I have a brother who lives in Tokyo and I was able to catch up with him when I visited there last year when I attended a Japan-New Zealand Partnership Forum, on behalf of Maryann Street our trade spokesperson. It is a real positive in terms of international trade that the opposition is able to send our counter-part to such events – regardless of who is in government. I think it enables trade ministers-in-waiting to have a good overview of the role, which is important because you do need to be able to hit the ground running straight after the election result is declared and the portfolios allocated.
One of the events I attended was a breakfast in the fabulous Rugby Ball that showcases New Zealand in a spectacular way. When it comes back to New Zealand for the World Cup, it is a ‘must see’.
I called my brother recently to wish him a happy birthday and we chatted about the occasion. He said ‘what was it the PM said that stopped us in our tracks?’ I hadn’t forgotten what he said. In fact I remember looking at my brother at the time and saying ’did he say what I just thought I heard him say?’ and he nodded. We were gobsmacked. I reminded him what it was. After the call I googled the NZ journalist who was there that morning and I found nothing. So here’s what happend:
John Key was talking about how easy it is to travel round big cities like Tokyo when you are a Prime Minister – indicating he was getting used to the cavalcades – no problem. But then he sidetracked to tell one of his kid stories, which he usually does – there is a John Key formula to these off the cuff speeches. This story was about how, when he and his daughter were in Beijing, she had indicated how she would like to go to Tiananmen Square. So this was arranged and they were taken down there. When they got there his daughter asked him why there were no people in the Square – he looked around and then – as he told the assembled crowd of expats and Japanese guests - he thought to himself that he almost expected to see a tank – oops – and then said he realised that the Square had been cleared so he and his daughter could visit – laughter.
I assumed this would be reported, because it is the sort of casual remark that could cause offence and, even though he had only been in the job for a year, no Prime Minister should take that risk. But as I said nothing was reported…maybe the journalist didn’t hear him…maybe she did…maybe she didn’t think the public of NZ are entitled to know the sort of gaffes that inexperience allows…maybe she thought it was ok because he had only been in the job a year. Unless she owns up, we will never know why she let him off the hook. Personally I don’t think she should have done so.
It’s the one thing we never had to worry about with Helen, because she never let us down on the international stage. Tragically this is only one example which could well become the norm with someone who knows nothing more than to smile and wave when they are out of their depth.
Deleted because it was offensive. You are on a warning. Clare
Right this happened last year and you’re only posting it now? I wonder why that is? Doesn’t have anything to do with another awful poll result for Labour. Can’t be good for you of course. I mean no future Labour leader wants a desperate sorry excuse for a member who as Cabinet Minister took great pleasure in leaking documents concerning a Sri Lankan teenage girl and then lied about it. Who as Commerce Minister watched by as thousands of New Zealanders lost money to shoddy Finance Companies. If anyone is out of depth its you. You’re just fortunate you represent an electorate that should always remain under Labour.
It’s the one thing we never had to worry about with Helen, because she never let us down on the international stage.
You mean things like saying that war in Iraq would not have happened under an Al Gore presidency…
Of course not.
Perish the thought.
It was a joke..bad taste but a joke never the less.
ginger does have a point.
Labour seems to rapidly running out of straws at which to clutch when it comes to gaining resonance or traction with real people.
After a year or so of trying to reconnect with the people Labour still seems (to me at least) to be stuck in the twin rutts of, on the one hand schoolboyish points scoring and, on the other, failing to accept that much of its ideology is unpopular with the masses.
Still I get the feeling, from reading comment after comment to Red Alert, that Labour MPs and activists believe that they woz robbed in 2008 – that the voters didn’t know what they were doing, were tricked into voting National and all Labour needs to do is to wait for them to come to their senses when they’ll coming crawling back with their tails between their legs, grateful to be allowed to vote Labour once more.
Characterising JK as ‘Smile and Wave’, and National as ‘Labour Lite’ is symptomatic of this. It sounds like spiteful namecalling in the sixth-form common room by supporters of the minority candidate for next year’s Head Boy. Fortunately for Labour at the moment no one outside the room is listening to them. If they did this sort of nastiness would do them more harm than good.
George – it’s one of the reasons why I’ve now stopped my donations to the Labour Party.
Nobody in Labour ever wants to hear any criticism at all, as criticism hurts feelings apparently.
Things like bringing up this tiananmen square comment a year later are desperate measures. Almost as desperate as believing that Goff will win in 2011, when he’s nothing more than a fall guy.
Labour won’t be getting my financial support, or vote, until they put up a credible leadership team that’s not made up of old has beens. Any two people from the post 1999 intake should make up the leadership. At least they might have some relativity to those of us in the real world, as well as experience.
If labours serious about wanting to regain the confidence of the electorate, then listen to the electorate and stop trying to shove urban issues on us rural folk. Come down to the hinterland and ask us what we want to see, and tell us what you’ll do for us.
I couldn’t give two figs about how stuffed up Auckland will be after October this year, but it’s all I’m hearing from Labour, with no committment being made on anything else. Will you keep GST at 15% if you win (I’m for it), if you do, then what’s your plan for those who earn less?
