Campbell Live did a great exposé on Melissa Lee last night (embedded video below). Her company got a $1.2million NZ on Air grant which was used, inter alia, for an election special. The decision to grant was made after she became a National Party list candidate. She made a video using the company resources to appeal to Asian voters. It was not declared either as a donation to the National Party or one of their expenses. She was given an opportunity to clear her name last night but turned it down.
Campbell Live and NBR have reported that Ms Lee said National leader John Key knew about her involvement with the company and did not have a problem with it.
John Key claims to have high ethical standards – this is going to be a real test for him and Bill English will have the task of defending Key and Lee in the house during question time today.
UPDATE: I have just checked the timing for Mt Albert nominations. They don’t close until next week. The test for Key is whether he has the balls to tell Lee that she can’t stand.
I would have thought it was fairly well known that Melissa Lee had a connection with Asia Downunder, Mr Mallard. It appeared in all of her online campaign biographies that she was the owner of the company that produced the the show.
Have there ever been any concerns, as far as you are aware, about the quality of programming produced by Asia Downunder for TVNZ? It seems not, since NZ On Air continued to fund the programme for 13 years, including the entire tenure of the last Labour Government.
What is the issue, precisely? This seems like a complete non-story to me. Is there any reason why a Labour front-bencher might be digging dirt on this non-story, other than that Labour might be a bit concerned about its chances in Mount Albert?
This story ran on Campbell live last night. I was asked to comment and have followed up by looking at the national party expense and donation returns on line. Hardly digging up dirt – more like seeing a whole very mucky pile in front of me and a national party MP running in the opposite direction claiming that everything she did was approved by John Key.
There were serious allegations made by the staff member about a programme made during the 2008 election campaign. Melissa claimed to have removed herself from editorial decisions because of a conflict of interest, but her actions as reported by the worker showed this was not the case. There were also allegations about the undeclared use of equipment and staff time.
It only seems reasonable for these allegations to get a response and if they can’t be answered there ought to be consequences.
The issue is not whether Ms Lee heads up a production company and supports National but that she used government funding to make a clearly biased election special. Its the kind of behaviour that would have the National Party howling for blood had any jounalist associated with Labour used government funding to make a party political broadcast.
The issue is one of ethics and not as Tim Ellis puts it the quality of programming. Its not a good look for Lee and will quite rightly cost her votes in Mount Albert.
Mr Mallard, did you or the Labour Party provide the original information to TV3 in the first place?
No.
Fair enough, I take your word on that.
It doesn’t look like a very mucky pile, though. Lee has said that she declared her candidacy to TVNZ and they required her to stand aside from producing and presenting Asia Downunder. It would be easy enough for you to check whether that happened, given that TVNZ is a government-owned entity.
John, interesting points, and I understand the gravity of what you’re saying. But there isn’t any evidence of that in my view. All we’ve got is a disgruntled former employee saying that she felt uncomfortable when Melissa Lee was in the same room as her, and that Melissa Lee’s company used its private resources to make a youtube ad for the National Party.
Asia Downunder resources aren’t taxpayer-funded. Taxpayer funding pays for programming. The taxpayer element only goes to the quality of the programming, which continued for thirteen years including nine under a labour government.
I realise that the Labour party is trying to beat this up for all its worth but in my view about the only telling part of it is that Mr Mallard, a senior front bencher with a reputation for digging dirt and tipping off media is fronting it for Labour. That says to me that Labour are very worried about the result in Mount Albert.
Before election I was approached by an Asia Downunder reporter to interview some Chinese voters for that election special editorial. Their camera crew came and interviewed 4 people including me, however my part of the interview was not in the final edition.
I was Labour Party’s list candidate in the last general election. There were several ethnic candidates stood for varies of parties last year, all candidates deserved a fair go. However, all National Party candidates were offered opportunity and showed their views in the programme, some other candidates were not interviewed. Now I think I know the reason why my interview has not been included at the first instance.
Well well what a beat up.
I trust Trevor Mallard as far as I can throw any of the previous Labour Administration.
Owning a company and chasing funding to make programs is fine.
That the last Labour cabinet screwed up this country’s finances and didn’t declare what they’d done as per the spirit of the law let alone what it actually says.
This means your hands are dirty and until you admit your guilt you have no credibility.
You wasted other peoples money with abandon.
Susan, have you actually watched the Asia Downunder election special? It seemed very fair to me.
It included:
1. Questioning of the political parties in a sit-down format, with one candidate fronting for each party. Rajen Prasad from Labour got just as much coverage as Kanwal Bakshi.
