I blogged last week on how Trevor Mallard had joined the birthers and truthers with his bizarre conspiracy theory involving myself, Matthew Hooton, Bill English, the PSA and leftie academic Bryce Edwards.

Well as they say in x-files, Trevor is not alone in thinking the truth is out there. His colleague Clare Curran has weighed in alleging an even larger conspiracy. She tweeted:

@Whaleoil I think the point is that there’s a very cosy relationship between yourself, Farrar, Hooton, young Nats and the non-Labour left.

Clare has rumbled us. The conspiracy is not just Bryce Edwards. It is the entire non-Labour left. The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (VRWC) is in fact the Vast Right Wing and non-Labour Left Wing Conspiracy (VRWNLLWC).

We meet monthly in an undisclosed location. I can’t reveal the name of our chairman (think higher than Bill English), but the participants include Russel Norman, myself, Metiria Turei, Matt McCarten, Hone Harawira, Chris Trotter, the Young Nats, Laila Harre, Matthew Hooton, Sue Bradford, Cameron Slater, John Minto, Nicky Hager, Danyl McLauchlan, NZUSA, Bernard Hickey, the PSA, Matt Robson, the Sunday Star-Times and X (a deep cover agent who is posing as a Labour MP).

Imperator Fish also reveals how the conspiracy came to light:

The Dunedin academic community is in shock today, after respected political scientist Dr Bryce Edwards admitted he was on the payroll of a despicable cabal involving National Party ministers and corrupt public service unionists.

The revelation came after Dr Edwards broke down in tears during a Q&A interview with Paul Holmes.

On the show, Dr Edwards admitted that he owed his extravagant lifestyle to the enormous amounts of cash being funneled into his bank accounts from the National Party, via David Farrar and Matthew Hooton and their PSA allies. …

Dr Edwards admitted to Paul Holmes that the money for the arrangement arrived every morning from a PSA courier

“The money would come in these brown paper bags, together with a handwritten note with my instructions for the day. It was more money than I’d ever seen in my life,” a tearful Dr Edwards admitted.

“I would always a cut to James Meager. The deal was that he would do my dirty work, when I didn’t want my name associated with something. In return he got 30% of everything. The rest was my own.

“I spent up bigtime. Fast cars, boats, a chalet in the Swiss Alps, but still I had more money than I knew what to do with.

“I knew I was in over my head, but I couldn’t say no. Here was I, just some nerdy politics lecturer, and suddenly I had cash to spend and all the hottest women in Dunedin wanted to be with me.”

Imperator Fish continues:

Dr Edwards told Paul Holmes that he had tried to escape from the arrangement.

“I tried. I told my PSA minders that I’d had enough, and that I was sick of having to write whatever they told me. That was my biggest mistake. The next day David Farrar turned up on my doorstep. I still have nightmares about what he did to me.

“After than I never questioned my orders.”

Trevor Mallard said he was delighted to have uncovered such a ruthless and cynical assault on democracy in New Zealand.

“I knew I was onto something as soon as Edwards started to say unkind things about the Labour Party. That was his first mistake. I’ve always said that as bad as the National Party may be, the real enemy are the traitors on the left.

“I’ve learned to uncover these conspiracies, having read The Hollow Men back to back at least fifty times. If Bryce Edwards isn’t a secret Don Brash supporter, then I know nothing.”

Again I commend Trevor and Clare for unmasking the great VRWNLLWC.

Chris Trotter, in a thread at Red Alert, proposes a media policy for Labour, being:

1) Establishes an hypothocated Broadcasting Fund large enough to sustain an independent, publicly-owned, free-to-air television and radio network, with statutory obligations to deliver quality, locally-produced content to all New Zealanders.

I actually am reasonably supportive of this aim. We currently pour $230 million a year into public broadcasting, and a BBC-style broadcaster could be affordable with that money. However the challenge is to stop it becoming a mouth-piece for the left, as so many public broadcasters do. As they are taxpayer funded, they have an incentive to support parties that wish to increase taxes.

The idea of a dedicated fund, so it is not directly taxpayer funded has some merit. What I would do is sell off TVNZ entirely, and use the proceeds from it to establish such a fund.

2) Prohibits the cross-ownership of media platforms (i.e. a newspaper cannot also own a radio station, or a television network – and vice-versa).

3) Restricts the private ownership of the news media to New Zealand citizens – who will be barred from owning more than a single media outlet (i.e. one newspaper, one radio station, one TV station).