All these things which you’re keeping quiet on does you no favours.
A pretty ridiculous story that says far more about the person writing it than the completely trivial incident itself.
Dexter that is offensive, off thread and you are on a warning. Clare
@Jasper – I’ll donate on your behalf
Goff is a high quality candidate, it’s just unfortunate for him that Key is so popular. I think he can do it!
“Any two people from the post 1999 intake should make up the leadership.” Cough, ageist, cough!
You know that this isn’t the time for Labour to be bringing out policy, nya nya
Man, so much attacking of our leader, cos you know he’s good!
Spud – nearing 40 myself, I don’t think I can hardly be accused of being ageist! Goffs problem is that he’s been around since the 80′s, King since the 90′s. Comparing this against Key whos been around a very short time, means that new zealanders are going to go for something shiny and new.
A year out from the election (as there will be one before the RWC I reckon) is a good time to start drip feeding policy, and let business know what will happen with GST. Will Labour reverse GST if it increases? The cost involved of having to make two GST changes within a year, should Labour win, is not cheap. Saying whether GST will stay at 15% is as good a policy as any.
It’s wonderful that Labour opposes the rise, but it appears no thought has been given to what the position is after gst rises.
As I said before, I’m all for a GST rise, but not at the expense of those earning under $45K. I’m still waiting for any party to be bold and have a “luxury” tax on items over $100K like Australia does.
as he told the assembled crowd of expats and Japanese guests
I suspect that, in the usual understated Japanese manner, the assembled guest would atually have found this hilarious.
assembled guests
Yeah, I agree that G
ff has been around a long time, before one could even surf the net in one’s home. But to me that’s also a plus. Yes, Key is shinny and new, but G 
FF
can be repolished.
40′s the new 30 Jasper!
How is this ridiculous or untimely? Key has just been overseas and given Audrey Young the most unsophisticated, offensive interview I’ve ever any elected official give, let alone a PM. Making fun of people facing tanks is fine for a stand up comic and maybe even a leader who would have the balls to face a tank himself (though if you have you probably wouldn’t make such a vile joke). But this is a man who claimed not to have an opinion about the 1981 Tour, who doesn’t think our anti-nuclear stance deserves mention in official speeches… He’s not going to go to the wall for what he believes in and in that mind it means he doesn’t get to joke off others who do.
What Trevor’s post shows me is that nothing has changed since then. Read Young’s interview and show me what this man has learned since he gave this speech in Japan. He is an embarrassment, as a leader and a diplomat. And maybe the NZ polling machines show him being loved but that doesn’t mean he’s doing right by our country.
And maybe the NZ polling machines show him being loved but that doesn’t mean he’s doing right by our country.
So Tigger is now into the second stage of coping with the defeat. The electors do actually like what they’ve got, but we don’t care – that’s no reason for us to change. We should just stick to being our usual superior selves.
A couple more laps to go yet, though, before the cycle works its way through and Labour is a serious contender for the treasury benches once more.
Notice that folk such as Gingercrush/George/Jasper avoid commenting on the substance of the post. John Key made a very offensive remark. (Since the trip was for his daughter I wonder what she thought of her dad’s wisdom.)
Age of Leaders is a topic of criticism? Brownlee? English?
Our news media should report jokes that don’t cause offence, in the hope of creating offence, so that there will be some news? Forgive me if I don’t join with you in looking forward to the day our media does that.
If the PM tells a joke that offends someone, then I can see the news value in reporting that, but trying to create offence where none has been taken is pretty poor journalism. Aren’t our politicians stage-managed enough already?
Ian – I think you illustrate admirably why Labour is floundering.
Ordinary folk aren’t at all interested in the apparently unsubstantiated reporting, by a witness who cannot be considered impartial, of something that was said a year ago which some people might consider to be very offensive.
It’s a non-issue, mate. And if you don’t believe it get Phil and Lianne and the rest of the crowd to make a huge issue out of it and see whether it has any effect whatsoever on JK. The only effect on the public would be mass eye-rolling, sighing and the mutterings of ‘here we go again’.
I agree with you that age of leader per se is not important. It’s how the public perceives them. Unfortunately for Goff he’s not doing well in this respect, and some of his activities (such as the motor-bike photo opportunities) are almost in danger of portraying him as the old-guy trying to look young, which will be fatal.
He also seems to have a problem with his smile. Has some PR agency suggested that he doesn’t look positive enough? Because recently every time I’ve seen him on TV recently he’s had an inane grin on his face regardless of the topic he’s been commenting on.
lanmac – indeed.
Edgeler – it offended me. But not the uptight, no sense of humour offence. As I said, I don’t think Key has a cajones to make these types of jokes. He comes across as an insincere hick. Might play well in some NZ suburbs and towns, anti-intellectualism seems to have gained a following here lately, but for international diplomacy, trade and tourism, it’s a fail.
(Sorry Lianne for thinking this was Trevor’s post – I did think it was very nicely formatted, far too good to be one of Trev’s!)
Wow, I can remember when people were complaining that he didn’t smile enough!
