ALL OVER FOR ACT?

Well when people like Hooton call time on ACT - they are pretty stuffed. Hooton's face book.

Matthew Hooton

Until this weekend, I was (as an Epsom voter) a dead-cert for Brash/Banks. Now, I am a dead-cert for John Key and Bhatnagar/Simpson/Donald Duck/Goldsmith or whoever National puts up. Not too happy about this because Key is a wet and voting National means implicitly voting Nick Smith, but there you go. May even give a donation and deliver leaflets for Bhatnagar/Simpson/Donald Duck/Goldsmith.

Then there is Whale .. He thinks Act is toxic We have to agree Act is toxic as Fukishima but not likely to share the nuclear plants longevity.

No Minister is gobsmacked by their complete silliness.

And Home Paddock has taken a womans view of the ACT vileness.

Now the thing is, apart from Homepaddock who doesn't left the house without blue nana knickers on, the rest of us in the VRWC had a fondness for ACT. We liked them because they could chuck a bit of borax at National if they went a bit wet.

But it looks like again we are all thinking the same thing. Sadly, it seems apart from Cactus, - who if she is wearing knickers at all , they will be yellow with blue lace, is still in there supporting ACT. National are too full of economic pussies for her. But we reckon even she will be pissed at Brash - she will be keen to see the party get back to its core messages around tax, and law and order and reduction of business costs.

So its clear to see that the VRWC has lost patience with ACT.

Brash is simply a fuckwit.

And in the nicest possible way thats what Rodney Hide called him on the Tele tonight as well.

Come back Rodney - all is forgiven!

ROUND UP

Has to be Cactus's almost scholarly take on the finance companies debacle.

Best Column has to be Frans here on her sagely advice to John Key

And Matthew Hooton's excellent take on the unlocked potential of SOE's - as a columnist he is going from strength to strength.

And we were delighted with TransTasmans excellent assessment of Clare Curran. She is an ex PR Hack but according to the literary scribes on the TT team her press releases are incomprensible. Apparently she is loathed by the Labour caucus. If she thinks we are making that up - a question for Clare. Where do you think that TransTasman gets its info? Oh yes thats right - your colleagues! Sucks to be you Clare.

TARIANA TURIA SOUND ON PROPERTY RIGHTS.

We see with interest that Tariana Turia understands that the Foreshore and Seabed issue can only be settled with an acknowledgement of property rights and due process through the courts.

Pita Sharples, it seems prefers the so called " communist solution."

Dr Sharples said Maori did not have a concept of ownership prior to Pakeha arriving in New Zealand. Maori saw themselves as guardians and caretakers of the foreshore and this was eliminated by the Act.

"I don't really know whether ownership is the right solution for New Zealand," he said. "I think the way it's heading at the moment is a form of co-management."

Dr Sharples said he didn't think the idea of keeping the foreshore in Crown ownership was acceptable.

"I think what iwi do prefer is that we have a kind of tikanga title, that we actually keep the mana that our ancestors had before."

However Tariana appears to favour the right for Maori to establish their property right through the courts.

Mrs Turia says the Maori Party does not support the concept of no ownership.

"I think that what people have talked about with the foreshore and seabed is this is an issue of justice. I still believe it's an issue of justice and should be treated as such."

She says her preference would be for Maori to be able to go to court or enter into direct negotiations with the Crown.

This is shaping up to be a philisophical split in the Maori Party. It will add another layer of difficulty for the government in brokering an acceptable solution.

Interesting that Turia seems to be echoing the thinking of commentator Matthew Hooton.

WAITANGI TREATY IRRELEVANT?

The Treaty of Waitangi is holding NZ back was the topic up for debate yesterday on TVNZ's Marae.

It was an interesting debate. And it came to the conclusion that the Treaty is not holding NZ back.

Marae is well worth a watch if you want to keep up with Maori politics and views. This debate was well structured and the best prepared speeches came from Matthew Hooton and Stephen Franks. However Hana O'Regan came into her own in the free for all. Shane Taurima is a broadcaster to watch. He was the perfect ringmaster for this intellectual circus. The audience, were a good mix.

