Labour will want Hughes out...

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Labour will want Hughes out...


Otago University politics lecturer Dr Bryce Edwards says Labour will want Darren Hughes out, regardless of the truth surrounding the scandal he's linked to.

Labour will want Darren Hughes out, regardless of the truth surrounding the scandal he's linked to.

Wellington police are investigating a complaint against the list MP made by an 18-year-old man who was a Youth MP at Parliament last year. Mr Hughes is on leave from Parliament while the complaint is looked into but says he's done nothing wrong.

Otago University politics lecturer Bryce Edwards says political parties can't afford anyone to bring them down like this, especially not in election year. He says we expect our politicians to be squeaky clean.

"It's staggering that MPs can allow themselves to get into this situation, It just reeks or someone not losing the plot but losing their sense of what could end up in the public papers," he told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking.

Dr Edwards says the principle of innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply to parliamentary politics, which is a nasty business. He says Phil Goff may be ruing the day he went hard against National's Richard Worth, who was embroiled in a similar scandal.

"Goff really targeted John Key saying 'why did you wait so long, you knew this information for two weeks and didn't act,' and he really caused a stir with that, so he might be regretting that."

However Phil Goff'is promising to hold his MPs to the same standard as he has called on other parties to do with their members. Mr Goff says he has faith in Mr Hughes but will hold him to account if he's done anything wrong.

"You expect the highest standard of integrity in politics and that's what I expect of my MPs," he says.

Meanwhile Labour has closed ranks around Darren Hughes, following news that police are investigating the complaint.

Labour president Andrew Little says he became aware of the allegations against the senior MP only on Tuesday night, as the story broke. He's yet to speak to Mr Hughes and says he's happy for Phil Goff's office to handle the situation at this stage.

Wellington police are also refusing to comment further, with a spokeswoman saying when there's information to be released, a statement will be put out.

I think Darren Hughes may well be dog-tucker.  He is a list MP not an electorate one. For older guys like me with equally  as long memories - there is a touch of the Colin Moyle about this scandal to-be.

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Is National heading for a fall? Could well be.

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Is National heading for a fall?  Could well be.

The NZ  Prime Minister, John Key,  is rejecting any suggestion the Government is trying to take charge of the Christchurch rebuild.

He says they're working closely with the city council in what's an enormous task ahead.

"The scale of the second earthquake and the size of the rebuild will require a different structure to the last one," he told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking. "Last time we had the Earthquake Recovery Commission and it really sat alongside the council."

John Key says they've been asking for advice from officials about the structure of any government focus organisation should be.

Meanwhile the Government may buy people out of earthquake-damaged neighbourhoods and help them move elsewhere.

The Prime Minister says GNS scientists have already reported that the Port Hills have moved up 40cm and those suburbs have dropped considerably.

John Key says after the last earthquake there was a plan in place to fix that land but that process is now being questioned.

"I have had, and I got it when I was on the ground in Christchurch on Friday, quite a number of people coming up to me saying 'I like where I live but unfortunately this is too difficult to deal with, and if you could show me another option I'd like the money and I'd like to move on to another property'."

Mr Key says the question is whether land can be rebuilt on, as some areas will now be prone to flooding.


KR says:  That may well be true, but the National Party Government's coalition partner  ACT NZ has came out and blatantly said that you have to take full advantage of the Christchurch earthquake! Really? Too bloody right! I was accused of politicising the EQ in a letter to the editor, but the National government was still publicly discussing the welfare reforms after the earthquake.  President John key and his cohorts are a bunch of hypocrites. You take what they say with a grain of salt,  but actually the effects and follow up of the EQ will may have some detrimental effects on their election chances. Act NZ came third in the Botany bi-election on Saturday. A brand new Asian based political party formed in the last few weeks, squeezed Act into fourth place. Worth thinking about,eh?

Acknowledgements:  © 2011 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

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Key's speech more about politics than governing...

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Key's speech more politics than governing...



A politics lecturer thinks John Key's statement to Parliament yesterday was short on detail and more about politics than governing.


John Key's speech outlining the government's plans for the year is being described as more politics than governing.

Otago University's lecturer in politics Dr Bryce Edwards says the speech was short on detail.

"This is really directional stuff, it's the Prime Minister standing up trying to look visionary, trying to show the public that this Government is going somewhere, but for anyone looking for more substance they would've been left wondering quite a bit," he told Newstalk ZB.

He says it's more about positioning the government to protect it from attacks in the coming election campaigns.

"You can see this in terms of quite a strong approach towards children in need, vulnerable children," he says. "Most of this is mainly rhetoric but it's trying to take off some of the heat that they might be expecting from Labour in the campaign."

But former National Party president Michelle Boag told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning that they're not ideas designed to win an election.

"Our long term strategies which have to be addressed for the sake of New Zealand's sustainability as an economically well off nation."

She says John Key has identified what needs to be done in the welfare sector.

"It has been shown over many decades throwing money at it does not fix the problem because we're no better off for all the money that's been thrown at it."

Labour Party president Mike Williams thinks Mr Key is putting a gun to the heads of state housing tenants.

"The vast majority of statehouse tenants, believe it or not, don't bother to vote and when they get off their backsides and do vote, they don't vote National as happened in 2005." he told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking. "I think that's a mistake Labour can work on."

He says if he was John Key, he'd fire his speech writers.

"There's no poetry, there's no passion, there's no sense of humour, there's no sens of history."

Mr Williams says John Key's been saying the same things for two year, but nothing's really happened.

Meanwhile Labour MP Grant Robertson says shuffling the chairs around the deck of the public service will do nothing to boost our economy or create jobs.

He says there are lots of rumours going around about restructuring in various departments.

"Everybody wants a more efficient public sector that's responsive to the community needs," he says. "That involves actually sitting down with public servants and working out how we can help them to do their jobs better."

"Just reorganising causes more disruption and more difficulty for people in their jobs."

Grant Robertson says that does nothing to make the public service better for everyone.



Acknowledgements: © 2011 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

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