What A Tangled Web They Weave; FBI And DHS Involved In Questionable Events In New Zealand
How FBI & DHS Interference In New Zealand Has Brought A Government To Its Knees – Thanks To Their Persecution Of Kim Dotcom & Occupy.
Occupy New Zealand Media sews together the continually unfolding drama of which key players include:laughing
1. Kim Dotcom; founder of Megaupload.com; German self-made multi-millionaire, legal resident of New Zealand.
2. The FBI; who (allegedly without sufficient due process) flew 10,000+ miles to New Zealand to raid Dotcom’s New Zealand residence, confiscate his belongings & threaten him with extradition to the U.S., branding Dotcom a criminal, ala Julian Assange of Wikileaks
3. John Banks; ex New Zealand Minister of Police, Local Government, Tourism, Sport and Civil Defence, ex Mayor of Auckland, current sitting Minister of Regulatory Reform (!!) and Small Business . Also happens to be the elected official for the electorate seat that holds the balance of power in the current New Zealand parliament. His most recent in a string of scandals is the result of doing some “small business” with Kim Dotcom that has landed him in extremely hot water politically.
4. John Key; Prime Minister of New Zealand, leader of the National Party, ruling by a shaky coalition that is a seat or two away from oblivion. Ex Merrill Lynch trader, Bank of America shareholder, ex Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of America.
5. Janet Napolitano; Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and recent visitor to New Zealand. On May Day, to be precise.
It is only characters of the above renown and prestige that could provide a more riveting plotline than any mere fiction could produce. What we report here is a sequence of media events; the progression of the story in the eyes of the New Zealand public and the experience of helping to break the story internationally.
ACT ONE: This entire story runs parallel to the Occupy movement establishing in Auckland and many other cities in New Zealand; and the violent police & private security evictions of them. US Marines establish a 2,000 strong base in nearby Australia, and it is reported in the mainstream media that US marines arrive in New Zealand to train New Zealand Police to use beanbag shotguns and other “less lethal weaponry”. Tension begins to heat up in the population due to a restrictive domestic political agenda of corporatisation, privatisation, austerity and the general bleeding of public assets into private hands. Seemingly out of the blue, the FBI arrive in New Zealand and raid Kim Dotcom. He is held in jail in Auckland Central Remand Prison. He retaliates for poor prison conditions and lack of attention from John Banks who he had financially supported by outing him for corrupt fundraising tactics.
SCENE ONE: April 28: It begins.
Domestic political scandal had been quietly brewing around John Banks for some time, with a high-profile Occupy Auckland activist & anti-corruption campaigner, Penny Bright, openly calling for his prosecution over the signing of incorrect financial statements involving an investment company, Huljich Wealth Management, which was a part of a slew of financial institutions that went under during the “financial crisis” in New Zealand, resulting in substantial losses to public investors. Despite the grass-roots knowledge of his corruption, the corporate media largely bury it as Banks is seen as somewhat of an institution of New Zealand politics, a favourite of Prime Minister John Key and seemingly untouchable. Until Kim Dotcom, from prison, discloses that John Banks had not only solicited Dotcom for campaign contributions, but instructed him to divide sums up into multiple parts, so that he could declare them as… ANONYMOUS!
When this news emerged, normal, every day, middle of the road New Zealand got a glimpse of the common depravity of stalwarts of New Zealand politics that shook them to their roots. En masse, they decried Banks & in the following domestic media flurry that immediately ensued, Occupy New Zealand, through the power of social media, played a major role in documenting & vocalising the outrage of the public.
Courtesy of Occupy New Zealand Facebook:
” John Banks in major political corruption scandal – his conviction could force NZ by-election. John Banks is currently facing a triple whammy situation. Firstly; his having signed off on false financial statements as a director of Huljich Wealth Management; closely followed by the revelation that he received a $15,000 campaign donation from Sky City, who he is currently supporting in having laws changed for their commercial benefit; and now thirdly, Kim Dotcom has come forward with the allegation that Mr. Banks schooled him on how to break up campaign donations so that he wouldn’t have to declare them.