2. Questioning of Asian voters about their issues.
3. A story on the Botany race, where a large number of Asian voters live, and where there were several Asian candidates.
4. An explanation on why it’s important to vote.
If Melissa Lee did have any intervention in the production of the show, it isn’t evident in the results, because it looks very unbiased to me.
Are you able to highlight any example of bias in the show? It doesn’t seem to me that Labour wasn’t fairly represented.
Melissa Lee, Paul Henry, Paul Holmes – the unethical, unfair behaviour by these people who have huge influence over the NZ public is indicative of National’s longstanding plan to place biased people in media positions, be it visual, audio, written, to mislead and dominate public opinion. Words are so powerful.
These (edited inappropriate label) are using public money to aid the National party. Anyone with two braincells can see in any programmes they front or are responsible for that the content is biased towards National and the attitude towards left and right political figures is slanted towards the right.
Anyone examining the debates on television or radio (the 99% exception being Trotter and Hooten on 3 – Sunrise)will quickly pick up on the fact that over several years and currently, the right of the political spectrum invited to comment is always from the National core, while the left of the political divide is never from the Labour core.
Immediately, that sets up inequality of constructive debate, and suggests political interference from the right at a high level. People like Laila Harre, for example, a woman I have huge respect for thinks and speaks objectively about left and right. That’s great. That’s good politics and holds all politicians to account. Hooten is totally National’s apologist/PR adviser/tobacco lobbyist… and is NEVER objective. On Monday mornings on Radio New Zealand, the debate is unequal.
Brian Edwards was perhaps the only commenter that truly gave the Labour point of view when election comment was outweighed by the right. Helen Clark won that one-on-one.
I hold the people who engineered this unfair and unethical media driven campaign against Labour responsible for Labour losing the election. Mt Albert people voting on the 13 June need to remember that National and its fifth-columnists will use those same methods to achieve a National win.
Are NZers in agreement with that sort of unfairness?
Hello to our tory friends!
If a Labour Party MP was owning a TV program, using taxpayer money, and then using the equipment from that program to produce a Labour Party advertisement, would you raise the issue? OF COURSE YOU WOULD! So please do not come in here saying that it is a non-issue.
I will tell you what is a non-issue, saying that Helen Clark was speeding (when in fact she was not driving).
We have a National Party List MP and candidate that is the majority owner of a TV show, that is also being used to make National Party adverts. Now I am sorry but this is an issue and shows that there will be bias in the reporting coming from Asia Downunder. We also have failed candidate Paul Holmes on Television calling the last nine years “Helen’s reign of tyrany”.
I believe that both of these people should be sacked from their respective jobs immediately. As I said, you tory lot would be doing the same if it was Labourites doing this on OUR money!
Jum, well said. The people of NZ are being poorly served by our MSM.
Tim, you do seem to spend a lot of your time on left leaning blogs. Your defence of Melissa Lee is admirable but on the shakiest of shaky ground. Consider this, we did she cancel her interview with Campbell Live last night?
She had the opportunity to totally refute the allegations laid against her.
Finally the more I think about this government the more it reminds me of the Bush jr. presidency. Someone described it as the Republicisation of the National Party, it is an uncanny resemblence.
Amusingly the ad also isn’t authorised as it would have has to have been under the EFA at the time (the youtube channel is, but that’s irrelevant).
Beat up or beat down, this is about ethics and a conflict of interest shown by Melissa Lee.
There are simple questions here:
Was it ethical for Melissa Lee to use Taxpayer funded staff and equipment to make National party election advertising?
NO IT WAS NOT ETHICAL.
Was it ethical for Melissa Lee to stand over the shoulder of staff editing content relating to a close friend and colleague, Pansy Wong National MP, while she herself was a National Candidate?
CLEARLY NO.
Despite the truth or non-truth of the allegations made, is their a perceived conflict of interest between Melissa Lee’s position as a majority stakeholder of Asia Downunder, and her political campaigning on behalf of the National party?
CLEARLY YES
And perhaps the most revealing question, if their was a justified and credible explanation for all of this, then why did Melissa Lee cancel her interview on Campbell live?
I will leave the answer to that question for the people of Mt. Albert.
cheers,
John
Trevor you have said above that neither you or the Labour Party provide the original information to TV3 in the first place.
How do you reconcile that against your meeting of Ms Guranathan in your office before she gave her interviews?
and
How do you reconcile that against the fact that Labour paid for travel to Wellington?
I have never met the woman. She has never been to my office. The first that I knew of her was when I viewed her on Campbell Live. My understanding is that her interview was done in Auckland and no travel to Wellington was involved but you would have to check that with her or TV3.
