Friday, March 07, 2014



"A higher standard of government"

Back in 2008 when he was running for Prime Minister, John Key promised us "a higher standard of government". When tested, that promise has been shown to be hot air - and Judith Collins' conflict of interest over endorsing her husband's company (which is also a major donor to the National Party) is no exception. As predicted, he's refusing to turn over the "advice" from the Cabinet Office saying that its all OK - which means that we cannot see if that advice stacks up, or even if its real. And then there's this bit:

"We have a set of rules which are always just a guideline anyway."

"Just a guideline": this is how Key treats our constitution (and the Cabinet Manual is part of our constitution, setting out the processes and norms of Cabinet governance). "A higher standard of government"? I think not.