0 MegaMana steals more Green policy

Yesterday the clean rivers policy Laila Harre had written for the Greens became Internet Party policy. And today, Ms Harre is sounding like Gareth Hughes; the Herald reports:

The Internet Party wants a moratorium on what it calls "risky energy and mining industry practices" such as fracking, dumping of oil wastes and deep-sea and undersea extraction.
In its final environment policy released today the internet Party also sought to restore the "absolute right" of New Zealanders to protest at sea against deep-sea oil exploration.
"National has been pushing New Zealand towards a greater dependence on the extractive industries at a time when climate change and land and water protection demand the opposite," said internet Party leader Laila Harre.
"We will place moratoria on the hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells, and deep-sea drilling. The direct safety risks of these industries have not been adequately investigated or managed.
"Their impact on climate change would also have to be countered before any resumption of these activities would be considered. In the case of deep sea drilling we do not see any likelihood that benefits to New Zealand will be shown to outweigh the risks."

The cost of an accident to New Zealand's marine and coastal environment would be simply too high, she said.

We wonder if Ms Harre has ever discussed these policies with her paymaster, the Large German Gentleman. After all, all those computers that Herr Dotcom has must have consumed a good slice of mineral resources in their construction.

And just think of Dotcom's transport habits. He's definitely more fond of helicopters and Hummers than he is of hybrids, so how is mimicking Green Party policy on fracking, even if it was drafted by Laila Harre consistent with Dotcom's fossil fuel excesses?

Quite why MegaMana is targetting Green voters with its policies is anyone's bet. The Green vote is not a huge slice of the market, and two into one doesn't go, so someone is going to be disappointed.

It's little wonder that Danyl from the Dim-Post described Ms Harre's provocative actions as "Political biohazard watch". We don't think it's going to be long before Gareth Hughes is going to be calling for a moratorium on MegaMana!

0 Tweet of the Day - 30 June 2014

You'd think that the Internet Party, its founder Kim Dotcom and its leader Laila Harre would stand for openness and free speech on the internet. But despite their name, it seems they don't:

Free speech and all that nice sounding stuff is apparently for other people. But not for the Internet Party, it's founder and visionary, and its leader. They are far too important to worry about that kind of thing!

0 Citizen Kim - yeah right

According to the Herald, Kim Dotcom will  be standing for Parliament in 2017; check the headline out:

Now whether John Weekes is a real Herald reporter or not, or whether he's ghost-writing for David Fisher, we reckon that this is a red herring story to end all red herring puff pieces.

The reason that Dotcom can't stand for Parliament this year is that he is not a New Zealand citizen. We've come to the conclusion that the Immigration New Zealand staff who bowed to pressure from Dotcom's immigration consultants made a serious mistake, and Dotcom should never have been granted New Zealand residence.

Judge Holden, Edward the Confessor, Rex or whatever he calls himself today will try to tell you that Jonathan Coleman approved Dotcom's residence. He didn't; the decision was made by senior INZ staff, after threats from Dotcom's agent that he would take his investment, his bat and his ball and sulk off somewhere else if residence wasn't granted by a certain date. In hindsight, INZ should have told Dotcom to take his money and bugger off.

Soon after residence was granted, Dotcom was convicted of insider trading offences in Hong Kong. That alone leaves him as highly likely to be ineligible for citizenship. But then there's the small matter of charges against him in the USA.

All things being equal, by 2017 the US Department of Justice will have secured Dotcom's extradition to the US to face serious criminal charges including racketeering and money-laundering, not to mention criminal copyright violations. If he is convicted of these charges, he will be facing serious jail time, and no one will be bringing him a special mattress.

Of course a change of government might see Dotcom escape extradition to the USA, but that would be a very contentious political decision, underpinned by a strong whiff of corruption. For a Labour/GIMP Justice Minister to override a court decision in such an overtly political case (Dotcom being the founder, funder and visionary of the Internet Party) would be unprecedented in our memory, which goes back to the Holyoake era.

If Kim Dotcom is extradited, the Internet Party will cease to function; it's as simple as that. The party cannot exist without the Large German Gentleman's money. Its "Candidate Idol" yesterday was farcical, and the sight of hip-hop artist King Kapisi competing for a salaried position was a real irony, given Megaupload's alleged serial ripping off of the music industry, and the legal action that leading recording labels are taking against Dotcom.

