National Reshuffle
John Key has announced the reshuffle and it is a wee bit more extensive than expected. Changes are:
John Key – from 4 to 1, drops Finance, gains SIS
Bill English – from 3 to 2, drops Educations, gains Finance
Gerry Brownlee – from 2 to 3, drops Maori Affairs and Treaty Issues, gains SOEs and Energy
Simon Power – from 7 to 4, drops Police, gains Commerce
Nick Smith – stays 5, drops Energy, gains Climate Change
Tony Ryall – stays 6
Judith Collins – from 8 to 7
Katherine Rich – from 9 to 8, drops SOEs, Economic Development, gains Education
Maurice WIlliamson – from 13 to 9
That is the front-bench but Key has announced a full shadow cabinet down to No 16. Major changes are:
Wayne Mapp from 14 to 13 gains Defence and Auckland Issues, loses Political Correctness Eradication
Chris Finlayson from 18 to 14, keeps Attorney-General, gains Treaty Negotiations and Arts
Tim Groser from 17 to 15, gains Trade and Associate Finance
Anne Tolley to 16, from Junior Whip to Chief Whip
I think Chris F wil be very happy – they are the three portfolios he has very significant backgrounds in. Nathan Guy becomes Junior Whip after just a year – also a good move. Chester Borrows gains Police, which should please them and him.
Very pleased to see Katherine Rich get education – will be a nice challenge for her, and more in the spotlight than Economic Development.
Also with Maurice on the front bench, that may be a first to have Comms and IT there.
I suspect Labour will criticise it for Georgina and Tau, who share Maori Affairs, not (yet) being in Shadow Cabinet. However I am sure one of them will be eventually, and Treaty Negotiations will have a real expert with Chris Finlayson.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:41 pm
Struck me as a little odd that the chief whip (at number 16) is considered a member of the shadow cabinet.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Actually that is traditional in the UK.
December 1st, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Education is probably the toughest and most important issue facing NZ so I hope Rich is up to the job.
To get anything done you have to take on a very large well organised union with entrenched collectivist views that could make lenin look like a right wing reactionary if it suited their purpose.
If you wouldn’t mind asking her if she’s going to try to phase out “pet homeoptathy” that would be great.
December 1st, 2006 at 5:13 pm
DPF, you missed out the change which has attracted most media coverage in NZ. Women’s Affairs is back.
Don should never have dumped it, should he?
December 1st, 2006 at 5:39 pm
ffs, you’re right simon g. Key’s just another bloody Leftie. the more i hear about what he says and does, the more i am reminded of why as someone who knew absolutely nothing about politics until the 2002 election i ended up supporting ACT and not National
December 1st, 2006 at 5:39 pm
One can argue either way. Even if one doesn’t believe there is a need for a dedicated ministry and portfolio, you may feel the need to have one to scrutinise the Minister.
December 1st, 2006 at 6:33 pm
It looks like a pretty good and electable front bench, particularly when it faces up to the tired, and generally older but not wiser, Labour team.
I have two concerns: the first that Maurice Williamson is once again allowed to meddle in telecommunications. This is the man who fought against Telecom regulation tooth and nail for years. If he has changed his ways I will be overjoyed, but I do not trust him on his present form.
He’s an even bigger disaster in transport. National is more and more isolated among conservative parties worldwide in its hostility to any transport spending that isn’t devoted to road building. The party’s, and Williamson’s, attitude to public transport is straight out of 1970, and increasingly at odds with the new leader’s statements on matters ecological. I still recall the public meeting where Williamson replied to a question about public transport with an invitation to the audience to show their hands if they came by bus.
No hands were raised – but Williamson ignored the fact that this was because there was no bus service, and instead argued that this proved there was no need for public transport.
I’m also unhappy to see the dishonorable Judith Collins rewarded with position: dishonorable for her cowardly attacks on David Benson Pope behind the shield of Parliamentary privilege, where she repeatedly accused him of being a ‘pervert’ and later pitched up snivelling on National Radio about the vile accusations that Don Brash had been bonking bits of the Business Round Table, and how awful such accusations must make his family feel.
How did she think Benson POpe’s family felt about her unproven, unjustifiable, cowardly and vicious attack on him?
These two are the weak links: Williamson because I don’t believe he’s a leopard that’s changed his spots, and Collins because she is a person of no mana, a classic lackwit Third World politician ready, willing and able to abuse her position and parliamentary privilege to hurt others in the interest of climbing ever higher on the ladder of baubles and reward.
