Key backs Banks over Dotcom donations
"Funny, yesterday a reporter was out and about looking for people who voted for Banks so she could ask their opinion. She told me no one would admit to having voted for him."
Featured commentIt took a while, and he would only say so indirectly, but Prime Minister John Key is backing ACT John Banks in the wake of a police report released under the Official Information Act.
Mr Key told TV3's Q+A programme interviewer Shane Taurima yesterday that he had not read the report, and did not need to.
A transcript of their exchange (watch the full interview here):
TAURIMA: Mr Banks says he didn’t know about any donation [from Kim Dotcom]. This week’s release of sworn statements state otherwise. Do you believe he was telling the truth there?
KEY: Well, what I can tell you is there is a range of different views there…
TAURIMA: But do you believe him? Do you think he was telling the truth there?
KEY: We’ve asked directly the questions. We’ve been given assurances, and I accept the minister at his word. Let’s understand what’s happening here. This is a politically motivated attack by Labour.
TAURIMA: So you believe he was telling the truth?
KEY: If it’s not politically motivated. Let’s just go through this point.
TAURIMA:It’s a genuine question, though, Prime Minister, and it’s an easy question.
KEY: And I accept the minister at his word. And the point here is there will always be people with a different range of views. It’s important that people comply with the law. So, in my opinion, that law is very badly drafted, which is why my government’s going to fix it up. And if the Labour Party really believed in this, and it wasn’t just a way of getting to the government, they would have changed the law, and they didn’t do that.
TAURIMA:Going back to telling the truth. This week, we had a release of sworn statements that said otherwise. Are they not telling the truth, Prime Minister?
KEY: Well, that’s their view, but it has to be seen in the context of the law. The fact that someone tells you they may make you a donation doesn’t mean under the old electoral law that you know that they have.
TAURIMA:This isn’t about the issue being you. All I want to know is having read the police report, whether you believe Mr Banks when he said-
KEY: I haven’t read that police report, and I’m not going to because I don’t need to. I rely, as any prime minister would, that I enjoy the confidence-
TAURIMA: Why wouldn’t you read the police report?
KEY: Because it’s not my job to do a forensic analysis. What I can tell you is the law doesn’t work. What I can tell you is this is a politically motivated attempt by the Labour Party to get at the government. Fair enough. That’s called politics.
TAURIMA: So you believe him even though others say he was lying?
KEY: No, what I’m saying to you is accept his word. I accept that the law is very ambiguous, and I accept that the Labour Party are using this as a politically motivated attempt to get to the government. Because they’re not going after- This is a guy that lost the mayoral election. They didn’t try and test this out after he lost. They didn’t test it out for every other candidate. They’re not testing it out around the country. And, by the way, when they changed the central government law around donations, they didn’t bother to do it for local government. But today they care about it, and that’s because it’s politically motivated.
TAURIMA: Prime Minister, we have to leave it there, but we do appreciate your time. Thank you for coming in.
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Comments and questions40
I am so glad that our prime minister is so clear on this matter. For me, as an Epsom voter who voted for National, I think my vote is up for grabs next time. Banks is a disgrace, and Epsom voters should feel embarassed that they put him in parliament.
Funny, yesterday a reporter was out and about looking for people who voted for Banks so she could ask their opinion. She told me no one would admit to having voted for him.
I guess the people of Epson are gullible fools, a bit like the rest of the country's population.
maybe we should be looking hard at the last eletions results and the easy vote system .i for one found it difficult to vote in the last election .. compared to other times that i have participated the voting for previous governments the last election because i did not have my easy vote with me it became a problem for them to locte me on the role. why how i dont know ..
Talk about ducking and diving!!
Politicians do not seem to have yes and no in their vocabulary,
Where is transparency and straight talk?
liberte
John Key is a clever guy but is misreading this situation badly
If he doesn't change his mind and get rid of Banks this will bite him in the a*se badly
The Doctor
Kiwi's are completed fooled by John Key smile.
Whoever voted National. should go and do some research on 'Neo-Classical Economics' and then his history with failed investments and links to the global financial crises of 2008.
Afterward go and reseach John Banks father a criminal in Epsom . Epsom must be filled with fools.
It is quite apparent that "John" does not understand "Neo-classical Economics" or would not have made the ludicrous statement he did.
Not interested if John Banks father is a criminal... it is quite apparent that John Banks himself is a criminal, and a member of parliment. The Prime Ministers continued support shows his true colours and his two faced approach to demanding a high level of behaviour from his ministers. The man speaks with forked tongue.
