0 John Banks does the honourable thing

We've just arrived home from our weekend in Christchurch. And we've arrived home to the news that John Banks' last act in public life is an honourable one; the Herald reports:

Act MP John Banks has announced his resignation from Parliament, effective from this Friday.
The Epsom MP made his decision after being found guilty last Thursday of filing a false donations declaration for the Auckland mayoral race in 2010.
"I have given my heart and soul over four decades to making a worthwhile contribution to this country," he said in a statement. "I have always endeavored to do the right thing. Consequently I am saddened at this turn of events."
Act Party leader Jamie Whyte is thought to have wanted his resignation but friends of Banks say he was likely to have resigned anyway to prevent further damage to Act and National.
The move means Banks will avoid being forced out of Parliament by a conviction.
The judge held off entering a conviction last Thursday until sentencing on August 1 because Banks' lawyer, David Jones QC, gave notice he wanted to apply for a discharge without conviction.

It is highly unlikely a by-election will be held in Epsom to fill his vacancy.
Because the vacancy falls within six months of a general election, a by-election can be avoided with the support of 75 per cent of the Parliament.

Once Act leader Jamie Whyte confirmed yesterday that he wanted Banks to resign the die was cast. Rather than being sacked from Parliament within days of the 50th Parliament dissolving for the General Election, Banks has removed himself from the scene. That is entirely the right course of action on his part.

John Banks has had a life of public service. He is many different things to many different people, but he has never been a quitter. His resignation as an MP is a sad end to his career, but we are sure that having taken a few days to reflect on Thursday's guilty verdict, he understood only too well that the writing was on the wall.

There is no triumph in Banks' decision to resign, and there will be plenty of MP's and local body election candidates saying "There by the grace of God go I". Having done the honourable thing, John Banks now has the chance to rebuild his life and his reputation away from the glare of publicity.

0 Tweet of the Day - 8 June 2014

There's speculation that John Banks may well resign as MP for Epsom in the next few days. Act has put pressure on Banks as it seeks to distance itself from the former party leader.

And in that vein, we just spotted this tweet:

We hope that John Banks will do the right thing for everyone, himself included.

0 O'Sullivan on Banks

Posts today will be relatively brief, and to the point. We're visiting a family member in Christchurch who is recuperating from a major operation, and our first focus isn't blogging.

We've just had a quick read of Fran O'Sullivan's Herald column this morning on John Banks' fall from grace. It's worth a read in its entirety, but we agree with her closing sentiment:

Banks is a smart man. He is intensely loyal. He needs to reflect on what has happened. Then do the decent thing and resign.

We concur. Even though John Banks escaped a conviction and automatic expulsion from Parliament on Thursday afternoon, he has still been found guilty of a criminal offence. Even though the offence is not related to his tenure as an MP and was committed a year before his return to Parliament his credibility has been seriously tarnished.

Acknowledging Justice Wylie's finding of guilt, even if he later plans to appeal the decision, and accepting the inevitable consequence by resigning from Parliament before he is legally obliged to would at the very least give Banks an opportunity to show contrition, and begin to rebuild his reputation.

0 A bouquet for the PM

John Key has been praised for his response to the Maurice Williamson affair. Andrea Vance at Stuff opines:

Neatly done prime minister.
The handling of Maurice Williamson's cloddish attempts to intervene in a police investigation was textbook.
Key axed his statistics minister with ruthless efficiency.
As he admitted this morning, he had little choice. Williamson had crossed the line where careers can be saved.
After Judith Collins' questionable dalliances with Chinese company Oravida, National could not afford another whiff of cronyism.
Even the best spin doctors would struggle to contain a scandal that involves a long-serving minister, domestic violence and a wealthy donor.

John Key has since told media that he first became aware of the issue on Tuesday. There was obviously a flurry of activity yesterday, and there was a lag of only three hours this morning between the story breaking and the PM accepting Maurice Williamson's resignation as a Minister.

On the other hand, David Cunliffe has received nothing but scorn for his response to the resignation announcement. A number of journalists ripped into the Labour leader via social media for his answers by rote at the media conference he himself called on the issue, whilst Barry Soper mocked Cunliffe relentlessly when he was on with Larry Williams on Newstalk ZB. And as we type this, Seven Sharp is taking the piss out of Mr Cunliffe.

Here's but one example of the social media comment:

The general feeling is that David Cunliffe has had some media training, and that his automaton-like responses today when HE had called the media to gather for his words of wisdom was proof that the training had worked. But not necessarily in the desired manner.