All posts tagged Grant Robertson

Shane Jones “swallowing dead rats”

Shane Jones looked like he was uncomfortably swallowing dead rats when he was interviewed on Q + A yesterday.

Labour continue to pass the parcel (or hot potato) in their promotion of their “big Kahuna” power policy.

  • David Shearer did a joint launch with Russel Norman.
  • David Parker was interviewed on The Nation a week ago.
  • Grant Robertson had interviews and issued press releases through the week (Shearer was out of the country).
  • It was Shane Jones’ turn to front up on Sunday’s Q + A.

Jessica Mutch asked Jones if he thought Shearer’s joint press conference with Norman launching similar-ish power policies was a good idea.

JESSICA Do you or do you not think it was a good idea?

SHANE Yeah, no, no, the fact that the Greens and Labour sat together and talked about moderating power prices for the benefit of industry and the households is good optics.

JESSICA Steven Joyce put out a press release last night saying that the Greens are having a lot of influence and saying “more middle-of-road MPs like Shane Jones are now isolated and forced to recite the anti-growth agenda”. What’s your response to that?

SHANE No, well, anyone who’s got a sliver of knowledge about me knows that I’m a firm believer in growth. There will be occasions where we continue to have a different position with the Greens, but, look, Steven Joyce-

JESSICA But does Steven Joyce have a point?

SHANE He’s just being hysterical. It’s pretty sad that he’s having to recite my name at a National Party-

JESSICA So you’re not having to swallow dead rats here?

SHANE No, it’s not how politics works. You have your say. You may be a bit frustrated, etc. I mean, I’m a Maori politician. I live with frustration. And then once having arrived at a position, then you go out, you robustly sell it, and then you convince the public that this is good for the economy, this is good for households and the people who are against it are tainted because they’re paid by the government to oppose our policy.

JESSICA So what you’re basically saying is you have to suck it up and go out and sell Labour’s policy.

SHANE Without a doubt. You don’t-

JESSICA Even if you don’t believe in it?

SHANE No, no, no, no, no. What you do is you have your debate and you’ll never ever completely agree with everything behind the scenes, but you show loyalty, and unless the voters believe that you’re a united team, then why would they ever support you?

Labour have tried to look united with Greens to promote a credible  image of Government-in-waiting, but they don’t even look united amongst themselves.

Jones waffled around the topic but looked far from convincing. Neither Shearer nor Parker had looked comfortable when it was their turn.

The Labour “team” has looked like a procession of reluctant individuals – are they all swallowing dead rats in climbing on board the Green machine?

Video – Shane Jones on Labour’s power plan (10:06)

Full Transcript – Q+A: Transcript of Shane Jones interview

 

 

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by Pete George on April 29, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 29, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/29/shane-jones-swallowing-dead-rats/

Labouring with political vapidity

Labour have a serious communication problem. Their obsession with repetitive media managed messages delivered by bland bodgies threatens their existence as a political power.

Their vapid messengers have become as appealing as a flat beer. Labour’s fizz has all but evaporated.

Gareth Hughes’ “Hey Clint” moment did more then reveal how much some MPs reply on their media managers, it reinforced the impression that much of what many MPs say is vapid party parroting. Hughes stumbled and fumbled when he forgot his carefully practised lines.

Grant Robertson is leading Labour’s defence of it’s NZ Power policy. He has posted this at Red Alert:

Power to the People

Posted by  on April 26th, 2013

If you wanted a reason to know why we need to do something about power prices, look no further than the lead story in today’s Dominion Post. 44% of people in the survey are living pay day to pay day. The cost of living is taking its toll as unemployment stays high and wages are not keeping pace. Raewyn Fox from the Family Budgeting Services Federation said they had seen a 60% increase in those needing financial support and advice in the last two years. And yes, she highlighted power prices as one of the causes of financial stress.

One of the reasons I am really proud of New Zealand Power as a policy is that it will put money back into the pockets of ordinary New Zealanders.  It is a hugely significant change to the way our electricity system is run. Its not something that we have gone into lightly, but New Zealanders have been ripped off for too long. Its time that people come first, not super-profits and million dollar CE salaries. This policy cuts to the heart of reducing inequality and it will help businesses who struggle with energy costs to develop and create more jobs.

