Wednesday, November 16, 2011



Under pressure

It looks like John Key doesn't respond well when the media goes off-script and starts actually asking questions:

Prime Minister John Key has this morning refused to answer any questions about the 'tea cup' tape and, when pressed, walked out of a media stand-up.

He repeatedly said, in response to questions around the tape, that he and New Zealanders were interested in issues such as the economy.

In an extraordinary response, when journalists continued to ask him about the tape, he stormed off.

Normally, of course, Key just doesn't appear in any venue (such as Morning Report) which might seriously challenge him. But during an election campaign, he has to. And as a result, we've just gained a valuable insight into the character of our Prime Minister and how he responds when things don't go his own way.

(As for the merits, I think Key and Banks have a right to privacy and not to have their conversations bugged, accidentally or otherwise. At the same time, now that we all know that the recording exists, I think he's stupid not to allow it to be released. As we're seeing here, people are going to keep asking about it, and the longer he stonewalls, the shiftier he looks)