Winston wont get his House in order - 6 days and counting ...

This from Stuff

Voters can judge me, says Peters

A defiant Winston Peters says he will trust his fate to voters as he joins one of a handful of MPs censured for breaking Parliament's rules.
Mr Peters hit out at a privileges committee finding that he knowingly failed to declare a $100,000 gift from billionaire Owen Glenn, claiming he was the victim of a witch-hunt and would be vindicated at the polls.
"The court that I will stand before is on Saturday, 8 November, [election day] and I'll place my faith in the people of New Zealand to decide the outcome of this case.
"I asked for fairness. I got a farce."

Well who's fault was that Winston - y0u made it a farce. - No-one else

Mr Peters became one of just four MPs to be censured by Parliament since 1975, after the House voted 62-56 to accept the committee's majority finding that he knew Mr Glenn was paying toward his legal bills for the 2005 Tauranga electoral petition.
He has also been ordered to make amended returns to the MPs' register of pecuniary interests for the past three years.

This is where the focus should be - There is NO WAY that Winston is going to be able to get the party's finances in order in seven days... And of course seven days is about when the election starts in ernest and that when BustedBlonde reckons Clark will biff Winston to one side so he doesn't taint the Labour election campaign...

That is likely to mean he will have to declare that the Spencer Trust, used to secretly channel cash to NZ First, covered the $40,000 costs awarded against him after the Tauranga case.
The Serious Fraud Office told the committee that the trust reimbursed Mr Peters' lawyer, Brian Henry, who paid the costs.
Though the committee declined to explore that avenue because its inquiry was limited to the $100,000 from Mr Glenn, it said payments from a third party had to be declared.
In Parliament, Mr Peters hit out at the committee's 8-5 majority report, claiming the MPs who found against him predetermined the case.

He also claimed a new test of "honest attempt" had been devised by the committee to cover an MP's obligations to ensure returns were correct, and it was being applied to him retrospectively.
Other MPs who had not made correct declarations had not been brought before the committee.
He was backed by deputy prime minister Michael Cullen, who sits on the committee.
Dr Cullen also attacked Mr Glenn - who gave $500,000 to Labour at the last election - saying his evidence was contradictory.

Cullen sees flying scampi and lives on another planet - he's a tosspot with no integrity.

But it was clear that non-aligned MPs who found against Mr Peters preferred Mr Glenn's version of events.
Crucially, Maori Party member Te Ururoa Flavell, UnitedFuture's Peter Dunne and the Greens' Russel Norman all said they believed Mr Peters knew a donation was being made by Mr Glenn.
So heres the real kicker Winston - all the parties who have NO vested interest in whether you stay or go, say you lied...

cullen on the other hand looked like a dick.

Hooton has a nice piece on why My mother will be tut tutting about Cullen tonight - he was a tosspot.

And a jumped up tosspot at that .. has the man no humility??????

Read here for Hootons , as ever, classy analysis

Key picks up the pieces, my mum will still vote for him

John Key didn't do a bad job picking up the pieces on Close - Up tonight on TVNZ

It could have been much worse and its pretty much as I said - the bugger has quite a few shares and he wouldn't know what numbers he had - just that he lost money! - however he should have fronted up with the discrepancy earlier...

Fran Mold will undoubtedly be made an honourary member of the Labour party...

Even Guyon Espiner was dismissive of her story....

So Mr Key - from the Roarprawn school of PR - get in a huddle with your people and go over everything you can think of that someone can have a crack at and then subject that to the " "My Mother in Alexandra" test..

That is: Can you convince her you are upfront? She wasn't impressed last night.
There was a lot of tut, tutting and you dont want mums in this country, tut tutting.

Then get Sean Plunket ( apparently he's in the market for some new activity ) to scare the Bejesus out of you ... and then you will be ready to front anything...

Don't lose heart though boyo - this is a tough game and you need to harden up a bit... No more flubbing.

The Prawns are all in your corner so get out there and do the good thing.


Your country needs you!

We need to end the Labour New Zealand First Axis.

Kia Kaha Hone.

The inside story on media manipulation by Colin Espiner

This from Colin Espiner at the Press

Espiner is one of the best analysts in the Gallery...

Here's is an insight about how a bunch of journos got manipulated..

Shame on them and there's a bottle of wine from the prawn to Espiner for this stirling piece of work .....