If there is a change of government in September, if Kim Dotcom becomes a New Zealand citizen and if he stands for Parliament in 2017, New Zealand will have seen a genuine Cash for Citizenship scandal involving corruption at the highest levels. Is that acceptable?

0 Laila the waka-jumper

We came across this interesting gem hidden away on Stuff; check this out:

Laila Harre is on the spot changing trail
Meanwhile, Norman revealed that new Internet Party leader Laila Harre had wanted to be a Green Party MP before she quit her adviser role in December.
A spokesman confirmed s he was also on the campaign committee until a fortnight ago.
Kim Dotcom’s $3.25m donation to the Internet-Mana alliance was registered with the Electoral Commission at the weekend.
Harre will draw a $148,000 salary. Records show Colin Craig also injected another $55,000 into his Conservative Party.  

This is fascinating. Right up to two weeks ago, one week before she became the leader of the Internet Party, Laila Harre was actively working on the Greens' election campaign, albeit in a voluntary capacity.

What changed? How can someone go from actively campaigning for one party to being the leader of a completely different party in just seven days?

As we see it, there are two possible explanations, and neither of them is especially palatable. The first is that Laila Harre has sold the Green Party down the river by jumping (politically, of course) into bed with Dotcom, and taking his tainted money. Given that Laila Harre has previously been involved with Labour, New Labour, the Alliance and most recently the Greens, she has certainly been politically flexible!

But here's the other possible explanation. Is it possible that the Greens have been in cahoots all along, despite Russel Norman's statement earlier in the year that he was trying to talk Dotcom out of launching a party?

It makes sense. Both parties claim to appeal to younger, tech-savvy voters. The Greens certainly have a high digital/social media presence. Both parties are anti-GCSB/SIS/USA. Neither party thinks Kim Dotcom should be extradited to the USA, and both see him as more saint than sinner.

So has the Green Party actually done a dirty, back-room deal with Dotcom? It's time for an absolute denial that Laila Harre has not jumped into the German waka with the Greens' blessing, and a similarly categorical denial that no money has changed hands.

0 Is this a political first?

Laila Harre has confirmed suspicions that she is being paid a salary to lead the Internet Party; the NBR reports:

Internet Party leader Laila Harre reveals has revealed she is being a paid back-bench MP salary as leader of the Internet Party
A backbench MP is paid $147,800.
"I have just agreed to a contract which is in line with the already public intention of the party to pay candidates the same as a backbench MP. But I have to say that there simply wasn’t any discussion at all about personal remuneration for me at any stage during this decision and it just was not a factor in me making up my mind," she told Lisa Owen on TV3's The Nation this morning.
Kim Dotcom, who made his fortune from Megaupload (for which he faces piracy, money laundering and racketeering charges), and sister sites including Megaporn and Megaerotic, has revealed he is bankrolling Internet Mana to the tune of $3 million.
Earlier, Internet Party CEO Vikram Kumar told NBR that other sources of funding paled next to the money being tipped into the campaign by one of Mr Dotcom's family trusts.

This seems to be a most unusual arrangement. Is this the first time in New Zealand political history that a party "founder" has paid salaries to the party leader, and to aspiring candidates, as Dotcom has already promised to do?

Despite Ms Harre's protestations that money was not a factor in her becoming the Free Kim Dotcom Party leader, we have our doubts. Laila Harre certainly wouldn't have been earning close to $150k per annum working for the CTU would she?  Or if she was, what do the CTU affiliates rank and file think about their hard-earned dosh paid out as union fees being paid out with such gay abandon?

And has anyone yet asked Laila Harre how she feels about being the employee of a former pornographer? Or do scruples disappear when the chequebook is waved around?

0 We can't help but wonder...

It's been an interesting week in left-wing politics. The Internet and Mana Parties have merged to become MegaMana. Laila Harra, former Labour Party member, New Labour and Alliance MP, Green Party staffer and trade unionist has been appointed leader of the Internet Party, and will be at #3 on the MegaMana list.

Take a look at MegaMana's Top Four; Hone Harawira, Laila Harre, Annette Sykes and John Minto; they're all not just from the political Left, but the extreme Left. Quite how they fit alongside their moneybags "founder" and "visionary" and his four million bucks (more on that later in the day) is anyone's guess. It would seen that even hard-core left wingers have their price, and Dotcom is paying it.