When you take these two together, it would kill off almost every newspaper in NZ. Making money out of a newspaper is getting very difficult. Fairfax and APN manage it because they can share resources and copy. If you implemented Comrade Trotter’s manifesto then I’d say the number of newspapers in New Zealand would shrink to around three or four.

Chris would have every single radio station, newspaper and TV station owned by a different New Zealander. My rough count is we have close to 100 newspapers and 200 radio stations. I suspect many of those would disappear lacking owners willing to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars on them.

4) Creates a Media Complaints Tribunal with wide powers to ensure fairness, balance and accuracy in all forms of media.

Good God. I hate to think. Will it have the power to actually take over news-rooms to ensure “fairness” or just to imprison journalists who do not do what the state tells them is fair?

Someone has edited many different clips of Nigella Lawson together to form a rather x-rated clip. NSFW but rather funny.

TV3 report:

Auckland Councillor Cameron Brewer says it is very disappointing the Labour Party’s Auckland Central candidate Jacinda Ardern has deliberately ignored official advice around election hoardings.

On Tuesday Auckland Council’s senior lawyer Wendy Brandon advised candidates that election signs are allowed up from 12.00am, Monday 26 September – two calendar months prior to the 26 November general election. Signs up around Auckland today breach the Electoral (Advertisements of a Specified Kind) Regulations 2005 bylaw.

“Like every other party, Labour was given very specific legal advice from the council but deliberately chose to breach the bylaw. It’s very disappointing and only reflects poorly on them.”

Cameron Brewer says people who are annoyed by signs up illegally today, or poorly placed given the Rugby World Cup, should report them to the council by phoning (09) 301-0101.

Well that wasn’t a bad game at all. After 30 minutes NZ had a bigger lead over France than Australia had managed against the United States.The final score of 37-17 was possibly generous towards the French.

Was great to see Richie McCaw get presented with a literal cap for his 100th test cap – the first All Black to achieve this. Was also moving to see an obviously ill Jock Hobbs present it to him.

Today

• 3.30 pm – Fiji v Samoa at Eden Park. Go Samoa, who should have a supportive crowd
• 6.00 pm – Ireland v Russia at Rotorua. Russia are the under dogs but I have to support Ireland.
• 8.30 pm – Argentina v Scotland in Wellington. As my maternal family tree includes 12 generations of Scots, they’re my pick.

NewstalkZB reports:

Act leader Don Brash is calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis.

He says prohibition of the drug hasn’t worked, and policing it costs millions of tax payer dollars and clogs up the court system.

He’s told TVNZ’s Q&A programme there are other ways to restrict the use of marijuana.

“It’s estimated thousands of New Zealanders use cannabis on a fairly regular basis, 6,000 are prosecuted every year, a $100million of tax payers money is spent to police this law,” says My Brash.

I’m delighted to see ACT pushing socially liberal policies as well as economically liberal policies. And I agree with Don – I do think cannabis should be decriminalised, with the emphasis being to treat it as a health issue.

John Boscawen has just announced he is effectively retiring from Parliament at the election. He will continue as candidate for Tamaki but has pulled out of the party list.

John was the only current caucus member standing again for election. His retirement means that the post-election caucus will be 100% turnover – a first I suspect for a political party.

He is citing wanting to spend more time with his family:

“It was an incredibly hard decision not to seek re-election because I believe it is vital for the future of New Zealand that ACT is successful on election day.  However, being a Member of Parliament can be extremely demanding and time-consuming, and I haven’t been able to give my family as much time as they deserve.

“After much consideration, I’ve decided that my family must come first.  However, I will continue to stand as ACT’s candidate in the Tamaki electorate to do everything I can to help ACT win as many party votes as possible.”

There will obviously be speculation on whether anything specifically occurred that led to this decision. Boscawen was one of the few people not involved in the factional politics, and has been a very solid MP. His departure is a blow for them, but is good news for Don Nicolson and David Seymour whose chances of coming in as a List MP are enhanced.

If Cactus Kate had ended up No 3 on the ACT List, this would have made her No 2 and arguably in line to be Deputy Leader 🙂

Yesterday

Went to the USA vs Australia game last night. We grabbed dinner beforehand at the Trade Kitchen and even from there could see hundreds of people walking past in USA colours, many of them wearing US flags.

