Thanks to The Standard for reminding me of one of Key’s lies in the House this week. He said:-
“Maybe that reflects badly on NZ On Air, which thinks that the way that it should respond to these things is by leaking them to the Labour Party, without having the courtesy of sending the letter in the first place to Melissa Lee.”
I was one of the Labour people to whom the letter was sent. I didn’t give it to the media. It came with material, partly of a personal nature, from within Melissa Lee’s company. It included information that would not be available to NZ on Air.
In normal circumstances I would refer the matter to the Speaker but he has now repeatedly ruled that Minister’s obligation to tell the truth finishes with their primary answer and does not apply to supplementary answers.
At least Lee only took three months to agree to pay back the money received as a result of false declarations over several years – English has not yet agreed to repay over a decade of money received on the basis he resided in Dipton.
That Speaker was not renowned for his association with the truth from the time he was Minister of Education. Then there was that Felicity Ferret thing too, from when Shipley was Prime Minister. He is always blowing his own trumpet about how much better he thinks he is than previous Speakers, which isn’t true either. Maybe you should refer it to him anyway and when he refuses to act, make the Speaker the target as well as John Key.
We all know how important perception is. How about lining up all the mistruths given by Ministers this year showing that it is OK in the eyes of the Speaker, but not OK in the eyes of people who expect integrity from the leaders. (I suppose given Lockwoods protection Ministers will feel free to say anything they like for a Supplementary question.) “Its OK folks. The refs on our side.”
I’m glad Phil Goff is back. Perhaps he should pick up on this at next Tuesday’s question time in the House. After all he is Key’s opposite number. If it had been Helen Clark who had lied… the MSM would have been screaming foul and demanding an apology to the Nats.
This.
Just sitting there saying In normal circumstances I would refer the matter to the Speaker but he has now repeatedly ruled that Minister’s obligation to tell the truth finishes with their primary answer and does not apply to supplementary answers isn’t good enough.
Thanks for blogging this Trevor.
This is an important matter, not just because it is a lie but because it represents a vicious attack on a state entity. How does Key expect NZOA to continue to respect him, to respect Coleman (who by the way hasn’t come out to clear up this slur) to respect this government. And who is next? And from what I’ve read NZOA has been incredibly classy over defending itself. Not sure I would have been so kind if my honour was being attacked.
This government is already disrespected around the state sector, for incompetence. Now you can add being vindictive and dishonest to the mix.
Ianmac writes “We all know how important perception is. How about lining up all the mistruths given by Ministers this year showing that it is OK in the eyes of the Speaker, but not OK in the eyes of people who expect integrity from the leaders. (I suppose given Lockwoods protection Ministers will feel free to say anything they like for a Supplementary question.) “Its OK folks. The refs on our side.”
Unfortunately this would come back and bite you on the bum as Hansford would testify to.
I’ve got my popcorn, let the circus continue…
@ pentwig
Hansard dear fellow not Hansford.
Bad start. Doesn’t sound like you are well informed.
Not good enough, Trev. Don’t let them grind you down.
“In normal circumstances I would refer the matter to the Speaker but he has now repeatedly ruled that Minister’s obligation to tell the truth finishes with their primary answer and does not apply to supplementary answers.”
So if you think Smith’s playing games, what do you call what both Wilson and Hunt did?
Anne
Yes my mistake.
Cooking tea, blogging, background nagging etc. and not enough
fresh red.
Oh! to be female and have the multitask ability.
Cheers
if John Key lied to the house then he MUST be punished, no excuses for not bringing him to task .. I look forward to Q time next week .. if it’s true of course!
Do we still have stocks in the town square?
That should help square it all up.
jabba – if the fact that he lied is true? On one side we have Key saying ‘NZOA leaked this’ – not supposing, stating a fact. On the other side we have NZOA saying ‘it wasn’t us, and the evidence shows it was someone else’.
Key lied.
ok, lets assume he did lie .. my understanding is that lying in the house is a real no no .. (that case was not related to comments in the House. Trevor) got a severe punsihment so I expect the same to happen John Key. So, with proof available, I expect Trevor to take it further .. no excuse.
jabba – as I indicated earlier this Speaker does not refer cases that are responses to supplementary questions. And since the house has sat since it would be out of time anyway.
sorry, I thought any lie in the house that could be proven was enough for censure, whatever the punishment is called.
That seems a pretty poor rule for our Parliament.
But that doesn’t mean that you should stop referring such cases to the speaker and then making a press release of the responses. The people of NZ need to know that the government is lying and that that lying is being protected by the speaker.
This would not be the first time in recent months the Nats have mislead the house – just what does happen to them when this occurs? What form of accountability is there?
Paul .. Trevor didn’t say the Nats mislead the house, he said John Key lied. There is a massive difference