Anyway for those who missed it - it is definitely worth a sit down look see.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FORESHORE AND SEABED ISSUE

This is a very considered analysis on what is happening with the Foreshore and Seabed issue. It should be required reading for all policy makers, tribal leaders lawmakers and politicians - indeed anyone who is seeking clarity on this issue which has the potential to define race relations in NZ.

If you have difficulty reading the document you will find it here

EQ Summer 2010

NBR - FURTHER SHIFT TO ONLINE?

Well, after a lovely weekend in the sunny city of sails catching up on some mates and the associated gossip, we understand that about 7 of the columnists and other contributors for the NBR print edition were given their marching orders post Xmas.

Now apart from occasionally getting the print version to read Matthew Hootons fine columns, we are happy to pay for the racier and pithier online version.


We also think it must be very easy to monitor the popularity of the online NBR journalists and contributors.

There really is no need for lengthy performance contracts and KPI's these days. Simply track the clicks to a journalist's stories and the amount of comment it provokes and you have a clear idea who the public wants to read.

So does this mean that Mr Colman sees the end of the line for the print versions of one of the most iconic business press brands and the dawn of the new age for the new media?

We think so... And we will happily pay for the online subscription as it keeps getting better and better.

Note - We have no financial connection to the NBR other than as a subscriber.

LEFT RIGHT

We could hardly believe our eyes.. the caustic communists over at the Standard have for once got it right ... Its probably one of the best reasoned and well written issues on the Foreshore and Seabed issue apart from Hootons NBR column. Well done them.

SHAKIN THE TREE

Matthew Hooton has done one of his finest columns ever for the NBR today. Its explores the fears we hold about access to the foreshore and seabed and why we should be relaxed about it..


We are going to fisk it....

When I am in Tauranga, I stay at the very pleasant Sebel hotel, built on three piers out over the harbour. Its construction in 2006 meant New Zealanders lost access to that part of the foreshore. Up the road is the port, with fences preventing access to the sea.

When I was young, holidays were at Turkey Island, near Coromandel, owned by three family friends. No one ever stopped others landing on the island for a picnic but it would have been odd had they not introduced themselves and asked if it was OK.

Later, my family bought a bach at Northland’s Te Ngaere Bay. We called the next bay Tattersfield’s, after the family that owned it, and it was customary to say hi when strolling across their beach.

Just south was a farm owned by Doug Myers, including a holiday home on a small, secluded bay. With no public road access, it didn’t feel quite right to land a boat on his beach but there was no sign saying you couldn’t.

A short walk up the valley, on Maori-owned land, was a waterfall with a decent fresh-water swimming hole. When we Auckland kids wanted to use it, it was courteous to check with the whanau living there, in pretty much third-world conditions. It was never a problem.

Yip our life has been pretty much the same - Never been denied access to any part of NZ.

Nowadays, my wife and I take our kids to a Pacific Island resort each year. The kids go to the Kids’ Club and we take it easy at the beach. The locals don’t have access to that small bit of coastline but they do have the rest of the island to choose from. They also have jobs.

The enjoyment of my life has never been compromised by limited restrictions on my access to the sea. Nor has any of my privileged access compromised anyone else’s enjoyment of theirs. But the idea there is an inherent right by every New Zealander to access every square centimetre of foreshore and seabed is plainly wrong. No such right exists.

The so-called Queen’s Chain has always been a myth. To simply declare it belongs to the state is to propose a nationalisation and collectivisation of land of which Stalin would have been proud.

Unbelievably, this was exactly the position asserted by everyone in Parliament in 2004, except Act and the Greens. It was a national disgrace.

Abso - bloody lutely.

15,134 km coastline

With just four million people, New Zealand has 15,134 kilometres of coastline, the 10^th longest in the world. The exclusive economic zone is more than 4 million square kilometres, the 7th largest in the world.

Listening to politicians in 2004, it was possible to believe the 3.4 million New Zealanders who do not identify as Maori were at some risk of losing access to these resources, whether for commercial development or just building a sandcastle with their kids. Avoiding this risk, we were told, justified sabotaging due process, removing the right of access to the courts and undermining the rule of law.

