Southerly: Sign this Petition
108 Responses
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Admittedly, it is rather galling to be giving advertising money to the Herald---who have done so much to promulgate the "public don't care about dirty politics" meme that this campaign is fighting against. On the other hand, I guess it's not going to be a case of preaching to the choir.
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Damn. Now I want to sign again, just for your grandad. Who is magnificent!
Will have a go at some unsuspecting rellies. -
Already signed, but couldn’t bring myself to donate – I refuse to give money to the Herald who are currently aiding the precipitous decline in journalistic standards in New Zealand. (I'll give some money to PA instead).
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The was a heartening gathering of those wanting clean politics outside parliament yesterday. About 100 there and many had heard about it at the Nicky Hagar talk the night before when the woman organising it told the audience about it. Others joined as they walked by. Several people told the group why they were there. The organiser herself wanted good political role models for her children. Four weeks to the day after the launch of Dirty Politics it was just the sort of spontaneous event to take back our democracy that the book inspires. One of the women who spoke, Marianne Elliott I think, is one of the organisers of the Action Stations petition and she mentioned the huge groundswell of support for it already.
It was really good to hear Nicky Hager speak on Tuesday night because he reassured the audience that the revelations in his book are probably not going to affect the current election, but it is about the long game – of cleaning up politics and reclaiming our democracy. It’s about ethics. The fact that the head of the government and the National Party refuses to take any responsibility although he is clearly accountable shows he has lost any moral authority.
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“We think you’ve been involved in corrupt politics.”
“Wasn’t us.”
“We have evidence that implicates your office.”
“It’s a beat up from the opposition.”
“But there’s an official inquiry!”
“We don’t talk about security intelligence.”“Here’s our petition: we request that you establish an impartial investigation and protect freedom of information”.
?!?
To be fair, what ActionStation is doing is raising awareness of the fact that this remains an issue, and that people do care and are willing to support moves to fix the problem. The fundamental problems, though, are that a petition is only a request, and no conventional political party has an interest in looking at any fundamental failure of the checks and balances that are supposed to prevent the misuse of institutional power.
An alternative response is to take responsibility for the situation and look at what has happened in the context of the security of New Zealanders who rely on corparate media for their information. Making sense of information from alternative sources is more of a challenge, but if you’re aware of NZ’s history regarding foreign allegiance and international security arrangements, then it becomes apparent that the state has no interest in extending the scope of an investigation to anything that could provide a meaningful interpretation of the actual cause or causes of the problems.
Unless New Zealanders educate themselves about the way that traditional security protocols influence day-today politics, any attempt to find a meaningful solution will be ineffective. To do this effectively involves maintaining a discipline of verification and rational analysis – of being able to source facts from experienced commentators and connect the dots without giving undue weight to your previous beliefs.
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Aye, spotting this yesterday and signed with no hesitation. I hope your blog brings it to more peoples attention and you and your family are well David.
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#DONTBEACANT, seriously, is this all one big childish troll?
And if you zoom in real close on the advert you can just make out the name in the promoter statement of what they’ve apparently decided is an election advertisement under the EFA. It’s “M. Salole”, the Greens’ national campaign manager.
Should these paragons of ethics, honesty, and integrity really be hiding this sponsorship/affiliation in the small print? Will your petitioners’ email addresses also become attached to an astroturfing submission on the next n environmental issues?
EDIT FROM DAVID HAYWOOD: THE INFORMATION ASSERTED BY THIS COMMENTER IS INCORRECT, SEE MY RESPONSE BELOW.
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More idiocy from the Herald
In an apparent “blow” for Labour the vast majority of CEOs back National and John Key!
What next – a blow for National when we discover that union leaders back Labour or evironmentalists back the Greens
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David Haywood, in reply to
Yes, I did notice the promoter statement, and (briefly) checked out M. Salole before posting this blog. Your information is incorrect.
Salole was the Greens’ national campaign manager in 2011. She resigned this position quite some time ago to start Action Station. Action Station has been developed to focus on digital-age grassroots campaigns (in the style of MoveOn.org, etc.), and is not affiliated to any political party. They say: "We do not accept donations from political parties or the Government".
Action Station also says that Salole is not a member of any political party. I don’t think anyone is hiding anything, and—given her and Marianne Elliot’s credentials—I hardly think this is some sort of a “troll”.
At any rate, as I said in the blog, I personally think this is a good idea. I’d support this petition even if was initiated by Cam Slater.
EDIT: Also forgot to say that Salole is in a ukulele orchestra!
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Sacha, in reply to
It's "M. Salole", the Greens' national campaign manager.
- for the 2011 election. Since started up ActionStation who are running this, now lead by Marianne Elliot.
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snap
Seems likely that anyone interesting in promoting collective action will not be involved in right-wing politics.
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David Haywood, in reply to
I signed, so now I’m on the governments double blowback list
Happy to share a prison cell* with you in the re-education camp, Steven. We can talk about boats.
