0 More dirt from Horan

Brendan Horan's time in Parliament may be ticking down. But he seems determined to use what time he has left to extract utu for his summary sacking last year by Winston Peters; the Herald reports:

Rogue ex-New Zealand First MP Brendan Horan has made fresh allegations that his former boss, Winston Peters, is breaking parliamentary rules by having taxpayer-funded staff working on party business.
Speaker David Carter is currently investigating claims by Mr Horan that the party's taxpayer-funded Vanguard constituency management software is being used by the party to seek votes and raise cash.
Parliament's rules forbid the use of funding intended to support MPs and political leaders' parliamentary activities for party political activities.
Today, Mr Horan produced internal NZ First documents dealing with the party's move to raise funds via a regular direct debit facility for members.
He said NZ First 2013 board minutes "make it clear" the scheme was being run from Parliament by the party's director of operations Apirana Dawson whose salary is paid by Parliamentary Service.
"One really has to question what Parliamentary staff are doing being involved in raising money and trying to get votes for a political party when their job is obviously towards Parliamentary Service", Mr Horan said this afternoon.
Asked whether he understood that Parliamentary Service paid all of Mr Dawson's salary or that he received some pay from the party, Mr Horan said he didn't know.
"That's one of the questions that's fair to be raised."
Mr Horan's latest attack comes after he raised questions around Mr Peters' interest in a race horse which was not declared in the MPs' Register of Pecuniary Interests, and allegations of bullying of staff by another NZ First MP.
A spokeswoman for NZ First Leader Winston Peters said he would not comment on Mr Horan's latest allegations.

And whilst Mr Horan insists that this isn't personal, he is also less than complimentary about the Winston First leader:

Mr Horan told reporters he wasn't attempting to destroy Mr Peters' political career; neither was he engaging in a personal vendetta.
"I'm not out to destroy anybody. I despise the act of hypocrisy, I despise the act of bullying and I'm standing up against the biggest bully in Parliament. What I'd like to see happen here is the rules are followed, that the hypocrisy ends in this Parliament and we get on with the important business of trying to do what MPs do, which is supposed to be helping people and making the economy grow."

It's quite probable that NZ First will give the Speaker an assurance that no taxpayer money has been misused, and because the Speaker is obliged to take MP's at their word, he will be unable to do anything. But that should not be Winston Peters' prime concern.

Someone from within the party organisation has loose lips, and is feeding Brendan Horan with information to embarrass Peters and his party. Someone is telling Horan where the bodies are buried, and once the media get the scent of a story, they will be in regular contact with Horan for the next instalment.

Ironically, Horan has learned something from his time in the Peters party where he was originally the Master's Apprentice. Is Winston Peters going to be hoist by his own petard? 

0 Watkins on "flaky" Winston First

Tracy Watkins doesn't mince words today. Under the headline Party in danger of Peter-ing out she opines:

Anyone who kids themselves that there is life after Winston Peters for NZ First only had to watch the party floundering in the absence of its leader this week.
Frantically trying to head off an attack by their former colleague, expunged NZ Firster Brendan Horan, Peters' front bench achieved the seemingly impossible feat of making Horan look good by comparison.
They were clueless in the face of Horan's determination to extract utu from his former party by tabling documents he claimed showed improper use of the taxpayer funded leader's fund.
Whether the documents do show what Horan claims remains to be seen; the Speaker is investigating although the explanation offered by Peters suggests the spending complies with the rules. But we know from long experience that politicians have a collective interest in not inquiring too deeply into the use of leaders' funds.
There is certainly no reason to be confident that they have cleaned up their act since an Audit Office inquiry several years ago found most parties treated it as a slush fund for party political activities. (NZ First was one of the parties pinged for unlawful spending to the tune of $158,000).
Regardless of the ins and outs of Horan's allegations, however, one thing seems clear: Horan is hellbent on using his last remaining months in Parliament to try to take Peters and the rest of NZ First down with him.
Even if he succeeds he will only be hastening by a few years what increasingly seems inevitable.
With its leader knocking 70, NZ First is a clock that has been slowly winding down since the 1996 election delivered Peters the balance of power. 