The risk was never real. The area of foreshore and seabed where it was ever likely a hapu could prove customary title was always infinitesimal compared with the thousands of kilometres of coastline. The Foreshore and Seabed Act, announced unprompted by the Labour regime within hours of the Court of Appeal’s Ngati Apa decision, was a despicable piece of legislation.

It was worse than that - it was venal and evil.

National’s abandonment of its commitment to property rights, the rule of law and civilised race relations was even more vile.

Yip we were gobsmacked that they would not make a principled stand for what was essentially an issue of property rights.

Resolution

John Key, Chris Finlayson, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples will repeal that legislation and put the shame behind New Zealand, but the myth of a right of access to every square centimetre of the foreshore and seabed endures. There will be pressure on them to enshrine that myth in new legislation, as well as greater or lesser rights for Maori than the courts might otherwise find.

They should resist. No new statutory framework is needed. The courts are the proper place to resolve disputes over land ownership, not parliament.

Further, should a handful of hapu be able to prove customary title to the satisfaction of the courts, why shouldn’t they be able to have that right recognised as freehold title? Why shouldn’t they then be able to decide that collecting tuatua is not the extent of their aspirations, but instead form a JV with the Sebel hotel chain to build a holiday resort? (Good luck to them, of course, getting consents from local councils.)

What possible harm would this involve? It would create an economic base and jobs for a bunch of New Zealanders.

As long as it had a Kids’ Club, my wife and I might even decide to spend our holiday dollars not at the Raratongan but at the Muriwhenua Beach Resort and Spa.

It’s difficult to see why so many in Parliament still seem to think that would be so terrible. Are we really that afraid of Maori economic self-determination? Is socialism really so embedded in our national soul?

Matthew is so right, we need to stop being worried about Maori self determination and embrace it.

SAYING SORRY

This is simply an extraordinary admission.

Don Brash said today that he had made a mistake over the way National viewed the Foreshore and seabed issue..

He now understands that much of the trouble was based on the reluctance to let Maori have their say in court. Brash, for all his faults is an honest bugger. It is this type of admission on which we can build a better future for our nation.

Personally we think that Brash never really understood Maori or Maori politics and now maybe he does .

We hope that we see some good pragmatic decisions on the Foreshore and Seabed issue and that will take some compromise from both ends of the debate. It's about property but it is also about the fundemental collective identity of our nation and the things that matter most to us and our access to our coastline is one of them.

We can work it out...

BOMBER DOES A GOFF

He apologises. He bent over and took one from Cactus and Whale. Ouch.

Bomber Bradley has been under intense attack from both Cactus and Whale Oil at Gotcha who chided him for being a blogger for hire and a leftie blogger in the pay of the PR firm noted for its rightish leanings owned by our good mate Matthew Hooton. Bomber has waded into the Labs issue with gusto - doing some guerrilla interviews which ended up on TVNZ but he got paid to do it and probably paid very very well. It has signalled the end of his independence. Anyway we think Bomber showed just how naive he is. He will never ever be a capitalist. He is too fucking stupid for that - his brand is his meal ticket and he has just destroyed it.

And he really doesn't even make a good principled leftie - he has also admitted that he doesn't always believe everything he writes. So now we know that he is just trying to be the shock jock blogger of the left. We hope he gets his Labour membership revoked... At least the venal little creeps over at the Standard stay principled.

Pillock.

HOW PR IS DONE -

It's smart audacious, funny, and uniting. It is a chance for the community to make an impact on big business. Getting the Unions Federated Farmers and commercial interests and Maori on the same page and in the same tent is a stroke of genius. Its all over the media and already 3000 people have signed up.

Hooton Genius...


Finally we may get some mobile phone rates that are in line with the rest of the world. Go 2 Degrees!

PAYING FOR THE NEWS -YIP BUT MAKE IT QUALITY BARRY

We are more than happy to pay for good stuff, good shoes, good make up , and good wine, lunches and dinners for good info. So we have no hesitation paying for NBR's online subscription. It makes good sense as long as NBR continues to deliver the very high quality articles that have dripped from the pens of the likes of Rob Hosking, Chris Keall, David Cohen Matthew Hooton and David Farrar in the past few months. If, after six months we dont get value for money - we will kick it for touch.

