DPF is crying foul over Labour's raising the issue of National's secret funding from the Exclusive Brethren and their offering of policy concessions for donations. All I can say is that if you give it out, you get it back. If you throw around allegations of "corruption", your own dealings had better be lilly-white, otherwise you simply look like hypocrites. And while National's use of fronts to launder its election donations so the public cannot see who they are beholden to may be within the bounds of election law, there is no question that it stinks to high heaven and is something the public is deeply concerned about. And fixing it, to at minimum introduce proper transparency and criminalise this sort of money laundering, and ideally remove the influence of big money from politics entirely, needs to be done before the next election.
Meanwhile, there are several questions on the topic scheduled for Question Time today. Previously, opposition barracking during such questions has made the House practically unmanageable. With Labour finally deciding to fling something back in response, I'm sure we will see the "dignity" of MPs and Parliament raised to new heights...
So when's Labour going to sue for defamation.
ReplyDeleteBrash has continually said that Labour is the most corrupt government for 100 years.
The rest of the left supports them.
Teehee - they can't cause they know it's true.
If that's the best Labour can come up - boo hoo.
I/S:
ReplyDeleteDespite your heroic attempt at moral equivalence, could you point me to the occasion where Don Brash has accused Labour of trading "policy for cash" from industry sector groups as Clark et. al. have done over the last 24 hours?
Still, you're right in one sense: If Labour wants to play the virtuous whore on anonymous and corporate donors, there's plenty of questions to be asked of Helen Clark. And I don't think Parliament or the public are going to be quite so indulgent of a repeat of Mallard's 'Yanks under the bed' smear. I certainly eagerly await a comprehensive campaign finance reform bill being pushed up the order paper at warp speed.
Craig, if you read Labour's 2005 manifesto you'll see that that is Labour's policy. And I hope you are right. I hope Labour does introduce some kind of Democracy transparency and fairness reform package. The rules need to be made crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteAnon: thanks to David Lange (I think), we now have precedent which allows for extremely robust political comment, and Brash's claims would certainly be covered under it.
ReplyDeleteCraig: National has alleged "corruption"; Labour has pointed out that there's more than one sort, and there are things about National's funding practices that we should be concerned about. And they're absolutely right.
And yes, I am also looking forward to an Electoral (Transparency) Amendment Bill being introduced to the House. The sooner, the better, IMHO. Of course, that possibility is precisely why National is kicking and screaming so loud...
I'm not crying foul. Far from it. I'm exposing the hypocrisy and stupidity of the PM with her desperation.
ReplyDeleteDPF: Desperate, certainly, but there's a great stinking pile of hypocrisy here from National, which they are going to have shovelled at them if they continue to allege corruption.
ReplyDeleteIn the past few days there has been some consensus that what Philip Field has done may be "legal", but it is certainly not "right". SO I was amazed to hear Brash on the radio claiming that National is doing nothing illegal by getting funded through anonymous trusts. It might be legal, but it isn't right.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, Labour is desperately trying to throw up a distraction to the main issue, I expect they are casting about for an "honourable" exit (a la Nixon from Viet Nam) from this whole mess they have got themselves into.
As expected, Question Time is a total zoo today, with MPs screaming across the chamber at one another and preventing questions from being asked or answered. There has however been one interesting statement, from Helen Clark, that
ReplyDelete"Labour will support changes to electoral law, to flush out National's covert funding"
So, we might be seeing those changes sooner rather than later.
PabloR "To be fair, Labour is desperately trying to throw up a distraction to the main issue"
ReplyDeleteYou will have noted that Don Brash has called for a fresh election. I hardly think Labour is throwing up a distraction when they dare to question his basis for making such an extreme call. Don Brash has totally discreditted himself with this move, it will no doubt come back to haunt us in spades in the future.
"Labour will support changes to electoral law, to flush out National's covert funding"
ReplyDeleteHeh yeah National really has shot itself in the foot this time
And considering none of the other parties are as duplicitous as National in using trust accounts to launder their cash, I think Labour will have the numbers to pass this.
And then what will National do for cash in 2008 since it seems none of their big name donors want to be named?
Nothing like winning the battle but losing the war.
John: I don't think there'll be any trouble passing such a bill. Greater electoral transparency has consistent high levels of support from the electorate. The only people who don't support it are (right-wing) politicians and the businessmen who buy them.
ReplyDeleteThere will be a lot of debate around how to handle third-party campaigning, since there are serious issues there which require balancing freedom of speech (and at its heart, about government and politics) with having free and fair democratic system in which the rich cannot simply buy themselves power.
I/S I think it's a little naive to believe Labour politicians can't be bought. How'd we end up with this whole free market fundamentalist agenda in the first place?
ReplyDeleteWhy you all see this issue as a temporary blip I do not know. The truth is staring you in the face: we have a very limited and corrupt form of democracy.
It will be interesting to see how National vote for such a bill?
ReplyDeleteTake the moral high ground that you have been trying to grab and vote for it. Or go with your own money, vote against it and take part in the biggest U-turn in recent political history.
Anthony,
ReplyDeletethe glass is half empty or half full.
Just as long as we try to move in the right direction and take appropriate action against those who try to steal it then that's a start.
I/S wrote:
ReplyDeleteI don't think there'll be any trouble passing such a bill. Greater electoral transparency has consistent high levels of support from the electorate. The only people who don't support it are (right-wing) politicians and the businessmen who buy them.
Really? Well, that explains why we've had seven long years of utter inaction from Labour - talking a good game is one thing, but it all seems to fade away quickly enough. Of course, I'd be interested to see how many other parties will vote to 'out' their anonymous donors and voluntarily decline to receive corporate donations.
What I was more interested in was Michael Cullen confirming that retrospective legislation will be ready to go if the Solicitor-General doesn't bring Christmas early. Then, I suspect the Government's attention will be more focused on sluicing away their own covert rort.
Anthony: I do think they can be bought. Which is yet another reason to make it more difficult. Fortunately, their partisan interests neatly coincide with democratic ones here. Now, if only it would happen more often...
ReplyDeleteIcehawk is right, on two points
ReplyDelete1) if national is found guilty they should face the same system labour does (surely a trueism - but does anyone dispute that??)
2) I for one despite being a vocal critic probably wont vote on this issue, I cant split my vote between "revenge" and policy and in the end policy will probably win the day. I wouldn sit back and jsut bet the electorate will punish corruption when I know it is likely I wont even do it myself.
Noddy, what National did or didn't do doesn't change the fact the Labour made its own mistakes. I agree that in ramping up the hyperbole the Nats are making (yet another) tactical error, but the core question, what will Labour do about its overspend still needs to be answered.
ReplyDelete