This is brutal stuff from Ms Watkins, but it is is also brutally honest. There is no way that New Zealand First will survive without its founder and cult leader. The ineptitude of the NZF caucus was there for all to see this week.

Tracy Watkins goes on to profile some of the more "colourful" members of the Winston First caucus:

Since the party's return in 2011, Parliament has been collectively holding its breath waiting for the current team to implode given some of the more eccentric selections - like former North Shore mayor Andrew Williams, notorious for urinating in a public place. 
The implosion hasn't happened yet but there have been plenty of flaky moments. Richard Prosser launched a diatribe against Muslims that prompted hundreds of complaints to the NZ First board. The party's Pasifika MP, Asenati Lole-Taylor, famously asked questions of the police minister in Parliament about blow jobs and has carved out a cult following on Twitter for her bizarre outbursts. Her most recent was to accuse a press gallery journalist of cyber bullying after he referred to her "shooting the messenger". Lole-Taylor thought he was alleging she had shot an actual parliamentary messenger. Horan, meanwhile, was dumped from the party over allegations of missing money from his dead mother's estate.
Horan's bitterness over his expulsion from the party is probably made even more visceral for his belief in himself as the obvious successor to Peters. A former TV weather presenter, Horan was noted for making sure he was always in screen shot when Peters was stopped on the way to the House.
Peters' dislike for his former MP, meanwhile, seems to run particularly deep, with his attack in Parliament on Horan as New Zealand's "Jimmy Savile" - a reference to Britain's celebrity child molester - plumbing the depths of personal attack. 

Asenati Lole-Taylor's Twitter feud with 3News journalist Lloyd Burr was somewhat surreal. It's fair to say that there are a number of MP's in the House with a better command of English than Asenati (perhaps as many as 120 more), but she made an absolute goose of herself, and not for the first time. In the past Ms Lole-Taylor has drawn attention to herself by gleefully announcing on a daily basis how many Twitter users she had blocked that day for daring to have a contrary opinion to hers!

Winston First may squeak back in at September's General Election. However we wouldn't put money on it; Peters himself is a pale shadow of the brash young man on 1996. In recent weeks he has looked far from well and we genuinely wonder if he can pick himself up for one final campaign. He will have to, because none of his current caucus looks capable of winning a chook raffle at the local pub, let alone winning votes in an election.

Father Time has not treated Winston Peters kindly; the late nights, fags and whisky have taken a cumulative toll. And it may well be Father Time who determines whether Winston First survives beyond 20 September 2014.

0 The rudderless SS Winston First

Winston Peters has been away from Parliament the last couple of days. He told reporters that his absence on Wednesday was because he was addressing a Grey Power meeting in West Auckland. However, as Pete George disclosed yesterday, the Grey Power meeting in question was actually held yesterday afternoon. Mr Peters seemed to have got his wires crossed.

But in his absence, his caucus has been an absolute shambles. We blogged yesterday about their attempts on Wednesday to stop Brendan Horan raising legitimate concerns about the possible misuse of taxpayer funds on party politicking. They were at it again yesterday as Mr Horan asked questions about workplace bullying. We've blogged the video of that question and the unsuccessful points of order here, and the Herald has also reported on the ongoing feud between Messrs Horan and Peters.

But the NZ First caucus was at that point yet to reach its nadir. Bill English closed the Budget Debate with his right of reply speech, after which Parliament voted; first on the no-confidence amendment moved by David Cunliffe, then on the Budget itself. Check this out; if you don't want to watch a spirited speech from Bill English, jump straight to about the ten minute mark:

They took the vote on Mr Cunliffe's no-confidence amendment first, and both the Greens and Winston First voted against it. The Greens realised the mistake before the count was made and corrected it, but NZ First did not. Watch the video; Denis O'Rourke is staring at Jan Logie as she amends the Green vote, and the penny hasn't dropped; what a plodder.

We can understand the Greens' error; when you are against everything the Government does, voting to oppose is your default setting. Jan Logie paused before announcing the Green vote, but at least was able to correct it with minimum embarrassment.