For the rest, it’s generally good news, and a good start to making the National Party look like a potential government again.
December 1st, 2006 at 6:45 pm
Electable? Perhaps, as long as you can induce amnesia in the voters. Who will trust national to follow any of their announced policies? Hager’s book will be extensively quoted in 2008. Perhaps national will need a pledge card?
December 1st, 2006 at 8:29 pm
Phillip … just what planet are you from … defending the indefensible? So, you would hold up Benson-Pope as a shining example of everything good in the NZ body politic. You certainly giving new life to the old limbo dance song … “How low can you go”.
And can In say as a Vietnam veteran that we owe much to the tenacity of Judith Collins. She stuck her hand up when nobody wanted to know. When Hawkins derided the ‘Map’ as some sort of spuriouis document downloaded from the internet she stood by us and forced the Health Select Cttee Inquiry? And, who exposed the Government response to the HSC Report for the fraud that it was?
You refer to “baubles”. Thought that was the preserve of Winston
December 1st, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Williamson is definitely a bad move on both the transport and communications front. I’m surprised DPF hasn’t commented more on this, but I suppose he’s following the party line. It may be a first to have comms and IT on the front bench, but so what if it’s Williamson.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:38 pm
Philip, if the present government did not have the police in their pocket we would see if DBP if was a pervert or not. If seems the first thing the police look at is whether a person is a Labour MP before they decide to prosecute. There was a prima facie case that DBP was pervert. He should have stood trial. There would be a lot of men doing time in jail on less evidence than there is against DBP.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:40 pm
People may want to reflect that Maurice was a member of the select committee which just voted to force Telecom to split into three arms lengths divisions.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Philip, if the present government did not have the police in their pocket we would see if DBP if was a pervert or not. If seems the first thing the police look at is whether a person is a Labour MP before they decide to prosecute. There was a prima facie case that DBP was pervert. He should have stood trial. There would be a lot of men doing time in jail on less evidence than there is against DBP.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:48 pm
re DPF on Williamson … being a member of the cmmtte is one thing, but did he vote for it?
December 1st, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Oh National if your in the gaem at least play it properly – few women no Maori. Tau should have been up there.
At least Yay for some sanity keeping Judith Collins.
Phillip – what you said about Judith collins – take the number of stars in the universe and thats the factor you have to multiply by to get to Helen.
Rioss, I have a lot of respect for Collins and a hell of a lot of respect for RS (wo)men (my dads one) and I’d loe to believe you. However, I think you will understand why we’re all compassion fatigued by the compensation industrial complex. Could you give us a few extra lines on your case?
December 1st, 2006 at 9:19 pm
Phillip – So much anger, and so little sense.
Williamson was a bad move, I’ll agree on that. He seems to be a lot of talk and not to much listening. But personally, Im pleased with the line up. Its a very good, very tactical team, and will cause Labour a few headaches no doubt. I like Power up in 4th, a compromise from the new Leader to his Deputy Im sure. Key is doing some good work, as well as some backtracking which is always nice. Good to see the Woman’s Issues back up there.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:29 pm
BTW National don’t get too cosy over climate change. I would market a holistic environmental package if I were you!
Not only NAS but the “Mann” himself have now said that the Hockey stick graph was misused:
From August Nature – the flagship science journal and also heartland yay-sayer:
“Authors were clear about hockey-stick uncertainties”
Could end up with a lot of egg on our faces if we follow Hollywood policy all the way on this!
December 1st, 2006 at 10:13 pm
So who is going to look after us poor long suffering farmers ? Are we not the backbone of this country or have we all turn into fucking townies who can’t decide where to play rugby.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:18 pm
I’ll pay higher taxes to support you side show if you agree to a law change that no more farms can be subdivided by fuckin developers or trendy townies for the rest of NZs natural life!
December 1st, 2006 at 10:20 pm
Judith Collins may have done good things in the past, but I believe that it is no part of any MP’s job to hide behind the shield of parliamentary privilege to abuse and defame another person, whether their victim is inside or outside Parliament.
I don’t know enough about what happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to know what basis there is for the claims of perversion. Whe the police say there’s a prima facie case for a prosecution, they are merely saying, literallJudith Collins may have done good things in the past, but I believe that it is no part of any MP’s job to hide behind the shield of parliamentary privilege to abuse and defame another person, whether their victim is inside or outside Parliament.