All of this on the back of the now-famous “cup-of-tea tape” where John Banks & John Key tried to hide from the public, the contents of a conversation they had, at a press-conference THEY had themselves called. “
According to the NZ Herald: “(Banks) said his contact with Dotcom was limited to a total of 20 minutes conversation and he had been to Dotcom’s mansion in Coatesville only once for dinner. But film of the event – Dotcom’s birthday party – showed Mr Banks making a toast to the tycoon. Footage showed Mr Banks raising a glass and saying, “I’m going to propose a toast to Kim Dotcom. Please fill your glasses and stand. Happy birthday and best wishes to Kim Dotcom, Mona and his family.” “Staff at the mansion said it was one of three visits.” So he is lying about the depth of his relationship with Kim Dotcom to distance himself from the charges against Kim? Shady.
“Bodyguard Wayne Tempero was present, as was one of Dotcom’s butlers. His company chief financial officer also attended briefly. “He mentioned the elections were coming up [and] he was raising money for his campaign,” Dotcom said. “He said it was hard to raise money in New Zealand, the mayoral campaign was coming up and he’s trying to raise funds for that. I kind of liked the guy. I said, ‘I’m happy to help.’ I told Wayne to write a cheque for $50,000. His [Mr Banks’] eyes got a little bit bigger at that moment.”
Mr Tempero asked the chief financial officer to come into the room to write the cheque.
“John said, ‘Wait a minute’,” Dotcom recalled last night. “‘It would be good if you could split it up into two payments of 25 [thousand dollars], then I don’t declare publicly who made it’.”
Dotcom said one cheque was made out in his own name, or the name of his company Megastuff Ltd, and the other in Mr Tempero’s name. “He [Mr Banks] called me a few days after the cheques entered his bank account and he thanked me personally.”
THIS, ladies & gentlemen, is a simple example of the thousands of ways per year that our country gets sold out by corrupt politicians. Time to end the ridiculous charade that is the Act Party & get someone into the job who isn’t there just for the $$$$$$$. SHAME ON YOU JOHN BANKS!”
SCENE TWO: April 29: Banks dodges the media.
“According to the NZ Herald, John Banks isn’t returning their calls. Wonder why? Maybe John Key hasn’t worked out what to make John Banks do yet? Surely once the orders come down, he’ll hold a press conference. Hopefully some of the mainstream media at said press conference will ask the hard questions? Or will they just whitewash it? Will you ask him about his directorship of the Huljich Wealth Management Fund, anyone? John Banks signed prospectuses containing false information that resulted in massive financial hardship if not bankruptcy, for many New Zealanders; yet remains in a powerful position in NZ politics.
Now we discover not only has he declared a $15,000 donation he knew full well was from Sky City (Casino) as ‘Anonymous’ – a corporation that he is currently campaigning to have government regulations changed for, for their express financial benefit – but it turns out that of all people, he took $50,000 from Kim Dotcom?
After Dotcom was arrested, John Banks claimed to have barely knew him. So why was John Banks chauffeured around in private helicopters to Dotcom’s palatial estate? Making toasts at his birthday party? Telling him to cut checks into $25,000 “anonymous” pieces?
Now let’s not forget the good old Teapot tapes. John Banks was caught out by media he and John Key had called to a press conference which they turned into a quasi-private bitching session and then went to ridiculous lengths to cover up. Just as they will now try to cover this up.
John Banks isn’t some first term list MP… he is the former Mayor of Auckland and Minister of Police. If he’s managed to pull off all of the above, in only a couple of years; what the hell did he do to our city & country in the rest of his career? That we may never know about. It seems Mr. Banks is entirely symptomatic of an Old Boys Network gone wild – cocooned in their own perceived invincibility, but now getting their world’s rocked by the 99%.
If we can get even one mainstream journalist to actually investigate the above issues further, we are about to be down by at least one corrupt politician. Congratulations Aotearoa!! “
SCENE THREE: April 30: Right-wing mainstream media burst into defensive action. Occupy New Zealand retaliates via Facebook.