And then we hear that Willie Jackson has categorically ruled out standing for Labour in Tamaki Makaurau, but has NOT ruled out standing in the same electorate for MegaMana. It's a veritable Alliance Party reunion!

So we can't help but wonder; who's next? Is the door of the political crypt about to be rolled open, and Jim Anderton dusted off and wheeled out? Alamein Kopu is no longer with us, but there are still the likes of Frank Grover, Pam Corkery, Sandra Lee and Phillida Bunkle (to name but four) who could be recruited to fatten the ranks. After all, Dotcom has promised to pay their salaries, and the Left loves Other People's Money!

The Internet Party is supposed to be forward-looking and visionary, but Laila Harre's speech yesterday took us back to the past. If that's where MegaMana wants to mire itself, then dredging up recycled politicians from a generation ago is the perfect starting point.

0 The Civilian's take on the Internet Party

Ben from the Civilian has been pretty quiet in the last few months as he prepares to launch his political party. But he must see the Internet Party as a threat to his slice of the satire market; he blogged this yesterday:

Following this afternoon’s revelation that former Alliance MP and Cabinet minister Laila Harré will be the leader of the newly-formed Internet Party, chief executive Vikram Kumar offered a public warning that – while many may be excited about the possibility – she would not be “quite how you remember her.”
“Obviously, at this time, everybody is very eager to see Laila at the head of our party, and so are we,” wrote Kumar in a statement issued to media late this afternoon. “But it is important that, prior to tomorrow’s announcement, we warn New Zealanders that Ms. Harré will not look exactly how you remember her.
“This is not to say that Laila is any different. Indeed, she is still the same principled, vivacious politician that we all know and respect. But it has been a long time since she was a minister in 2002, and she has put on a few extra kilos.
“Additionally, she is now German.”

Heh; we like the way that this is going, so let's read on some more:

A promotional video for the Internet Party featuring Harré has been leaked to Whale Oil’s Cameron Slater, who remains uncertain why people keep sending him things.
The video features Harré walking down a long corridor in Kim Dotcom’s Coatesville mansion, smiling as she approaches the camera.
“Hello kiwis,” she says in a thick German accent. “It’s me: Laila O’Hare. Kia piki te ora, and welcome to the Internet Party.
“Waea atu ki te Pirihimana. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to you today and announce that I will be the leader of this brand new political movement that New Zealand really needs.
“Together, I believe that we can create a strong and modern digital economy, expand the country’s internet connectivity, and put me, Leela O’Harry, in Parliament once again.
“Kī tōnu taku waka topaki i te tuna. I hope that you will join me.”
At one point during the video, Harré’s grey hair appears to fall from her head, whereupon she catches it and puts it back.
Asked about this part of the video, Kumar explained that Harré had been having “trouble with hair loss recently,” and suggested that it would be “insensitive” to question her further about it.
Today’s development comes just one week after Kumar himself developed a German accent and abruptly became white.

This is brilliant stuff from The Civilian. It reinforces the fact that, just as NZ First is a cult to Winston Peters' personality, so the Internet Party is all about Kim Dotcom.

Quite how a trade unionist and hard-Left activist fits alongside a wealthy convicted criminal who is alleged to treat both his staff and his creditors in an appalling manner is anyone's guess. But it provides fertile ground for cutting satire, and The Civilian has delivered.

0 Curly Sue's take on Laila

There was another e-mail in our inbox this morning. And whether it's set to the guitar-driven original version of the Eric Clapton classic, or the cruisey, bluesy unplugged version that rebooted Clapton's career the words are the same. Check this out:

Laila (with apologies to Layla)

Why are you back? Did you get lonely?
Is Big Kim’s cheque book at your side?
He’s been running and hiding much too long.
But he’s taking you for a ride.

Laila, it’s great you’ll take votes from the Greens.
Laila, the unions can’t be pleased
Laila, sorry, but Kim’s moolah’s made you blind

It won’t be any consolation
When the fat man lets you down.
You’ve been fooled, he’s played a trick you,
Like some obese circus clown

Laila, can’t you see the sleaze?
Laila, he hasn’t paid his employees.
Laila, avoiding extradition’s on his mind

It’s a very tricky situation
But that fits in well with the left.
We will say, that you have just been played

And tell you this will be in vain.