Denis O'Rourke's cock-up however was a real embarrassment, given the scrutiny his party and its leader have been under this week. One really has to wonder what NZ First adds to the current Parliament.

The story didn't end there however. Barbara Stewart had to come back into the House an hour later and seek leave to correct the result which initially saw Cunliffe's motion defeated 50-71. That it took NZ First an hour to grasp the effects of its stuff-up when it was causing mirth on social media at the time it happened is telling.

It hasn't been a great week for Winston First, or for its aging leader who is a shadow of his former self. Without Peters, the NZF caucus is a shambles, and there are now real doubts as to whether this is really the beginning of the end.

0 Winston First under investigation - again

Winston Peters and his party are under investigation by Parliament's Speaker for the second time this month; the Herald reports:

Parliament's Speaker David Carter has confirmed he is investigating whether NZ First misused taxpayer funding by paying for software used to seek votes and raise cash for the party.
Former NZ First MP Brendan Horan yesterday claimed claimed NZ First had spent as much as $20,000 in parliamentary funding from Winston Peters' leader's budget to develop and operate "taxpayer-funded software for party political purposes such as campaigning and fundraising".
He made an complaint to Mr Carter, who early this afternoon confirmed the matter was under investigation.
Mr Horan also said yesterday that NZ First parliamentary staff were working on running the Vanguard software during the election year.
"This is a clear breach of Parliamentary Service guidelines.

"I call on the leader of the party to open his leader's budget accounts to the scrutiny of the Speaker first and then the public of New Zealand."
Rules for parliamentary funding are intended to ensure the money is not used for party political purposes and the Parliamentary Service rules of conduct state that parliamentary staff, must, in the course of their work "avoid electioneering, political party business (i.e. acting for the non-parliamentary branch of the party, such as political party administration, fundraising or campaign related activities), and other actions that are party political in nature".
Mr Horan said the public had "a right to know what their money is being used for and whether it is being used legally", and last night confirmed he had lodged a complaint with Speaker David Carter.

We commend Brendan Horan for doing the right thing here. He made his point, then did exactly as he said he would, and made a formal complaint to the Speaker. An investigation into Winston First's use of taxpayer funds is now underway.

Contrast this with Winston Peters' modus operandi; threats, unsubstantiated allegations, smears and promises of revelations which never come. The Winston Peters of 2014 is a pale shadow of the Peters, even of the mid-2000's. He is living on borrowed parliamentary time.

That Speaker David Carter has deemed Horan's complaint as worthy of investigation is a victory for the "independent List MP". Here's hoping that he has got all his ducks in a row, and that the allegations he made yesterday are supported by stronger evidence that Peters' "smoking gun".

0 Where's this one going?

UPDATE: Goodness; look who Brendon Horan is gunning for. It's the Rt Hon Winston Peters, who, it is alleged, is not the nicest person in the world to work for. Ought we be surprised by this revelation?

And still, Peters' fellow MP's try to stop Mr Horan. Where is the transparency?

***********

Brendan Horan gets to ask a question this afternoon during Question Time; check this out:

The sting of course is never in the primary question, but in the supplementary questions that follow. So we wonder where Mr Horan might be going with this question, and whether he has any particular workplace bullies in mind.

Stay tuned for more on this as Brendan Horan continues his quest for utu.

0 Winston First is transparent. Yeah right.

Brendan Horan promised to dish dirt on his former party yesterday, and he was as good as his word. Unfortunately, Winston Peters wasn't there; perhaps he was keeping a low profile after his disgraceful behaviour on Tuesday. The Herald reports:

While he denied he was running away from a fight, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters left his MPs to defend the party against claims by independent MP Brendan Horan the party misused taxpayer funding to raise cash and seek votes.
After weeks of ill-tempered exchanges between Mr Peters and his ousted caucus member, Mr Horan yesterday fronted up in Parliament with what he said was proof of misuse of parliamentary funding by the party.
Mr Horan claimed NZ First had spent as much as $20,000 in parliamentary funding from Mr Peters' leader's budget to develop and operate "taxpayer-funded software for party political purposes such as campaigning and fundraising".
Mr Horan also said NZ First parliamentary staff were working on running the Vanguard software during the election year.
"This is a clear breach of Parliamentary Service guidelines.