To be honest, there have been a lot worse scandals than this over the years. But the cumulative effect of this and her comments about South Aucklanders will most likely ensure that Ms Lee remains a list MP.
While there’s a month to run in this campaign, thanks to Lee, National has effectively neutralised or at least blunted its recent attacks on Shearer. Unless they find some new angle I think Mt Albert will stay red.
I also LOVE the breathless allegations from Whaleoil. Nice blunt reply too.
So, now we’re left wondering whether Mr Mallard is lying (and risking significant public humiliation) or Whaleoil is basically spinning crap.
Hmmmm…who has the most to gain and lose from this: the senior MP trying to avoid becoming the story? Or, the gutter-dwelling National Party operative whose MO involves photoshopped pornography, outright lies and abuse?
I think I will opt to believe the matter-of-fact statements from the MP. But that’s just me. Other readers may choose to think Whale’s history of abuse, lies and spin make him a reliable source of information and that Mr Mallard, unlike every other MP, is quite cavalier about his political reputation.
Those are interesting questions, UO.
To be fair, it is true that Mr Mallard has a history of making outrageous claims and spreading muck about other people, too.
There are clearly strategic advantages to Labour in trying to nobble Lee. If she is close to Shearer in Labour Party polling, then Labour will be desperate to use everything in their arsenal to take Lee out as a candidate.
As you say, on the scale of things, this is not a big scandal at all. So Lee used her own equipment and a couple of work colleagues to make a youtube clip, while she was a National Party candidate. There were hundreds of youtube clips made by people of all political colours at the last election. Many of them had very good production qualities. None of them were expensed to a political party. Many of them, including this one, cost anything to make.
Mr Mallard is, in my view, running distraction on this. I would like to see the candidates debating the issues on their merits, locally, rather than seeing heavy weights come in and push smear campaigns.
Mr Mallard’s allegations so far just don’t stack up. He has succeeded in diverting media attention for a few days, and has got a number of bloggers excited, who are now screaming “CORRUPTION!” at the top of their web-enabled lungs, but it is all a bit ridiculous really.
I saw Mr Shearer at the debate last night fail to give an explanation as to how Labour would fund the $3 billion tunnel, how Labour would deal with the capacity issues that will be exceeded when their tunnel option is opened in 2015, and then an admission from him that building a tunnel will cause more congestion in Mount Albert, not less. In light of that, he wasn’t able to give an answer why the tunnel was being built, if it was going to lead to more congestion.
Those are the sorts of issues I would like to see debated, not the fabricated smears and distractions from muck-rakers like Mr Mallard and Whaleoil.
There’s no doubt about it . . . the Nats and their hacks are up to their same old historic practice of (edited nervous re defamation), jobs for the boys, deceit and general bent practice! The damage they’re doing to the economy now is horrendous and they’ve set out to (as above)their own pockets also of their Right-wing Act mates and to wreck maximum havoc on the average household, letalone those in the very bottom income quartile of society. They’ve got another two years and a half in power . . . imagine what damage the Nats and their mates will be able to do in that time!
Tim Ellis must be really worried. Every time Labour finds National out in big blunders, National trot out the jolliers, you know the ones that suggest it’s not really that bad, a bit like the driver who left a huge dent in your car, but wheedles that ‘it’s not really that bad’… This whoopsy of Lee’s must be a really serious blunder.
Trev, this beat-up is analogous to:
(a) public sector employees making a donation to Labour. Shock, horror: taxpayer funds used to fund political party.
(b) When I was a child, my parents received family benefit. My dad smoked, therefore taxpayer funds were used to buy cigarettes.
Ms Lee’s company is a PRIVATE company. It bought the production equipment using the capital injection from its owner. It then undertook a contract to make some tv programmes for NZ on Air. The equipment is hers to do as she pleases.
Trev, you call for Ms Lee’s private assets and employee time to be declared as a donation.
Perhaps you will get your union buddies to declare a value for their members & employees work for your party in the Mt ALbert by-election? Yeah, didn’t think so.
Are you the pot or the kettle, Trevor?
It’s about time the Tory bloggers and their ilk faced up to the reality about certain exposed NACT politicians that they have a very peculiar idea about ethical behaviour which has exposed the Key government to be built on very shoddy foundations in deed. Lee in Mt Albert, Bukshi in Manukau & Worth in Epsom – just the tip of the berg???
Ellis & his little blubber mate are hardly credible supporters on any level of rationality. Perhaps the same could be said of their employer?
I don’t know Tim Ellis. Is he a real person. Who employs him?
Timothy Ellis | Monday, 11 May 2009 at 08:48 AM turned up on Just Left on the Music Month blog.