Island Life: Good on ya, Paula
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3410,
What Uni did Paula go to?
Massey at Albany
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ceiling cat and the sky fairies Here is her details Peter.
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Surely the issue is the precedent that this sets.
"Criticise us and we'll release all your personal details... !"
Pretty scary actually. I'm divided over whether it's best for Bennett to stay as minister though - as it's almost guaranteed that she'll continue to do screw-ups like this.
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What Uni did Paula go to? Our kids went to the most excellent one at Otago run by the Students Association from '87. What's the betting there was one, but is was not deemed 'suitable' by La Bennett who went freelance?
Paula was Massey-Albany President in the mid-90s.
I didn't know her well, but I'm dubious about the 'incompetence' line or the 'malicious' line. This feels like a newbie Minister mistake to me. But a pretty bad one.
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It's a bit like climbing the social ladder - only to pull it up after reaching the top and pouring oil on the walls. And then telling those still down below, "You can climb up with your bare hands if you practice hard enough!"
...just before dropping a lit cigarette...
Its a veritable bonfie of opportunity. But that's fine - Paula has hers, and screw everyone else.
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Bennett is indignant at the suggestions she is allergic to heavy reports. “It’s just ridiculous – there is absolutely no truth in it whatsoever,” she says, rifling through a few reports on her desk.
“You need the information to make the big decisions at the end of the day. Here’s one on the redundancy support package, you don’t do that in a page with your frick-in’ diagrams. It’s a 16-page document!” Here’s another 15-page report, her weekly briefing from the ministry, and a 22-page report on universities.
22 pages? Be still my beating heart. That's a short Cabinet paper. How does she cope with the real stuff?
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Is now a good time to mention that DIA is in yer internets? Just saying, 'cause some of this stuff above sounds like you might be criticising, using teh webs.
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Paula gave a polished performance and declaimed she had improper motive but that's simply not plausable. I suspect she had one too many coffees, let her status get the better of her judgment and rushed to action... naively and improperly. Sadly her boss thinks it's no biggy. So much for our reasonable expectation of good government hey? I hope Marie Shroff tears her to pieces... not that it'll matter, Key'll back her, the battler's love her, it plays to the gallery... who gives a fuck about the fairness of it... 'cept the rot's started I suspect.
I wonder if the details aren't noise with this. Stripped back, it is simply a case of a Minister releasing private information improperly to silence critics. That's an incredibly worrying development. Chilling to any and all critic of the government. Paula doesn't get it however...
Alternatively, let's keep the details in the frame. Bennett's bagging solo mums. Solo parents are some of the most vulnerable people in society. Bringing up kids by yourself must be unbelievably tough, I've got two kids and a loving partner and it's often damn tough. What the fuck is the Minister doing going a solo mum? Her payments are in order, there's no reason for the Minister to be commenting about her, exposing her to public scrutiny, disclosing her personal details... oh wait, yeah there is, they called Paula nasty... oh well, fair's fair.
I once defended Bennett here, she and I (like Kyle) briefly overlapped in student politics and I thought she had something to offer; I was wrong.
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The section that got me was:
"We ask all other students to invest in their own future if they're going into tertiary study because it generally means they will make a higher income. Why are those on a benefit any different?
"They're already getting a huge amount of support from the Government. We're asking them to back themselves a little bit and invest a bit of their own money."
Why are those on a benefit any different?
What an utter fool.Huge amount? Invest?
Not everyone has lump sum payouts or accommodation laid on by their parents to supplement bare subsistence-level benefits. TIA recognised that by recompensing extra costs which would otherwise be barriers to tertiary study.The women who the Minister is so courageously attacking say they'd be happy to pay any money back, if the system allowed it.
One of them also faces significant extra health expenses - which the righteous denizens of Kiwibog and talkbackland conveniently overlook as they grunt to one another about feckless bludgers and strong leaders doing the right thing. And make out that two smart women weren't capable of setting up their own blog without a political party holding their hand. It's all Labour's fault.
I had to break the law.The contrast between what these plonkers boldly proclaim and the bigoted pettiness of their actions tells us everything we need to know about their character.
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Surely the issue is the precedent that this sets.
"Criticise us and we'll release all your personal details... !"
Instead, she should stick to the traditional line where you deal to your critics by slandering them under parliamentary privilege.
With any luck, some lawyers willing to work for free will be in touch with these women, since things look bleak for the minister.