It has worked for the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Review. You pay for the premium content. It will be driven by demand and we think there is a demand. The continued popularity of Transtasman already attests to the popularity of "insider" premium analysis, news and dare we point to the elephant in the room - gossip....

So Barry , yet again you have shown that you happily put your well earned money where your mouth is.

We will sign up. Its simply the smart thing to do. Newspapers may die, ( makes you wonder what we will wrap our fish in chips in and cover the bottom of the budgie cage with) but online news is where its at and where it will end up.

And for all the believers that news will be forever free- yip the crap stuff maybe but the reality is the overshiny stuff wont last. In the end the demand will be for the best, the fastest and the most accurate and incisive and undoubtedly the most interesting - News and info that gives individuals and companies a turbo boost down the information highway will be a must have. And we will gladly pay for it.

LAST ONE OUT TURN OUT THE LIGHTS

We are not sure whats happening over at the NBR but a number of their journos have just left or are leaving very soon. Thats sad. It is a good read but good reads only come from hiring good journos. We know they are as scarce than happy and content Labour MP's these days. and that that the talent pool is not deep. Thank god they still have the superb Rob Hosking on the payroll. And Chris Keall and Hazel and David Farrar and Hooton - but they need some daily grunts on the books who understand business as well.

Cactus also laments the late copy.

Come on Bazza - - find some good scribes. Keep us entertained and informed. Please.

THE IMPORTANT SECRETS THAT ARE SO TOP SECRET THAT WHY THEY ARE SECRET REMAINS A SECRET

So what are these national secrets that are so secret that we are not even allowed to know why they are being kept secret?



The File on the Brash emails at Police National Headquarters.



Matthew Hooton has the whole saga into today's dead tree copy of the NBR. They wont put the column on their on line site. We reckon that's at Hootons request because he is trying to save the New Zealand Forestry industry. He does a bit of work for them from time to time... We digress.



Anyway - Hooton has a bit of a thing about the Stolen Brash emails that were used by Nicky Hagar to form his flight of fancy book - the Hollow Men. Brash remains incensed that the police never seem to consider it a high priority.



Hooton lodged an OIA in May 2007. Two years later and the police are about to release something. It will probably be blank papers, a radio transcript or two and some press clippings. And Hooton has been lucky enough to secure the services of Kensington Swan pro bono. They are well known Rottweillers on this sort of stuff so the story is so very far from over. Initially the police wouldn't release the file because they reckoned it would compromise the investigation.



Brash was told nine months into the investigation that those in receipt of the emails had not been interviewed because the police were a tad busy with APEC.



Then in April 2008 senior plod Harry Quinn closed the file and announced that to the media. He said to Brash he would send him the file. He never did.



Then in mid 2008 the police changed their story and told Hooton the file was still open.... This is the last few paragraphs of Hooton's Column today. Its better than a bloody spy novel.

After Mr Quinn’s announcement, my staff redoubled our efforts to obtain the file. In mid-2008, however, PNHQ changed its story, advising the chief ombudsman that the file, which they had announced was closed, was in fact open.

Initially, the chief ombudsman, then new to the job, was sucked in to the PNHQ position. Even when PNHQ later confirmed that the investigation was “inactive”, she claimed she should “err on the side of caution”, despite the law demanding a presumption in favour of release.

Her provisional opinion agreed with PNHQ that releasing the file would prejudice the maintenance of law in New Zealand. Even more extraordinary, she ruled that her reasons for reaching this view needed themselves to be kept secret. That’s when we called in the lawyers.

Conspiracy Theories

PNHQ’s bizarre behaviour has fuelled all sorts of conspiracy theories. Ms Clark spun the yarn that an MP’s spouse was responsible for the theft. The professionalism of the operation led some to speculate about the SIS. Marginally more plausible are theories involving rogue officers at the Government Communications Security Bureau, given author Nicky Hager clearly had a source within that agency for his internationally-acclaimed Secret Power. One of the Urewera 17 has also been mentioned in Wellington IT and legal circles.