The media had its own version of America’s Meltdown Monday yesterday. Stories came thick and fast.
First we learned the privileges committee report was coming out late at night - not today, as we had previously thought. Then news emerged late in the day that the US had agreed to join the P4 group of countries, which includes New Zealand, in talks on a free trade deal. Finally, TV One broadcast - when it could finally get it to air - news that John Key had been less than honest about his share dealings in 2003.
What an amazing coincidence that three big stories would all break on the same day. Wasn’t it?
Um well no, not really. Because it turns out that Labour fed the story about Key’s share trades to TVNZ late on Sunday night for use on Monday, knowing that the privileges committee report was about to blast Winston Peters to smithereens. And Trade Minister Phil Goff leaked details of the FTA announcement to selected media - TVNZ, TV3 and Radio New Zealand - five days ago, on the condition they kept it quiet until yesterday.

Now that is pure manipulation - I hope they all hang there heads in shame.....!

What do we tell our kids Mr Cullen?

This from Stuff and Tim Donoghue ( he knows how to write a good yarn )



Nats 'engineered public hanging' for Peters
LATEST: Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen has accused the National Party of using the privileges committee to engineer a public hanging for NZ First leader Winston Peters - while National has blamed Prime Minister Helen Clark for 'denigrating' the process.

please Michael, a hanging ???!!! -No the committee is a group of MP's expected to act in the best interests of the institution they are privileged to be part of - rather than acting like, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys..

Parliament has been debating the privileges committee's finding that Mr Peters misled Parliament by not declaring a donation of $100,000 from Monaco-based billionaire Owen Glenn.
The debate began with committee chairman Simon Power moving a resolution that Parliament should order Mr Peters to amend returns for the years ended 31 January 2006, 2007 and 2008 to cover any gifts, debts, or payments in kind he had not previously registered.

He said the committee had recommended unanimously that the Standing Orders Committee review the rules around pecuniary interests to "provide an authoritative source of advice for members".
Dr Cullen said Mr Glenn was a good witness before the committee, providing he stuck to the instructions of his lawyer, but he had not been subjected to tough questioning and contradicted himself at a press conference the following day.
"He did not like it when he was not getting his own way," Dr Cullen said.
Dr Cullen said it was likely Mr Henry had approached Mr Glenn for the donation.
"The majority found it was the first narrative which was correct [That Mr Peters had approached Mr Glenn for the $100,000 donation]. The minority has serious doubts about that narrative," Dr Cullen said.

Yip even Anderton isn't willing to walk along side you on this one - what does that say?

Dr Cullen described the findings of the committee as a public hanging orchestrated by the National Party in the build-up to the election.
"There is no doubt [Gerry] Brownlee as an ex-carpenter will erect the scaffold," Dr Cullen said.

nice turn of phrase - puerile sentiment... Cullen - you are definitely a toss pot.

National's deputy leader Bill English said the issue was a straight forward one.

Wow the boy from Dipton cuts to the chase - Go Bill !

"We have to make sure there is full transparency around donations to politicians," he said.
He said Parliament was eminently forgiving of human weakness if people were open.
"I am very concerned about the way the Prime Minister has gone about denigrating the process... she has had a crack at our public institutions.
"In one day she alleged the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Law Office were responsible for leaking information to the leader of the Opposition. To attack them out of political convenience is unacceptable."

Mr English said the prime minister had been briefed on the process by her deputy and other MPs the whole way through.
"The prime minister of New Zealand has alleged this process was tainted. I say this was an outrageous statement to make.

Bloody good one Bill, it is outrageous.

"Helen Clark it now appears has no respect for this institution and the MPs in here being judged by their peers."

And this is truly the scary bit.... Up until now MP's seemed to show respect for the institution of parliament - this sad, sorry, sick affair has shown that respect is gone...

Can someone tell me how we explain this to our kids ????

Why the hell would they vote?

Key learns PR 101 - upfront, do it quick.

At last - Key gets to the point -

This has been really disappointing - I got that the story was no big deal straight away but Key didnt do well on TVNZ with the breathless Fran Mold.

He should have fronted with this ages ago...

My mother was not impressed, not because of any relevance the story did or didnt have but it was the way he handled the interview , that was the issue - so that means half the nations mums and dads would have felt the same -

Memo to the Nats

Dont let it happen again.


