By Bernard Hickey
With three weeks to go until the September 20 election, here's my daily round-up of political news on Saturday August 30, including Prime Minister John Key's announcement he had accepted Judith Collins' resignation as Justice Minister after he received a copy of a 2011 email from Cameron Slater saying Collins was "gunning" for Serious Fraud Office Director Adam Feeley.
Collins later appeared in Auckland and read a statement denying she had pressured Feeley to leave and said she had been subject to a two year-long smear campaign.
Collins said Feeley had been an excellent head of the SFO and had remained on after Collins moved to another portfolio, and that the State Services Commissioner had investigated and not found any untoward behaviour.
She refused to take questions. Feeley resigned in 2012 three years into a five year term and is now CEO of the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
"The election should be focused on the issues that matter such as law and order, health, education and the economy and I do not want this matter to be a distraction for the Prime Minister or the National Party during the campaign," she said
"This has been an extremely distressing and disappointing time," she said, adding she could not control what others said about her or that others (referring to Cameron Slater) might leverage off her name.
Key appeared before reporters in Parliament to announce Collins' resignation.
"The relationship between a Minister and their Chief Executive is vital, and goes right to the heart of a trusted, effective government," he said, adding the email raised questions about her judgement.
“This new information suggests Ms Collins may have been engaged in discussions with a blogger in 2011 aimed at undermining the then Director of the Serious Fraud Office. Ms Collins was the Minister responsible for the SFO at the time," Key said.
His office took the unusual step of publishing the email.
'Gunning for Feeley'
The email from Slater to "Mark" and PR man Carrick Graham refer to an orchestrated campaign to bring down Feeley, involving Slater, Cathy Odgers (Cactus Kate) and Graham briefing journalists.
Here is the released portion of the email in full (key portion bolded):
Ok guys here is an update on the state of play on Adam Feeley.
Today is the 4th straight day of headlines and additional revelations about Adam Feeley
I am maintaining daily communications with Jared Savage at the Herald and he is passing information directly to me that the Herald can't run and so are feeding me to run on the blog. in the meantime I also have additional information flowing in via my tipline. That information will be drip fed into the media or via my blog.Cathy can outline her contact with Fran O'Sullivan separately. Basically though the Herald and other media are now picking up our lines that this situation is like "Caesar's Wife" where the SFO must be beyond reproach. If he nicked a bottle of wine what else has he nicked or hidden from receivers and liquidators?
So far the Herald has been running NBR to publish on Friday. Cathy will be chatting with Jock Anderson and I will cover Matt Nippert.
Our (Cathy's) nickname for Feeley (Five Fingers Feeley) has stuck. journalists ringing me actually use to describe Feeley now in phone conversations.
I also spoke at length with the Minister responsible today (Judith Collins). She is gunning for Feeley. Any information that we can provide her on his background is appreciated. I have outlined for her a coming blog post about the massive staff turnover and she has added that to the review of the State Services Commissioner. She is using the review of these events to go on a trawl looking for anything else. It is my opinion that Feeley's position is untenable.
I have also arranged with Matthew Hooton for iPredict (https://www.ipredict.co.nz) the prediction markets to have a new stock released so people can invest on the probability of Adam Feeley getting the sack before Christmas or leaving.
Key said he had spoken to Collins about the matters raised in the email.
"Ms Collins accepts these are serious allegations and that resigning as a Minister is the honourable step to take in these circumstances," Key said.
At the short news conference, Key said Collins had a different version of events, but it was not tenable for him to ignore it as Prime Minister.
"It's not tenable for her to carry on as minister until these issues are resolved," he said.
"This fits in to the category of a very serious statement. The statement could be completely wrong, it could completely misrepresent the situation. But I can't let that rest unresolved," he said.
'Not in Cabinet after election'
Key said that if National was re-elected Collins would not be re-appointed to cabinet, at least not for some time.
"She won't be in cabinet, it doesn't mean she can't be at some point in the future, but that would rely on her clearing herself of these allegations," he said.
Key rejected suggestions he should have sacked her earlier over controversies around her dinner in China with Oravida directors and a customs official, or the revelations in the 'Dirty Politics' book over her releasing an official's name to Slater.
He said he would have accepted her resignation over the latest email regardless of the other events, although he acknowledged the accumulation of issues.
"She may need to take a little time to reflect as well. There's been one or two slips in recent times," he said.
Key said a copy of the email had been sent to his Chief of Staff Wayne Eagleson on Friday and he had considered it overnight, before talking to Collins and then accepting her resignation.
Slater comments
Slater said Collins had been taken down by 1,000 cuts by a "sustained campaign by the left," adding "they know the danger she poses."
"As Judith and I are friends, I am gutted for her,'' he wrote on his blog.
Later he talked to journalists outside his townhouse in Flat Bush.
TVNZ reported he read a statement saying: "Judith Collins has now been taken down by death by a thousand cuts."
He said he had embellished his comments and "talking up a big game," about his conversation with Collins in the email, although he did not deny he wrote or sent the email. He described himself as a victim and that
"If Judith Collins was gunning for someone she'd have got them," he said.
"Embellish is a good word. It's better than lie isn't it?."
Slater was then asked what he would do about Collins' resignation. He said: "I always give back double" and "Judith always gives back double."
Slater told NewstalkZB that Collins was an innocent party in the matter and was the "victim of a criminal conspiracy by a criminal hacker."
"That's me talking big. So what?," he said.
He said his only regret was using Gmail.
Slater later said he would be reporting the Prime Minister to the Privacy Commissioner for releasing the email and that Key would a "temporary Prime Minister."
FMA next? More to come?
Meanwhile, Stuff reported that the Sunday Star Times had been due to publish an article tomorrow from the emails.
"They detail a covert public relations campaign including attacks on the credibility of the SFO and Financial Markets Authority," Hamish Rutherford and Kelly Dennett wrote in Stuff.
Elsewhere, Hooten said he expected a Facebook conversation between Judith Collins and Cameron Slater to be released by 'Whaledump' on Sunday.
3News' Patrick Gower suggested that the Mark referred to in the email was Mark Hotchin of Hanover Finance, who was subject to investigations by SFO at the time. Carrick Graham was a spokesman for Hotchin at the time.
'Hacked for being a 'pr**k'
Elsewhere, 'Dirty Politics' author Nicky Hager told a Christchurch book festival audience why the hacker now known as 'Whaledump' on Twitter and also referred to elsewhere as 'Rawshark' hacked into Cameron Slater's accounts.
‘‘I know him [the hacker] well now, and I trust him,’’ he said. ‘‘His motivation was that Cameron Slater was a bastard and we’ll do him over," Hager said, adding he had taken weeks to convince the hacker not to simply release the documents on the Internet.
‘‘The reason he attacked him was he thought he was a pr**k,’ Hager said.
(Updated with more detail on email and Hager's comments on why Whaledump hacked Slater, more comments from Slater about 'embellishing' his conversation with Collins, Hotchin link)
I'll update this regularly through the day.
See all my previous election diaries here.
See the index for Interest.co.nz's special election policy comparison pages here.
53 Comments
Little Johnny & the Gnats would've sleepwalked their way to a third term in government , but for the past & present shenanigans of Crusher Collins .... she has single handedly underminded the Gnats campaign in a way Cunliffe and the Dirty Tricksters can only dream of , the gift that just keeps giving ....
... far from being seen as a possible future leader of the Gnats ... she ought to be seen leaving the Beehive Last-Chance Saloon as soon as possible ... don't let the doors whack you on the arse as you leave , Judith .... ABC ... anyone but Collins ...
Career over !
Now what did I tell you years ago GBH about Crusher being the epitome of smug arrogance, as I said to you at that time the Justice Minister should be held in contempt.
Anyhoo not over yet me old drover,just a little tweak more by Wed or Thurs enough to make a reporter blush.......That said Mon Ami I doubt Labour can win even while it's being giftwrapped for them......that is how poor the depth of opposition has become , when they (the constituent) stand there with the pencil and begin a process of nah nope , cant really do that,not them either, cetainly not them.....lemme seeee now who's left, aw bugger it's the Nats or Winnie.........................bastardos!
How the heck is any Minister meant to be able to do their job and ensure the bureaucrats and public servants are held accountable?
Judith Collins only mistake here is the one of being annoyed that civil servant conduct is not up to the acceptable standard. I would be P*^sed Off too.
As a tax payer I don't want any public servant or bureaucrat stealing from me or other tax payers!!! I also expect elected representatives to do their job and ensure that these types of incidents don't remain hidden behind closed doors.....
Adam Feeley took the wine.....and shouted his staff for the good work they had done in regards to Bridgecorp. This is disgusting behaviour and is worse than common or petty theft type incidents as it is committed by people in a position of trust.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/feeleys-emailed-apology-released-mn-102743
The Minister is the one at the top. The Minsters as a group are the ones to whom we have delegated the task of setting these things up safely (so bureaucrats and accountabililty and transparency are there.)
"How the heck" you ask?
The answer is plain. It's their job, that is exactly what they have been elected to do. If the laws are stopping the responsibilities to NZ, then it is the Ministers _duty_ to find, fix and repair the laws.
They are the top of the system, and have privileges to allow them to achieve these things. Not for secret TPPA deals that the majority in all invovled countries do not want. Not for scamming more equity and income off the NZ people.
so when I hear The Minister of Justice claiming she's a victim, that the nasty criminals are smearing her, then I'm so glad she's gone because she obviously isn't doing her job
Don't get me wrong Cowboy I am very pleased to see Collins go......but I won't play the guilty until proven innocent game. And there sure as hell is going to be numerous inquiries all at the tax payers expense.
Everyone in business knows that you can have all the policies and rules in the world but some employees just can't follow the procedures....or they interpret the rules and policies to encompass something that was never intended....We only have to look at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights....to see a bastadised interpretation of the original intent.
If you want transparency and accountability by Politicians and bureaucrats then I would have the whole lot out in the open.....every email, every discussion, every $ spent and what it was spent on etc, should be displayed. Without this we are all fooling ourselves on the transparency and accountability front.
The current system is set up that the common people have to be transparent and accountable to every bureaucrat and regulator without them having to reciprocate on the same terms.
One of the issues that appears to not be getting any mention is the fact that Labour and its coalition partners were asleep at the wheel when all these Finance Companies were failing and where is the inquiry into those Politicians that failed the country back then?
Collins may have done something manky behaviour wise but she is also paying the price of that behaviour......
If one of your employees didn't follow procedure or some other practice of a similar nature (theft of a calf or two perhaps)......How would you handle it? Especially if you had to get more information first.
How would I handle it? How am I handling it you mean? Fortunately they're honest folk so not stealing, but every day there's a few things.... my pre-breakfast emergency work today was to pull rotting afterbirth out of the effluent stonetrap.
It had _fortunately_ washed up against the outlet pipe into the pumping sump and blocked it, causing the system to flood into some backup channels. They know they have to pick the stuff up, because it jams the pumps or gets stuck in the underground distribution to spreader pipework - but "its yucky" and so if they don't look then they don't see it.
So how do *I* handle it?
I end up paying the price. And NZ is going to end up paying the price if we don't get some folks in place to put the action in place. Otherwise NZ is going to end up in a worse situation than I was this morning....
Also updated with Slater telling NewstalkZB that Collins was an innocent party in the matter and was the "victim of a criminal conspiracy by a criminal hacker."
"That's me talking big. So what?," he said, describing the email as "pub talk."
He said his only regret was using Gmail.
cheers
Bernard
Yes it's been an exciting afternoon. Winston's remark though is important. If John Key was not going to punish her completely he would not be saying she won't be minister after the election. Winston says take not of Key's comment that even if she was found innocent he won't have her back.
The factions within the National Party are partly revealed by the Dirty Politics book. I bet a lot of Nats would have a lot to add though. I lent my copy to someone else, but my memory is that her allies are Mark Mitchell, Sam ? and Louise Upston at least. Also the new candidates in safe electorates like the tobacco man in Bill English's electorate. These are all part of the campaign for the right of the Nats to take over. Simon Lusk's plan is to sew up all those safe National seats. And Lusk worked with Slater to discredit the National opponents of their favoured right wing candidates.
More to unwind yet.
To True KH and once Hooten sees just how much poo is going to stick to him , he will sing like a canary if he has not already begun to .....
Your real problem is how on earth to get anything to stick to Teflon John when anything he may authorize is done in the third person , where any understanding he may have of impropriety is understood by his office but not himself necessarily.........
It is almost as if it would have been better that John Key had fired Judith the first, second or third time she was shown to have poor judgement. I guess even Johnny can only give 4 second chances. If he had of given her the flick the first time National would still be 100% still be the government after the election.
... I was on my very last and final last last warning at my work too ... much alike Crusher Collins was ... until the board of directors sacked the M.D. , 'cos he was an even bigger toss-pot than me ...
And I didn't think that was possible ....
... wonder if Wild Bill is similarly sighting up JK's back for the softest spot to implant a knife , after the election ?
.. strictly speaking , we currently have no Prime Minister ... as we're in election mode , and parliament is dissolved , Jolly Kid is simply the leader of the ruling party ...
Slater needs to crawl back into the woodwork , and take a breather ....
... during this election campaign we've kinda overdosed on him and on Dotcom .... and neither of them are politicians ...
there are a couple of questions I would like journalists to put to the Prime Minister, if he would stand still long enough to answer them.
- Is Cathy Odgers the source of the email? (I am pretty sure from Slater's comments he knows who the retracted name on the email "retracted to protect the source" was, after all he sent it)
- While the Prime Minister's Office may have received the email on Friday, were they aware of the email before Friday? Was anyone outside the Prime Minister's Office but reporting to or briefing the Prime Minister aware of the email before Friday? This relates to Hooton's claim to have been contacted from the Beehive on Wednesday.
Mind you, what I expect the Prime Minister to say is that the matter is now before the Privacy Commisioner and it would be inappropriate to comment on an active investigation until it is complete in a few months. oh, and to repeat that at the end of the day it is not something New Zealander's should bother themselves about.
Well strictly speaking we do have a PM. As you well know Gummy, the PM and all the other ministers are appointed by the G-G and continue to hold their warrants until the G-G says otherwise. Those roles exist to run the executive arm of government so the status of Parliament is irrelevant.
And you will well remember the constitutional crisis in 1984 when Muldoon refused to give up even after he had comprehensively lost the election. Until Lange was sworn in by the G-G Muldoon remained PM with all the attendant powers. As Key does and his remaining ministers until the new govt is ready to be sworn in.
Unless you are Muldoon causing a constitutional crisis, the PM is supposed to be leading a caretaker government that consults with the Leader of the Opposition about major new events. Now, legally they can't be forced to, so it is really up to public opinion (causing a consitutional crisis is probably not of much concern outside of legal/ judical circles). It does continue to make the case for some kind of written constiution though.
Kate will probably know but I think all we have to prescribe the conduct of the government during elections and the handover period is the beefed up cabinet manual.
While I appreciate that GBH enjoys making mischief of one kind or another there never is a time when the country does not have a PM or Acting PM.
No, we're not yet in that caretaker government stage. See Cabinet manual describing that here;
http://www.cabinetmanual.cabinetoffice.govt.nz/6.16
The present government can't pass any laws, as Parliament is not sitting, but they can still make regulations, spend money and direct officials. They are still the Government - with a big G.
I think what people like Palmer have been taking about is that past Governments have been voluntarily restricting their actions as in section 6.9
"6.9 In the period immediately before a general election, the government is not bound by the caretaker convention unless the election has resulted from the government losing the confidence of the House. (See paragraphs 6.16 - 6.35 for information about the caretaker convention.) Successive governments, however, have chosen to restrict their actions to some extent at this time, in recognition of the fact that an election, and therefore potentially a change of government, is imminent."
He was moved on before we got answers. There were a lot of questions unanswed on this blog at the time.
Financial fraud still around - Feeley
"We had a case come in during the last couple of weeks - we can't at this stage give details other than to say there are a lot of things that concerns us. The scale, on what we saw is certainly the potential for tens of millions and doing crude calculations it could be up to $250 million," Feeley said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7383655/SFO-investigating-250m-fr… He looked effective to me. Wiki Feeley says there are fundamental misconceptions about New Zealand's ranking as one of the world's least corrupt countries. And that 'incorrect' perception is part of the reason directors feel so smug about resisting formalised anti-corruption and values-based corporate policies.[6] He dismisses the significance of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index that ranks New Zealand as the world's least corrupt nation. “All that survey tells us is how people feel about life here. How they feel and what is actually happening are quite different things. The CPI is nothing more than a perception.” Feeley points to the results of a more recent survey conducted by the SFO which found only 37% of New Zealanders think we are 'largely free' of serious fraud and corruption. And 60% think those who commit financial crime are not held to accoun
A couple of good posts there Andrewj. This to me is the heart of the matter.
Kiwis wealth and prosperity is protected by many very important public institutions. The Serious Fraud Office, the Commerce Commission, Supreme Court Judges and so on.
I would say the health of our democratic institutions are more important than cows, water and grass to our collective wellbeing.
There is evidence that the executive -Collins, Key or at least that poorly defined thing called the Prime Ministers Office are donkey deep in undermining those democratic institutions for their own personal political advantage.
Corruption is present in NZ. Not the white envelope full of cash kind but the kind of certain power elites having undue influence of a secretitieve nature on public bodies.
This is undermining the benefits the rest of us should be getting from having effective public institutions.
I don't think it is enough to kick out the National party until they learn to play ball fairly.
I think New Zealand needs some neutral referee position that provides a check on the executive.
My favoured method of achieving this would for Parliament to unanimously appoint the Speaker (all the MPs should be locked in Parliament without recess until they decide).
That it is the Speaker's responsibility to appoint senior civil servants, process Official Information Releases, appoint judges, make recommendations for Knighthoods and so on.
I believe that would change the culture within the Public sphere. Merit, hard work and effectiveness would be rewarded. Windvane brown nosing would not.
Corruption is present in NZ. Not the white envelope full of cash kind...
I think it comes in the white envelope full of cash kind as well.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10650068
For a bit more entertainment - have a listen to Mark Sainsbury's programme on RadioLive, Sunday starting at 10.15am;
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx
All the kings horses and all the kings men (and women) ...
Who set salaries in NZ, something is wrong. It looks like a corrupt Cabal from the outside. How can you justify that much to run such a small business?
Roche was picked to head NZ Post in October last year and is believed to receive an annual salary of $1,180,000. Thats just an insult to hard working Kiwis.
Kiwi gets Wal-Mart's top US job
It is understood his annual salary will be $US950,000 and is in line for company stock options based on performance. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=112… But how big is Walmart really? The numbers provided by Fortune are so insanely large that they're hard to wrap your head around in the abstract. So I did a little digging and came up with some pretty stunning comparisons. According to Fortune, Walmart sold $421,849,000,000 worth of stuff last year. The largest purchase most of us will ever make is our house: If all Walmart sold were new homes, which averaged $268,900 in April, that would be almost 1.59 million homes.That's also just about the same amount of money that the United States spent in 2009 for the entire year's worth of Medicare, the government program that provides health insurance to senior citizens and younger Americans who are permanently disabled. That $421.8 billion is also about $9 billion less thanTaiwan's 2010 gross domestic product -- the total value of the country's goods and services in a single year -- and $7 billion more than Norway's 2010 GDP. In other words, if Walmart were a country, it would be the 25th largest economy in the world. Speaking of countries, let's talk population: Fortune reports that 2.1 million people work at Walmart, which means there are about as many Walmart employees sprinkled across the globe as there are people living in the African country of Namibia (yes, that Namibia, where Angelina Jolie gave birth). There are another 95 countries with populations smaller than the retailer's sprawling workforce, including Botswana, Kosovo, The Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahrain, Cyprus, Qatar, Luxembourg, Belize,
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/28/walmarts-how-big-what-the-huge-n… Iceland, The Bahamas and Greenland.