I don’t know enough about what happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to know what basis there is for the claims of perversion. Whe the police say there’s a prima facie case for a prosecution, they are merely saying, literall<, that on the face of it you might take it to court, but they are not saying that you have a hope in hell of winning. It rather looks to me like there’s a case for the dear departed Spokesman on Political Correctness here.
Seeing kids in their pajamas doesn’t strike me as very perverted, and basing the accusation of perversion on the dubious recovered memory claims of people who obviously have issues with their own lives, helped along by scumbag “researchers”, seems to me potentially unsound.
At the school I went to in Auckland in the 1950s, kids were routinely beaten with canes and sandshoes for trivial misbeahvior, masters wandered through the changing rooms after sport and PE, and nobody had anything to say about it.
We need to remind ourselves that what might be seen as a legal assault in 2006 wasn’t necessarily an assault in 1984, let alone 1957.
Such private bills of attainder as Judith Collins’ repeated accusations made under Parliamentary privilege are not appropriate for someone that wants to be considered an important member of the alternative government. Collins owes Benson-Pope’s family an apology for that disgraceful abuse of position. I think she is intellectually lightweight enough that she would not understand why.
On Williamson, I’m interested that no-one here has taken up the transport issue. Part of the mess that is Auckland today derives from poor transport policy and dinosaur policies on public transport.
It beggars belief that people are talking about spending $380 million of Aucklanders’ rates and taxes to enlarge a stadium that isn’t broken, to make room for one game to be played in front of 60 000 people. most of whom won’t be Aucklanders, and no-one has debated or even discussed public transport provision in our biggest city.
For more than thirty years we’ve torn down the city to build freeways, and the traffic just gets worse. For more than thirty years, our politicians have looked at the mess and resolved that seeing the last motorway they built didn’t solve the problem, it’s obvious that they need to build even more of them.
It’s disappointing to me, back after after many years abroad, that the discussion on transport is still centred on how many more kilometres of Auckland can be covered up with non-rate-paying tarmac.
National, like the Bush Administration in the US and like Conservative local authorities in the UK, could make a huge difference here. Maurice Williamson’s track record doesn’t make me hopeful that they will.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Oh god what did I do to deserve this.
Here we go again. Now our local council is spending $20K on a sculpture of an old villa that you can fit in the palm of your hand!
And they’re on about bloody tolls again – for Christ’s stake can’t the shafting stop for a minute or two.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Thanks Porcupine for your kind offer but I really don’t think we need your hard earned taxes all we want is a fair go. Yes I agree with you, alot of farm land around here is now sold off to townies but this will end very soon as people are paying to much for something that will not return the investment made.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:50 pm
The trouble in this country is DOC is hoarding 30% of the land in it’s estate.
Then we 11,000 Dairy farmers hooked into Fonterra and their un-winnable race to the bottom of the dairy commodities market.
We’ve then got fire-blight ridden apple growers wasting lot’s of land growing apples that no body wants. Not even Australia wants them.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:51 pm
The trouble in this country is DOC is hoarding 30% of the land in it’s estate.
Then we 11,000 Dairy farmers hooked into Fonterra and their un-winnable race to the bottom of the international dairy commodities market.
We’ve then got fire-blight ridden apple growers wasting lot’s of land growing apples that no body wants. Not even Australia wants them.
December 1st, 2006 at 11:30 pm
Battler you do know what DOC stands for?. These people are living the socialist dream, all land belongs to the people as long as you are the right people and as long as all the wrong people pay for it (tax payers) . But I think the fools have biten off more then they can chew. A few years ago we had a battle down here when DOC tryed to pick on a local that was taking tourists out to see the marine life. They tryed to tax him for if, dumbfucks though that the people would pay up and say nothing, boy were they wrong. Some of us sent letters to the local paper, the public soon turned against DOC and they spent more money on PR then what they would have ever taken, they are now not the heros they though they were.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Can’t agree that all land should be handed over to farming – especially then all that would happen is it would make it easy for the sudividing pirates to cut up good farmland for cities and push farmers onto marginal land thereby fulfilling the fascist wet dream of ending pastoral farming.
Better to keep the marginal land for tourism which is earning ever more dollars. DOC ownership of the land is not the problem it is the pathetic ideologues who think it is better to have the native birds go extinct than to allow private ownership of them.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:13 am
Phillip – Ok so she’s made a mistake – hjopedfully she will learn from this and move on. But there are a lot of lighter weights in the national ineup and you need a few tough ones in there to get the job done – especially if we are to eventually divert some of the billions wasted on ideological clap trap in Labour’s heartland controlled by morraly bunkrupt archaic unions – health, welfare and education – into clean green lean industry so our children have a future here.