Laila, his ego to appease
Laila, smells like he cut the cheese
Laila, you’re going from respected to maligned

Laila, Internet Party puh-leez
Laila, we wonder about the Greens
Laila, did he pay Russel off in cash or kind??

The jury's very much out on whether or not Laila Harre will get the same kind of second career that Eric Clapton got after that epic MTV Unplugged concert. 

Given that the Internet Party has selected a hard-Left former MP and trade unionist as its leader, we suspect that Ms Harre's time in the limelight is going to be brief and unspectacular, and she will indeed be unplugged pretty quickly.

0 Laila Harre to lead the Internet Party

Laila Harre is to be named tomorrow as the leader of the Internet Party; the Herald reports:

Former Alliance Party MP Laila Harré will be announced as the leader of Kim Dotcom's Internet Party tomorrow, the Herald understands.
Internet Party chief executive Vikram Kumar and Mana Party Leader Hone Harawira yesterday refused to comment on who the leader would be but Mr Harawira said it was a "high calibre" person while Mr Kumar said it would be "a known" political figure.
The appointment of a leader was a crucial step in sealing the electoral alliance between the Internet Party and Mana which was confirmed yesterday.
At that time, Mr Harawira said " once it became clear who they were talking to in terms of the leader it made it easier for us to continue the negotiations".
Ms Harré was a former Alliance MP and worked as advisor for Green Party until recently. Now at CTU she is working on the Get Out and Vote campaign.

And Martyn Bradbury has send a typically bombastic message out to critics of the MegaMana hook-up:

Left wing blogger Martyn Bradbury who has worked on strategy for the Internet Party this afternoon wrote: "The secret is out. Laila Harre will be the new leader of the Internet Party. So if this works the way we hope it will, Hone Harawira, Laila Harre, Annette Sykes and John Minto will be in Parliament.
"Where's all that left wing angst and screams of sell out now?"

Interestingly though, the Internet Party claims that Bradbury doesn't speak for them (and probably wishes he wouldn't!):

Mr Kumar said party "isn't commenting on the leader at all up till 2pm tomorrow".
He said Mr Bradbury "has zero influence, advice or role with the Internet Party".

Its lovely to see all the frothing on the Left. The Greens will be feeling betrayed that having poached Ms Harre from Labour, via the Alliance, she's now jumped waka again. Her selection certainly doesn't bring anything particularly new or visionary to the table. And we can't see too many votes being lured away from the centre-right with the appointment of another recycled trade unionist.

We've been in a meeting all day, and only just got home. But we'll close with this picture, that arrived in our inbox as we were typing out this post:

0 Dom-Post on the doomed MegaMana marriage

The Dominion-Post editorial this morning predictably touches on the "marriage of convenience" between Kim Dotcom and Hone Harawira and their parties. And it's not a positive editorial; under the headline Marriage unlikely to last the editorial begins:

So the Maori radical and the German squillionaire have spawned their odd little party. No surprise there. The deal suits both partners. The Internet Party now has a chance of getting into Parliament whereas before it had none. And Mana wins a chance of finding more supporters among the geeks and the worshippers of Kim Dotcom.
Radicals like Mana's John Minto reject Sue Bradford's charge that they have sold out to the wealthy German. Bradford, staunch and true to her ideals as usual, has predictably stormed out. But, in a sense, Minto is right. He has not abandoned his support for progressive taxes and soaking the rich. He has not had to swallow a dead rat.
The real objection to this political marriage is that it is unlikely to last or breed many successes. The two sides will be able to agree on a few things. They will want to spread more of the benefits of the internet to the poor. They will want to hobble the GCSB and put it under much tougher scrutiny. They will band together in an attempt to defeat John Key and his party.
But even these agreed goals will be very hard to reach. Perhaps the pair will score minor victories over internet speeds and cellphone fees. They will get nowhere with the GCSB unless they can persuade Labour to join them, which is doubtful. The GCSB needs much tougher accountability but Labour has traditionally been weak on this. It is a status quo party when it comes to intelligence. And National is still riding high.
The marriage of convenience is likely to become hollow even if a couple of MPs make it into the House. On the hard issues of economics – tax rates on the wealthy, for instance – it is difficult to believe Mana and the Internet Party will agree. They will have to have a big "agree to disagree" policy clause. So they will make little difference. 

The Dom-Post's leader writer is dead right. Issues like the GCSB and internet speeds/access are not the issues that change governments. On economic issues, how can a party with a billionaire who flaunts his wealth possibly combine credibly with a party that purports to resent rich people like Kim Dotcom?