"I call on the leader of the party to open his leader's budget accounts to the scrutiny of the Speaker first and then the public of New Zealand."
Rules for parliamentary funding are intended to ensure the money is not used for party political purposes and the Parliamentary Service rules of conduct state that parliamentary staff, must, in the course of their work "avoid electioneering, political party business (i.e. acting for the non-parliamentary branch of the party, such as political party administration, fundraising or campaign related activities), and other actions that are party political in nature".
Mr Horan said the public had "a right to know what their money is being used for and whether it is being used legally" and last night confirmed he had lodged a complaint with Speaker David Carter. Mr Carter's office did not respond to requests for comment.

We commend Mr Horan for standing up to the man who unilaterally sacked him, in a manner totally contrary to the principles of fairness and natural justice. Here, courtesy of In the House is his Budget Debate speech from yesterday afternoon:

The worst aspect of this was the attempts by Winston First lobby-fodder MP's Barbara Stewart, Richard Prosser and Andrew Williams to deny Mr Horan a voice. There were repetitive, unsuccessful points of order, all of which were over-ruled by the Assistant Speaker. And when Horan came to try to table documents in support of his allegations, the NZF MP's objected loudly on each occasion.

Now any MP has the right to object to leave being granted to table a document, without any reason being given. But yesterday's antics gave the perception, perhaps unfairly, that Horan had hit the jackpot, and that the Peters Party had been busted.

We look forward to hostilities being resumed, the next time Mr Peters considers a trip to Parliament worthy of his time. And we look forward to the outcome of the Speaker's investigation into these allegations of further wrongdoing by the party leader who was censured by his peers in 2008 for wilfully misleading them.

UPDATE: Over at Your NZ, Pete George notes that the Grey Power meeting Peters claimed to be attending is actually on today, and notes:

And very ironic. An MP well known for his attacks on others in Parliament seems unwilling to be on the receiving end of accusations.
There could be another reason for his absence yesterday, but why would he make up an excuse that is easily proven incorrect? Why would the event be removed from the NZ First website?
There’s a perception that Peters is trying to hide something, or hide from something.
His accusations on Tuesday have been called the worst seen in Parliament for a long time. Is NZ First reacting to that? Is Peters not prepared to face an accuser? Or is he trying to hide something?
He was Missing In Action and making things up yesterday. He would be one of the first to hold another MP to account for anything like that.

We could not agree more.
 

0 UPDATED: Where is the outrage?

UPDATE: We have already received some responses from MP's including a response from one MP's whose condemnation was not sought! It's interesting too that this post and our tweets about it have attracted the attention of staff in Mr Peters' office.

Here they are, in chronological order, with the most recent at the top:

Kudos to Metiria Turei:

Nanaia Mahuta has come to the party; good on her:

We didn't seek Clare Curran's opinion, but she must have felt compelled to comment. Her "look over there" attitude, and her defence of Kim Dotcom yesterday make one wonder if Paddy Gower was right:

Louise Upston notes that it was National (via Anne Tolley) who forced Peters to apologise:

***************************************

We blogged yesterday about Winston Peters' disgraceful behaviour in Parliament yesterday. These stories in the Herald and on Stuff also touch on Peters' scurrilous behaviour.

Unsubstantiated smears and conspiracy theories are Peters' stock in trade, as are his constant threats to reveal more. Judith Collins was supposed to be gone last week, then again by Monday, but she was back in Parliament yesterday, and we could have sworn we listened to her answer a question in her capacity as a Minister.

But yesterday's attack on Brendan Horan was calculated and deliberate, especially when Peters made the "Jimmy Savile" reference a second time. He was required to withdraw and apologise, which he did reluctantly.

But once again Winston Peters seems to be getting a free pass simply, we suspect, because he's Winston Peters. That excuses nothing. Peters' smear against Horan deserves widespread condemnation.