It is not healthy in a democracy for such conspiracy theories to gain currency. It is more likely that a politically-motivated PNHQ simply decided it was better to let sleeping dogs lie, and even more likely that they just botched the investigation. Whatever the truth, there is a clear public interest in every comma of the file being released, just as it was for paintergate.

So like us we reckon at this point you will be a little more than concerned about just what is concerning the police and the ombudsman. But we will bet the house that Hooton and Kensington Swan will find out. And more importantly it is an issue that should cause the Prime Minister enough concern to call a full inquiry.

POLICE TO RELEASE BITS OF BRASH EMAIL FILE

As we reported yesterday the Brash email file is about to be released by police. However this story is far from over. We expect that we are still a year away from learning the whole truth and it will destroy careers.

FRIDAY ROUND UP

We were among some of the nations finest journalists and ex journalists and bloggers last night and we all wanted to know - Where is Allison Dine - the kindy teacher bonk of the Mr Asia drug ring big wig Terry Clark? Apparently its a very popular programme among old scribes.

What happened to the Panama of Tailor Street Blog that gave us such gems as this?

We reckoned that it was either a spook or someone from MFAT who was a little bored.

Will we meet Barnsley Bill in Mongonui this weekend?

And does it really only take a late night shared subway for a well known blogger to get into some young things frillies?

And does this mean that a cheap but successful date will now be known as a Subway?

And wasn't it kinda funny to see Gimli in person at the PJ O'Rourke gig?

And how come Matthew Hooton is way funnier since he stopped drinking ?

And how many Whale Oil Teeshirts does Whale Oil own?

Finally, why do so many Auckland men take their mistresses to Euro?

NOT US

Matt McCarten appreciates good work and this week in his column he focuses on what he sees as bloggers having some considerable influence in Labours decision over who to stand in the Mt Albert by election. He reckons Goff goofed. We reckon he really goofed, cos Shearer wont cut the mustard as he is hopeless on the hustings . Hooton reckons that Goffs political life depends on Mt Albert staying Labour.

We of course had nothing to do with any blog campaign

Kiwiblog did it - and Whale oil - not us...

Poneke got it right ... it was really David.

Really....

HOOTONS NBR COLUMN

Hooton's NBR column this week takes a look at Phil "Big Balls" Goff

Here are the good bits and some comment from BB

Phil Goff’s leadership of the Labour Party goes on the line in Mt Albert on 13 June. In the extremely unlikely event Labour actually lost an electorate it has held since the 1930s, Mr Goff’s leadership would be over, his party would descend into turmoil and despair, and National would be guaranteed what is already a near-certain second term.

Even worse for Labour would be winning by only a couple of thousand votes. Mr Goff would survive temporarily but there would be no hiding his lack of connection with Labour’s base. Its new generation of MPs would surely begin a destabilisation campaign. No one knows this better than Mr Goff.

We agree, the knives are already out for Goff as we have previously reported after some of the younger party members realised the implications of Judith Tizard coming back into parliament on the the back of list PMP Phil Twyford winning Mt Albert.

Hooton says it was to Goffs credit that he called in UMR Research UMR is Australia and New Zealand’s top corporate-reputation and issues-management research firm and has long held both the Labor and Labour accounts.

The results of the UMR study are secret but it has been reported it explored the so-called “Tizard Bomb”, after Labour had been spooked by a mischievous campaign by right-wing bloggers whaleoil.co.nz and NBR online columnist David Farrar.

The results must have been bad as he got Twyford to agree not to stand and made sure no other Labour hopeful put their name forward either.

Instead, Goff got his old mate David Shearer, back from Iraq. Mr Shearer stood in Whangarei in 2002, although he didnt wittle down National’s Phil Heatley’s small 1934 majority, despite the massive swing to Labour.

Having taken charge, Mr Goff can probably sleep more peacefully between tonight and 13 June but he alone will now be held accountable for the result.

Hell this is where we disagree with Hooton - this guy Shearer may look flashy on paper and he aint bad looking but hes not much chop on the hustings.

Goff has apparently got lefty PR spinner Jenny Michie, on the job- but judging by Shearers lack lustre performance in the past - its gonna be a farrking big job for Labour to keep Mt Albert red.Unlike Hooton we reckon Goff wont sleep a wink between now and the 13 of June.