In the stadium, it was much the same. There were certainly a lot of Aussie supporters also, but far far more dressed up to support the US. And the crowd was so pro-US, that I suspect it might be the biggest home crowd they’ve ever had.

The first 30 minutes or so the US did amazingly well – especially considering it was their B team vs the Australian A team. The Wallabies went 10-0 up in the first 15 minutes, but then for around 10 minutes Team USA were all attack and constantly close to the Australian line, and finally at 25 minutes they scored a try and the stadium went wild.

Australia scored only two more tries in the first half so 22-5 was pretty respectable. However the difference between a professional and an amateur team shone through in the second half as USA were obviously exhausted and Australia scored seven tries in the second half with ease to make it 67-5. Just before full-time Faingaa knocked himself out an after tacking an American. It took almost ten minutes for him to be taken off the field.

The atmosphere was great, and people happy despite the result. I notice Derek Cheng went undercover as an Aussie fan to see if he got abused, and Wellingtonians were very well behaved.

Tonight

England play Romania in Dunedin at 6 pm. Let’s hope they can manage a gypsy curse or two.

Of course the big game is NZ v France at Eden Park starting 8.30 pm. I’m a bit nervous about this one. The French seem t be our bogeys at RWCs. I’ll be pleased with a win, regardless of the margin.

Am attending the Aotearoa Student Press Association Awards tonight , so unless they have coverage there will catch a recording of the game when I get home.

Tomorrow

• 3.30 pm – Fiji v Samoa at Eden Park. Go Samoa, who should have a supportive crowd
• 6.00 pm – Ireland v Russia at Rotorua. Russia are the under dogs but I have to support Ireland.
• 8.30 pm – Argentina v Scotland in Wellington. As my maternal family tree includes 12 generations of Scots, they’re my pick.

All images in the crossword were drawn by and copyright to Shaun Yeo of the Southland Times.

I understand that the Green Party have de-selected their Hamilton West candidate, after the controversy over the Waikato Times article where his partner said she was a swinging voter who had decided to support the Greens, without revealing her partner was the local Green candidate.

John Pagani blogs with a photo of a hoarding in Manawatu for the National Party candidate for Rangitikei.

The problem is the under the bylaws of the Manawatu District Council, no hoardings are allowed until two months before the election which is Sunday/Monday.

Now by itself that may not be the biggest issue around, as a few candidates have gone early (which they shouldn’t). But what makes this one very stupid is the National candidate is also the Mayor of the Manawatu District Council.

Someone should be getting their arse kicked for what is a very bad look of hypocrisy.

Some cunning engineering students at Caterbury University managed to lure the PM in to their building with a large sign in the window saying “John mate, come for a yarn with your country’s future engineers”.

The PM diverted from his schedule to do just that, and popped in. He told them a story and said they need to “get off their arse” and study harder.

Then they challenged him to pit his best security guard against their best arm wrestler – a large student known as “Maddog”. The DPS played ball and the wrestle off occured, with a fine victory to “Maddog”. The PM did quip that if he had known of the challenge he could have bought down some truly enormous officers!

I saw He Reo Aroha on Wednesday night at Circa. It’s a Kiwi love story. I’m not a big love story kind of person so wasn’t sure if it would be my thing. And for the first 20 minutes or so my doubts remained. But as the play went on, I got more and more caught up with the characters and more and more wanted to see how it would end – who would die, who would live, and would it be happy ever after.

The two actors were Kali Kopae and Jamie McCaskill. Kopae is an amazing singer, whom I had seen before as one of the Beatgirls. I had also seen McCaskill previously as the titled role in Robin Hood.

Not only were they both great singers and actors, but they had real chemistry together. Kopae played Kaia a young Maori girl who left behind her childhood sweetheart to hit the big time in New York as a singer. However her career doesn’t fill the ache in her heart.

McCaskill plays Pascoe. Like Kaia he can sing, but his duty is to help his father on the fishing boats. Eventually he gains his own boat as he throws himself into his fishing career, to fill the void left by Kaia.

Eventually Kaia returns to New Zealand to try and rekindle the relationship. But it isn’t that easy of course. There’s rough seas (literally and figuratively) ahead and tragedy.

What I liked about the play is it isn’t just a love story, but very much a New Zealand love story. The accents, the mannerisms, the shyness, the job in the packing factory, the fishing all ground the story firmly as a Maori and New Zealand one.

