Goff wrong on SIS briefing
Phil Goff claimed this week he was not briefed by the SIS on the Israelis backpackers. He said the PM had lied about it.
Now Goff has admitted, after meeting the SIS Director this morning, that he was briefed in March. He says it must have been insubstantial as he doesn’t recollect it. More likely is he was distracted by the Darren Hughes scandal at the time.
This is incompetence of the highest level. Sure we can all forget things, but forgetting an SIS briefing?? Worse though, Goff could have checked his diary or checked with the SIS. Instead he accused the Prime Minister of lying, and impeached the integrity of the SIS.
Let us look at his words. First Danya Levy in the Dom Post reports:
I was not aware of the allegations.
And then today TVNZ reported:
Goff is furious over the Prime Minister’s entire handling of the affair, including claims yesterday that the Labour leader was kept in the loop.
Goff insists he was not briefed before, during or after the investigation and says he has texted the head of the SIS to complain about John Key’s comments.
And further he said:
He said the prime minister has to understand the responsibilities of his office and cannot “mouth off” without checking his facts first.
This is especially ironic. Goff now stands as the one who mouthed off, can’t even recall an SIS briefing and was too lazy or too incompetent to even check his diary or with the SIS, before he repeated his claims.
Goff incidentally did not just falsely attack the PM, but also attacked the integrity and independence of the SIS. Section 4AA of the NZSIS Act says:
(3) The Director must consult regularly with the Leader of the Opposition for the purpose of keeping him or her informed about matters relating to security.
So Goff effectively accused the Director of breaching his statutory duty. A very serious charge. Again someone with an ounce of competence would double and triple check before claiming he “was not aware of the allegations” and that he was “not briefed before, during or after the investigation”.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Maybe he doesn’t remember it because there was sweet diddly to recall given it was so insubstantial in the first place.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
burn!
July 25th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Not a good look for Mr Goff. He’s getting worse. Is it compulsory in New Zealand to elect useless leaders after election losses?
July 25th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
this made me cringe when i read it.
if the information was insubstantial and Phool then forgot all about this ….. but no so insubstantial that he was furious about how key handled this.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Well behind on points and desperately lashing out for a KO. Tick, tick, tick Mr Goff…
July 25th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
“says he has texted the head of the SIS to complain”
Seriously? He sent a text message to complain?
July 25th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Labour’s remaining supporters don’t know, don’t understand and don’t care. That Goff’s goofs piss off the rest of us will be of little concern to him him. He has nothing left to lose.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
When I first read the Stuff report I was a bit concerned about the inconsistency in Key’s excuse. He said that it did not go to the committee because they do not all have security clearances. Given that there is nothing in this, I am not altogether sure why security clearances were necessary. Then again, I am not aware of the protocols.
Then I read what Goff had to say. Somebody, and at this stage I am leaning more towards his doctor than anyone else, should really take Goff aside and give him a close examination. He has made a huge fuss about this, including impugning the integrity of Key & SIS, because, in his view, this is such a serious matter. Now he excuses the fact that he cannot remember the briefing on the ground that it was so trivial that it was not worth committing to memory. The leader of the opposition would really be well advised to remember the golden rule for people who fibs. Before you doing so you must have an exceptional memory – particularly if you are going to be fibbing all the time. Otherwise you end up looking like a complete plonker.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
There’s an easy explanation. The Darren Hughes saga was going on at the same time, and Phil obviously thought that Darren Hughes had taken an Israeli spy back to Annette’s house…
July 25th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Phil-in Goof .
I wonder, what he will do when he gets expelled from labour? Retire?
What is his last real-life job?
July 25th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Yeah, it is the “text message” to the SIS Director that concerns me.
Is that how Goff conducts important affairs of state? What was wrong with a phone call?!
Goff is 58, not 15………………texting the SIS is not good enough.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Phil cracking under the pressure of the leadership, dramatics or just plain forgetfulness? It does not look good for our honourable leader.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
I thought one of the primary rules of politics is to remember your lies so that you don’t contradict yourself later. Clearly Goff, despite a lifetime in politics, has not remotely mastered this skill. How on earth he remains party leader is a mystery to me.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Nookin, if there is a Green party member on that committee, would you trust them with state secrets?
