In case you missed it, this Morning Report interview makes entertaining listening as Rodney Hide tries to explain to Sean Plunket that he doesn’t know how much executive redundancy payouts are going to cost the Auckland ratepayer. Or what impact Hide’s super city will have on rates.
Minister of Stealthy Scams.
“In going around the country meeting with councillors, I have been astonished at the extent to which they say their cost increases have been a consequence of central government decision making. I’m going through with a big sharp pencil crossing out as many of those things as I can, because at the end of the day someone has to pay for all that and that someone is you and the people your organisation represents. I believe that’s wrong.” Rortney Hide, May 2009.
Where’s that ‘big sharp pencil’ now? I guess dropping $300 million and rising, plus interest, on Auckland ratepayers to pay for his corporate super city for his fat cat mates is neither ‘astonishing’ nor ‘wrong’? Hypocrite!
People like him give parliamentarians a bad name.
People like him give hypocrites a bad name.
No wonder John Key is declining the opportunity to appear on morning report. Chicken!
ALTVIEW says:
March 28, 2010 at 4:34 am
Here’s my take (as a former ACT member) on this story for what it’s worth. Hide knows he stuffed up royally over his ‘do nothing PM’ and ‘lazy Cabinet members’ comments and by taking his ‘trophy bride’ to her brother’s wedding via a concocted Ministerial trip. He committed every sin he previously railed against in opposition to achieve the latter simply because he couldn’t afford to pay for the trip himself – even on a Minister’s Salary – because he’s paying for the ex / mortgage etc and son at Uni.
So he needs a nemesis to distract attention away from the pressure he’s under over those issues and the ‘Super City’. Enter Douglas and Roy. Both have done nothing other than say what they’ve been saying for years. Coincidentally, they both backed Stephen Franks for ACT leader in 2005. Coincidence that he was on ‘The Nation’ too? No!
TV3 are running the same media storyline of 2005 when Hide forced Prebble to resign by leaking to the media about an affair with a press gallery journo. Hide is probably playing the same ‘leaks game’ again now.
Why did Boscawen and Roy go to camera? I wouldn’t be surprised if Stephen Parker booked the interviews on the pretext of some other story then switched to the leadership debate.
Hide lied on ‘The Nation’ when he said that he wouldn’t reveal the details of a conversation between him and Key; because the media has already quoted Hide on numerous occasions that Key backed him, that the Confidence and Supply agreement was only valid if he were leader and that he would withdraw Roy’s ministerial warrants if Hide were rolled. Key is a pragmatic politician who has higher goals and needs ACT’s votes. I doubt that he would care whether the 5 ‘ayes’ included Hide or not. Roy has stated to the Herald and TV3 that no such conversation occurred. Why is no-one challenging the fact gap? I thought Stephen Parker was a better journalist.
Hide is too cunning to actively involve himself in trashing Douglas and Roy. However, there is apparently a large number of ACT members talking about Hide’s ’smear campaign’ against the 2 MPs. They claim to have been phoned by none other than Chris Diack (familiar to most in Labour through the Hugh Watt Fund debacle) who has allegedly spent many telephone hours trashing Roy and Douglas. Is it a surprise to any on this blog that all talk of this subject leads back to one Brian Nicole – who happens to be a Parliamentary service employee of Hide’s? It’s a simple ‘join the dots’ memory exercise about Nicole, the Citizens & Ratepayers Association and previous Auckland mayoral campaigns. Not to mention current events in the City of Sails.
So what’s Hide ‘powerbase’? I think there are 2 elements. First – ACT appears hamstrung with a ‘do nothing’ Board. Second – its junior caucus. Boscawen seems like an OK guy but, as a politician, is a ‘fish on a bicycle’. Who in their right mind would put up their hand to front their party’s anti-smacking putsch when they aren’t married and have no kids? And what sane Party would have a known heavy drinker (with loose lips) and publicly-outed sexual harrasser (David Garrett) as its law and order spokesman? DPF does himself a disservice when he demurs to his reference to Garrett as a ‘cool head’.
Hide doesn’t like anyone except Hide but he has to suck up to these 2 because he fears the consequences of the next 2 on the ACT list entering Parliament in this term because neither of them will tolerate his populist and ‘for me or agin me’ ways.
Readers should remember that ACT was created from the right of Labour – not National. Economic theories aside, by stacking their policy lines with socially conservative, redneck propositions, all Hide is doing is giving Winston the opportunity to split that vote and deliver the ultimate utu – “If I can’t be there – you can’t either”.
So Hide keeps Epsom in 2011 and is the sole ACT member in Parliament? That makes him Winston without the dress sense, hair and full set of teeth! Great political leadership – Yeah Right!
Hide is a disgrace, his comments in the Herald today made me want to cry into a pillow then yell at kids on my lawn…
It made NO sense…
I also can’t stand the hypocritical nature of extenting water leases out for 35 years… If you are a libertarian Rodney (he is) than advocate selling it, don’t create a stifling private monopoly limiting the competetion you love so much…
Sorry, the anger… Deep breath…
Also Phil, please no more close ups of Hide… I don’t need to see that as I scroll down the page…
Yes, I don’t think I need to have any more increase in revulsion.
The pic is so big that I can feel integrity being sunk and drowned in the pores of his putrid skin.
Perhaps you could rephrase. Clare
The cost will be paid back to the country in terms of increased efficiency.
There is obviously costs involved in the initial setup, just like if Labour had set it up. *gasp*
@Dave: prove it.
Dave said:
Can you please give me the year in which these “efficiencies” will effectively pay back the cost of Super City set up.
And can you show that the monies being spent now, can’t deliver better efficiencies in other ways which will not take as long to pay back.
The worst Rort, was how WE all paid his salary to train for 8 hours a day fro Dancing with the STars. The perkbuster was using US as his gym subscription.
I suppose the miserly amount that this government is giving TVNZ is the reason that this show got canned!
Reality TV is cheap as CHUPS Spud… crap, but cheap.
@Spud, Tracey:
This is only a law change and a small amount of money away…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceegnWSENQ
LOL
– I must watch that!
Yes it is, but I think I heard it said on Goodmorning that Dancing with the Stars was expensive to make. I wish they would bring it back
God no Spud. It was very popular I know but sorry, a third rate programme in my humble (?) opinion.
lol im with you on that Anne, Rodney Hide and Michael Laws made for excruciating viewing..but then again I did watch it so maybe Spuds right lol
I was so proud when Tamati won!
I see Len Brown is taking his Redundancy in advance.
So Winston and Michael are going to do a double act again for the good of the nation, the big one two.
I wonder when they made up and doesnt that make a big difference for Labour going forward. The gap is starting to close.
Winstons getting into bed with Labour again???
I always remember Michael Cullen saying “no one knows more ways to dance on the head of a pin as Winston”
I think that was code for bluster, obfustication, and lies. lol
Winnie will liven the place up!
Interesting to see the campaign against Len Brown has begun… Banks and his team in the backroom, digging, digging, digging.
Len Brown and ALL those in public office have to be stringent with their spending.