While some at The Standard don’t like John Armstrong and I rarely totally agree with him he can often identify important points. And I think he is balanced. This article on Bill English makes it clear that English’s personal credibility is way below the governments performance including in relation to the economy.
It will be interesting what happens when the Key gloss fades.
And while some of the righties think this is a beltway issue they need to spend a bit of time out and about. Certainly a lot of encouragement at the Wainui Mall today. Real Kiwis know bullshit when they smell it.
Armstrong says:-
English can thus take some succour from the decision. But it falls far short of vindicating his actions.
Yep.
Provost is clearly less than impressed with the absence of adequate checks by parliamentary officials on where an MP is actually living as against where they claim to be living.
English cited Dipton in his Clutha-Southland electorate as his “primary place of residence” even though his family home was clearly in Wellington. He filled in the forms.
So staff are meant to call a senior MP when he claims something he is not entitled to. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I would have thought the primary onus to tell the truth is on the member and staff shouldn’t have to visit to check their veracity.
And we are still waiting for English to accept that he in fact lives in Wellington and rescinding his claim that he lives in Dipton.
English has effectively been cleared by the Auditor-General because he followed long-established practice and procedures.
Neither the Auditor General nor Armstrong name one other member who has claimed to live in their electorate, when they actually lived in Wellington, for the purpose of getting $24k/year taxfree.
But that does not get him off the hook in a moral sense.
That is for sure.
He also had been embarrassed by Provost’s finding that he had an “indirect financial interest” in the family trust which owned the English family home where English wished to continue to live rather than shift into a Crown-owned ministerial house.
Of course under the Clark administration Wellington based Ministers were not eligible for ministerial housing.
The Bill English matter has been cleared.
What about this?
Another MP poll-busted
4:00AM Sunday Nov 01, 2009
By Matt Nippert
A second Labour MP has been implicated in the fake-name polling scandal uncovered last week by the Herald on Sunday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10606597
It’s not like he needed the money either
@Doug – But I couldn’t find Dipton in the Wellington area, where is it? I’m on google maps
Keep looking Spud. a clue might be an English Rd in Wellington ?
Ive been looking for Lyall Bay in Southland, as well.
English was chairman of the National Party branch there before entering parliament
LOL
@Doug: Why is the polling such a big deal? I wouldn’t care (or be surprised) if any political party did it, tbh. Use made up names? Commonplace in many call centres. Use bogus company name? A bit dodgier, but unimportant…
Ripping off the taxpayers to the tune of tens or even hundreds of thousands, particularly when you’re the well-paid FM and preaching austerity (except when you’re on TV) – that’s a different game entirely.
Doug. Every pollster is entitled to call himself what he likes. They all have that option because they just ask the questions. Their identity is irrelevant. Your identity is irrelevant in the same way.
Back to the question. Should Bill be excused from accountabilty? Give it your best shot Doug.
Good points rainman. It’s commonplace for callers from toll centres etc. to use names other than their own. They do it
as a safety precaution – not because they are trying to deceive anyone. There are individuals who, for legitimate reasons, don’t want their real names out there. A former National Party supporter wrote a post on The Standard last week-end describing his/her own experiences phone canvassing for Bill English in 2002. It seems they used bogus research companies too (and in their case they had never existed) and the practice continued well beyond 2002. John Key went silent after that post appeared!
As you say, it isn’t in the league of English’s rorting behaviour anyway. I think it’s time “Doug” was removed from this site. He serves no useful purpose.
Doug, the subject is about Bill English. It’s also about truth and honesty when claiming money. this is my money and your money, if you pay tax!
I consider English to have no acceptable moral position to continue in his role while he does such things as try to gain another 50K out of the rest of us the way he has. This behaviour and that of Hide’s shows them for what they are.
It’s a pity their boss Key didn’t act as a leader and bring them into line during these times of financial restraint, instead of trying to gain brownie points getting in on the All Black glow.