July 25th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
What a slimy wanker this guy is. Goff gets worse by the day. He was briefed by the SIS director, it was insubstantial and instead of checking the facts first he “mouths off” as he claims Key was doing. Pot calling kettle black.
Not being satisfied with this he also politicises the enquiry into Tim O’Donnell’s death here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5334833/Inquiry-into-Kiwi-soldiers-death-criticises-training
Perhaps if our Air Force still had some air combat capability Mr Goff, then our soldiers could practice with them and various scenarios prior to leaving NZ so they wouldn’t have to rely solely on in-theatre training?
Who was it that removed this capability Mr Goff? Ten years of not training with our Air Force in this pretty crucial kind of training for a combat theatre will have degraded the ability of the Army to be proficient in dealing responsively and accurately with this kind of situation.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Goff’s disgusting behavior regarding this aside – what I find more alarming are the articles in our so called unbiased main stream media. Quite frankly their reporting on this has been the most biased crap I’ve had the displeasure to read in a very long time. I almost thought I was reading articles penned by Trotter or Mccarten – but no, these were from so called journalists.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
the txts between H1 and Parker/Silent T/Robertson/Street will be flying all over the place .. is it too late to dump him or what?
July 25th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Ouch. Another awful mistake from Phil Goff. He really does have whatever is the opposite of the Midas touch.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Wait, the Stuff article’s headline and first half doesn’t mention this massive error by Goff. It just gets mentioned in the second half of the article? The articles title still says “Goff dismisses PM’s ‘excuse’”.
Colour me doubly unimpressed, this time by Stuff.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Boy nothing says “please explain” in weighty terms like a text message.
July 25th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Well, who would have guessed!
In reality, this was about as unpredictable as Amy Winehouse’s death!
July 25th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
3News will be the one to watch tonight. Patrick Gower has been tweeting up a storm. It looks as though he has Goff bang to rights.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Danya Levy once again,ex radio new Zealand and no doubt angling for a job in the labour comms unit.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Goff surely must have all but signed his political death warrant. I am sure the SIS Director will have made a diary note at the time. I think the Labour sharks will be circling and Cunliffe and Parker will be installed at next week’s caucus meeting. Desperate times bring desperate measures and Labour MPs will be watching the Labour vote evaporating before their eyes. If Goff is replaced as leader, I can’t see him staying for the general election.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
And if Goff goes David Parker will be catapaulted into Goff’s seat. Easy peasy japaneasy and before you can say Trade Union block vote. But fancy this: Goff sounds off on a security matter and flops. Tut tut tut.
July 25th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
F E Smith (976) Says:
July 25th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
“says he has texted the head of the SIS to complain”
Seriously? He sent a text message to complain?
My thoughts exactly Mr Smith. Is Goff a 50 something year old man or a 14 year old girl?
July 25th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Goff was advising Key this morning: “The prime minister has to understand the responsibilities of his office. He cannot mouth off without checking his facts first, which he’s now done … on a number of occasions in the past few days.” (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5333344/PM-regrets-comment-on-Israelis)
I don’t see how Goff can’t resign after this incident. He is beyond parody.
July 25th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
“he has texted the head of the SIS ”
Hmm, are texts from the Leader of the Opposition in his official capacity retained and archived as his correspondence must be by law?
July 25th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
oh! I get it now! Goff is competing with Mallard to see who can plunge Labour below 20% first…
July 25th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
SHG @ 6.16
They don’t need to be. They are all held in the archives of some London Tabloid where , in this case, they belong.
July 25th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Goff is an incompetent fool. Period.
July 25th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
I now accept that it is absolutely imperative that Goff not be leader of our country. I thought that might be the story. Now I know.
But could somebody answer my queries;
1. The three Israeli backpackers left N.Z. within twelve hours of the earthquake, which happened about 1 p.m.
2. The three of them were interviewed in Wellington on the day after the earthquake.
3. Who interviewed them between midnight and 12.59 a.m. on the day following the earthquake?
4. Question “3″ is there because they left within twelve hours of the earthquake.
5. The three backpackers got a lift out of Christchurch on an air force 757 aircraft. Taking into account the huge number of desperately injured in Christchurch following that dreadful quake, how come three Israeli backpackers were accorded more importance than a large number of injured people on the limited space available on that air force aeroplane?