“Listening to NewstalkZB right now – Leighton Smith is in the middle of a full-blown damage-control divert-and-cover-up propaganda operation in defense of John What-Helicopter Banks, whose political future is currently teetering on the edge of oblivion after his being busted for a sequence of dodgy shonky $$$-hungry dealings.
Leighton opens his show by claiming that he doesn’t want to talk about Banks – he wants to talk about anonymous donations. Then goes on to wax lyrical about the many reasons why political donations should be allowed to be anonymous; slipping in a caller or two that say exactly the same thing as he, then conveniently reading several emails he claims to have received (probably straight from Banks electoral office!!) reinforcing the same principles.
“But what about the right to privacy?” Leighton asks. Doesn’t a person have the right to privacy anymore? He draws parallels between donating to politicians and donating to charity – claiming that if the SPCA will let you donate anonymously that you should be able to anonymously donate to politicians.
Well I have news for you Leighton Smith. Read it twice then read it thrice. SKY CITY IS NOT A PERSON!!!!!!!
When Sky City donate a figure that ends in a bunch of zeros to a politician; then that politician (in this case John Banks) runs around campaigning for regulatory change that will enhance the profits of Sky City at the cost to the health and wellbeing of the New Zealand public – the issue isn’t whether they should be anonymous. The issue is when that politician should resign. And the answer to that question is: AT 9AM THIS MORNING.
Instead, said politician is being openly applauded by Barry Soper; who himself is supposedly a political observer & investigative journalist, yet who frequently appears on NewstalkZB bestowing sage wisdom upon shonky politicians who have got themselves in a jam.
Soper’s advice to John Banks on this morning’s program? “If he continues to claim he doesn’t know where it came from then he is within the law.”
Everyone who saw John Banks on Q & A on TVNZ yesterday knows full well he is lying. To see the clip for yourself Google TVNZ On Demand then go to the Q & A program for yesterday, Sunday 29/04/2012.
It is a rare sight these days to see Paul Holmes put in a credible performance as an interviewer; but even Paul was emboldened by John Banks utter refusal to address any question containing legitimate queries about his situation. His answers were obvious diversions from the questions and most tellingly, he refused to contradict anything that Kim Dotcom has said about him to date.
At this point two things are patently obvious –
1. John Banks is a political dead duck in the water
2. National & ACT (foolishly) didn’t see this coming, and will try any desperate undertaking that might either delay the inevitable ousting of John Banks while they frantically scramble to find an equally pliable Plan B for Banks’ ministerial portfolios, for his Epsom electorate, and to hold together their shaky coalition majority, lest this all spiral into them losing the big prize – the Beehive.
While Leighton Smith probably thinks he is doing a stellar job of convincing the last remaining portion of NZ society that doesn’t have access to the freedom of information of the internet – his own diversion tactics & fallacious arguments only show his contempt for the intelligence of his audience; the degree of his own political corruption and the lack of journalistic fibre of the organisation that employs him.
We can do much better than NewstalkZB New Zealand, and in the coming years we will. Thanks to the rising tide of new media eclipsing corporate media; these clowns are on their way out.
**(Shonky dealings known of thus far; Banks signing of Huljich Wealth Management Fund false financial statements; the Teapot saga; failure to declare Sky City donation while advocating regulatory change to suit them; and now finally, sucking up to Kim Dotcom for $50k, getting chauffeured around in his private helicopter then claiming to not even know him.)
ACT TWO: It had been common knowledge for some time that John Key is effectively a Wall Street shill of a Prime Minister; he had sided with Hollywood and bartered New Zealand tax-payer dollars in a union-busting move against a potential labour dispute; but he had sold himself as the poor child of a state home who had made good and enjoyed extremely high levels of public favouritism due to a domestic media grown utterly complacent to the point of negligence. The icy hand of privatisation had reached even the state media organisations, who discovered their staff being cut in all the wrong places, and investigative journalism eventually became purely reporting whatever came off the AP fax or whatever their few meagre crews are pre-assigned by bosses to attend. Although that complacency served the 1% in initially suppressing the size, spread and achievements of the Occupy movement in New Zealand, the lack of ability to get decent coverage forces a new wave of journalism into existence; one staffed entirely on a voluntary basis, by average citizens, ourselves included.
