Prime minister defends embattled John Banks
UPDATE / 10.30am: NZ First leader Winston Peters is calling on John Banks's anonymous donations to be investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.
He told Radio New Zealand: "Mr Banks has a big problem, in that you've got someone like Kim Dotcom who you could not possibly, surely - given his character and size - forget, and he has forgotten him."
Mr Banks declared almost $950,000 of campaign donations for his failed Super City mayoral bid - of which $520,000 was anonymous.
Mr Peters stood down as a minister in 2008 while his party was being investigated over electoral donations.
He told RNZ this morning the threshold for the SFO investigating alleged fraud is $500,000. However, the SFO's website says it prioritises cases involving losses of at least $2 million, involving multiple victims, usually investors. Anyone can make a complaint - but the SFO confirms one has not yet been made over Banks's mayoral campaign donations.
This morning, Mr Peters accused Prime Minister John Key, who railed for Mr Peters to be stood down in 2008, of double-standards.
"It's Mr Key who has certain principles - if you don't like them then he's got others."
"Well, there's quite a wide definition of ethics," says Prime Minister John Key, defending minister John Banks against accusations of dodging the requirements of electoral law.
It was hardly the most ringing of endorsements.
Mr Key last night refused to be drawn on the issue of whether Mr Banks had behaved ethically in his treatment of campaign donations in his previous role as Auckland mayor.
However, he says Mr Banks "retains my confidence as a minister".
Mr Key's defence of Mr Banks rests on legal rather than ethical grounds.
Essentially, he says Mr Banks has broken no law, that the law he has not broken is a bit too loose, and that he accepts Mr Banks' word that no law has been broken.
But he also says: "I'm no lawyer."
Mr Banks, who leads the Act Party, is under fire for donations he received as mayor of Auckland before becoming MP for Epsom.
A $15,000 donation came from Sky City – which made a donation of the same size to the man who eventually beat him for the mayoralty, Len Brown – along with a $50,000 donation from internet tycoon Kim Dotcom.
The Kim Dotcom allegations are that Mr Banks knew where the donations came and that he asked for it to be split into two $25,000 "anonymous" donations to get around the electoral rules.
The denials have focused mostly on the Kim Dotcom donations and have, until yesterday afternoon, been unusually vague.
Mr Banks was quizzed about the issue on a television interview programme at the weekend but refused to engage with the issue.
Mr Key has not spoken directly with Mr Banks but says his staff has done so and "I accept Mr Banks at his word".
The prime minister's defence came just 20 minutes after the Act Party leader put out a statement which was a much more clear defence than he had managed since the issue arose on the weekend.
Mr Banks says the amounts had been deposited anonymously into his campaign bank accounts by Kim Dotcom employees.
"I was not aware that Mr Dotcom had made this donation to my campaign. I did not call him to thank him as the donation was made anonymously," he says.
"I can confirm that I had contact with Mr Dotcom on other matters, including thanking him for the generous $500,000 donation that he made to the ratepayers of Auckland for the 2010 New Year's Eve fireworks display.
"However, I never called and thanked him for any donation to my mayoral campaign."
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Comments and questions32
This unholy saga will be John Key's moral Rubicon.
If anything should finish off John Banks, it should be Banksie's Radio Live interview where he denies having a 'relationship' with Kim Dotcom, citing his marriage!
Now we have two dodgy Johns.... someone please get digging into the whole Sky City/Dotcom thing as there will be an overlap in there somewhere.
Poor bloody Maui dolphins don't have a chance while our so-called Tourism minister is too busy dealing with John Banks over cups of tea and now this.
Thanks so much to all the stupid Epsom voters who have yet again inflicted this useless ACT shower on the country - Garrett, Brash, Heather Roy - what a one ring circus democracy has become here, with Key now the ringmaster....
Banks to be stood down by 5pm today.
Good point.
Maui dolphins are way more valuable than stupid Epsom voters.
Some times I really have doubts in the group of people that's running the country.
you left out capels lot the progressive party or dunn is it not
Well now. Here we see the ethics of a currency trader really shine in the light of day.
Key was so quick to jump in on the lapses committed by Peters and Field, and even fairly expeditious in nudging his own lieutenants off the deck, quite recently in the case of Dr Smith.
How is it that suddenly the letter of the law is all that should be considered, and that ethics be fobbed off as too broad and enigmatic to contend with?