This is what we mean by Labour being a hands-on government.  We can use the power of being in government to change our country for the better.  And yes, you can expect to see more bold policy from Labour. Just like KiwiBuild and NZ Power we are not going to sit on our hands while opportunity and prosperity concentrates in the hands of the few. National’s disastrous policies in education, labour relations and elsewhere need to be, and will be, turned around. And we are not going to be put off by the predictable howls of outrage from those with a vested interest.

The government Labour leads will be a progressive, social democratic government, far, far different from the hands-off crony capitalism of the National Party. Get on board if you want to be part of it!

Chris Trotter has linked Robertson to the Hughes humbug with a “Hey Julian” post.

Robertson’s post is full of carefully crafted claptrap, a collection of tediously repeated phrases. And he closes with a corny attempt at party recruitment.

Vapid party parroting is an ongoing problem for Labour. They haven’t learnt from their last term mistakes, where Phil Goff droned repeatedly on his way to an election disaster, and Labour failed to rebuild.

The public instinctively recognise a party drone from the first few syllables and more often than not they turn off. But not all politicians.

Like him or not John Key sounds like he is speaking his own words, warts and all.

Bill English sounds like he’s drawling his own mind. Stephen Joyce, Judith Collins, Gerry Brownlee, Tony Ryall, Paula Bennett – there can be plenty to criticise, but they all sound like they are distinct thinking people, not puppets strangled by a media manager’s strings.

Hekia Parata’s communication disasters last year stood out because of the contrast with her colleagues.

National’s Maurice Williamson and Chris Auchinvole were stars of the marriage debates. They were clearly speaking their own thoughts.

Labour MPs can do it – Louisa Wall expressed her own personality and convictions strongly.

I remember rookie David Clark giving an excellent marriage speech too – which stood out because Clark is more often a loyal party parrot. I campaigned alongside him in the last election and most of his speeches were repetitive party lines 0- very repetitive.

Goff uninspired throughout his term as Labour leader, and his party failed to rebuild – they lost support.

David Shearer is famous for his fumbling mumbling lines – he is improving, but that’s simply because he is learning more parrot lines, we still have no idea what he stands for or what he might think himself.

Last week on The Nation Labour’s finance spokesperson David Parker gave an inauthentic recital – see Story | Video | Transcript.

And the mid-man of Labour’s top three, Robertson, shows with this post he is another vapid party parrot.

What does Robertson (or Shearer or Labour) really think, believe in, get inspired by? I have no idea.

If they want a real chance of inspiring the many disillusioned voters they have to start to sound like real people with minds and passions of their own, something sadly lacking amongst Labour lackeys.

Media managed muppets are symptoms of a mindless MP malaise – politicians and parties without passion, without a soul. Without leadership, without inspiration.

Labouring with political vapidity.

If they don’t recognise this and address it, Labour will continue their cringey crawl into personality, policy and party vapidity.

vap·id (v p d, v p d). adj. 1. Lacking liveliness, animation, or interest; dull: vapid conversation. 2. Lacking taste, zest, or flavor; flat: vapid beer.

Labouring with political vapidity

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by Pete George on April 27, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 27, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/27/labouring-with-political-vapidity/

Labour power and Green distance

David Farrar asks about Grant Robertson’s “we have no plans to intervene in any other markets” claim – Where else? - and lists a range of markets that he suggestst that Labour have said they will also intervene in. Akld Commercial Lawyer  comments on this:

Hmmm, I am not au fait with the finer details of political strategists and their goings on – and despite my recent comments, accept that we have to work with whichever party holds the reins. But, I read this yesterday and thought (i) of course he would say that; and (ii) there is a pattern emerging here.

Dealing with my second reaction – I wonder if there are in fact two Labour Party leaders and the one we saw yesterday has learned from his time as H3 that, having tested the waters and found that the first announcement was a bit too extreme, he will now try and re-position his office as a bit more middle of the road.

