Australian briefing background on Clark
Oh this is hilarious. An Australian moron has handed out to the media, copies of the confidential background briefing on Helen Clark. The Herald reports:
The notes added: “She does not trust those outside a small circle in Labour and her chief of staff, Heather Simpson, is known as the second most powerful person in New Zealand (known as H2).”
It says her views are “generally left wing, with foreign policy perspectives forged during the Vietnam War”.
Nothing too surprising there. It could be worse. DFAT did this once before and left in a room the entire set of briefings on various Pacific leaders. That was real warst and all stuff – including how one Premier was known as Mr 10% as that was his bribe/cut on all contracts 
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Tags: Australia, Helen Clark
August 20th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
OUCH !
An inconvenient truth has emerged from the visit of Kevin Rudd,
They have very inconveniently told the truth about the dear Leader and H2
She trusts only a few within her femiste cabal!
H2 is the 2nd most important woman in NZ in fact the other consort must be feeling a bit jilted.
And does this also mean that she doesn’t trust “Winnie the fox”
August 20th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Could have been covered with the words ‘nepotistic dinosaur’.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Australian “moron”? Give the guy a medal. All that diplomacy means, is that candid treatment of common knowledge is habitually confined to behind-the scenes briefings rather than aired in public. I hope this is another example of dedication to public candidness by the Aussies (“busted-arse countries”: Alexander Downer) and I hope it starts a trend.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
It’s only moronic if it was accidental.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I have always liked the straight forward and non diplomatic way the Aussies express themselves. In some ways it is a shame we are not the same here in NZ. The observations are accurate and hopefully have been noted by those who have been misguided enough to have voted for HC in the past thinking she was something else.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
There a Nelson Muntz moment.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Hilarious but sad (for us) but true that our Aussie ‘friends’ assess HC as the akin to North Korea’s Kim (or is that to be the preserve of H2?)
August 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Aussie moron. Tautology?
August 20th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Its a testament to their tollerance that they still give us visa free access Ross.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
this would not have been accidental It never ceases to amaze me the lack of understanding of how others see us.
As one who is involved in an international governance organisation its very interesting to hear how other countries view NZ its politicans its business etc etc.
leaving aside those who one has to remind where we are on the world map others have a much more realistic view than we do collectively.
Our pollies and civil servants are largely viewed as legends in their own lunchtime. Our regulators are regarded as reasonably competent but a little naive when it comes to international focus and our business people as either wild west operators or a bit behind the 8 ball .
August 20th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
God i googled heather simpson and looked at her picture and bio, all my wife could say (SHES A LESBIAN)how does this lady hold so much power in the background and is clark and her an item
August 20th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
How does an unelected (and unelectable) person like Simpson attain so much power?
I have just heard Barry Soper discuss this very issue with Larry Williams, apparently when H1 travels overseas H2 usually tags along with her, when Clark should be taking advice from the ministry of foreign affairs and the govt experts it seems that they are shunted aside and Clark only takes advice from Simpson.
If Labour want to talk about things that are hidden then perhaps they should be up front about the influence of Simpson and why she is allowed to have such a say in how the country is run when she has not been elected to the house.
August 20th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Truth in politics………funny innit?
August 20th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
JSF, big bruv
I hate to point out the exceedingly obvious, but all politicians have unelected advisors.
The only unusual thing about Heather Simpson is the degree to which Helen Clark appears to rely on her, and that she has been present for the entire duration of the government.
If you think a government led by National won’t have its own advisors, they you are mistaken.
And JSF, why the obsession with peoples sex lives? Is it really that important to you?
August 20th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
NO bobux but i saw her, h2 on tv tonight and i noticed in the film she was leading first ,clark second and the token male was dragging along last,so h2 wears the pants and the token male is there for the correct pc image but who knows WHO CARES
August 20th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
And H’s response? – her by now cliched scornful scoffing laugh.
Pretty much a trademark that Cullen can parrot to perfection.
It’s what you do when you don’t have anything substantive to offer as a response.
The impressive thing is how right the Aussie’s got it
August 20th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Hey guys, Key is so controlling that he will not let prospective ministers know what their policy is. A Nat minister of whatever does not know his policy until a few weeks before election day, following a formula from an election in Europe somewhere. A control freak if there ever was.
And even Crosby Textor don’t know the policy yet: there are still important focus groups to be checked against
As far as foreign policy goes, I guess the Nats trace theirs back to World War II, except they have changed the minder.
“Where America goes, we go!”
“Nuclear policy… gone by lunchtime!”
Scornful laughs… absolutely. NZ under Muldoon had a strong leader who was controlling. Now it is a sin. The Nats are so full of contradictions, it is hilarious.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
She has done a good job “laughing” this off. I just wish Bill English could have handled the “secret tapes” affair with similar skill.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
It is Heather Simpson who has been negotiating with the Greens and NZ First for their support of the ETS. It was Heather Simpson who rang Benson-Pope and ordered him to resign. It was Heather Simpson who wrote the Labour’s Environment policy that led to the Erin Leigh scandal – that is the power this woman wields.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I take this as a sign that the DFAT wants Clark gone as well. – Leaks like this are not made by accident – but rather it is a demonstration of how fed up everyone is with Clark.
Another sign her days are numbered as civil servants hera and across the Tassie have lost any respect for this corrupt government.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Whenever HC does a “scoffing laugh” nowadays, we all know she is pissing blood. It is a sign of her desperation and distance from reality, that she has not realised this yet. And if Rudd had a political brain he would be a little quieter on the topic, given that he is likely to be very lonely soon.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I dare say Dear Leader and the glorious Liarbore party would put Mr 10% to shame. Their welfare bribes and jobs for the boys and girls would put a very large dent in our GDP, we should be so lucky to settle for 10%. As soon as these heavy duty gravy suckers are shown the back door the better off we all shall be.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
With Friends like that…
August 21st, 2008 at 12:31 pm
And where is Heather Simpson referred to as H2, other than by angry little people on Kiwiblog? I suspect the author of the briefing is among us.
It would be interesting to read the full briefing, I wonder how many other kiwiblog-isms are in there?
[DPF: Heather has been referred to as H2 for many many years, including by her own staff.]
August 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Fair enough, although as an unconnected member of the general public I hadn’t heard it before, so maybe it’s a bit of an ‘in’ joke?