This from the Herald

National leader John Key has admitted he should have disclosed the full extent of his Tranz Rail shareholding earlier, but has denied using his parliamentary position for personal profit.
Mr Key today fronted media on the issue on his way to National's weekly caucus meeting after Finance Minister Michael Cullen yesterday accused him of lying about his shares.
Mr Key failed to disclose his shareholding, which Labour says amounted to a conflict of interest, when he was National's associate transport spokesman in 2002 and 2003.
That was because he asked parliamentary questions about the Government's planned buyback of the country's rail tracks while holding the shares.
In an interview on One News last night, he first said the most shares he ever held was 50,000 and then quickly changed that to 100,000.
Mr Key today said he did not know about the additional shares when he answered questions in July, but found out later on and should have disclosed it.


I'm prepared to accept and I fully accept that ... when I found out later on that there was a bigger shareholding even though the story had politically passed in the media, I should have come back and said that."
He said the number of shares varied at different times and were managed by a broker who had authority to act without referring back to the trust.
He said all the shares were owned by the trust and information on the share register that he had personally bought 50,000 shares was incorrect.
He said he did not personally gain from the shares and when rail started becoming a hot political issue he sold them at a loss.
Labour has tried to paint Mr Key as a hypocrite for criticising New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, when he himself failed to disclose a pecuniary interest.
But Mr Key rejected that. He said his share information was on the public share register, there was no Register of Pecuniary Interests for MPs until 2005, and whether he owned 30,000 or 100,000 shares was irrelevant to conflict of interest questions.
Questioned on the issue before he was aware the information had been released yesterday, Mr Key told One News his shareholding ranged between 25,000 and 50,000 shares up until June 2003.
It wasn't until pressed on the issue he admitted there were more shares.
"Actually maybe 100,000 from memory, sometimes 50,000, sometimes 100,000, yep," he said.
"Yeah, sorry, there was 100,000 in total."
Today Mr Key said his initial reaction to the question was a "genuine mistake", but New Zealanders could still trust him.
"I'm a person who operates in an open way. If I've made a mistake I'll front up and say I've made mistake."
Mr Key said he had acted in 2003 to get rid of all his shares.
Dr Cullen said Mr Key's failure to declare his shareholding to Parliament was unethical and his failure to accurately disclose the number of shares he owned showed he couldn't be trusted.
Mr Key said Dr Cullen's comments were the start of a "desperate smear campaign" against him.
He said Labour had sat on the issue and only wheeled it out yesterday to distract from the privileges report which found Mr Peters in contempt of Parliament.

Come on Jim - get hard!

This in from Stuff/NZPA

Anderton to abstain on Peters censure vote
Labour's closest ally is refusing to toe the line and support New Zealand First leader Winston Peters but will not vote to have him punished either.

Jim the Claytons Minister - BB
Progressive leader Jim Anderton said he would abstain from today's vote on whether to support recommendations in yesterday's privileges committee report.
The report found that Mr Peters knowingly provided false or misleading information about $100,000 donated by expatriate billionaire Owen Glenn and recommended that Mr Peters be censured.
It also recommended that the party be ordered to provide amended returns for 2006, 2007 and 2008 to the pecuniary interests registrar......
........Mr Anderton, the sole member of his party in Parliament, is in coalition with the Government and holds ministerial roles.

"NZ First was clearly accepting donations at a time when it was attacking everyone else for taking money from big business. For that the party has some explaining to do to the voting public," Mr Anderton said.He said the privileges process was flawed and that people on all sides had given views about the outcome.

"I don't believe anyone approached the hearings with an open mind and reached a decision after deliberating the evidence," he said."I challenge anyone to say the committee observed any of the standards we would expect from a genuine process of inquiry."

Well the Labour and NZ First members didnt but the rest of the committee did, Jim. BB

Mr Anderton said he was abstaining because voting on the censure would make no difference to New Zealand and was pointless.

No Jim what you are doing by abstaining is pointless - BB

best cartoon of the week

Got this from over at No Minister - they get the jump onsome good stuff ....

I posted on what some people were speculating was ambergris washed up on a wellington beach yesterday .

It wasn't - my ancestors killed enough whales to know what Ambergris looked like....

and it doesn't come from the whales mouth - its poop!

so the cartoon should have had more emphasis on what comes out of Helens derriere.

Racing industry needs to get a grip....