This so-called reassurance is not for consumption by the Labour electorate (that was the objective of the “policy”). Instead, the “policy” announcement was, IMHO, little more than crude idealogy and a bit of cynical politics thrown in for good measure. And the drivers were the Greens, not Labour.

Others have already pointed to the irony that flows from the “policy” announcement – dampening down a bit of demand will almost certainly make this a better investment. This arises from both the softening of price expectations by the financial institutions that set the price for everyone (as they factor in more risk) and topping off a bit of demand – particularly from Mums & Dads who do not have a relationship from a decent financial adviser.

As a result, adopting the old “buy on rumour, sell on fact” idiom for sharemarket investment, the market as had an over-reaction and then a correction – and the net outcome is that financial institutions may be better off. All at the expense of the taxpayer.

The second leg of the issue is that what most readers will take from Robertson is something different – namely that a Labour / Greens Govt (for those who are big on symbalism – will it be a Greens / Labour economic policy as appears to be the case here?) will interfere in markets to “fix” problems that they perceive.

The suggestion that they will not interfere elsewhere is, with respect, exactly what they are most likely to do.

Labour has already signalled that they want to do something about the housing crisis – which those of us living north of the Bombay Hills read as being confined to Auckland.

In this regard, the attempts by the current mayor to fast-track the social engineering embedded in the Unitary Plan is Labour policy writ large. And as many people are discovering, the so-called research underpinning much of this simply does not make sense. (I could go on).

DPF has already identified a handful of other areas – insurance being a particular personal favourite.

lnterestingly, BNZ economist Tony Alexander (widely read because he has a good track record of providing sensible commentary in a manner all of us can understand) reports over night from conferences in Europe that speakers on the European electricity market noted the dangers of price control in terms of black outs as investors would stay away from the sector and the creation of new generation.

He says, to quote one “Let me be clear. This kills investment”.

Robertson may well want to position himself as the voice of reason, but what chance does he have if the Greens hold the balance of power and are, in effect, the determinants of economic policy? At that point the anti-growth party will hold sway and his assurances that Labour is not going to intervene elsewhere will count for very little.

Finally, in a break from its recent poor run of form, the Herald (Brian Fallow) provides what are at least the beginnings of some decent analysis of one of the implications of the command economy approach this morning – and that it would probably amount to handing Rio Tinto a bat with which to beat the taxpayer over the Tiwai Point ransom demands.

In short I am grateful, that despite being a futile political stunt that will costs the taxpayer a great deal over the coming weeks, this has flushed out the true colours of the Greens / Labour economic policy.

If Robertson wants to lead Labour into the election I would gauge that he will need to do more to distance himself from the Greens.

To do this, he needs a new finance spokesman – and given his tutorage in the office of a very skilled politician, I would expect that he has worked this out already.

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by Pete George on April 26, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 26, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/26/labour-power-and-green-distance/

Labour spooked, supporters spitting

When Labour launched their NZ Power policy last week they were focussed on promoting prepared PR – the “fairness” of lower power prices for “hard working New Zealanders” and “real businesses”.

They seemed oblivious to the possible effects of their announcement on the financial markets, as this twitter exchange suggests:

H du Plessis-Allan ‏@hdpaNEWS 18 Apr
Contact’s share price is down 3% after Labour/ Greens announced power regulation plans. If it affects MRP similarly, it’s less $ for us all.

Grant Robertson ‏@grantrobertson1
@hdpaNEWS its actually lower power prices for us all, which is more money in your pocket, which gets spent elsewhere in the economy.

Or they were diverting and denying. They appeared to be playing politics and ignoring warnings. On Sunday Grant Robertson again:

Grant Robertson ‏@grantrobertson1 20 Apr
@stevenljoyce this policy really has you spooked doesn’t it Steven. lol

But three days later, after a number of financial experts had severely questioned the possible effects and threatened the credibility of Labour’s policy, it looks like they are the ones who are spooked.

Grant Robertson is fronting the damage control because David Shearer left on an overseas tour just after the policy announcement.