Perhaps Mr Key needs to reacquaint himself with the relevant passage from the Cabinet Manual: "In all these roles and at all times, Ministers are expected to act lawfully and to behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards."
Banks should have been sacked yesterday. Key himself is unfit to lead. And as long as I'm in a mood to dispense harsh opinion, perhaps the Epsom electorate should be stood down from voting as punishment for giving the rest of the country a string of craven hacks to turn our government into a moral cesspool.
None of this has anything to do with Banks as a Cabinet Minister. so how is the Cabinet Manual relevant?
Ethical standards.
Because ethics is about how people behave not just when they are in the spotlight (or in this case a Minister) but also outside of it.
Stick the "cabinet manual" in your ear.
The public concept of right and wrong overrules it.
Unfortunately for the welfare and future of NZ, cabinet manuals and indeed NZ laws have scant regard for the natural laws of right and wrong.
John Banks doesn't remember the helicopter ride to the "dotcom mansion" but he does remember that he did not call to thank Kim Dotcom....
selective memory?
Len Brown became Mayor in part because of the dislike of Banks by many in the electorate - Banks became MP for Epsom not because of his character but because of tactical voting.
Thick skinned charlatans like Banks are happy to be in high office and do not care if people know their moral compass can point in convenient directions. Sadly, few competent and ethical persons are prepared to run for high office because of the public scrutiny they face. Something is wrong here.
This has so many parallels with the Owen Glenn / Winston Peters Donor turned Disaster saga , so lets hope it has the same outcome - minus the comeback.
Key is starting to unravel -- what we see, ain't a pretty sight.
We will enjoy watching "smirky" "Smarmy" Banksy wriggle out of this one, I think it's called the "----" hitting the fan?? good on you Dotcom serve it up to him.
Banksy you had better organise a cup of Tea with "Wineie", to short out how to get out of this, as he is an expert far in advance of you.
Goodbye!! Banksy!!
I'm still trying to get my head around Banks' performance when questioned by Paul Holmes. I almost felt embarrased for the guy, all that ducking and weaving, just dreadful.
I've always maintained I would not buy a used car from John Key. His elasticity around his application of ethnics may explain why to a few others.
If we have a minister like Banks saying he had virtually no contact with a guy when he toasted him at his birthday party, took helicopter rides to his mansion, watched fireworks shows alongside him, recieved donations from him and tried to get residency for him -- and when Key is seemingly okay with all that -- how trustworthy is that going to make our Govt look to other countries?
Incidentally, how is it that Banks can so drastically change his stance on opposing more pokies, from this:
“They're wideboys, they're flashboys, they're big boys and they can take it. Because the little people of this country have been sucked, hung, drawn, quartered, bled by these people in these casinos.”
To this:
“I don't spend any money on casinos or pokies as I don’t drink alcohol, so my views are not really important in this.”
The reputation NZ had as the least corrupt nation on the planet is now dead and buried. Thank you, Mssrs Banks and Key.
you hit the nail on the head
People in power must act and make decisions ethically, as must ethical people in general.
Ethical leaders are ethical all the time, not just when someone’s looking; and they’re ethical over time, proving again and again that ethics are an integral part of the intellectual and philosophical framework they use to understand and relate to the world.
Banks and Brash both BROKE THE LAW when as former fellow Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd they signed Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009.
s58(3) Securites Act 1978 - a STRICT LIABILITY offence.
How come they were never even CHARGED?
What did shonky John Key have to do with that?
Seems that shonky John Key is pretty big on defending the indefensible regarding dodgy John Banks?
Penny Bright
'Anti-corruption campaigner'
Say what you will about, Penny Bright -- but she makes some very good points
because it is rotten to the core collins is even contenplating changing the law so in times to come people that speak out or dont conform well be imprisioned for ever .the civil detention bill.
Lets be crystal clear here. We dont want our politicians selling our souls down the river.
Whether it be gambling, corruption, prostitution or bribery. NZ is a land of fair play. We dont need to be moral highbrows to maintain our culture and a sense of decency. All we need is a sense of self respect and some principles.
"Helen Clark must stand Mr Peters down as a Minister. That is what I would do if I were Prime Minister. Helen Clark has stood Ministers from Labour down for much less."