OK transport – no rational person is going to take you up on that.
If Aucklanders are funkin dumb enough to think they can solve the traffic problems by building more roads on an isthmus barely a km wide in places then they can tax and spend themselves into oblivion like the fuckwits they are and then when the economy collapses my kids will be able to come back from overseas and afford to buy a house.
I’d love to know the affiliations of the fuckwad spearheading the toll the roads we’ve already paid for campaign – it could be very telling.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:33 am
I agree with you Porcupine but don’t quite follow on the wanting of native birds to go extinct. I can only speak for what I see around here, every farmer I know would go out of their way to increase bird life. On our farm alone we have planted hundreds of natives along creeks and rivers. Our problem is possums, a government department (ERMA) now wants to tax us for poisoning possums on our own land ( unfucking believable) we do the work we pay for the poison, the scumbags want to tax us for the joy. Dear old ERMA might get a few possums in the office one night.
December 2nd, 2006 at 3:19 am
“Part of the mess that is Auckland today derives from poor transport policy and dinosaur policies on public transport.”
Philip, your approach has failed also, the US tried the “build really expensive public transport” option and nothing changed – except a highly subsidised route for a few privileged people. You have little understanding of travel patterns in Auckland, 82% of commuters do not terminate their trips in central Auckland where public transport focuses. I suspect you are in a misguided emotion driven ideological dream world thinking that forcing people to pay for public transport in a low density new world city will resolve congestion.
Blindly building new roads is a dinosaur approach, blindly subsidising public transport is a stoneage approach – the future is in transport suppliers charging people to run roads and public transport commercially, and it being all priced according to demand.
By the way this was National policy in the late 1990s which could not be implemented. If you think Labour is closer to your thinking then ask yourself why Labour now spends more on roading than it collects in roading taxes – it is spending up big time on road projects. It is willing to do it pork barrel time when it needs votes- Tauranga Harbourlink for Winston, Transmission Gully for Peter Dunne.
The dinosaur is in thinking that central planning fixing urban transport problems – it doesn’t.
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:18 am
Philip says, “I don’t know enough about what happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to know what basis there is for the claims of perversion.”
Philip you are correct you do not know enough about what happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to comment. You do not know enough of what was claimed to have happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to comment either.
I will not go back to media reports but my memory is pretty good on this issue. These incidents happened about 20 years ago. Back then it was unacceptable for a male teacher to go into a girls’ dorm unannounced. It is common sense that some of the girls may be changes and in some cases be totally nude. The same applies to the showers. These were only accusations. However, DBP should have gone to court like Nick Smith and Shane Arden.
Do you apply the same standard to DBP, Mallard and the PM? They all were part of highlighting Brash’s alleged affair. The difference with the PM was that she put others up to do her dirty work.
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:36 am
Simon, you say Don should never have dumped the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Why not? Women make up over 50% of the voters. They are therefore well represented. They are privileged by sexist legislation that both governments are too frightened even consider changing. Unlike women, Maori and homosexuals, heterosexual men do not get any government funded lobby group looking out for their interest when legislation is proposed.
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:23 am
Phillip: “I’m also unhappy to see the dishonorable Judith Collins rewarded with position: dishonorable for her cowardly attacks on David Benson Pope behind the shield of Parliamentary privilege, where she repeatedly accused him of being a ‘pervert’…”
Phillip, could you please tell all of us exactly when Judith Collins used the word ‘pervert’ in relation to David Benson-Pope? I’m trying to find a reference: perhaps you can help?
December 2nd, 2006 at 10:40 am
“for Christ’s stake can’t the shafting stop for a minute or two. . .”
Goodness me, are you really David Benson-Pope?
December 2nd, 2006 at 10:49 am
libertyscott-
agree with you re: road pricing is the answer to transport issues, not subsidies for public transport. I’ve posted a lengthy comment on the merits of road pricing on this blog in another thread some time ago. Hopefully Maurice will have the guts to revive this for NZ instead of pandering to the AA subsidised road building lobby and the socialist subsisdised public transport lobby.
Porcupine, side show bob etc –
we would be lucky if 2% of the land in NZ is being used for cities / urban areas.
The trouble in this country is that city councils have jumped on the agenda 21 and ‘smart growth’ U.N bandwagons. It is the romantic idea that there should be this divide between city and country and never shall the two meet. So we end up with serfs living in high rise apartment buildings, and thousands of farmers mono farming export produce for the un-winnable race to the bottom of the international dairy, wool, fruit commodities markets.