Labour won’t intervene in any other market, says Roberston

Labour Party deputy leader Grant Robertson has moved to try and reassure financial markets that its sudden lurch to favour central planning in the electricity industry is one-off.

In a statement attacking Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, Robertson says: “Labour makes no apology for stepping in to fix problems in the electricity sector. But this is not a signal that Labour is going to intervene elsewhere in the economy.

“As we said on the day we launched NZ Power, we have no plans to intervene in any other markets.”

That point was buried in the detail of last week’s announcements by the Labour and Green parties.

And it was either deliberately or negligently ignored by Labour in their promotion of their policy, until nearly a week after the policy announcement.

But the damage due perceptions of Labour’s economic recklessness has been done. The all important centre of the voting spectrum have had their initial suspicions confirmed – Labour have acted like financial misfits.

And it gets worse for Labour. While trying to limit damage to the centre they have riled the left. Activists lauded the lurch towards socialism when NZ Power was announced. For the first time since Shearer became leader

Chris Trotter has posted in response to Robertson with  “Hey, Julian! – We Are NOT Pleased!” Grant Robertson Calls Off Labour’s Assault On Neoliberalism at The Daily Blog.

WELL, THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG, did it? Exactly one week after jolting thousands of New Zealanders into reconsidering a vote for Labour, Grant Robertson, the acting Leader of the Opposition, issued the above statement – unforgivably surrendering all the gains his party had made.

That Grant Robertson turned out to be the author of this despicable document surprises me not at all.

With a little help from his spin-doctor, Julian Robbins, Labour’s Deputy-Leader composed and issued a media release that effectively runs up the white flag on Labour’s all-too-brief foray into heady world of radical policy-making.

I say ‘white flag’ because Grant’s statement is not just a deferential promise not to play the wicked socialist larrikin in any more of New Zealand’s industrial sectors, but a sotto voce reassurance that even Labour’s energy policy is unlikely to survive the process of lifting certain key Labour bottoms from the Opposition to the Treasury benches.

High power prices aren’t the only thing hurting New Zealand families, Grant. By ruling out intervention “elsewhere in the economy”, you have betrayed not only your party and its supporters, but the electoral victory which, thanks to the political energy unleashed by Energising New Zealand, had been yours for the taking.

Trotter was initially ecstatic about Labour’s NZ Power policy, and flip flopped with his change of heart about David Shearer (see Okay! Okay! I surrender. Shearer Stays).

Now Trotter is flipping his lid. And so are others, as the first comment on his post demonstrates:

Utterly Disillusioned says:

OH Effing soding unprintable reaction! Just when I had vague hopes that the pseudo-left MIGHT have got its head out of its butt they manage to screw themselves, AND so many of their supporters, over.

Didn’t the utterly hysterical rightist reaction show these people ANYTHING! Such a reaction indicates decent policy. Guess what? Joyce and Key were rattled. Thus….DO MORE OF IT! BUT NO! Lets NOT! SOB!

Clearly they either secretly don’t want to be the government or are actually too politically inept and stupid to be granted the privilege.

Most of the rest of the comments there express dismay, disdain and despair.

It wasn’t surprising that Labour’s NZ Power announcement resulted in anger from the right and scathing criticism from much of the financial sector.

There was suspicion about motives and scepticism about policy from the centre.

Initially the left applauded – or some of the left, there was also some caution from the centre left:

Giovanni says:

The thought that maybe you were a bit hasty in lauding the policy had crossed some minds. ;-)

And now the left of the left are spitting.

NZ Power showed signs of being doomed to being a debacle from the moment Shearer announced they would be announcing a grand power plan. Labour now face serious damage control, and their leader is missing in action – see Where’s Norman and Shearer?

Grant Robertson has recently raised doubts about his “leader-in-waiting” credentials. He is now left handling what looks like a lemon, and even Labour’s core supporters have gone sour.

Robertson’s mettle will be tested. This will take much more management than muttering media mumbo jumbo.