John Key
I have been an ACT supporter for some time however it is hard to see how the party survives this. It has gone from a principled liberterian party that could hold National accountable to sound economic policy to a liability to the National Government with no direction. Bye Banksie...Bye ACT. JK..its time to lance the boil.
I liken this misbehaviour of an ex-Minister of Police to that of the evil Catholic paediphiles who sermonised from their pulpits.
What else lurks beneath his self-righteous pious "holier than thou" surface?
Maybe ‘shonky’ John Key is scared that if he isn’t seen to back ‘dodgy’ John Banks to the very end – ‘Banksie’ might do a ‘Kim Dotcom’ on him?
(After all his years in politics – both central and local – ‘Banksie’ will presumably know where LOTS of ‘bodies are buried’ – as it were? )
We can all see what a man of great integrity is John Banks, current Minister of Regulatory Reform, and current Leader of the ACT Party?
(Not to mention having a memory like an elephant ……. NOT)
I actually feel sorry for a number of those young ACT on Campus folk.
Surely it was bad enough that their latest ACT Leader was a ‘social conservative’ – let alone a yet-to-be charged /convicted ‘white collar’ criminal,/ electoral fraudster?
How soon is ‘shonky’ John Key going to pull the plug on ‘dodgy’ John Key – before both of them go down the electoral gurgler?
Seems that the National "B" Team (Brash then Banks) takeover/coup of the ACT Party is going to end in tears?
I am SO looking forward to the upcoming Epsom by-election where I will be standing again as a 'Public Watchdog / Anti-Corruption Campaigner'.
THIS time - I do expect there to be a significant increase in public interest on the (draft) ACTION PLAN against 'white collar' crime, corruption and 'corporate welfare'.
Be very interested in feedback folks!
www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz
Especially yours Lindsay Fergusson! ;)
You and your NZ Business Roundtable mates are opposed to 'white collar' crime, corruption and 'corporate welfare' - aren't you?
Then again - perhaps not....... ?
Penny Bright
'Anti-corruption campaigner'
I too feel sorry for the ACT on campus peeps. On top of the Banks sorry saga they now realise their man on the ACT board is naught but a nodding donkey. But if he was true to the REAL Adam Smith principles he should now be preparing to oust all yesterdays greedies and preparing one of the true faith for any possible by-election.
But sadly I believe he'll just sit there, nod his head as all good sycophants do, and watch the final curtain fall on ACT.
John Key doesn't fully appreciate that by standing so stoutly by his boy -- that, if Banks should fall by the relentless barrage of flak, Key will be wounded as well. And the wounds won't heal fast; they are going to turn quite septic.
Key is safer being a lukewarm cheerleader from the sidelines, rather than streaking on to the field and embracing his embattled player.
"Well, there's quite a wide definition of ethics."
Possibly, Mr Key, but there's quite a narrow definition of "you possess all the scruples of a Nigerian internet scammer".
All Jonkey is defending is his negotiation strengths with regard to selling State Owned Assets, which the Maori Party has said no to!
It's all pretty clear from where I sit. Mr Keys needs has in all likelihood done a deal with Mr Banks for the last election for his vote for squeezing through legislation for asset sales, fracking and mining deals (in all probablility already signed and sealed bar the formalities). I expect these to be raced though in a mid-night caucus, if he can work it. Once done, Banks is history. But then, so is life as we've known it as Kiwis. I am not even sure a civic referendum will save us, but its worth a try. SIGN IT QUICK! Mr Keys has a personal stake in al this I expect - It is highly likely that five years from now Mr Banks will be a very higly paid consultant for Chinese investments in this country. But what would I know - I'm just a social scientist who used to work as a spin doctor in the mining industry.
Oops - corrected:
It's all pretty clear from where I sit. Mr Keys has in all likelihood done a deal with Mr Banks for the last election for his vote for squeezing through legislation for asset sales, fracking and mining deals (in all probablility already signed and sealed bar the formalities). I expect these to be raced though in a mid-night caucus, if he can work it. Once done, Banks is history. But then, so is life as we've known it as Kiwis. I am not even sure a civic referendum will save us, but its worth a try. SIGN IT QUICK! Mr Keys has a personal stake in al this I expect - It is highly likely that five years from now Mr Keys will be a very higly paid consultant for Chinese investments in this country. But what would I know - I'm just a social scientist who used to work as a spin doctor in the mining industry.