House of the 1%

The 2014 Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament was released today, showing once again how different the lives of MPs are from the people they purport to represent. Multiple homes, numerous trusts, investment properties, lavish gifts - the overall picture is of a House of the 1%. Ordinary people don't get given a single smartphone by its manufacturers in a year - let alone three (why does John Key need three Galaxy S4's anyway? Does he break them? Or keep multiple ones for different purposes?)

But the most disgusting thing in it: the Speaker of the House, David Carter, reports owning substantial shareholdings in both Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy. He voted for a privatisation law, then he brought shares in the privatised companies. And that is simply corrupt.