But his first tweet today isn’t encouraging:

Grant Robertson ‏@grantrobertson1 

More evidence that cost of living is causing major problems. Time to lower power prices

La-la-la-la-la won’t cut it Grant. You have to rise to the occasion or you will be roasted.

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by Pete George on April 26, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 26, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/26/labour-spooked-supporters-spitting/

Where’s Norman and Shearer?

A week ago David Shearer and Russel Norman announced a policy on power that was promoted as a game changer in both  the electricity industry and in next year’s election stakes.

Shearer referred to Labour’s NZ Power policy as “the big Kahuna”. He also said that timing his announcement with the MRP float was coincidental, and he has said several times “We are working…according to our own timetable.”

You would think the timing would reflect the supposed importance of the policy to Greens and Labour. How did Shearer and Norman promote their big new policy from there?

They had David Parker and Gareth Hughes front up for interviews about it on The Nation on Saturday. Parker and Hughes, and Grant Robertson, have since been interviewed on it.

In the meantime the party leaders have been conspicuous in their absence from promoting their great new policy.

David Shearer left for England on Monday. He is on a world tour which will also take him to New York and the UN.

It was announced on Russel Norman’s Facebook on Monday:

Russel is on leave from now until Monday 6 May. I (Izzy, Russel’s Executive Assistant) will be checking his messages and posting the occasional update, but Russel’s profile won’t be as active as usual for the next couple of weeks. Cheers, and happy recess!
-Izzy

Izzy has shared a few political posts on Facebook for Norman. Norman has posted once, apparently on holiday in Los Angeles.

Norman and Shearer chose a time to announce their power policies knowing that they would both soon be leaving the country.

In the meantime Gareth Hughes has botched an interview on Green media management and Green glee at sabotaging the MRP float.

And Grant Robertson is trying to repair the damage Labour has inflicted on itself by spooking and threatening the financial markets due to Labour’s lack of thought about the likely wider effects of their proposed socialisation of the power market.

And the Labour and Green party leaders have other things to do overseas.

The timing of the NZ Power policy has turned out to be terrible as far as ongoing party promotion and damage control is concerned.

This adds weight to the probability that the timing of the announcement last week was for one purpose, to try and upset the MRP float – something neither Labour nor Greens have credibly denied, they have avoided answering questions about this honestly, and Hughes inadvertently made it obvious what they wanted their announcement to do, inflict damage on National’s asset sale programme.

And Greens and Labour will be left floundering without their leaders.

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by Pete George on April 26, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 26, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/26/wheres-norman-and-shearer/

Labour’s financial deficit

The economy will be a major factor in the next election (it could easily be the deciding factor). Labour’s financial credibility and their ability to promote themselves as competent managers of the New Zealand economy will be under close scrutiny.

Labour’s release of their NZ Power policy has highlighted some potential problems for Labour – they appear to have a significant financial deficit (and a communication deficit).

At the NZ Power policy launch David Shearer claimed it was “the big kahuna”. A two or three hundred dollar a year election bribe is not big, especially when you consider the potential down sides.

After the launch Shearer seemed to disappear, and has now gone on an overseas tour. This may not be a bad thing for Labour, his financial nous and his ability to express himself are well known deficits.

David Parker was interviewed about NZ Power on The Nation on Saturday. He is a policy wonk and a political wonk, and not a great communicator. It didn’t help that he looked uncomfortable trying to support aspects of the policy. Since then Parker also seems to have retreated from view.

Grant Robertson and Clayton Cosgrove have climbed in to the PR campaign. Neither present a strong voice on financial policy, and their politicking doesn’t

The financial credentials in the current and previous governments are strong.

Labour under Helen Clark had a strong contribution from her deputy and Minister of Finance, Michael Cullen, who was an integral part of a formidable team while calling the financial shots.

National has a Prime Minister with a financial background, and his deputy Bill English also has significant financial credentials.

In contrast Labour has:

  • Leader David Shearer with little known financial or business background.
  • Deputy Grant Robertson with little known financial or business background.
  • No 3 is Labour’s finance spokesperson David Parker – he seems to be far from a dominating force in Labour’s decision making team.
  • Labour’s biggest financial mind and arguably their best speaker, David Cunliffe, has been back benched.