The editorial continues, with a condemnation of the rules that make this ill-fated union possible:

The merger of the two shows up, once again, a bad flaw in the MMP system. The system gives far too much power to single constituency-seat parties, because they can avoid the 5 per cent parliamentary threshold. This has allowed self-serving deals that have given non-entity parties such as ACT and UnitedFuture too much power in coalition governments.
And nobody knows why this silly provision ever became part of MMP. The members of the royal commission that recommended the system now say the "Epsom clause" was a mistake.
The only question now is: will this political oddity, bred on the wrong side of the bed, have any appeal to the voters? Its best hope is to win about 2 per cent of the party vote – double what Mana got last time – and bring the still-unnamed leader of the Internet Party in on the list. If Annette Sykes won Waiariki, that would be a big dollop of cream on the cake. 
Maybe the geeks and the radical Maori and Pakeha can persuade enough voters to back their odd little band. It's also perfectly possible that Harawira will lose his seat to Labour and Sykes will fail in Waiariki. That would sink the Internet Party, which will certainly not pass the 5 per cent barrier by itself. The whole strange experiment could easily collapse.  

We'll certainly be cheering for Kelvin Davis to win the seat of Te Tai Tokerau, and for Te Ururoa Flavell to retain Waiariki, because we strongly doubt MegaMana's ability to get to 5% of the vote. Wouldn't it be funny if Harawira was unseated, and all Dotcom's money went down the river?

0 Cunliffe tries to out-Winston Winston

David Cunliffe will slash immigrant numbers if Labour is elected in September; 3News reports:

Labour leader David Cunliffe has taken his hardest line yet against immigrants, blaming them for rising house prices.

It follows a 3 News-Reid Research poll which shows almost two-thirds of voters say immigration should be restricted.

"It would take 80 percent of our housing supply just to accommodate this year's migrants - and National is doing nothing," says Mr Cunliffe.

Mr Cunliffe is already copping a backlash from within Labour. DPF blogs about that here, including a tweet from a Labour Party activist who sought the Christchurch East nomination last year. And Twitter is full of disparaging comments today about Cunliffe's xenophobia. There are plenty of comparisons to Winston Peters, and none of them flatters David Cunliffe.

But wait, as they say on the infomercials, there's more. Check out this tweet from Patrick Gower:

Yes Dear Readers. One one hand and to one audience, David Cunliffe wants to slash the numbers of immigrants coming to New Zealand. But on the other hand, he's quite prepared to do a deal with a party formed by a convicted criminal, a immigrant facing extradition the the United States to face serious criminal charges, and a immigrant who has been shown to have some very unsavoury personal characteristics.

The writing should have been on the wall however. There has been no denial that Kim Dotcom helped to write Labour's ICT policy, and it is common knowledge that Labour's now-ICT Spokeswoman Clare Curran visited Dotcom's rental house in Coatesville at least twice.

We wonder how Helen Clark is feeling today. Under her leadership of Labour, the immigrant community was seem as Labour's, almost by right. A lot has changed in six years, and we look forward to hearing David Cunliffe take his "Sorry, you're not welcome" message to the Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Indian and other immigrant communities.

Perhaps David Cunliffe is angling for Winston Peters' job leading NZ First. But David First doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?

0 Harawira and Dotcom to marry

Gimme a hug Big Fella!

Stand by for an engagement announcement at 11am this morning; Audrey Young from the Herald reports:

Mana leader Hone Harawira is this morning expected to announce a formal deal with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party to jointly contest the September election.
The marriage of convenience is designed to maximise the chances of both parties gaining MPs in the next Parliament.
It is likely to involve the creation of an umbrella alliance - with both the "Mana" and "Internet" names in the title.
It will be registered with the Electoral Commission, enabling both parties to present a single combined list in the same way the Alliance did in the 1990s with various component parties, including the Greens, NewLabour and Mana Motuhake.
Mr Harawira is the sole Mana MP and holding on to his seat is critical.
If he retains his Te Tai Tokerau seat on September 20, the new alliance will be able to claim its percentage of the party vote even if it falls under 5 per cent.