We then have DOC hoarding over 30% of the land of NZ in their estate, at a cost of hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars per year. They drop 1080 poison which kills all life not just the possums.
The notion that the state is better at ‘conservation’ and ‘looking after the environoment’ is totally absurd.
Most people enjoy having native trees and native birds on their properties, and we don’t need to pay DOC hundreds of millions of dollars to manage thousands upon thousands of acres of land and make a hash of it, while the rest of the country are stuck in high rise apartment buildings because city councils are blinding pursuing ‘smart growth’ and ‘agenda 21′.
December 2nd, 2006 at 10:57 am
side show bob – Shh you’ll start a whole new governement department the has to admisiter the
“publicly owned native birds on priviate land act”
Oh yes I forgot you dont have to worry – they’ll all be based in Wellington writing discussion documents and you’ll never hear of them again.
Of course I know farmers are fine to be trusted with native birds. Its just that you’ve got several government departments who think the very thought of that is the best emetic the world has ever seen and are just dying to delcare your farm a wilderness area.
And BTW someone came over here a while back saying the best way to save the kiwi would be to eat them – there is actually a degree of truth in that!
Nice point about ERMA – the problem is that “rationalisation” of the medicine an poisons regulatory environment has seen a split from a couple of small feeding troughs to many gigantic ones, all signing memorandums of understanding with each other.
Pharmac, VCIM, NZFSA, HSNO blah de blah de blah.
For the uninitiated ERMA stands for
Environmental risk management AUTHORITY
Need I say more!
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:01 am
and NZFSA is for New Zealand Food Safety AUTHORITY.
And those idiots are the reason that despite having something like 3 million head of dairy cattle in New Zealand it is so hard to buy a bottle of fresh RAW WHOLE MILK, even though Pastuerzied, Homogonized, Skimmed milk and dairy products are responsible for more health problems than Raw Milk and dairy products ever will be.
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:18 am
“Goodness me, are you really David Benson-Pope?”
No but I’ve got him and 120 of his colleagues up my arse.
libertyscott – good points but building more roads all the time isn’t the answer. And tolls is the quickest way to preserve the roads for the exclusive use of the bludgers at both ends of the scale.
A proper long term trans-government trans-regional transport plan is the way to go.
We are presntly importing more cars that we can build roads to park them on. We need an integrated transport and environmental policy to shift from one person in a gas guzzler to targeted public transport on the high density routes to better bike lanes, small efficient town cars etc.
We would save a lot of money but some industry sectors would loose out. so you then need to use the saved money to phase out those dinosaur industry sectors and phase in new clean lean green industires without (1) hurting people and (2) creating a wealthy elite.
Yeah right you say. OK I dont know enough about this to implement it, but I’m sure people like jonh and phillip would have even better suggestions.
Instead of fighting each other we need to work together to solve these problems not have entrenched attitudes and reassure the industry sectors that must downsize will have a part to play in the new ones that must upsize.
But to do that we need people to trust decsion makes and trust that NZ has a long term future for them, and therein lies the real problem.
At present its just take what you can before this house of cards we call a pumping economy falls around us.
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:32 am
This sector is a case study in “don’t take your eyes of the government for a minute”.
They are in an exponential growth phase, partly forced on us by our trding partners like the euro* I have to admit. they are filling up with discussion document writers and regulators faster that stadium can sink into the sea.
They have powers of search without warrant and you can bet your bottom dollar they have “secretariats” and “directorates”
In the nutrition textbooks they read page 1 of to get their degrees, it clearly states that if you look a bit pear shaped you’ll die before eveeryone else. Ao of course they think that watered down milk is the PC way to go.
but hey lets spend millions on vitamin supplements instead eh, after all you’ve got to believe linus pauling – another rort pulled on humanity by a senile Nobel prize winner.
In fact (and i’m serious here, not taking the piss) I beleive we take so many of these things there is concern that it is increasing runnof of nutirents into rivers and oceans.
Welcome to the brave new world of
democratica republica aoteoroa
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:55 am
Battler, I’m sure that your ideas of market driven transport have some merit but they need to be integrated into the social and economic development of the country in a wider context.
You can’t implement a policy like that in isolation because the track record of user pays plans is so abysmal no one trusts it anymore and with good reason. All they do is create a self serving elite bureaucracy which is not answerable to anyone. the classic example is how de-regulation has backfired.