Please help me get a clearer understanding of this matter.
July 25th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
He sent a text message to complain?
Back off the criticism unless you know all the facts. It may have been an encrypted text on a red cellphone.
July 25th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
5. All aircraft going out of Chch were filled with the intent of getting anybody who did not live in Chch out of the city. There is nothing remarkable about the fact it was a military plane – that just happened to be the one they were on – could have been Air NZ, Singapore Airforce or, possibly (if they were very unlucky) Jetstar.
July 25th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@ GPT1 – in the hours immediately after the Feb 22nd quake, the Air Force planes were the only ones getting in and out; bringing in rescue teams, and rather than returning empty, carting stranded tourists to Wellington.
July 25th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
GPT1 and Inventory;
Thank you.
July 25th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
Why the surprise at Goff’s comments. It’s typical Labour modus operandi – grab a headline attacking the Govt, yet no substance to back up the facts. Labour’s cynical theory is that potential voters won’t (can’t) read past the headline.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Who is this Phil Goff and why is he so important? Answers on the back of a postage stamp please. Thanks.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
RP
PhilGoff is the Alfred E Newman of NZ politics. Looks like him too.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Tauhei Notts>The three Israeli backpackers left N.Z. within twelve hours of the earthquake, which happened about 1 p.m.
12 hours was another Southland Times “fact” which turned out to be wrong. I don’t know when they actually left, but they were interviewed by a police officer (presumably to do with victim identification) the afternoon after the quake. Unless I’ve missed something, not a single bit of “evidence” in this case has turned out to be correct. It’s a 100 percent made-up story.
You can see why the PM didn’t remember anything about the case when the media first interviewed him, and fudged the question with the stupid security response. Some nutcase rang up the SIS or Police with their anti-semitic suspicions. They investigated and after 30 minutes they realised there wasn’t even a single bit of evidence to back up the allegation. They reported this to the PM who laughed as you do with any story involving moonbats, then promptly forgot the whole matter. Then the media spend five months investigating and make it the lead story on the TV news, and Goff and Norman are wading in because there is nothing like a bit of Jew-hate to rally their supporters. Goff forgets that he’s been briefed on the matter, because it was inconsequential and he was more concerned with a naked boy fleeing the home of his deputy. By now the media know the whole story is shite, but for reasons of journalist solidarity and their own credibility they have to pretend there are still questions to be answered.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Goof is correct isn’t it.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Some nutcase rang up the SIS or Police with their anti-semitic suspicions. They investigated and after 30 minutes they realised there wasn’t even a single bit of evidence to back up the allegation. They reported this to the PM who laughed as you do with any story involving moonbats, then promptly forgot the whole matter. Then the media spend five months investigating and make it the lead story on the TV news, and Goff and Norman are wading in because there is nothing like a bit of Jew-hate to rally their supporters.
Now who’s making it up, david?
Fuck, anyone who really does think anti-semitism really is a driving force in any fucking thing in any western country is in the same ballpark as Sarah Palin, sanity-wise. Israel and their sychophantic useful idiots use it to excuse and obfuscate outrageous incidents like the convoy interdiction which, had countries been reversed and Iswael had been the “victim” – again – the useful idiots would have been fucking screaming like all those mentals do when something happens like that and the usual “anti-semitism meme gets wheeled out where the useful idiots once again lap it up with great relish proving once again how very useful and idiotic all of them really are.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Davidp
There used to be a TV series called Soap which took the piss out of soaps. Your last paragraph is straight out of a Soap intro. Classic.
July 25th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Crikey Reid…
I sense frothing at the mouth.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Reid>Fuck, anyone who really does think anti-semitism really is a driving force in any fucking thing in any western country is in the same ballpark as Sarah Palin, sanity-wise.
Then I’d like an explanation why Israel is frequently singled out for criticism for things that other countries also do without criticism. In this specific case, maybe you can explain why the Southland Times, Goff, and Norman suspected Israel of wrong doing without a SINGLE bit of evidence. There must have been tourists from 100 countries in Christchurch at the time of the earthquake, and Israeli Jews were the ONLY ones singled out as part of a deranged conspiracy theory.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
Then I’d like an explanation why Israel is frequently singled out for criticism for things that other countries also do without criticism.