If the Internet Party were not tied to an electorate seat, it would have to get 5 per cent of the party vote on its own before getting seats in Parliament.
For its part, the Mana Party will almost certainly get a lot more profile than it otherwise would during the campaign.
The Internet Party is likely to stump up with a bigger war chest than Mana could though the extent of joint campaigning has yet to be announced.
The Electoral Commission donation declarations yesterday revealed that Mr Dotcom, an internet mogul, gave the Internet Party $250,000 on May 14.

Audrey Young is dead right to call this a "marriage of convenience". It is a cynical manipulation of electoral laws designed to give a voice to a party which at this point has no leader, no candidates, and the only noticeable policy being preventing Kim Dotcom from being extradited to the USA.

The next round of donations declarations will be interesting.  A donation of $250,000 from Kim Dotcom to the Internet Party was declared yesterday, but no donations seem to have been declared to date by Harawira's party. That is something to be followed with interest in coming months, because we're sure that there will be a dowry paid in this "marriage of convenience"

During his speech in the Budget Debate, Hone Harawira said this:

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. 

It's really ironic that Harawira seems to have decided that if you can't beat the 1%, you join them. What say you this morning Sue Bradford?

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

0 Is Shane Jones the new Winston?

We've often said, semi-seriously, that Shane Jones would be a natural to replace Winston Peters as the leader of Winston First. But could that be closer to the mark than we think? Check out this morning's Herald:

Even before he gave his farewell speech in Parliament last week, renegade former Labour MP Shane Jones was already in a conversation about his return to politics with Mana's Hone Harawira, who in turn indicated he is considering leaving.
Ahead of his valedictory speech in Parliament on Thursday, Mr Jones was given a lapel microphone to wear by TVNZ's Marae programme. Yesterday Marae reported fragments of a conversation before the speech between Mr Jones and Mr Harawira who was unaware of the live microphone.
"If you come back in 2017 with Winston, I'll f****** hang round mate. Otherwise I'm out of here", Mr Harawira said.
Mr Jones who was rumoured to be considering throwing in his lot with Mr Peters' NZ First yesterday denied he was contemplating a return in 2017.
"My whole focus is te Moana Nui a Kiwa (the Pacific)."
Mr Jones left Parliament to take up a newly created role as a roving economic ambassador across the Pacific.

He said he had no idea what lay behind Mr Harawira's comment.
"You've got to go and ask Hone that."
Mr Harawira did not respond to requests for comment.

This is a fascinating insight into the mind of Hone Harawira. While all this is going on, the negotiations between his party and the Dotcom Internet Party, still without a leader or any candidates, continue; read on:

Mr Harawira's suggestion to Mr Jones he also considering leaving Parliament comes as his party closes in on a deal with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
Mana Party secretary Gerard Hehir yesterday confirmed the party had finalised a draft agreement with the Internet Party over the weekend.
That agreement now required final approval from within each party which was expected this week.

We're yet to be convinced that the Internet Party has any future. Kim Dotcom's extradition hearing is set to begin on 7 July, and Dotcom himself suffered a major setback when the courts ruled against him on Friday. 

Shane Jones is probably the only person who could revive Winston First though, once Father Time takes care of Peters once and for all. The survival of the party in September becomes all the more critical, but the polls last night suggest that's by no means a given.

We're in for a few interesting months.

0 Tweet of the Day - 7 May 2014

We just spotted this on Twitter:

Is this actually legal? Is it OK for a political party to pay a salary to aspiring candidates?

More to the point perhaps, does Kim Dotcom actually have the money to pay these salaries, or are people going to give up good jobs then find that there's no money to pay them in their new gig?

We have just two more questions. It sounds as though the Mana-Internet Party merger is going ahead; is this the price the Herr Dotcom is prepared to pay Hone Harawira for his party to be in Parliament? And if so, what do the Greens think about that, principled as they are?

So many questions; this seems very, very odd.

0 Who was it Kim?

Kim Dotcom has done a major back-down today; the Herald reports:

Kim Dotcom's Internet Party says discussions with a sitting electorate MP who was poised to join the party have ended due to the prospect of a tie up with Hone Harawira's Mana Party.
Mr Dotcom triggered a flurry of speculation in recent weeks after claiming that a sitting electorate MP had agreed to join his party. While he refused to say who it was, he ruled out Hone Harawira.
Today the party said: "Following the recent decision of delegates at the Mana AGM to continue negotiations with the Internet Party regarding a possible alliance, the current MP and the Internet Party have mutually agreed to end further discussions."
Mr Dotcom said that due to a confidentiality agreement with the MP "no further comment will be made on this matter".
A final decision on whether the Mana Party will join with the Internet Party to contest this year's election is expected in about a month.