Comparatively Labour has a very weak financial look, and it shows in their fragmented promotion of their “big kahuna”.

To be brutal, it’s not just in finance that Labour looks wish washy weak, it’s hard to see what they stand strongly for.

Labour seem to think NZ Power will be a game changer, but I don’t know if it is big enough or will be strongly enough supported by voters. Labour will still have to look like they know enough about financial matters to run the country.

Currently Labour have a significant financial credibility deficit.

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by Pete George on April 23, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 23, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/23/labours-financial-deficit/

Grant Robertson “Labour leader”

A wee whoopsie in the Labour media department.

Duncan Garner ‏@Garner_Live 

Fran Mold calls Grant Robertson, Labour Leader, in latest press release. Whoops….

Jessica Mutch TVNZ ‏@MutchJessica

Press release calling Grant Robertson “Labour Leader” has just been corrected. David Shearer has only been out of the country a few day…

I won’t try and guess what sort of mistake this was.

Robertson Leader

Robertson’s name has been corrected as well.

Toby Manhire ‏@toby_etc

Revealed: Shearer is Roberton’s puppet.

Joshua Hitchcock ‏@jcphitchcock 

Fran Mold today devised an ingenious plan to get people to actually read a Labour press release.

The corrected press release: Nats Hysteria Won’t Bring Down Power Bills

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by Pete George on April 22, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 22, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/22/grant-robertson-labour-leader/

Labour Power – small bribe, huge risk

Labour’s apparently hurried launching of their NZ Power policy appears to be aimed at enticing voters next election. David Shearer has called it “the big kahuna”. How big?

It is dangling a $4-6 per week carrot in front of voters.

For those on tight budgets every dollar matters, but $4 a week is really small change and will not give anyone hope of rising above the pangs of poverty.

It’s a small bribe.

So what are the risks?

Of course Labour is hoping this bet will win them the big prize, the next election.

They have now closely allied themselves with the Greens to try and win in a joint venture. Being this closely associated with Greens has big risks.

Labour’s economic credibility is at risk. They have already banished their biggest economic voice to the the back benches (Cunliffe). Their leaders (Shearer and Robertson) have scant business credentials – and no sign of any understanding economic issues.

David Parker fronted up with Shearer and Russel Norman at the NZS Power launch so presumably buys into the policy, and may be the architect of it. As Labour’s Finance spokesperson he has a lot of credibility on the line.

Some financial comment suggests that while Government enforced reductions in power prices will work in the short term they could have serious longer term effects on the energy market and future propsects of new generation projects.

And there are huge risks for the New Zealand economy, as the sharemarket reaction to the NZ Power announcement showed yesterday.

And that was when many international investors would have been asleep. If they put the threat of Government imposed profit limits together with last night’s poll result showing that a Labour-Green government is a distinct possibility together it could impact drastically on investor confidence in the whole New Zealand share market.

In their quest for power Labour are betting a few dollars a week against the high risk of stuffing both the electricity market and the whole economy.

by Pete George on April 19, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 19, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/19/labour-power-small-bribe-huge-risk/

Armstrong on Labour, wood and trees

John Armstrong has written about John Key’s ever-changing story and refers to Key’s very confusing explanations about how he got Ian Fletcher’s phone number, the latest bit of trivia Grant Robertson and Labour seem obsessed with.

Labour’s Grant Robertson asked Key whether he could understand why New Zealanders were struggling to believe anything he had to say on the matter when he could not even say how he came to have Fletcher’s phone number. Key’s response simply added to the confusion.

In some respects, the Prime Minister is his own worst enemy. Having warned the news media last week that he would be much more careful about how he will answer questions, he yesterday threw caution to the wind.

Key seemed to not care about how vague he was.

But quite possibly with good reason. Most people could not really give a toss about how Key got hold of Fletcher’s phone number.

