At least four phone calls
Listening to Parliament it seems there were at least four phone calls between Benson-Pope’s office and the MFE Chief Executive regarding the Satchell appointment.
Labour are still insisting DBP did not know anything about this. Yeah Right.
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July 26th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
It will be interesting to read the Hansard for Q6 today from Gerry Brownlie. Benson-Pope seems to be getting dropped deeper in the pooh with every passing day. He is now admitting that he did not want Ms Setchells anywhere near his office, but still denying actually SAYING that to Hugh Logan. It seems that he has, in the words of Duncan Garner, been “economical with the truth” with the PM and with Parliament.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
This accured right in Benson-Pope’s office. He should be a man and take responsibility for that as a man and as a Minister. Instead he is being a girl and hiding behind a staffers’ skirts. I have utter contempt for the man.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Id wire the bastard up to a lie detector and fix an electric probe to his balls. Trouble is he would enjoy it
July 26th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
According to Tim he hasn’t got any balls.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Given the apparent “verbatim” questions that Brownlee has asked of Benson-Pope in the last two days regarding the “I don’t want that woman in my office” comment, I wonder if someone else in the Minister’s office is snotted of by the way he has handled this mess, and is extracting payback. If nothing else, it would be karmic, watching the bully become the hunted!
July 26th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
From the Herald –
He [Panty Slut Boy] was then asked by Mr Brownlee about a specific statement.
“Did the minister at any time in any of those discussions with Mr Logan say to either him or his staff: ‘I do not want that woman in my office.”‘
Mr Benson-Pope: “No.”
Mr Brownlee’s question appears to be based on rumours that such a statement was made. The Herald asked Mr Logan yesterday if he would verify the minister’s statement in the House that no such comment had been made.
His written response last night was: “I understand the question was answered in the House today by the minister.”
The members of the Select Committee need to ask Logan and demand the answer to this and not under any circumstances accept any non-answer such as his answer to the Herald. If Panty Slut Boy did not say “I will not have that woman in my office” the Logan could have easily advised that that was the case. However Logan is being misguided if he thinks he is doing the right thing by protecting the Minister.
The words quoted are too accurate to not to have been made up. National should work hard to get the scalp finally and proving Panty Slut Bot lied is the way to do it.
Of course if the Nats do get the scalp, it will be a bit of a shame – i am already looking forward to his next bugger up which should only be about 12 months away. (maybe something like a punch-up during the snap-election campaign).
Panty Slut Boy must be crapping himself that Logan will hold the line – because if he does not then Benson-Pope is a goner.
July 26th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Inventory2 It sure as hell would be a great way to pay the bastard back. Isnt it wonderful how these arseholes and arseholesses get it in the end. Nothing like letting them deep a hole and then pushing them into it without them even knowing. Magic
July 26th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Amen to that gd!!! Revenge is sweet, and all that. To see Benson-Pope hoist by his own petard (or betrayed by his own lackeys!) would be a wonderful sight. Hell, he might even take someone else down with him…….
July 26th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
DBP is in it deep after his answers to questions today, indicated he told Logan that he would have been less than full and frank if Setchell had been employed as Comms Manager, this indicated that DBP was not prepared to treat the said employee impartially, pretty much QED.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Just found the following on scoop.co.nz
“Benson-Pope trips up – Clark must act
Thursday, 26 July 2007, 3:19 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party
Gerry Brownlee MP
National Party State Services Spokesman
26 July 2007
Benson-Pope trips up – Clark must act
National Party State Services spokesman Gerry Brownlee says Helen Clark must take action after David Benson-Pope admitted that he did share an opinion with Environment Ministry CEO Hugh Logan about the appointment of Madeleine Setchell.
“The Minister has claimed all along he did not have an opinion on the appointment, yet today he told Parliament that he had a conversation with Mr Logan where he said he would be ‘less likely to be free and frank’ with Madeleine Setchell in his office if she kept her job.
“This is a significant departure from his story of the past few days.
“This is now a clear cut case of the Minister telling the CEO that the appointment was unsatisfactory. It is political interference and it has now been admitted.
“Helen Clark earlier this week promised to do the right thing if Mr Benson-Pope’s story changed again. It has – both yesterday and today.”
Mr Brownlee says yesterday Mr Benson-Pope revealed there was not one but five phone calls between his office and Hugh Logan about the Madeleine Setchell case over just two days.
“Yet previously he’d led us to believe there was only one or two communications. There were five!”
Mr Brownlee says when earlier asked about the likely action should Mr Benson-Pope be caught out again, Helen Clark said her response would be obvious.
“The public are now waiting to see how far Helen Clark will let standards slip before standing up for a competent public servant who has been the victim of a politically motivated sacking.”