Sorry, but Dotcom cannot hide behind a confidentiality agreement now. If there ever was a "sitting electorate MP" who was looking to defect to Dotcom's sham political party, the public has a right to know who it it. So does the political party who selected the MP to stand in whichever electorate they supposedly represent.

Kim Dotcom has stained the reputation of every sitting electorate MP. By refusing to name the one with whom he was allegedly in negotiations, he is casting aspersions on every one of them. If Dotcom is to be believed, one of them is a Judas. It is very much in the public interest for that MP to be identified, and for the party the MP represents to have the opportunity to deal with the matter.

So we say this to Kim Dotcom; put up, or shut up; the integrity of our electoral system depends on it. Of course he won't, because there never was a "sitting electorate MP" other than Hone Harawira in talks with him and his party. Herr Dotcom is full of it, and his Internet Party is nothing but a publicity stunt.

0 Tweet of the Day - 15 April 2015

Check this out:

What would be the response if National Party president Peter Goodfellow posted something like this on social media? Or Moira Coatsworth from the Labour Party? Or Naida Glavish from the Maori Party?Or Anne Martin, the president of NZ First?

We reckon there would be outrage, and even moreso if the person posting the image was a male. So why is Kim Dotcom, founder and "visionary" of the Internet Party getting a free pass? 

It's time that the New Zealand media stopped fawning over Dotcom, and now that he is directly involved in politics, holding him to the same standards that others involved at a similar level are held.

0 Listen to your wife Hone

We don't usually like to involve MPs' families in reporting their goings-on. But Hilda Halkyard-Harawira wears the label of "veteran activist" with pride, and is no shrinking violet.

And we'd suggest there's some raruraru in the Harawira whare at the moment; the Dom-Post reports:

Mana leader Hone Harawira's wife, veteran activist Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, is among party members concerned about a likely alliance with the Internet Party.
Halkyard-Harawira raised her concerns about the alliance in a closed session yesterday at the party's conference in Rotorua, with Harawira confirming she remained wary of it.
An alliance looks almost certain after the movement voted to support ongoing negotiations with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
While all seven of the Mana branches supported the move, there is still significant dissent within the party.
"She's wary of the deal and understandably so. She sees it from not just a perspective of a Mana member or the wife of the Mana leader but from a long history of involvement in politics and activism," Harawira said. 

Ms Halkyard-Harawira is right to be concerned. She is clearly looking at the bigger picture, and isn't dazzled by the fleet of black SUV's, the dollar signs, and the cult of personality that surrounds Dotcom.

The Dom-Post continues:

He said his wife, who declined to comment, shared the concerns of others about the potential watering down of what the movement stood for. She told members yesterday she was worried about the mana of the movement being diminished by relationships with other parties.
Protecting that was important and the leaders needed to be wary of guarding that credibility, Harawira said.
"The funny thing for me is that I can convince the whole of the movement but if she says no, it's probably no."
He said one of his senior staff shared the same concerns but he needed to balance that against the fact it was an election year and the party had an opportunity which could hugely benefit it.

We've got this advice for Hone; benefits are a very fleeting thing, even moreso where a certain Large German Gentleman is concerned. It sounds as though Hone Harawira has been blinded by the smoke and mirrors that surround Dotcom, whereas Hilda can see past the bluster and bulldust.

She Who Must Be Obeyed has a wee saying. She will tell people that we may be the head of our household but that she is the neck. And there's another mantra we go by; happy wife, happy life. Hone Harawira would do well to contemplate these this morning as he heads off to Wellington for his week at Parliament. Listening to what his own SWMBO says may lead to a far more peaceful Easter weekend.

0 The Mana implosion begins

A week is said to be a long time in politics. But the last 24 hours have seen plenty happen within the Mana Party; the Herald on Sunday reports:

Sue Bradford and other leading Mana Party figures have walked out of the party's AGM over its decision to continue negotiations towards an alliance with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
After discussions which went into the night at Mataikotare Marae near Rotorua yesterday, Mana's branches "unanimously'' agreed to move forward with the negotiations.
The party has given its leaders a month to negotiate, before they put any proposed alliance out to the party's local branches for consultation.
However, Mana President Annette Sykes this morning said : "Our movement, I was concerned that it may be fragile and some of our membership - I don't know whether some have chosen not to come back today.''
"There's quite a number. We're not talking hundreds, but we're talking people who I think are leaders young and old and they are principled people who I have respect for. They've gone back to reflect with their branches.''