The show lasts for 75 minutes and runs until next Friday (30th). Both myself and Contractor Girl thought it was excellent and enjoyed the experience.

My column at the NZ Herald is over the different party’s positions on the police surveillance law.

This week on The Nation

A PROGRAMME WITH A STRONG FRENCH INFLUENCE —-
1. Duncan Garner and the sharemarket meltdown: Nick Tuffley, ASB Chief Economist; Camel Fisher, Managing Director, Fisher Funds (plus possible additions).
2. French Ambassador, Francis Etienne with Sean on our “difficult” relationship.
3. Natasha Smith looks back the colourful career of ACT MP, Rodney Hide.
4. Sean Plunket in depth with Rodney Hide
5. Sunday Edition Panel: Nicolas Espitalier, Sud Ouest newspaper (France); Lynn McConnell, Sportal website and historian.

SATURDAY 23/09/11 1030 — SUNDAY EDITION 24/09/11 0830 — TV3

Coming up this Sunday on Q + A

EXCLUSIVE
On Q+A this Sunday morning we have an exclusive interview with the man tipped to be Pakistan’s next Prime Minister – cricket legend Imran Khan.
In a frank interview with Guyon Espiner, Khan talks about his ambitions, the crooks that run Pakistan, America’s drones, the failed war against terrorists and his very personal and candid account of having to face death.

LAW & ORDER
Last election it was the three strikes law. What will ACT’s law and order policy be this time?
Paul Holmes previews Don Brash’s big law and order speech with the ACT leader. Do we need to get even tougher on crime? Or have we tipped too far already?

SOCIAL WELFARE
And then one of the most hotly contested debates this election, Social Welfare.
So before the politicians start campaigning, Guyon Espiner talks to Peter Hughes, the outgoing head of the Ministry of Social Development. Named public sector boss of the year two years running and the man who does the hard work of helping struggling Kiwis find work, we’ll talk about the difficulties of getting people off welfare and what needs to change.

PANEL
Joining Dr Claire Robinson on the panel this week are political strategist John Pagani and former ACT MP Stephen Franks.

Q+A, 9-10am Sundays on TV ONE.
Repeats at 9.10pm Sundays, 10.10am and 2.10pm Mondays on TVNZ 7

The United States has mad conspiracy theorists on the right and the left. Those on the left are the truthers who are convinced Bush and Cheney blew up the Twin Towers and blamed it on poor old Osama. Those on the right are or were the birthers who were convinced that Obama was born in Kenya, and that his grand mother placed a fake birth notice in Hawaii in August 1961 just in case one day he decided to stand for President.

Back home we don’t have truthers or birthers, but instead the Labour Party Campaign Manager Trevor Mallard. He blogs:

Interesting disclosure from David Farrar yesterday. He, along with Matthew Hooton, and (waste of members money) PSA are bankrolling Bryce Edwards, one of the few remaining supporters of the Alliance, to provide the political commentary which mainly attacks Labour and the Greens from the looney left. The guy makes Margaret Mutu look like a well balanced academic.

As we all know the majority of Farrar’s income comes from the taxpayer via a “research” arrangement.

I wonder if Bill English signed the deal off or whether it was just a nod and a wink.

So Bill English secretly instructed me to secretly fund Bryce Edwards, so Bryce would attack Labour. With such insight, Trevor could apply to join either the birthers or the truthers.

First it is interesting to note his portrayal of Dr Edwards as more unbalanced than Margaret Mutu (who called for a ban on white immigration). This may come as a surprise to his many colleagues who have been interviewed by Dr Edwards for the OU Vote Chat series. His attack on Dr Edwards may remind readers of his attacks on Erin Leigh and others, and are perhaps a salient reminder of what awaits people if Labour gets back into Government.

I do wonder what Trevor’s colleague, tertiary education spokesperson Grant Robertson, thinks of Trevor’s attacking of an academic for his political views.

I should point out at this stage that Dr Edwards is what one would call left-wing. Like John Pagani, he used to work for the Alliance in Parliament around 10 years ago. It is of course very unusual for an academic to be left-wing. Almost unheard of.