So we've done something about it. We have sent tweets to a number of female MP's from across the House; National, Labour and the Greens. By and large, these are MP's who have been vocal about sexual violence towards women.

There's no point in sending messages to NZ First's female MP's, because whatever they may think privately, they will stick to Peters like mud sticks to carpet. Over the course of the day, we will blog replies.

Winston Peters has a long history of bullying, unsubstantiated allegations and threats. It's time that Parliament, the media and the public called him out on it.

0 Comment of the Day - 21 May 2014

A commenter at Whaleoil sums up Winston Peters' disgraceful smear from yesterday in a most erudite manner:

Geoff Vader is right on the mark. The mere fact that Peters could be required to withdraw and apologise for likening Brendan Horan to an alleged serial paedophile and escape without any further sanction suggests that the rules for MPs' conduct in Parliament need to be looked at.

0 A new low, even by Winston Peters' standards

Winston Peters has called plenty of people plenty of names over his many, many years in politics. But he hit rock-bottom this afternoon; Stuff reports:

Open hostilities have erupted between independent MP Brendan Horan and his former boss after NZ First leader Winston Peters today referred to Horan as "Jimmy Saville". 
Peters twice made reference to Horan as Saville, the late BBC presenter accused of sex crimes against children.
The first reference followed Horan attempting to table NZ First board meeting minutes which he told Parliament "point to improper use of taxpayer money".
Peters responded: "This House should not be used in that way particularly by the Jimmy Saville of New Zealand politics."
His second reference followed Horan attempting to table a document in Parliament linking Peters to a racehorse.
Horan was denied permission to table the document, prompting Peters to say "Jimmy Saville needs to know better than that".
Horan demanded Peters withdraw and apologise for the remark and said he had taken offence at the "disgusting comments". 

Firstly, we need to correct the Stuff subbie who posted this story on Tracy Watkins' behalf; it's Jimmy Savile, not Saville.

But enough pedantry. To compare anyone, let alone another member of Parliament to the serial paedophile that Savile has been exposed posthumously as being is both disgusting and disgraceful. The Rt Hon Member ought be ashamed of himself for indulging in such gutter politics; not just once, but twice.

Winston Peters has plumbed the depths regularly throughout his parliamentary career. Today however was a new low, even by his own standards. 

It's time that Winston Peters was put out to pasture, and we hope fervently that will happen four months from today.

0 How could Winston forget Bellazeel

Winston Peters' "smoking gun" yesterday was a suggestion that Judith Collins might have filed an incomplete Pecuniary Interest return.

But now his arch-nemesis Brendan Horan has suggested that the Winston First leader might have his own Pecuniary Interest issue. He has put out this presser:

It’s time for Winston Peters to come clean

Wednesday, 14 May 2014, 2:14 pm
Press Release: Brendan Horan MP

Independent MP Brendan Horan says Winston Peters must come clean about his own pecuniary interests and his own use of taxpayer money before making spurious allegations against other people.
The 5 year old bay mare Bellazeel is owned by Mr Peters and others, and has a successful racing career. So far in the 2013/14 season from seven starts, the horse has had two wins and a third place, earning prize-money of $20,175. Mr Peters has conspicuously failed to declare the horse in his pecuniary interests return.
“Mr Peters needs to take an honest look in the mirror. He is a prime example of why our Parliament needs to be subject to the Official Information Act,” Mr Horan says.
Brendan Horan says he is also concerned that the New Zealand First Leader could be misusing taxpayer funds. “I am concerned at reports I am hearing regarding overseas junkets, use of contractors and consultants, and other serious mis-spending. Certainly Mr Peters refuses to follow normal practice and report to his caucus on how the Leaders Budget - some $2.5 million in the current Parliament - is being used. I challenge him to open the books so that taxpayers can be sure the money is being used only for proper purposes.
“Real parties are open with their MPs about what funding is being used for and allow them to bid for funding for projects. That doesn’t happen in Winston’s party where Mr Peters like Smaug secretively guards the budget as if it was his own personal treasure," said Brendan Horan.
Ends 

We did our own little piece of research, and Googled Bellazeel. And here's what we found at the very first result the Google search threw up:

Perhaps Brendan Horan has got Winston Peters, former Racing Minister mixed up with some other Winston Peters. But we don't think so.

