election 2023

I love watching the minister of filth squirm!

12 times he was asked if he'd sold the shares.  Surely he's goneburger.

www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2023/06/wood_vs_key_share_scandal_compared.html

Wood vs Key share scandal compared

The Herald reports:



The Prime Minister wasted no time in standing down Michael Wood as Transport Minister yesterday after the Herald revealed he owned $13,000 of Auckland Airport shares that he was told to sell “half a dozen times” since 2020.



The Herald can also reveal Wood declined North Shore Aerodrome’s application for airport authority status while he owned shares in Auckland Airport, a potential competitor.



The aerodrome is in the Whangaparāoa electorate and its MP, National’s Mark Mitchell, said the situation appeared “dodgy” and that Wood’s actions were a sackable offence.



Chris Hipkins described Wood’s ownership of the stock while he was regulating the aviation industry as “not acceptable”.



This revelation changes things for Wood. As a shareholder in Auckland Airport, he should have recused himself from making a decision on North Shore Aerodrome’s application for airport authority status.



This revelation changes things from a potential conflict of interest to actually having made a Ministerial decision where he had a financial interest in the outcome.



Now again I would say I don’t think that was his motivation. $13,000 of shares to someone on $250,000 a year is not a lot of money. But when John Key had some shares in Tranzrail, Labour insisted he was acting corruptly and was motivated by his shareholding, even though they represented a minuscule amount of his holdings.



It is worth comparing the two situations of Key in 2003 and Wood in 2023, so I have done a table.



MP Key Wood



Company Tranzrail Auckland Airport

Shares value $100,000 approx $13,000

Est % of wealth 0.2% 2%+

Owned by Family trust not managed by Key Wood directly

Breached standing orders No Yes

Breached Cabinet Manual No Yes

Alleged conflicted action Asked questions in Parliament Declined authority status to a competitor

Role Associate Opposition Transport spokesperson Minister of Transport

Sales of shares Done within 12 months of being an MP for a loss of over $100,000 Not done despite six twelve reminders from Cabinet office over 2.5 years

Now with the Key situation, Labour insisted this was an egregious breach of standards. By their own rhetoric, what Wood does is clearly much worse.



Also Hipkins has just revealed that the Cabinet Office asked Wood not six times, but 12 times if had sold the shares. This means surely he can’t continue as a Minister?

From Kiwiblog

Independent Electroral Panel deliverirs wishlist for the left:


Here are their key recommendations:



Entrench Treaty principles in the Electoral Act

Lower threshold to 3.5%

Abolish electorate seat threshold

Fix ratio of electorate: list seats to be 60:40 so Parliament size increases as number of electorates grows

Referendum on a four year term

No fixed election date

Abolish Waka-jumping law

Lower voting age to 16

Allow all prisoners the vote

Allow Maori to change rolls up to any including on election day

Ban donations of over $30,000 and increase taxpayer funding of parties to around $6 million per electoral cycle

Ban donations from companies and unions


I cann't see any mention of the abolishment of the Maori seats from the Royal Commision 1986.

Electoral reform in New Zealand: The report of the Royal Commission........(New Zealand is called New Zealand back then)
Abstract

In late 1986 the Royal Commission on the Electoral System in New Zealand published its report. The Commission's recommendations were both radical and comprehensive. Amongst other things it proposed the introduction of a mixed member proportional (MMP) electoral system, the abolition of the four Maori seats, a substantial increase in the number of MPs, the state funding of political parties, and various changes to the system of boundary redistribution and the administration of elections. This paper outlines the background to the establishment of the Royal Commission, briefly examines the Commission's principal findings, and considers the prospects for reform.

Have your say, I did, and told them politely how racist and wrong they were, mentioned the Maori seat thing too.
electoralreview.govt.nz/

Yep, absolute bolloxs.  Apparently Te Reo is the main language in noozld now?  I'd say Aoteoroa but that's only the North Island and I'm sure we still include the south island as part of noozuld.

Clearly they don't want people to actually submit their repsonses to that survey, took me about 10 mins to find the actual link to start submitting, most punters would put that front and centre.

consultations.justice.govt.nz/policy/ier-draft-recommendations/consultation/subpage.2023-04-03.4869216914/

It's worth doing, some good recommendations in there, and some others...

- Requiring in the Electoral Act that the Electoral Commission give effect to te Tiriti / the Treaty and its principles

- Requiring the Electoral Commission to prioritise establishing Māori governance over data collected about Māori in the administration of the electoral system

- Removing most restrictions on when Māori can choose to enrol in Māori electorates or general electorates (the Māori electoral option)

- Giving support to iwi, hapū, and other Māori organisations to lead voter participation and engagement activities

- Establishing a fund to facilitate party and candidate engagement with Māori communities, in ways appropriate for Māori

So he plain ourright lied.  In fact, when you think that he was asked a dozen times to sort it out, he was standing there flicking the bird to parliamentary services while he lied.

Done deal, he's gotta go, ciao, don't let the door hit you on the arse on your way out.

According to the Prime Minister, “One of the challenges is that the Cabinet Office had been advised by [Wood] on a number of occasions that he has divested himself of the shares, that clearly hasn’t happened. That is quite a material issue”.

Thx mzld...just sent in my sixpenny worth. I like being ignored