ENDS”
What goes around comes around, so the saying goes, and I suspect that DB-P will be going round to see Dear Leader for a “wee chat” in the very near future
July 26th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
The term(THE RIGHT HON) ,,and david bensen pope is been VERY economicial with the truth , PS how did this liaring weasle get the nick name (panty slut boy),
July 26th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
It’s his nick-name in a B&D club according to Investigate magazine. If I have to explain B&D to you I’ll come over there with my whip.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
…I dont know what B&D means either, but Ive been a very bad boy recently. Why dont you come over to my place instead!!
July 26th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Benson-Pope is now the lead story on nzherald.co.nz – here’s the link to Audrey Young’s article:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=49&objectid=10454011
It would seem, to elucidate 3 cuddly cockers above, that in this case, DB-P has been submissive to himself, and affixed his very own bondage appliances!
July 26th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I would Paul, but 3 cuddly cockers’s need is obviously greater!
July 26th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Oh no its not! And besides, you’d love a devoted man-slave!
July 26th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Linda ,my wife would LOVE to show you, her whips, you two could compere. Two ladies and their tools of trade, what a blast or whack.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
He needs to spit out the tennis ball in his mouth and start talking the truth.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
For once the MSM have taken this and called it as it is. The herald is calling him a liar. Bye Bye David, you smug bastard. There is no greater pleasure on a cool winters evening than witnessing the demise of another Hypocritical, self serving Clarkist patsy…. although part of me will miss him, surely there would of been more from Blunder-Pope!!
July 26th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
It would appear that he is in his death throws, politically speaking. Never pleasant to watch a fellow human being publicly implode, even if it is of his own making.
The only way he can stay is to threaten to “retire” from politics immediately if he is fired from his post. Effectively tying his being booted out, to an early election. Does he have the guts?
Would be great to be a fly on the wall of Helens office…..
July 26th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Sonic – where-o-where art thou? Quickly, come hither to your hero Panty-Slut-Boy’s defence…he needs you now, more than ever.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
inventory 2 asks: “I wonder if someone else in the Minister’s office is snotted of by the way he has handled this mess?”
the answer is yes. national has a very very close source.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Yes – the MSM are like sharks circling in the water having tasted blood and sensing the prey is on his last legs they are moving in for the kill. Tomorrow’s Question Time will relentlessly pursue DBP aka PSB and Clark to tease even more details, denials and obfuscations with the media now headlining every new step. The Environment Ministers office will start to leak even more as underlings not tied to DPB and his cronies and subject to their nastiness see their chance to extract revenge.
H1 and H2 and the 9th floor will be in full blown crisis damage control mode. I give him no more than 48 hours. The question now is will DPB fall on his sword or will Clark do the honours. It will boil down to any dirt PSB has that he will threaten to use to do a Samson.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Anyone seen Selma this afternoon?
Seriously though, Benson-Pope is history. He should do the honourable thing and resign, not only as a Minister, by as an MP as well. He has clearly misled his colleagues and the House, and not for the first time. He has put his colleagues in the position of having to defend him when he knew that his position was untenable – he just hoped he could bluff and squirm his way out of it. He has been exposed as a liar, yet MP’s have been forced to accept the word of an “honourable member” – a misnomer of ever there was one! The people of Dunedin deserve better representation.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Anon said “inventory 2 asks: “I wonder if someone else in the Minister’s office is snotted off by the way he has handled this mess?”
the answer is yes. national has a very very close source.”
Pretty obvious I guess, and in hindsight. Brownlee’s question was too specific to be anything but an inside tip. Good to know that there is at least one honourable person in Benson-Pope’s office.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Audrey Young it would appear is, “slightly irritated” .
Good luck with getting any positive press from the Herald whilst DBP still hangs around….
July 26th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
All this proves… is that the Right Honorable David Benson Pope…can’t count.
Stop picking on the poor chap.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Here’s the question in question, and Benson-Pope’s answers – straight from the Parliament website:
“Environment, Ministry—Communications Manager
6. GERRY BROWNLEE (National—Ilam) to the Minister for the Environment: Did the Chief Executive of the Ministry for the Environment ever ask him for his opinion on the appointment of Madeleine Setchell as the communications manager of the ministry; if so, what did he say?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Minister for the Environment): No; I had one conversation with the chief executive relating to this matter before it was resolved. That conversation happened when he drew me aside in the context of a meeting about other issues and advised me there was an issue he was dealing with involving the partner of a National Party staff member, and that he had formed a preliminary view that there was a conflict of interest and that he was working with the State Services Commission to manage that issue. I noted two things: first, that this was clearly an employment issue and therefore his responsibility alone to manage, and, secondly, that from the point of view of my office I would likely be less free and frank in meetings with such a person. That was a statement of the obvious.
Gerry Brownlee: What miraculous events have occurred overnight for the Minister to have this greater recollection of the meetings held on 29 May that he could not remember yesterday, and has he also perhaps forgotten that he did say to Mr Hugh Logan: “I won’t have that woman in my office.”?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: No miraculous events have occurred and I did not make that statement.