Another good example is “user pays” education. Nice in principle – the ones most motivated to get a good education will be prepared to pay for it and then they will be able to pay back the loans with their high income. Yeah right tui! the ones that pulled that one must still have wet dreams about our gullibility.
In reality it is
Wealthy – > kids go where they want and get paid for
A+ students – > take out a loan – > pay it back working for the D\PRA
Members of factions that god blessed, single parent and long term unemployed, usually with a proven track record of no interest in education whatsoever – > fees and accommodation paid for by you guessed it A+ students working for DPRA
the same will happen with tolls, not to mention the admin costs and the 10K bureaucrats at the “department of tolls” emailing pdfs to each other all day.
In fact the track record proves that by advocating tolls you are playing into the hands of the socialistas
So you need to get off this user pays roads bandwagon and come up with something sustainable and integrated into NZs future, if it has one.
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:58 am
I meant battler and liberty
but the bottom line is do you trust a politician to implement any good ideas?
December 2nd, 2006 at 1:33 pm
This very blog, March 7th 2006, quoting Russell Brown.
Philip
December 2nd, 2006 at 5:20 pm
I am disappointed to see the portfolio on Political Correctness disappear. Wayne Mapp after a promising start didn’t do much with it, but I think a big man with a big voice like Gerry Brownlee could..The only conclusion one can draw is that the new leadership intend to jump on this pernicious bandwagon.
December 2nd, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Richard Worth goes from 16 to 24, and loses Justice portfolio to Simon Power. He appears to be the real casualty of the reshuffle and leadership changes. Perhaps Don Brash was protecting Worth while he could?
December 2nd, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Yes Maurice voted for the bill as amended.
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:02 pm
DPF – You are following the party line in support of the new line-up, but what do you really think about Williamson?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00088.htm
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:43 pm
“So who is going to look after us poor long suffering farmers ? ”
Look after yourselves. Take up arms and march on Parliament when they are passing legislation that they have no right to pass.
If you’re a dairy farmer, tell Fonterra where they can shove their exclusive supply contracts and bully boy tactics, and set up your own bottling plants and sell your produce direct to the public.
Tell the NZFSA where they can shove their irrational prohibition of raw milk and dairy products, and start producing the finest raw milk, butter, cheese, yoghurt, kefir and ice cream this country has ever seen. And sell it direct to the public, after telling Fonterra where they can shove their exclusive supply contracts and bully boy tactics.
Tell Fonterra you will have no part in their race to the bottom of the cheap international milk powder market.
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:48 pm
“Philip you are correct you do not know enough about what happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to comment. You do not know enough of what was claimed to have happened back in Benson-Pope’s schoolmaster years to comment either.”
As I’ve said, I don’t know and I’m utterly unimpressed with wishartful smears and assertions, and unsupported claims of mysterious wrongdoing. A whisper campaign because someone might have seen kids in their night clothes. This is “political correctness’ gone hogwild.
I don’t know Benson-Pope personally, I have no idea what sort of a person he is in his private life. The well-known fantasist Ian Wishart wants me to pay him $1 to read more stupid claims against Benson-&-Hedges. For all I know Benson-Pope beheads kittens at breakfast every Friday – a claim I can now confidently expect to hear shrilled in Parliament, under privilege, by the whining voice of the ethically challenged Judith Collins.
I do know that accusing him of being a ‘pervert’ was a classic unproven and unprovable smear. National isn’t helped by these tactics, and it loses the party votes.
New Zealanders who want a sensible serious alternative party of government to vote for have been put off by the behavior of Collins, aided and abetted in this case by Rodney Hide.
I suggest that Judith Collins has cost National votes in the next election. People who very much want a choice of government cannot in conscience vote for a National government that includes a person so careless of reputation, so dismissive of truth and so willing to abuse her privilege as a member of our Parliament as Judith Collins.
There is a real issue here. National under Don Brash has been hyperactive in launching complaints of corruption, sexual misbehavior, perversion, mopery on the high seas, barratry and frump against Labour politicians. Where charges deserve investigation – as in the case of Taito Phillip Field, this is appropriate.
Where the charges are made up, built of hearsay evidence and supported by tittle tattle and recovered memory,it’s not.
Collins has displayed lack of judgment and undue credulity.
She is not an asset to the National Party at this time.
December 3rd, 2006 at 1:15 am
‘”Goodness me, are you really David Benson-Pope?”
No but I’ve got him and 120 of his colleagues up my arse.’
You slut : )