The very real danger for Labour is that in building a case against Key it is thus seen to be fixated by relative trivia; that Labour is so obsessed with destroying Key as a political force that it can no longer see the wood for the trees.

Robertson in particular does seem fixated on trying to discredit Key.

There is some risk to Key, but Robertson’s obsessive attack strategy is risking his own credibility and his political future. Labour has enough problems with leadership credibility with Shearer as it is.

Robertson can speak more coherently and has far more political nous than Shearer, but he seems to be as blind as Shearer to the amount of self inflicted damage he may be doing, to himself and to Labour.

If he keeps hacking away at the wood he may not be noticing which tree is most at risk of falling.

—

UPDATE: Robertson will be still banging on about GCSB by the look of question 12 for Question Time in Parliament today:

GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement on 24 September 2012 in relation to the work of the GCSB, “I think you can take confidence in the fact that to the best of my knowledge, I’ve never been informed or ever had reason to believe there’s ever been an error before”?

by Pete George on April 17, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 17, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/17/armstrong-on-labour-wood-and-trees/

“No clue” and “lying by omission”

The Opposition focus on John Key’s “no clue” comments (referring to how he had Ian Fletcher’s phone number) says more about how trivial politics and politicking can be than it says about Key.

Closely associated with the same issue is another phrase that the Opposition have used – see 3 News and  Key ‘lying by omission’ – Labour

John Key says he “forgot” about a personal phone call he made to his childhood friend, Ian Fletcher – a phone call that led to Mr Fletcher’s appointment as Mr Key’s chief spy.

It’s seen Labour accuse Mr Key of “lying by omission”.

There are no surprises though that Labour’s striking out, laying a complaint that Mr Key breached Parliamentary privilege by not fully answering questions in the House.

And Stuff with Key forgets tip to friend over spy job:

Labour’s deputy leader Grant Robertson said Mr Key “lied by omission” and said his explanation was not credible.

And in addition from John Armstrong at NZ Herald:

Key was deemed guilty by opponents of lying by omission, prompting calls for all manner of official inquiries and breach of parliamentary privilege hearings.

Robertson sees the lapses as part of what he calls Key’s “diminish, divert and demean” modus operandi. Faced with being caught out by some action or statement, Key’s response is to diminish the significance of the issue or his role in it, divert attention away from it and, especially in Parliament, demean whoever is raising it.

Last night Grant Robertson tried his own “demean whoever is raising it”:

For those who missed #cluelesskey in Question Time, here is the video. The fun starts at 4.05…

David Shearer staffer Mike Smith with a rare post at The Standard: “I genuinely have no clue”

Finally, John Key comes clean. Watch this!

And Metiria Turei omitted Key’s whole response:

Metiria Turei ‏@metiria
“I genuinely have no clue.” John Key, Prime Minister. Thats a keeper. #nzqt

I queried that:

Pete George ‏@PeteDGeorge
@metiria Is that a full quote?

Metiria Turei ‏@metiria
yep. He didnt say anything else but watch this space…

As detailed in Key and “no clue” he did say something else:

Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I genuinely have no clue. I do not know how I got the number.

So it could be said there is some hypocrisy and lying by omission going on here.

This whole attack line by the opposition is trivial. In isolation it could be seen as a bit of light hearted taking the piss, although in the context persistent trivial attacks it is trying to trivialise politics with petty personal attacks.

The biggest omission in all of this is Robertson et al are omitting serious political discussion and holding to account. They keep obsessing over trivial single issues and gotcha politics.

This suggests that Robertson, Shearer and Turei, with their “lying by omission”,  have “no clue” about how to present themselves as credible Government in waiting politicians and parties.

(This may be harsh on Turei who is more in the jocular camp here but in the context of being co-leader with Russel Norman who has been persistently attacking Key and the GCSB I think it is a fair association).

And just as bad – there are important issues with the GCSB that deserve serious attention, but by continually focussing on personal attacks Labour and Greens cloud and divert attention from the wider more pertinent issues.

by Pete George on April 17, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on April 17, 2013

http://yournz.org/2013/04/17/no-clue-and-lying-by-omission/

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