Minor Party Leaders on Agenda
August 31st, 2008 at 11:07 am by David FarrarAn interesting discussion on Agenda this morning.
Jeanette Fitzsimons said Peters has shown a contempt for the public and the public’s right to know. It is not just a matter of illegality.
She was asked if she could work with NZ First in a governing arrangement. Fitzsimons said that the party decides that but her personal viwe is you have to be able to trust someone around the cabinet table, you have to be able to trust and take their word and know it is not going to take weeks and weeks before questions are answered and only under coercion. She personally would be uncomfortable in a governing arrangement with NZ First.
Good on Jeanette for saying that. Not as strong as Key, but if the Greens won’t back Labour if they keep clinging to Winston, then he has no power even if makes 5%.
Peter Dunne hedges his bets and says he does not think either major party will want Peters and that NZ First will not be re-elected. However says he will decide on policies only, and not rule Peters out.
Jim Anderton says issue for Peters is not so much legal but hypocrisy of railing against donations from big business and taking them secretly.
Fitzsimons says she is most concerned about the fihsing issue, and wants it investigated.
Barry Soper has ripped into Anderton for saying the media have tried and convicted Peters in public. He points out that teh media have been unable to get a single useful explanation from Peters for months on end and it is thanks to the media these issues have come to light. Says Anderton should applaud media if they believe in transparency. Anderton responds weakly.
Anderton now talking about the Brethren. Yawn. Now he is alleging the SFO is compromised as investigating Peters keeps them alive.
Dunne says he has no problem with Key ruling Peters out, and suspects he has wanted to for some time. Says he “fully understands” that John Key needed to put a marker in the sand.
UPDATE: A friend points out to me that Jeanette is a very polite person, and her comments indicating diffculties serving with Winston was Green Speak for “Fuck Off” 
I hope so! Removing Winston from power (only the public can remove him from Parliament) is something all parties in Parliament should agree on. It should not be a partisan issue.
Related posts:
- Imagine the minor party leaders’ debate
- Family First rates the Leaders
- Southpark NZ Political Leaders
- Jeanette resigns
August 31st, 2008 at 11:35 am
I was interested by Anderton constantly stating that ‘we’ll have an election in 13 weeks!’ 13 weeks huh?
And what was wrong with the Agenda producers today? They were all over the place.
Also interesting to see Mai Chen front up. Have Agenda just had a massive budget increase?
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 11:43 am
Heh As far as I know Agenda doesn’t pay for people to appear. yes production was scratchy, but good call to focus on Winston not the main interview subject of Dalziel.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
i thought anderton nailed key quite successfully..
http://whoar.co.nz/2008/jim-anderton-calls-john-key-on-his-no-way-with-winston-call/
phil(whoar.co.nz)
[DPF: Of course you did. And like Anderton you just don't know how to deal with a politician who says he won't deal with Peters, even if it means he won't become Prime Minister. It's called integrity!]
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
and just where was Mr Minor Party (getting more minor by the minute) himself?
doctoring the books perhaps.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Gueez philu … you socialists have no style (or morals). Who else would have the gall to write a post linking it to a story on his own website written by himself as authentication.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
As for Genetix being a “polite person” actions speak louder than words and I find her actions in leading a party that forces undemocratic laws upon us to be bad manners in the extreme.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
“with a politician who says he won’t deal with Peters, even if it means he won’t become Prime Minister”
Vote:thats not really what he said though…..is it
August 31st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Very early on Saturday morning I was driving back from Wellington and listening to Radio Live, the topic of discussion was of course Winston Peters.
One chap called in who claimed to be a doctor, he made the suggestion that Peters recent behaviour could well be the result of a medical condition, while the man was careful to say that he was not attempting to make some sort of diagnosis he did say that many of the traits Winston has been exhibiting of late (sweating, slurring of speech, short temper) could be the result of a minor stroke.
Remember when Peters was hospitalised by the “spider bite”, the press never really got to the bottom of that, he could well have been hospitalised by a minor stroke.
Mind you, he also said that those same symptoms could well signify that he is suffering from alcohol abuse
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
In fairness to Agenda, it has been a very full-on week politically, with major changes on a daily, if not hourly, basis. It was good to get the book comp and other housework largely completed near the beginning, as today’s broadcast was much more complex than the usual fare. There was the live cross to Mai Chen, then the three way video conference between Dunne, Anderton and the Auckland studio. Production-wise, that’s a lot of juggling that is usually reserved for prime time news.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
“Who else would have the gall to write a post linking it to a story on his own website written by himself as authentication”
Vote:hmmmm
Lee C
Inventory2
its not really a leftie thing
you’ve just got one eye open
August 31st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
“.[DPF: Of course you did. And like Anderton you just don't know how to deal with a politician who says he won't deal with Peters, even if it means he won't become Prime Minister. It's called integrity!].”
ah well..only a matter of weeks ’till one of us is right..or not..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
If David were to have a competition as to which one of us blogs under the best non-de-plume then ‘Short Shriveled and Slightly to the Left’ would surely win it by a country mile. The mind boggles at the picture.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
*sigh*
you think my name was an accident???
that it isnt suppose to be a joke?
was stolen from Jim Carey
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
SSSL – got me! I unashamedly ‘fess up to link-whoring. But I never claim to be an authority on anything, nor do I claim to run an “online news service”
Inventory2
http://www.keepingstock.blogspot.com (just in case people don’t know that the way to find Keeping Stock is to click on my name!!)
BTW – there’s a very funny and topical video there now, but I couldn’t possibly post the link and run the risk of incurring your further wrath!!
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
SSL that is a fucking lie!!
Vote:I demand you and whoever is financing you resign immediately or my lawyers will be in touch before you can say ‘knife me’.
http://monkeyswithtypewriter.blogspot.com/
August 31st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
http://monkeyswithtypewriter.blogspot.com/ rocks!
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I see over on Frogblog that the green contributors are claiming that Winston’s problem is all because we don’t have state funding of political parties. If the taxpayers had been funding NZ First then he would not have had to depend on Owen Glenn.
Vote:Does this mean they would expect taxpayers for fund legal actions?
August 31st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Come on David.. you know as well as the next person that this sound-bite principle, which has more wiggle room than the Grand Canyon, will be immediately cast aside the moment that king-maker power is on offer.
Vote:August 31st, 2008 at 8:34 pm
To be fair to the Greens, they do let their wider membership decide such issues. Now the majority of them may well decide to abnadon principle, self respect and credibility and grab power with both hands even if it meant climbing into bed with Winston, but at least they’d be given the opportunity of deciding to commit political hari kari.
I don’t recall Winston asking his members whether they minded him embracing Shipley when he’d sworn blind he’d never do so. Or Jenny asking her members whether they minded someone who’d been tossed out of National’s Cabinet not only being invited back in, but bringing his useless mates with him. Or Helen asking her members whether it was okay if Labour’s ability to govern relied upon someone who’d told such a lie and, in fact, had spat the dummy and destabilised the last government he’d propped up… so credit where it’s due.
If the Greens make the wrong decision, it’ll be all the Greens making it, not just an elite handful.
Since Peter Dunne doesn’t really have a party, I suppose can’t really criticise him for not consulting them before metaphorically dropping his pants and offering Winston… or anyone else… the KY jelly, provided he gets his self-important little coiffure back into a position of power. So I’ll just have to make do with calling him an unprincipled, gutless little oxygen thief then.
Vote: