Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: PEDA: Who, what, where, why

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  • Kyle Matthews,

    I thought it was good to see a journalist doing some fact-checking before publishing rumours. Not always the case.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sylvie Zlami,

    Disgraceful behaviour from the Banks camp.
    Mind you, I didn't expect much more.
    Leopard ... spots ...

    auckland • Since Dec 2007 • 31 posts Report Reply

  • Raymond A Francis,

    Of course Len Brown could stop this

    story linking Len Brown's family to the Volare dinner in quite a creepy way.

    By just saying who was at this dinner that he put on the rate payer's credit card
    Simple really

    45' South • Since Nov 2006 • 578 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    In the meantime, it's like all the bullying and slandering is performing a public service. Yeah, I can see the logic there.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    Jesus + scrutiny = oxymoronic. What is it with whiteys and the J-bomb?

    By just saying who was at this dinner that he put on the rate payer's credit card
    Simple really

    Brown spoke with the Herald on Sunday after the Auditor-General chastened him for "mistakes" but decided not to further investigate personal spending on his city council credit card.

    That'll do for me. He's been chastened.

    Who are the front runners in the race besides these two lunatics?

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And while it's a bit late for Media 7, I'd love Mediawatch to put this Pasifika-flavoured question to the Radio Network. (Full disclosure: I'm a regular contributor to Public Address Radio. PAR is broadcast by Radio Live - a direct competitor to TRN station NewstalkZB.)

    David Fane cops a week's suspension for grossly offensive comments made off-air at a "media event".

    Will The Radio Network be taking a similarly zero tolerance approach to on-air fag-baiting and racist mouth-farts on Newstalk ZB and Radio Sports?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    By just saying who was at this dinner that he put on the rate payer's credit card
    Simple really

    Christ. It's not the ratepayers card. If it was, any rate payer could rock up and use it. People should be able to meet with the mayor and not have that become a public issue just because he paid for the meal. Disclosure about meetings shouldn't be about money, it should be entirely unrelated to that.

    Will The Radio Network be taking a similarly zero tolerance approach to on-air fag-baiting and racist mouth-farts on Newstalk ZB and Radio Sports?

    I'm going to take a stab at this one, and guess 'no', sadly.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Disclosure about meetings shouldn't be about money, it should be entirely unrelated to that.

    It seems worth noting that dozens of ministers from either major party have had exactly the same kind of expenses accepted without naming everyone (or anyone) at the table.

    Judith Collins spent $2000+ while in Canada on just that basis, iirc.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Roast beef...
    Perhaps an excerpt from The Aristocrats would show these cosseted media types what a real "celebrity roast" is like - Fane was there to push the envelope and barbecue sacred cows - a Lenny Brucellosis - so to speak...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Yes, I thought of the Aristocrats too in relation to the Fane incident (the guy at the roast right after 9/11). Not to mention Ricky Gervais' bit on Nietzsche and Hitler. And it seems the people entitled to take slight at Fane's joke, didn't. So it's all a bit puzzling, really.

    Can somebody remind me what befell Holmes after the cheekie darkie on air rant?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    It seems worth noting that dozens of ministers from either major party have had exactly the same kind of expenses accepted without naming everyone (or anyone) at the table.

    I'd be much more concerned if they were meeting people for lunch/dinner and weren't paying. I think that Banks story listed a property developer that he met with. I'd be concerned if mayors started getting expensive free lunches from people who have a lot to gain from city council decisions.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    People should be able to meet with the mayor and not have that become a public issue just because he paid for the meal.

    @Kyle: With all due and sincere respect, Kyle, if those "people" were lobbyists, big-ticket campaign contributors or stood to make a hell of a lot of money from Greater Auckland contracts then it's a perfectly legitimate matter of public interest.

    And I'm less than impressed with this from Brown:

    And he has utterly refused to identify who he and mayoress Shan Inglis hosted at their table for an $810 fundraiser dinner at Volare restaurant in Manurewa.

    He had good reasons for refusing to identify his guests, he said.

    "It is against my principles. I am fighting back on what I believe are the key issues of this campaign and what people are vitally interested in."

    So what's the 'principle' here? As I've said elsewhere, I'm the secretary of a body that receives modest but highly competitive support from the Auckland City Council. It would be entirely unacceptable if I just happened to have the members of the committee considering that application as my guests at a fundraiser.

    As Russell would say -- noob mistake. Which is a good segue to...

    It seems worth noting that dozens of ministers from either major party have had exactly the same kind of expenses accepted without naming everyone (or anyone) at the table.

    And I recall you being rather bemused why Jenny Shipley was so damn evasive about dining with Kevin Roberts. I'm sure Helen Clark was thankful for the early Christmas, but it was entirely an unforced error on Shipley's part. As Georgina Beyer put it, in another context, nobody can throw shit at you if you've put it all out there yourself.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Can somebody remind me what befell Holmes after the cheekie darkie on air rant?

    If I remember correctly Mitsubishi dropped its $1 million+ sponsorship of Holmes, one of the TV show's producers quit... and I believe that was it, since TVNZ said the comments were made outside its jurisdiction and TRN did nothing - Holmes apologising and claiming to be "tired" was apparently enough for them.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Speaking as one of those who might take Fane's routine a bit personally than other people...

    ... the coverage has been woeful. Who was being roasted at this event? Was it, as I suspect but can't find confirmed anywhere, a bunch of radio execs?

    Danyl at the Dimpost notes:

    But it sounds as if the comments about Jews are opinions he’s attributing to imaginary evil advertising executives, not himself. I could be wrong but it’s always tricky when you try and take offense at something a comedian says during a routine in which they might be in character.

    Indeed. And if that were the case, I'd be more inclined to give him a pass. Reporting has been far from helpful here. I just had a bit a search via Google News, and oddly, I can't find a single quote from anyone who was there.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And I recall you being rather bemused why Jenny Shipley was so damn evasive about dining with Kevin Roberts.

    Sure, but that wasn't about the price of dinner, or who paid for it. It directly related to tens of millions of dollars of government expenditure.

    Bear in mind that the original story here was that council staff allegedly asked for a fake invoice. Which turned out to be false. Then there's the next bit of mud regarding his non-existent daughter from a previous marriage. Also false.

    I do find Brown's stance odd, but, as I said, I am also aware that ministers and mayors host people at dinner all the time without being required to publicly name them as individuals. That was completely clear in the expenses dump. It's a story in Brown's case principally because of the original allegations of falsifying records that have turned out to be baseless.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I'd be much more concerned if they were meeting people for lunch/dinner and weren't paying.

    I don't know about that. Purely hypothetically, if I was standing for the Greater Auckland mayoralty $810 would strike me as a modest investment in a congenial, discreet evening to woo potential big-ticket donors or strike up relationship with players in social/political networks south of the Bridge otherwise closed to me. (Though I'd probably draw the line at field trips to bondage-themed faux-lesbian strip clubs or quite literally pandering for support.) God, I'd be working the rubber chicken circuit like local body politics' answer to Nikki Watson.

    And I know this makes me sound like a sanctimonious prig, but you bet your arse that in the context of standing for arguably the post powerful elected office in the country, I'd be more than usually forthcoming about who I socialise with. There's more than enough people who are going to take potshots no matter what you do or say -- fairly or not, that's the nature of retail politics. But you can make an effort not to load the gun and obligingly stand still.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    Who are the front runners in the race besides these two lunatics?

    So far, only two others have even put their name forward...

    Neither of which could be considered front-runners(so far)

    Colin Craig - unknown self-made multi millionaire. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10655119

    Simon Prast- semi-famous actor/director/producer and arts administrator


    UPDATE ... those two announced in the last week, I forgot earlier announcements of Ewen Gilmour (a former Waitakere councillor, more famous as a comedian, but I think he's a serious not 'joke' nominee?) and Penny Bright a long time campaigner on water issues

    None of these four currently have any poll-able level of support...(I think?)

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    UPDATE ... those two announced in the last week, I forgot earlier announcements of Ewen Gilmour (a former Waitakere councillor, more famous as a comedian, but I think he's a serious not 'joke' nominee?) and Penny Bright a long time campaigner on water issues

    I gather Ewen's been a useful councillor out West. Penny Bright is ... unusual.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Penny Bright is ... unusual.

    That's... polite. :)

    I gather Ewen's been a useful councillor out West.

    I thought Ewen's health had been a bit wobbly the last couple of years, so it's nice to know he's in the pink, as it were.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    [Colin Craig] would also promote referendums on major issues and be guided by the results

    Always the mark of someone with no ideas who just wants to be in charge, under the guise of being the people's voice.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    faux-lesbian strip clubs

    Where you would place the 'high school uniform' constituency?

    - thanks to David Slack and Lyndon

    Treat italics as strikethrough, which PAS don't allow:
    - comment is most of the way down the page, I can't figure out how to get the neat URL to take you straight to the individual comment. RB? Craig?

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Use the permalink of the comment in question as your url.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    But how does one find a permalink of the comment? Seriously asked. Or is it like Hunting The Snark?

    Edit: Aaah, right there where the fine print says Permalink.

    Must get new glasses and bigger screen.

    New link for high school uniforms

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Phil: just above this sentence, in tiny grey letters, is the word "Permalink." That's it.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    @Kyle: With all due and sincere respect, Kyle, if those "people" were lobbyists, big-ticket campaign contributors or stood to make a hell of a lot of money from Greater Auckland contracts then it's a perfectly legitimate matter of public interest.

    I don't have a problem with people asking the question "who did you have lunch with and what did it lead to".

    But the only reason that the question is being asked here is because it was put on the credit card and it's been made public. I'm not sure a few hundred dollars on dinner is the potentially corrupt part of the equation.

    If the people of the good city of Auckland or one of its soon to be gone smaller cities want a list of everything their Mayor has done and who they've met with, fine, ask for that. Picking on one dinner and who was there?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

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