Now let us get to Trevor’s discovery of this big secret, the sponsorship of NZ Politics Daily. It was a closely guarded secret until I revealed it in Stuff yesterday. Oh except for the fact that every single issues for the last few months has said:

New Zealand Politics Daily is produced independently by Bryce Edwards, Department of Politics, University of Otago, with the help of a research assistant who is paid for by the sponsorship of:
Curia Market Research – the place to go if you want to know what New Zealanders are thinking
Exceltium Ltd – New Zealand’s most successful corporate and public affairs consultancy
PSA – the public sector union advocating for strong public services and decent work.

On top of this daily disclosure by Dr Edwards, I blogged on the sponsorship back in June. The $100/week Curia pays doesn’t go to Bryce but to a research assistant who compiles the scores of stories included in the e-mail edition. I find the compilation incredibly useful as it lists every political story and major blog post for the day, and often discover stories I would have missed through it.

There is absolutely no input or influence over what Bryce writes as an intro summary to the daily bulletin. I would say I disagree with Bryce’s take on things probably twice as often as I agree with one! To give an example of some of Bryce’s recent summaries which in Trevor’s fantasy world Bill English is paying for:

• This could be the year of the Greens – finally they might crack the 10% mark that has eluded them in every general election so far. And with the popular demise of Labour and the ideological confusion of Mana, the Green Party might end up being the real success story for the leftish side of the political spectrum.
• With patience to delve through this analysis, anyone should be able see that the Police modus operandi and the Government’s attempts to help the Police out are rather outrageous.
• The politics-free zone of the Rugby World Cup was supposed to deprive the Opposition parties of any significant media publicity in the main period leading up to the general election – but it might not quite work out as National intended. … Of course, the RWC opening night debacle has tarnished National’s competency reputation … Labour and the Greens are not just basking in National’s woes, however, but seem to be proactively attempting to get their messages out to the public while National has its mind on other things. During the last day or so, Labour and the Greens have been announcing all sorts of policies and campaigns. Labour’s policy on the Christchurch rebuild, in particular, might gain it some real kudos
• There is no doubt that the National Government deserves the pressure that is currently being applied over the shambles of the Rugby World Cup opening night. …But the fiasco has certainly taken the shine off the National Government’s general appearance of competency. Murray McCully’s days as a minister suddenly seemed numbered.
• National needs to be reminded that most people believe that we have governments and collective responsibility so people can feel protected from these bolts from the blue. 
• Another chapter in the saga of malicious bungling by the Police has come to a ridiculous end with charges being dropped against 11 of the accused in the Urewera ‘terror’ case
• Another chapter in the saga of malicious bungling by the Police has come to a ridiculous end with charges being dropped against 11 of the accused in the Urewera ‘terror’ case
• The National Party list for the 2011 general election is disappointing and boring.
• John Key hasn’t let the fact that he has not actually read Nicky Hager’s book stop him from voicing the same arrogant dismissiveness we saw in evidence in his initial handling of the Israeli spy allegations and the work of journalist Jon Stephenson on Afghanistan.
• Apparently there will be a ‘welcoming committee’ there to greet the National Party ministers and thank them for all that they’ve done to start to rebuild the city. Unfortunately for National, this sarcastic ‘thank you’ will be in the form of a protest against the way that the city is being rebuilt

I don’t mind Trevor’s mad conspiracy theories involving me and Bill English. They are at least amusing, even if often copied from Whale Oil.

But I do think he owes Dr Edwards an apology for impuging his integrity.

Matthew Hooton is less kind to Trevor in his blog post, and Whale is his normal gentle self. Also Keeping Stock chips in.

Finally a video reminder of Trevor  at his finest, courtesy of Whale.

UPDATE: I’m relaxed about Trevor’s defamatory comments and have better things to do than talk to lawyers, But I understand others who were named are not so forgiving and have consulted their lawyers. No parliamentary privilege for Red Alert. Could be an expensive exercise for them as not only is Trevor liable but so is the Labour Parliamentary Party as the blog publisher.

Answers tomorrow at 12.00 pm

All images in the crossword were drawn by and copyright to Shaun Yeo of the Southland Times.

Waldo Kuipers from Microsoft NZ blogs some advice on how account holders can avoid being stung under the new copyright law.  Well worth a read if you are an account holder and more than just yourself use the account. His main points are:

1. Set clear expectations about internet use
2. Cover the Internet security basics
3. Remove unwanted peer to peer file sharing software
4. Consider monitoring on restricting Internet use

No biking mishaps today, and now I have coffee. Perfect.

So on to the photo; keeping up with the spring theme 🙂

I can see my nest from here

Click for larger, higher res image