Mr Peters is denying owning the horse, claiming that he has sold his interest in it. Even if that is the case, there's the issue of whether or not he owned Bellazeel in 2013, the period for which the latest Pecuniary Interest register applies.

This is terribly embarrassing for Winston Peters; facing an accusation identical to that for which he demands the Prime Minister sack Judith Collins. It's a terrible own goal.

It does however solve the mystery of the absence of a smoking gun yesterday. Bellazeel ate it!


UPDATE: The media scrum gathered around Winston Peters after Question Time this afternoon. Have a listen to this raw audio, as Peters tells misleading story after porkie after untruth.

And here's what's on Racing NZ's website as at 5.30pm this evening; after Winston supposedly talked to the boss there. It clearly shows Winston Peters as an owner of Bellazeel.

As for the breeder, Miss D Ho; draw your own conclusions!

0 Winston First

In case you needed any convincing that New Zealand First is a Winston Peters cult, here it is; Radio NZ reports:

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says a new plan to fine its MPs if they leave the party but stay on in Parliament will help ensure fairness for voters.
The party is changing its constitution to stop its MPs staying on in Parliament after they have resigned or are expelled from caucus.
The new constitution states that any new member who agrees to become a New Zealand First candidate will have to sign what's intended to be a legally enforceable contract.
That stipulates that if they resign from, or are expelled from, the New Zealand First parliamentary caucus, they must quit their seat in Parliament within three days. If that contract is broken, the new rules say the member would be liable for $300,000 in damages.

Clearly, this is designed to mitigate the embarrassment Winston First has endured since the summary expulsion (without a fair trial) of Brendan Horan from the WF caucus in 2012. Mr Horan has since been cleared of any wrongdoing with regard to his mother's estate by both the police and the executor of the estate, but natural justice seems not to be of any interest to Mr Peters. What will happen is that members serve totally at the whim of Peters, not the party. That is simply unacceptable, and completely undemocratic.

Meanwhile, Stuff reports on Mr Horan's reaction:

NZ First MPs who are sacked or resign from the party could face a $300,000 fine if they don't give up their seat within three days, though legal experts say it's unlikely to be enforceable.
The rule was written into NZ First's constitution after Brendan Horan was sacked by party leader Winston Peters in 2012. Horan, who has remained in Parliament as an independent MP, has dubbed it "Winston ruling by decree".
"That's bullying and intimidation of the worst sort and it's another way to make sure MPs stick in line with whatever the leader said. It's just about giving Winston Peters more power," he said.
Horan was expelled after allegations he took money from his late mother's accounts, though he has strongly rejected the allegations. 

And the initial legal opinion on this "rule" will not endure Andrew Geddis to Mr Peters; read on:

 

Professor Andrew Geddis, a constitutional law expert at Otago University, said the clause was unenforceable.
"What they're trying to do is essentially strongarm someone out of Parliament through this fear of a financial penalty."
There was no law preventing an MP from switching parties during a parliamentary term, with the Electoral Integrity Act expiring in 2005, and this was NZ First's attempt to create a restriction.
Geddis said Peters had successfully challenged a similar situation in 1993 when the National Party tried to make him sign a clause preventing him from standing on his own or for another party in Tauranga when he failed to win its nomination.
"The High Court said, no, we won't enforce that on public policy grounds because the question of who can and can't be elected a member of Parliament, that's too important to be decided by an employment contract between individuals." 

You'd have to be mad to sign a contract with Winston Peters and then expect everything to be plain sailing. After all, the taxpayers of New Zealand are still waiting for Peters to pay back the $158,000 that NZ First spend unlawfully in 2005. With nine years of accrued interest, that amount must be well over $200k by now.

Then again, cast your eye over the current Winston First caucus; perhaps they will all gladly sign up...