatorship.
Capitalism needs to be tempered with a strong government with a focus on social welfare and consumer protection to offset the disadvantages of capitalism. Capitalism is an unstable system and crises are a regular occurence because of this.
But neoliberalism, the so-called free market advocates for less government and less regulation so the rich can take advantage and exploit opportunities especially when there is a crisis = transfer what little the poor have to themselves.
Balance I get the impression you are a pale old stale male you wouldn’t be one of those beneficiary losers you refer to ie an oldie on the pension - you do realise they are the biggest beneficiary class after all.
You really are the personification of a nasty old right winger, which say a lot on a site like this.
I suspect irregardless of the performance of the current government you would put the boot into ‘comrade Cindy’ for simply breathing should you get the chance.
When I get my super, it will be an entitlement from the taxes I have been paying from the decades of working productively, and NEVER drawing a cent from social welfarism.
The truth hurts, does it not that Comrade Cindy has delivered bugger all against the huge promises made in 2017 because outside of Covid-19, she heads a government of incompetent nincompoops.
And every excuse has been used by Labour to breed beneficiaries and in turn, their voter base.
You may be fooled and blind to it but don’t assume we all are so naive and blinded by woke pixie star dust not to see it.
Kiwibuild - less than 5% built out of the 16,000 promised. How far wrong can anyone get? How incompetent can anyone get to produce such a result?
Not sure where to start in response to that diatribe.
I will take a quote from those pixie fairy’s you are so fond of ‘ok boomer .....’
Boysey , some people went to war for this country . Some paid taxes as high as 66 cents in the dollar .
All this on the understanding when they reached retirement they would receive a pension from the government .
Personally I feel most on here could probably do without it . However that’s not the point . The “ agreement or understanding “ was why many toiled away for so many years , when they get there let them enjoy it.
Playing with words doesn’t dilute the simple fact that there are many different entitlements and the recipient is the beneficiary.
It is irrelevant whether one paid for the right to be entitled and receive the benefit. It just fits the convenient narrative of the haves against the have nots in order to conjoin the benevolent government with the wider narrative that some deserve It (they contributed) while others don’t (they did not contribute) ignoring all the grey areas in between, and tag that to an underperforming Government by way of trendy derogatory labels.
The diatribe is pitiful and childish school yard bully tactics which in itself is infantile and bereft of mature debate, though made all the more intolerable by incessant boring repetition and derogatory name calling.
And I won’t vote for labour, but that’s how I see the main actor here who has endless hours and days to spew his fetid myopia.
The paltry amount of superannuation I receive which is $249 per week or approx $13,000 per annum, is a minor fraction of the amount of tax I pay annually. It is not a benefit. It is an entitlement paid to everyone once reaching age 65.
I'm not complaining about our super scheme, it is what it is - but I sure as hell moan if anyone tells me I'm a beneficiary.
The majority of us would prefer the transferable compulsory super/pension scheme where all individuals contribute to during their working lives - and then draw down as their entitlement when they choose to retire.
NZ had such a scheme up until 1976 which was scrapped by that buffoon Muldoon in favour of national super. His pitch was that the compulsory super would build up to such a humongous amount that the superfund managers would end up controlling NZ. The government was a safer option to manage tax payers’ monies from which super would be universally provided.
The buffoon obviously did not understand international diversification and the electorate were foolish enough to buy his communists (reds under the bed) threat story.
What an opportunity lost for NZ.
Interesting, a massive majority of NZ'ers trust Labour 62% to handle the economy better than National 26%, National's supposed strongest card.
Paul Goldsmith seems a nice chap, always looks a bit flustered, but a lightweight compared to Grant Robertson.
They need another Bill English.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...e-economy.html