Well, Charles Chauvel is apparently laying a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner. I doubt anyone here is interested in what Marie Shroff would have to say, since Paula Bennett is presumed guilty no matter what, but it should be interesting reading all the same.
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Well, Charles Chauvel is apparently laying a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner. I doubt anyone here is interested in what Marie Shroff would have to say, since Paula Bennett is presumed guilty no matter what, but it should be interesting reading all the same.
No Craig, I'm very interested and yet, prima facie, I think Bennett's breached the standards; Cabinet Manual and Privacy Act. I'm happy to wait for Ms Shroff to determine the matter however and hope the PM will act appropriately when she does (since he's presumably guilty of prematurely excusing Bennett?)
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Paula Bennett is presumed guilty no matter what
Please do lay out the case for her innocence, by all means. I'm sure we all need a laugh.
Only just caught the conversation about this on t'other thread. Good stuff, interspersed with economic modelling, or yodelling, or somesuch.
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Please do lay out the case for her innocence, by all means. I'm sure we all need a laugh.
Yeech... did I pass out and tread in some Kiwibog?
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I'll see your ceiling cat and raise you Spider Pig.
Now before you run accusing me of sexism (or something) let me elucidate my rationale:
- Views the world upside down
- Supported in that view by a very stupid man (Doh!)
- Supported a multinational burger joint (Krusty's, by appearing in it's TV advertising)
- Former name: Plopper
- Public appearances to date suggest it's a hamOkay, I'll stop now...
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Yeech... did I pass out and tread in some Kiwibog?
No, the relevant Kiwiblog thread is much, much nastier than that. Post after post. I don't recommend reading it.
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No, the relevant Kiwiblog thread is much, much nastier than that.
Much, much nastier than Sacha's dissing of the token house monument to right-wing intellectual vanity? Golly.
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Geez, what was remotely nasty about that? It seems the Minister herself couldn't think of any plausible defence so stayed away from Morning Report this morning.
After watching her performance in Question Time yesterday, I can certainly see why.
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And at least I got Craig's name right.
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Geez, what was remotely nasty about that?
Sacha, you should know the drill by now - when your side looks dodgy, distract with a shiny thing. In this case it's the old standby: 'both leftwing and rightwing commentariat are equally horrid in a crisis'.
Except they're not, and you weren't, and c'mon, Craig, surely you agree deep down that Bennett's actions were really bad.
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More importantly, I'm sure Craig can do better than that, surely. I'd sooner have him as a Minister any day.
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Sounds like there's a case to be made for PAS to rise up & take control of the country.
There's plenty of PASers that sound like they would be wonderful at running the country.(Before the DIA come a knockin', that was not a Call To Arms.)
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From the Herald editorial published this morning under the headline Minister right to give public all the facts:
People can make a reasonable assessment of the women's position only if such information is in the public domain. They now know enough of their circumstances to draw a conclusion on whether they have, as Ms Bennett suggests, been given a "fair go". And whether, as the minister proposes, they have the sort of financial foundation that makes it possible to invest in their own future. The introduction of interest-free student loans is certainly a major plus for women in their position wishing to undertake tertiary study.
Righto. I look forward to all those who take issue with government policy changes having their private information forcibly revealed by the government. Because that's what democracy is all about, right?
The tragedy here is that our media landscape is consumed by anecdote. The editorial witters on about the "story", but never bothers with the policy, and whether those who have lost the TIA have a grievance.
But not to worry ...
The upshot will not be that people stop speaking out or that the Government escapes criticism. It will be that all information relevant to an issue is more likely to be put before the public at the outset.
Actually, Leah Haines' HoS story contained a great deal of information, including the nature of the benefits the women received and their personal circumstances. I'm sure the Herald will draw up a helpful schedule of the additional personal information that must now be disclosed in advance.
The curious thing is that the HoS doesn't appear to have found such information necessary in running that story in the first place.
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I for one am not keen on surrendering drycleaning receipts and mechanic's bills and so will only be saying nice tings about our beloved leaders from now on.
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Minister right to give public all the facts
GAH!
You know, I think our side is probably in the minority on this issue. Which makes me sad. And kinda stabby.
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Because that's what democracy is all about, right?
That, and when you get a chance to get yer grubby mitts on the levers of gummint, yer twiddle them to suit youse own pocket (and those of yer cohorts).
And hopefully create a larger underclass, thus creating a bigger target which makes it much easier to hit something when youse reflexively swing yer clodhoppers.
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