Oh well, you can’t please all people all of the time. I like his smile, 
Spud – I wasn’t criticising him for smiling. It’s just something I’ve noticed recently and wondered whether he’d been told to smile more because at times it doesn’t look natural.
I have a personal interest here:
I’ve got the sort of face which, in its natural position, makes people think I’m scowling even when I’m quite happy. At times I get really p*ssed off with people telling me to ‘cheer up’ when in fact I’m on the top of the world.
For a while I tried to do something about it, and ended up looking as if I was on botox! So in my old age I’ve gone back to my ‘happy scowl’.
My comment was to caution against the PR image men. It’s far better to look normal. Even if you’ve got a ‘lived in’ face. People respect it.
Oh dear.
Well, you can say that about anyone and their smiles.
@ Graeme Edgeler (11.22am) – quite so. The primary role of the media is to REPORT the news, not to CONCOCT it. We can safely leave that to the blogosphere, on both sides of the political divide – this post being a case in point
Thats OK. Report the news by all means rather than concoct but hardly the point in this case.
But only because many months later, it got here. If it caused you offence at the time, why didn’t you kick up a stink then (asumming you didn’t)?
This was my point … the proximate cause of your offence was not what John Key said, but what was said in this post. It is trying to create offence where none was taken, in order to create news.
That’s fine for a ‘blog post, but I don’t think our news media are failing us if they decide not to play the same game.
I will just respond to Lianne’s post: what an appalling thing for John Key to say! While I can understand and in fact appreciate the tongue in cheek humour in the privacy of one’s home, it is completely out of line for John Key to say such a thing when he was there in his capacity as New Zealand’s Prime Minister.
I think this is a classic case of old vs new politics in that while many of us appreciate a more approachable and personable approach to politics the risk is that etiquette and formality seems to sometimes fall by the wayside.
I would be gobsmacked too if I heard him say that and shame on NZ media for not reporting it and rebuffing him.
Rebecca – is it any worse than Helen Clark telling John Key not to “shout me down like you shout your family down” in a televised debate in 2008?
I don’t remember that – for the first time ever I actually skipped that debate as knew I was definitely voting National.
While offensive and completely out of line, John Key’s comment showed such disrespect for all those thousands of people that were killed so I would definitely put it in the taboo category!
P.s sorry meant to say > while Helen Clark’s comment was offensive and completely out of line…! :p
I am sorry, a bit slow today but how is talking about tanks in Tiananmen Square offensive to the Japanese
I know the Chinese leadership would rather we forgot about what happened and how they have so much control over their people but they weren’t the audience
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I actually wished I had posted on it at the time. I had forgotten about it until my brother asked me what it was he had said. Which was what led me to see if there had been at least a blog comment on it from the journalist concerned given she did do some chatty little pieces on every other part of the trip. The point that I was making was that one does have to be careful in these situations when you are a Prime Minister. I personally thought it was a highly offensive comment to make in public (regardless of the audience) as did my brother.
Didn’t Helen refer to Westcoasters as feral inbreds, I would have through an unwise comment for at the time a Prime minister of NZ. Who knows she may have been quoted wrong or it could have been meant as a joke but never the less an unwise comment.
So you were so upset and offended by this highly off-colour comment that you…… immediately forgot it until a year later? Tuis.
Irrelevant and borderline. Clare
“You’re just fortunate you represent an electorate that should always remain under Labour.”
@ginger – what the heck is that supposed to mean? I try very hard to not get offended by anyones comments here – we are all entitled to our thoughts, are hopefully adults, and its about being able to debate issues. But that one mate, would have to be one of the most offensive things yet – if what I think you are saying, is indeed what you are implying. Its uncalled for.
As for the post – a year later is unfortunate, but the comment he made is offensive and disrespectful of those who lost their lives – it hardly compares to Helens so called go at Keys family or calling west coasters inbreed (not so nice maybe – but not in the same league as mass murder). And given his blatent brushing away of the really big issues that define us – relevant.
It reminds me of Bush in many ways – there are so many gaffs and “I cant believe he said that’ moments that with some creative input I am sure we will start to see more of these ‘Bush’ moments in the public eye.
I said this happened last year (not a year ago) – John Key said this on the 31st October – so I haven’t waited a year. It was my bother’s birthday on the 28th March this year and he asked me to remind him what he had said. That’s when I went looking back for the blogs the journo was making on the trip. I was surprised there was nothing about this event. I personally think he should know that he is open to public scrutiny on anything he says publicly.
Helen, as this thread has proved, was held accountable for what the media said she said all the time – unfortunately it didn’t always lead to an accurate reflection of what she actually said. I aam sure it wasn’t deliberate.
In terms of all of you who want to use this as an opportunity to remind me of my many shortcomings, you can be assured that I remind myself of those every day. I also regard myself as privileged to represent Christchurch East and I certainly do not treat it as a safe seat. I believe I have to earn my position as an elected representative every three years and I work extremely hard for my constituents.
Sheeeesh its almost like no one commenting here has ever made an ass kicking mistake before :rolleyes:
And are more than willing to cast the first stone. Thanks for your detailed response Lianne.