Israel is an international arsehole, david, that’s why. Let’s take it to GD. I’ll carry on this comment over there.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
reid>Israel is an international arsehole, david, that’s why.
Lots of countries are international arseholes. Israel is one of the better countries in the world, especially considering its position of being the only democracy in the Middle East. But Israel is always singled out for criticism. Why?
July 25th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Reid.
Forget the pro/anti Israel sentiment and lets get back to the issue at hand.
Goff said that
A. He had not been breifed
B. The PM had shot his mouth off without taking time to get all the facts.
C. Accused the head of the SIS in failing his constitutional requirements.
Now with regard to A. Goff was briefed. Goff is wrong.
With regard to B. Goff shot his mouth off without checking the facts, even though the facts in this case were to do with a meeting between 2 people, of which he was one of.
With regard to C. Goff was wrong and owes the head of the SiS an apology.
To make claims like this that were so easily disproved, and believeing the bullshit that was published in southland, just goes to show that Goff will not take notice of facts, but only take notice of things that agree with his mindset.
And he want’s to be Prime Minister? Give me strength.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Exactly slightyrighty and given it’s such an effortless disprove on the part of the major accusee, you have to wonder who might have casually suggested in Phil’s hearing that wouldn’t it be good if he raised that, since he wasn’t told, for it couldn’t have been Phil’s original thought that put it into his mind… Who might that have been.
Actually I think it might have been a Phil original, he’s a politician and what I don’t like about him is that means he says not what he really thinks but what will get him traction in the polls.
I think personally he needs to re-image himself, shed his life-long political habits and start being Phil. What the hey. He’s got nothing to lose and by all accounts he’s a personable fellow. Forget about what people want to hear and tell us your insights on your lifelong political perspectives and that, I think, would get his supporters flocking back.
And you’re right, the first thing he should do is apologise to the head of the SIS.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Real statesman-like material from the Goff-father.
There really should be an entry in the dictionary under Goff, similar to pulling a Homer.
July 25th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Re Rich Prick at 8:02 pm
Who is this Phil Goff and why is he so important? Answers on the back of a postage stamp please. Thanks.
Getting media time and being important are not correlated!
July 25th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Perry: Look up “idiot” in the dictionary. You know what you’ll find?
Harry: A picture of me?
Perry: No! The definition of the word idiot, which you fucking are!
(Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
July 26th, 2011 at 6:31 am
I’m struggling to work out what teh story is here.
Is it a story about a Leader of the Opposition who is clearly so bereft of advice, or anyone t do any basic research for him that he lurches from one incompetent outburst to the next? I mean as I have asked before who is advising this guy, it is almost as if they want him to die.
Or is it a story about a media that is so predisposed to channelling some kind of ‘far right hidden agenda’ meme that it swallows any bullshit Goff utters and reports it without even checking their facts? That’s what you get when you employ the likes of Fran Mould I guess.
Either way, he looks incompetent
July 26th, 2011 at 7:36 am
Lee C
Worse than that, I’m afraid. Goff did not need anyone to research whether he was briefed by the SIS. Goff was there at the time and had personal knowledge that his accusations against Key were incorrect. Worse, he criticised the head of the SIS knowing that the civil servant could not answer back. He now says that the matter was so trivial that he must have forgotten — so why the national uproar? Goff is disassembling. It’s getting worse for him week by week and really needs to get a grip.
As far as the MSM is concerned, I have yet to see anyone point out the fact that labour has deliberately misquoted Key to score a cheap political point, nor the fact that Goff goofed again over the Israelis.
July 26th, 2011 at 8:23 am
LeeC briliant deduction, I think you’ve got it ….. by George, I’m sure you have hit the nail bang on its flat head.
FRAN MOLD IS A PLANT.
It is a masterstroke by the VRWC to install Fran Mold as an undercover operative in the Goffice. She hasn’t had to work exceptionally hard to steer poor Phil into several minefields that look like they are his own making but in reality are carefully designed booby traps. And boy did they trap a booby!