There is absolutely no question in my mind that John Key will make a lot of money out of the sale of assets, and not by purchasing shares!
why its a foolish statement? neo-classical is stolen broken science created by the 1% criminals of the world.
Dumb and dumber.....
So John Banks didn't need to read his false election return before signing it.
And John Key doesn't need to read the Police report.
Maybe that's because if they DID read these things, they would then be aware that there was a problem. And once you are aware, then you can be held to account.
Knight, both Johns -- and let's all move on.
Being a proud National supporter I find the PM's response to the John banks issue weak and cowardly. I had hoped Mr Key would lead NZ from the front, with clear decisive actions. Ducking and diving over this issue, makes the PM sound just like Winston Peters (Owen Glenn issue )and the other rank and file MP's who need to save their own skin if they come under pressure....admit nothing, don't give a straight answer.
Wouldn't it be refreshing if Mr Key said...."Yes, I have read the police report as it concerns a party National relies on for votes and it is an important issue....TRUST. And no, in this case, I actually agree with the police report and the witness statements and no longer back Mr Banks......national has lost my vote.
When it comes to preserving the policy agenda in a govt with a razor thin majority the PM will go to great lengths to keep support parties on-side. Would Key be desperately trying to keep Banks in the cabinet if he had a 5 or 6 vote majority on the right? If act had 3 or 4 MPs in parliament, at least one being a viable replacement cabinet minister and leader?
No this is all about keeping the govt agenda going, regardless of the ethics of the situation. It'll always happen when the majority is small and you have single MP parties propping up the majority. This isn't unique to National, or Key, or Banks.
Banks should resign as Minister, and then retire from all politics at the next election. That would be the honourable thing to do.
A vote for National (and Labour too) is a vote for continued high property prices, low wages, high taxes; arrogant, greedy and unimaginative government (local and central), cartels and corporate greed, environmental despoliation, a continued exodus of NZers abroad and an ongoing decline in NZ's standard of living and quality of life. As their main supporters, the propertied over-50s, die off, so too will these two old dinosaurs that have proven they have no place in 21st century NZ.
Oh man !!!
This sounds like one of Fred Daggs skits !
Get rid of both Johns
It is completely wrong for the Prime Minister to support John Banks when it is obvious that Banks is being completely dishonest. What other dodgy dealings is Key supporting? Oh, that's right - neo-classical economics.
Disclaimer: I am a Green Party member.
Why John Key is getting bagged for his support of one of the finest politicians to grace the political stage in Aotearoa is beyond me - the integrity, charm and general good humour of this first rate academic and all round honest man render him the accolade of one of our finest. I must leave you now to get my fix of excreta from the parliamentary loo jerked into my veins to bolster my belief in either of these paltry and pathetic individuals.
Apart from this latest run-around by Keys can anyone imagine being ttaken to a billionairre's mansion in a helicopter and then forgetting about it, as Banks claimed to have.
I am helping collect ssignatures for the Save Our Assets petition and the level of derision directed at Key even by blue-haired matrons is both astonishing and heartening.
I'm not a Nat or Act guy but any politician working under the last law faced a real nightmare - unless they already had a big party backing them financially. A police report written on any number of MPs under the old (present) Act would probably come out looking bad for quite a few ! :)
Good on the PM for working to clean that law up.
Just hope Banksie hasn't gone against his own conscience and traded present backing of PM for him, for PM's personal desire to see same-sex marriage law passed?
If you want a strange one it would be an MP voting in a conscience vote following Acts moral-less party political line like a robot, but then again don't most of Labour do that - sell their souls out to the Party line then carry on calling any one who does have a personal conscience - a traitor?
Why doesn't someone in Parliament ask if John Banks is telling the truth. Firstly under the privelege of parliament he cannot be sued
secondly John banks has to tell the truth in the house or else he will be in breach of parliamentary rules.
it all seems easy to me but then what would I know?
Let a political party without sin cast the first stone. Oh wait, they have all rorted the electoral funding systems - Labour and Greens (who colluded to change the law so they wouldn't have to repay the $), NZF etc. This whole thing is the usual political hypocrisy but the media fuel it to make news.
@ #17 by Digby - oh, well, that's ok then. Corrupyt behaviour is ok because, as you tell us "they have all rorted the electoral funding systems".
We might as well not have election rules. Or laws of any description. Welcome to Anarchyland, Diigby style.
That's ok, Digby, you can keep voting for Key and Banks. Your standards are obviously lower than ours.
When you get voted out of office John Key, find a job as used car salesman. You'' ll do it well. Meanwhile hanging on to Banks is like cliinging too halitosis. Have you lost your sense of smell?