BustedBlonde's racing source , the Strapper, says that Paul Moroney has come under intense pressure since he signed an affidavit about what was said between Owen Glenn and Winston Peters. Word is he has had is tyres slashed and some have launched a smear campaign claiming Moroney is bankrupt and that he will never be able to sell another horse in NZ.

Bunch of bastards....

I feel like getting a syndicate together to buy a horse - call it either the VRWC or the Growler and giving it to Paul to train.

Roarprawn read in Rotorua - making a difference

Roarprawn blogged on this about a week ago after being tipped off by Steamy Boy of Rotorua..

The silly buggers put the sign up in front of a tourism info sign...

Seems like they heard the Prawn Roar and decided to take some action......

I am delighted the PM recognises integrity in SFO boss

Perhaps Liddell could give the PM some lessons in intergrity.

This from the Herald.

Prime Minister Helen Clark has expressed confidence in Serious Fraud Office director Grant Liddell's integrity - but not in his judgment.


Her comments yesterday tempered Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney-General Michael Cullen's refusal to express confidence in Mr Liddell last week, but shows they are still annoyed he passed information from the SFO investigation into the Winston Peters donations controversy to the privileges committee.
"I have confidence in Mr Liddell's integrity, as does his minister, Dr Cullen," Helen Clark said.
"The issue on which both Dr Cullen and I have refrained from comment is the issue of judgment around the approach to the privileges committee."
The SFO is conducting an investigation into donations from the Spencer Trust to NZ First but submitted evidence it believed was relevant to the privileges committee, which is looking at the Owen Glenn donations.
The Prime Minister said the issue was that Mr Liddell had not sought Crown Law's advice "which would be the normal course".
NZ First laid a complaint with the police yesterday, which alleges the SFO broke the law by handing over the information.
NZ First is referring to a section of the Serious Fraud Office Act, which says every member of the SFO "shall observe the strictest secrecy". A fine of up to $5000 is applicable for any breaches.
However, the act also allows the director the discretion to disclose information "to any person who he is satisfied has a proper interest in receiving such information".
Lawyers spoken to by the Herald yesterday said there was no requirement for Mr Liddell to consult Crown Law.
Mr Liddell consulted the Auditor-General, the Clerk of Parliament and a Queen's Counsel before submitting the evidence.
He would not comment after a meeting with Dr Cullen yesterday, only saying that he had "a very productive meeting".

Gloat, you read this at Roar prawn first....

Sad but true,

and isnt it ironic that this is all about RNZ worrying about competition when it doesnt compete commercially with any media ??????

Plunket will find a good home - I've heard his phones been going since the story broke on Roarprawn.





Plunket looks for new job after RNZ row
4:00AM Tuesday Sep 23, 2008By John Drinnan
Sean Plunket. Photo / NZ Listener
Radio New Zealand's Morning Report host Sean Plunket says he is "moving on and looking for a new job" after 11 years with state radio.
Radio New Zealand insiders said that difficult relations with RNZ boss Peter Cavanagh had come to a head when the CEO banned him from hosting tonight's pre-election debate about the internet on TVNZ 7 Freeview.
Political commentators typically swap around media for special shows in the run-up to elections.
But an insider said that the row went beyond that and on to plans for Plunket.
"They want him to be the new Geoff," said the source.
Plunket's co-host Geoff Robinson is expected to move on soon.
Plunket - who is arguably New Zealand's toughest broadcasting interviewer and famous for taking politicians to task - said that after 11 years he was looking for a role that had a new spark. He had not resigned yet.
"I'm putting my portfolio together and I'll be taking my time," he said.
TVNZ 7, a digital information channel available on Freeview, confirmed that Plunket pulled out of hosting tonight's internet debate suddenly at the weekend.

"But that is a matter between him and Radio New Zealand," said TVNZ 7 management. Blogger and journalist Damian Christie was assigned to the programme at short notice. Plunket would not discuss the demand that he pull out of tonight's internet debate.
A Radio New Zealand source said Mr Cavanagh was insistent Plunket could not have a role outside RNZ.
Plunket said there was nothing in his employment contract that limited his hosting special events for other media.
The TVNZ 7 audience is tiny and a high-profile presenter like Plunket would attract viewers. But Mr Cavanagh is said to be wary about boosting TVNZ 7 and has stopped other freelancers from working for the new Freeview channel.
It is understood he fears that as TVNZ 7's audience grows it will undermine RNZ's role promoting National Radio.