Ms Bradford this morning confirmed she was among those who had walked out.
"We left us last night so she perhaps includes us among those people because there was deep debate, deep dissension and resistance to the idea of going into an alliance with the Internet Party.''
"Some of us, both Maori and Pakeha, are really disturbed by the idea of going into an alliance with a neo-liberal billionaire.''

Kudos to Sue Bradford and the other members of Mana who can hold their heads high. They have put principles ahead of dirty deals, and Kim Dotcom's tainted money.

What is left of the Mana Party is a joke. Principles have been abandoned, and instead, the promise of clutching the hem of Dotcom's rather ample garment is now what drives the party. And don't get us started on Hone Harawira; in terms of venal behaviour, he makes Winston Peters look like Mother Teresa.

The implosion of the Mana Party has begun. We warned several weeks ago that this would end in tears, and that now seems almost a certainty. 

And in the meantime, Cameron Slater has pointed out a huge disconnect between what Dotcom told Mana members yesterday, and previously published details about his upbringing. Like David Cunliffe, Dotcom brings different messages to different audiences.

Haere ra Mana Party. Don't say we didn't warn you.

0 Haere ra Mana Party

It's the beginning of the end of the Mana Party, and they can't say they weren't warned; the Herald on Sunday reports:

Hone Harawira and Kim Dotcom have taken the next step in their slow dance, after Mana Party members agreed late last night to move forward in negotiations with the Internet Party.
The Mana Party has given its leaders a month to negotiate, before they put any proposed alliance out to the party's local branches for consultation.
Dotcom put his case to about 200 Mana members gathered for their annual meeting at Rotorua's lakeside Mataikotare Marae yesterday.
The internet tycoon and his entourage arrived at the Mana annual meeting in large Porsche and Mercedes SUVs but he pulled out all the stops to convince Mana of his working-class credentials.
He had spent the journey down from his Coatesville mansion being briefed by a Ngati Whatua kaumatua on marae protocol and the Treaty of Waitangi.
The German millionaire and alleged internet pirate spoke of his impoverished terror-stricken childhood as the son of an alcoholic father.

Having grown up poor he was committed to Mana's core principles of tackling poverty.
"I'm all for the betterment of Maori, I'm all for social justice. Just because I live in a big flash house doesn't mean I don't care about people who are disadvantaged."
Dotcom also laid out his vision of how technology could help the Mana Party engage with voters and could alleviate poverty.
"I was in a low social situation. Technology has helped me to become an entrepreneur and to become successful so why shouldn't that be replicated for young people in New Zealand who are not living in the big cities and are disadvantaged right now?"
Mana Party leader Hone Harawira told reporters Dotcom "did extremely well".

Kim Dotcom is full of it. He didn't "care about people who are disadvantaged" when he left creditors and staff unpaid for two years. Some of those staff remain unpaid, and Dotcom is now being sued by them. He didn't "care about people who are disadvantaged" when he conspired to rip off the creators of original content by paying people to steal it then upload it to his "data storage locker".

Hone Harawira and some of his Mana Party colleagues can't see past the dollar signs in their eyes. Dotcom brings the kind of wealth and privilege they could only dream about, or so they think. They need to ponder Alex Mardikian's warning; "no one rides for free with Kim".

If the Mana Party goes ahead with its alliance with Dotcom, it will have abandoned the "principles" on which the party was formed. It is heading for dog tucker territory. 

0 Quote of the Day - 12 April 2014

We knew Kim Dotcom was a big bloke. But we didn't realise he was quite THIS big; Stuff reports (with our emphasis added):

Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom believes a deal between his party and the Mana movement is likely to go ahead following a speech this morning in which he appeared to make a strong impression on members.
Dotcom, who arrived in three black SUVs, spoke to the Mana movement at their conference near Rotorua this morning and was subjected to a 20 minute question and answer session afterwards. 

Which part of Herr Dotcom arrived in which black SUV? And did they travel in convoy, or did they arrive separately and reassemble the Large German Gentleman when they got there?

The mind truly boggles!!