John, you are coming across all wishy washy. Time to call a spade a spade. If you can't/won't sort out Banks, then what hope do we have that you can nail the Maori BS that is being dredged up now by the I_Want-Its?
by election needed,and a no confidence vote on key, simple show that we have had enough of the BS, it's time to clean out the beehive of free-loaders. In all parties, that is.
Both Johns are fools expecting N.Z. voters being appeased with their weak and pathetic excuses desperately trying to retain power. Expect this of tyrants that have taken power in a third world dictatorship.We certainly have no shortage of slippery politicians feeding from the public purse.
Both Johns are fools expecting N.Z. voters being appeased with their weak and pathetic excuses desperately trying to retain power. Expect this of tyrants that have taken power in a third world dictatorship.We certainly have no shortage of slippery politicians feeding from the public purse.
As the PM has said, this whole issue is a political "beat up" by Labour, because John Banks winning Epsom kept national in power, and saved us all from a lunatic left wing Labour/Greens government. If John Banks wasn't MP for Epsom and a Minister in the National lead government none of the allegations against him would have been made by Trevor Mallard, who doesn't even live in Auckland, but was a Minister in the Labour government that improperly helped itself to hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds for its 2005 "pledge card". John Banks didn't misuse any taxpayer or ratepayer funds. Dotcom is a convicted fraudster, who is also facing criminal charges in the US for intellectual property theft . He thought he could "buy" John Banks, and when he found out he couldn't he set out to help Trevor Mallard bring down John Banks and the National government.
Lamentable that our weak PM gives support to this dubious character, Banks.
Key is looking suspect on this one but it is really Banks who should be on the line here - and if he had a whisper of integrity he would resign as a Minister immediately
The problem is that his integrity is suspect and his current behaviour supports that theory.
John Banks man up and resign as a Minister - don't put the whole Government at risk
If John Key lacks moral integrity or doesn't have the fortitude and constitution to stand with his party and Dunne to move forward their political agenda without Banks then the Governor General should step in. The GG should demand the resignation of Banks on obvious corruption claims that 99% of the population sees or at least sack him for deception and lies regarding the claims.
“Make the donations anonymous so I can help you" John Banks. Kim Dotcom needed help - residency, good character references, wanting to buy the mansion etc. and he wouldn’t have donated the money without the mayor’s help. That's corruption!
If the Governor General doesn't put pressure on Key (with "reserve powers") then he is just a weak willed puppet.
thats the problem they are all puppets to there own . Winstone was breath of fresh air but our so call;ed hero philanthrpist glen made sure he was shafted. campbell lost crediibil;ity in my book with that senario but regained some with banks.
Oh no John,no John, no John, no!......
There hasn't been any in-depth profile of John Key prior to his sudden arrival on the NZ political scene ten years ago; no interviews with school mates, former teachers, colleagues, supervisors. Nothing. We know little about how he came about his fortune or how he became a senior manager at Merrill Lynch. Was it smart trading or just senior managers' bonuses and office politics? His Hard Talk interview was screened in the small hours on TV 1 BBC more than a year ago and during it the PM demonstrated his talent for weasel words, equivocation and prevarication. TVNZ has refused to show the interview during normal viewing hours, yet a great fuss was made of his brief appearance (cheesy and cringe-worthy as it was) on Letterman. We find out later that his appearance on Letterman occurred only after some serious lobbying. Only one or two of NZ's handful of investigative journalists like Nicky Hager have attempted to get behind the mask of spin and PR that is put before the public to see the true nature of Mr Key and his colleagues and their behaviour and motives. Most Kiwis, however, remain completely fooled.
The Hard Talk interview can be seen on YouTube. Almost no New Zealanders have seen it.
Key is sticking to his words , i wdont need to read poice report, and why would he , because they both are fooling the nation,not only he is covering Banks but so many more broken promise before election, Key i can smell yor ego from here, dont forget we have put you on that seat and desk, no more vote national ,i will never trust you.
I would trust Dot Com, but not Key and Banks they both are dishonest to the nation.
Sack them both!!
What do Banks and Peters have in common?
Doesn't matter what everyone says,they still find a way to get back in and will keep doing so!!
If you think Key is hopeless,lock yourself in a room with the speeches of Shearer and then you'll know why Key keeps on and on.
Or the green bloke and his female lackey.Or Johnny Honny
Unless you can find someone with any brain at all,better get used to Key
Come on John, ditch that Banks , tell the treaty" I wants " to bugger off and get some method in your system to make NZ a better country for us ALL. The way we are going, we are heading DOWN THE GURGLER .
Kim DotCom for Prime Minister !!