*NOTE: This offer may not apply if re-education camp is co-ed.
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Two slides on Dirty Politics and John Key's role from today’s NZ Herald ‘Mood of the Boardroom’ event. The CEOs actually do care about this too, for obvious reasons. David Parker opened his speech by talking about the importance of “freedom from corruption and transparency” and the rule of law.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Action Station also says that Salole is not a member of any political party. I don’t think anyone is hiding anything, and—given her and Marianne Elliot’s credentials—I hardly think this is some sort of a “troll”.
It's a been a standard tactic against the book itself: delegitimise it by by alleging it's partisan.
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Tinakori, in reply to
Surely the timing of the release of Nicky Hager's book at the beginning of the election campaign means it was intended to affect the election? He can't expect us to believe otherwise. Or is he spinning and trying to step back from what appears to be the main impact - increasing votes for Winston Peters and Colin Craig and further weakness in the Labour vote? His rhetorical gymnastics and holier than thou stance are starting to remind me of the master - Winston Himself
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Tim Michie, in reply to
I'd rather know before the election than not although I do believe what Hager has said of the timing.
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Already signed David but your post will draw attention to this petition, which I believe is a good thing. Yes, it is annoying to be paying the Herald to run the Ad but this is genuine grassroots, it is non partisan, it represents the voice of the people who freely choose to sign it. Let the pollies ignore us at their peril!
On another note my thoughts are often with Harold. I hope someone's taking food parcels!
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INFORMATION
ASSERTED BY
COMMENTER
IS INCORRECT
Given that we now live in a virtually fully digitised media environment, why can't realtime updates like this be introduced to all digitally mediated political debate or discussion - as pop ups, or strap lines on screen - so that when Key (or whoever) quotes totally incorrect figures in debates and the like, it is instantly picked up and corrected before the meme sets... -
Hebe, in reply to
Surely the timing of the release of Nicky Hager’s book …Or is he spinning … His rhetorical gymnastics and holier than thou stance…
All the main lines in one there Tinakori. Nice.
What about the very serious allegations of a Justice Minister undermining the head of an arm of law enforcement – the Serious Fraud Office? What about the subversion of democracy? What about the hounding of people who have different professional or political viewpoints? What about the allegations connecting the Prime Minister’s Office?
That those named in Dirty Politics have not slapped any form of defamation or legal proceedings against the book itself or Hager is the most telling reaction of all. Why not if it is so false?
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
the Auld Smug...
holier than thou stance
You speak for yourself...?
I've never understood the
attraction of clutching at
that particular 'straw'
when drowning in evidence......and see no evidence of any 'pious'
behaviour on Nicky Hagers part,
nor any real sanctimony.what I see is alley cats not liking having
their noses rubbed in their own scat. -
David Haywood, in reply to
On another note my thoughts are often with Harold. I hope someone’s taking food parcels!
I am reliably informed that a shipment of stout is being delivered to his hospital room today (stout being, I believe, one of the most nutritious types of food)!
But you are very telepathic in your suspicion that Harold is beginning to tire of hospital provisions -- happened on day 2 of his stay...
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Dismal Soyanz, in reply to
Surely the timing of the release of Nicky Hager's book at the beginning of the election campaign means it was intended to affect the election?
To which , I say, "Why not?" This is the point in the cycle where people are most receptive to politics. The book doesn't barrack for any party but it does focus on the misdeeds undertaken by National. By your logic, you would rather not hear about the misbehaviour of the government until after the election. Says it all really....
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Tinakori, in reply to
You seem to have got the wrong end of the stick. Hilary was quoting Nicky Hager reassuring people the book would not affect the election result but would have a long term impact. Quite clearly its timing was intended to affect the election result but the impact appears to have been an unintended one of strengthening the Conservatives and NZ First and reducing the oxygen available for the left and Labour in particular. Flattered as I am to be seen as part of the vast right wing conspiracy my comment was simply pointing out that Nicky Hager was engaging in some post hoc rationalisation on the impact of his unguided missile.
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Just to prove that you can be politically active while having a blood transfusion and hooked up to an oxygen machine, some further details on my grandfather (via my cousin):
[Harold saw] the dirty politics protest petition and he thought it was a great idea. He wanted to sign it, so I typed in all his details and he pushed the "sign now" button...
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Hebe, in reply to
...Nicky Hager was engaging in some post hoc rationalisation on the impact of his unguided missile.
You may be right about Hager. I don't know his motives. I have always read the election somewhat differently to the "Labour is a shoo-in" theory -- NZ First was always going to be a danger and to an extent the Conservatives if they cross over into the born-again-type churches' voters.
Maybe that thinking is because Christchurch is its own bubble with perceptions and conditions unique to the rest of NZ (for example, the jobless rate is below 3%), and a clear pool of disenchanted small-c conservative people looking for an alternative to National and Labour.
However, your comments still summarise the deflection strategy for Dirty Politics nicely.
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