Gerry Brownlee: Does the Minister expect us to believe that after the flurry of phone calls between his office and Hugh Logan’s office on 28 May, which caused Mr Logan to drop everything, conduct an urgent inquiry, and involve the State Services Commission, that at a meeting the next day the Minister was neither asked for, nor offered, his opinion on the actual appointment of Madeleine Setchell beyond the scant comments made by the Minister in the House today?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: For the benefit of the member, let me run through the chronology again. I was not aware, when my adviser began his inquiry but I now know that it was Monday, 28 May. I was first informed of the relationship later on 28 May when it had been confirmed by the chief executive. That there was formally the possibility of a conflict of interest was notified to me after that date personally by the chief executive.
Gerry Brownlee: When the Minister said to Mr Logan that he would be able to be less than free and frank should Ms Setchell be in any meetings in his office, what conclusion could Mr Logan reach other than the Minister was instructing him to dismiss Ms Setchell?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: The member has misrepresented my quote. I said I would likely be less free and frank. I am sure the member understands fully that that is a statement of the obvious. He would be less likely to conduct a conversation as frankly with this side of the House as he would with his own colleagues, one would assume.
Gerry Brownlee: Why did the Minister not simply make that admission—this new revelation—right at the start of this particular issue and the investigation into it; and is the Minister surprised that when Mr Logan was asked by the media if the Minister had said: “I won’t have that woman in my office.”, he could not answer that question for himself with a simple “No”?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: There are about five questions there. Can I repeat that I did not make that statement.
Gerry Brownlee: Can we assume from Mr Logan’s refusal to deny the Minister told him: “I won’t have that woman in my office.” with a simple one-word answer, that it is a fact the Minister did instruct exactly along those lines, and could any other conclusion be reached from what the Minister has told the House today?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: No, members cannot make that assumption, and other conclusions can definitely be reached. These are the facts of the matter.
Gerry Brownlee: Can the Minister assure the House that if Mr Logan were to speak in a free, full, and frank manner, and tell the media what the Minister said to him, he would keep his job?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: I can assure the House that I have confidence in the professionalism of Mr Logan and I have no concerns in that respect.
Gerry Brownlee: Can the Minister assure the House that there will be no adverse consequences for any one either in his office or in the Ministry for the Environment who blows the whistle on what the Minister actually said to Mr Logan?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: I am not the employer, either in my office or in the Ministry for the Environment.
Gerry Brownlee: Can the Minister give the House an assurance that he has not, in the past, pressured any Government department to remove staff because of his perceptions about their political connections?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: It would be totally inappropriate to do so.
Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. We know that it would be inappropriate to do so. We are asking whether the Minister is prepared to say he has not done that before.
Madam SPEAKER: The Minister is answering as the Minister for the Environment. That is his ministerial responsibility in this context. I also remind members that they cannot require a specific answer to their questions. In that instance the Minister addressed the question, though it may have been outside his ministerial responsibility.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen: In relation to the question about the employment of Mr Logan, has the Minister received any report that when Mr Brownlee was asked whether Mr Logan would have a job were there to be a change of Government, he refused to answer yes?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE: I think it is one of the ironies of this issue that the behaviour of Mr Logan and, I believe, my staff has been honourable, and that reflection cannot be conveyed about the behaviour of those members opposite.”
July 26th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
“He is gone by lunchtime”. Helen is hung out to dry
July 26th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
politics aside, the sooner this moral scumbag goes the better for NZ, which, at the end of the day, is where we live.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
I still can’t figure out what has happened to the three ‘S’s, Sonic, Sam and Selma.
Surely there must be something heroic about DBP’s actions…. isn’t there?
July 26th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Bogusnews said “I still can’t figure out what has happened to the three ‘S’s, Sonic, Sam and Selma.
Surely there must be something heroic about DBP’s actions…. isn’t there?”
BN, I think they’ve all been summonsed to a crisis meeting in the Beehive. The spin will start in earnest tomorrow morning.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I really can’t work out what all the furore is about. You know, headlines saying “Labour Party Minister Lies to his back teeth”; and this is NEWS somehow ?
Hello, where have you all been for the past 7 years ?
July 26th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
hard labour should run courses on how to lie with a straight face ,panty sluts face twitches madly,and then his body says it all , his poor staff must love him,NOT
July 26th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
This is not the first time David Benson Pope has misled the people of NZ, yet Mr Field gets the boot for standing up for his beliefs and the people he represents.
July 29th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
RE David Bensen Pope
I feel that David Bensen-Pope has been singled out .
It is one thing to have an opinion about whether one (David ) would want to work with someone so close to the Leader of the opposition’s mistress and whether he actually tried , although he certainly had good reason, to try to sack her .
We should all look at ourselves and wonder if we under the same scrutiny would pass the honesty test .
Ever since the tennis ball issue BP has been subjected to an unfair , in comparision to others attack on his person .
We have now lost a very good minister .
July 29th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Maureen – Did you get a knock to the head over the weekend?
“Panty Slut Boy” was gagging for it – he got all he deserved!!!