Here is another example - some call it cronyism but I think it a bit more than that. NZ is a small place - so of course there will be many instances where conflicts of interest exist - but those can be easily dealt with via proper disclosures and open and transparent considerations and decision-making processes.
The problem I have with this one is that answering the OIA in a prompt manner should be to the advantage of the Minister concerned.. provided those disclosures are in place and a proper process was followed. To delay answering of the OIA just sends all the wrong signal.
http://linkis.com/polity.co.nz/content/dpVYe
"Kiwis wealth and prosperity is protected by many very important public institutions. The Serious Fraud Office, the Commerce Commission, Supreme Court Judges and so on."
Brendon please speak only on matters which you have tested, Had you tested some of these you would find what thousands of others have found "We must follow the letter of the law".
NZ is supposed to have three legs to keep NZ protected, two of those legs just take the money and are happy to be ignored, as long as "they're doing their jobs (as set by the corrupt) then they are not culpable for the damage." Classic employee style thinking. There is no interest in whistleblowing, they are interviewed for "doing the job and working with the team", not for moral or ethical character, indeed, that is most likely to get you fired/passed over.
The answer has been anecdoted many times...put politicians on median wage. You'll see some improvements in NZ then
Judith Collins has performed CPR on the NZ Labour Party .... Cunliffian Political Resusitation ....
... there is a parallel between Helen Clark's ineffectual handling of Winston Peters , when he proved to be a millstone around her neck ... and the lack of leadership John Key has displayed in not staunching the Crusher immediately after the Orivita scandel ...
The public don't like indecision ... the PM is the standard bearer for the country ...either you root out the toxicities immediately , or they fester and grow ...it's time to let the pus flow ...
Right wing plots to take over the National party. Wow, sounds just like how we ended up with Rogernomics. It was the Labour party they attacked then. Whoops, some right wingers are still in the Labour party.
Maybe best to control two parties rather than one.
Stuff the lot of them, vote for a third party, any third party but get rid of this lot.
You had your chance at a Common Sense Political Party.
Now see where your Political Aspirations have lead you up the garden path and up shite creek with out a paddle....and literally no one suitable to vote for.
Justice where are you?.
Corruption is endemic in politics, banking and buying votes and nothing to choose between them.
When you vote for more of the same...then what else do you expect.
Miracles.???
Seems nothing has changed in my absence.
Except the magnitudes.
No change in attitudes.
Smile and wave...
Bye buy..
You had your chance at a Common Sense Political Party.
Now see where your Political Aspirations have lead you up the garden path and up shite creek with out a paddle....and literally no one suitable to vote for.
Justice where are you?.
Corruption is endemic in politics, banking and buying votes and nothing to choose between them.
When you vote for more of the same...then what else do you expect.
Miracles.???
Seems nothing has changed in my absence.
Except the magnitudes.
No change in attitudes.
Smile and wave...
Bye buy..
And in today's "no matter how deep the hole, keep digging"
From the Mark Sainsbury show we find out why Hooton is happy to critise the Government. He is on the outer, and in a crony capitalism kind of way the government has been telling private companies that if they want to get work from the Government they had better not employ Hooton's PR company, even for matters unrelated.
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx
Government interfering with awarded contracts and private business would be a scandal in normal times, but now this is just backgrounder.
Also, in wake of the weekend, Consitutional Lawyers are pointing out that this is now a caretaker government and the conventions are that any business serious enough to take place after parliament was disolved and before the election (such as setting up an investigation into a Minister) should be agreed between the Caretaker Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
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