SCENE ONE: May 1: The DHS comes to town for May Day. New Zealand bloggers explode.
” Well surprise surprise. Our Wall Street banker Prime Sinister got his economic policies from… Wall Street, according to this article“.
” From Tumeke – John Banks Must Stand Down!!!
May 2: ” Pic of Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security & our Prime Sinister John Key, taken today. Cos now the US Marines got done training our police in Oakland/NYPD-style police tactics; she’s here training him.
“02 May 2012. Prime Minister John Key with United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.”
” A RECENT HISTORY OF SUSPECTED AMERICAN FBI & DHS INTEFERENCE IN NEW ZEALAND SOVEREIGNTY. Lets see how long this post can stay visible on the main page for. Drilling aside; immoral as it is. Mining aside; immoral as it is. Has anyone else noticed: (in chronological order)
1. FBI arrive in NZ & raid Kim Dotcom. He is threatened with extradition to the USA.
2. Occupy Auckland’s four 24/7 simultaneous occupations (Aotea Square, 2.0 Queen Street, Te Huinga Waka aka Victoria Park & Occupy Albert Park) are aggressively steamrolled by police and private security forces working together; some of whom are wearing fake badge numbers (at least 3 officers wearing “Z557″ as captured on amateur video here (from approx 07:30):
3. During the evictions police arrest Penny Bright – one of the most visible campaigners for justice over John Banks & Don Brash signing incorrect financial returns as directors of Huljich Wealth Management Services
4. All personal belongings seized during the evictions are transported to a hangar at Hobsonville Airbase for “storage” despite the fact that this is MILES away & there is probably hundreds of closer facilities. This is the same airbase FBI choppers & other air transport vehicles were seen flying in & out of.
5. Shortly after the evictions it is reported that Occupy in New Zealand is over & that the FBI have returned to the U.S.
6. Kim Dotcom, after months of remand time served & having all his possessions & wealth ceased by the authorities, leaks the fact that John Banks is one extremely shady politician, to say the least.
7. After making a fool of himself in the media repeatedly, Banks finally issues semi-denial of the accusations of the content of his phone calls / meetings with Kim Dotcom.
8. Kim Dotcom says the contents of the conversations are on tape.
9. The NZ Herald reports that the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – despite there currently being 135 cities in General Strike in America and massive domestic American police operations ongoing – arrived in New Zealand yesterday (1st May NZST)
10. Late last night it is reported that Kim Dotcom is getting a bunch of his vehicles and stuff back. HMMMMMM……..food for thought. “
” The clowns we call our political leaders. From left to right – John Key’s lackey, John Banks; George Wood’s lackey, Lesley Opie; George Wood – current Auckland Council member, ex mayor of the North Shore, current Chairman of the Community Safety Board & frequent Occupy Auckland Facebook troll; and finally, John Key. My what a foursome.” “Occupiers and a few others will understand the full significance of this image… 
“
SCENE TWO: It emerges the FBI did not follow correct legal procedure & the certainty of Dotcom’s conviction becomes increasingly less likely. The viral Banks-Key-Dotcom memes begin.
May 3: ” And the plot thickens… they never should have arrested Kim Dotcom in the first place. Apparently it was a gross abuse of resources for the FBI to storm on in here & attempt to take everything from him. Wonder where that leaves good old John Banks & JK?
And please enjoy this comprehensive assessment, containing a ton of related information about Dotcom’s notoriety, and the M.O. of National when doing an Allan Hubbard on unsuspecting successful independent businessmen.
Reading between the lines of this NZH opinion piece: “Banks took in $520,086 in anonymous donations that year. But Brown, who beat him, also used measures available to local candidates that parliamentary candidates do not enjoy. His return included $499,000 from a trust set up to take donations without revealing the donors.”
So Brown could have had those donations from ANYONE? Say, from donors who were ALSO backing his opponent? Seem far-fetched?
In the USA corporations & rich-listers are well-known for hedging their bets by backing both candidates. Surely that couldn’t happen in little old New Zealand?
Would that explain why Len Brown is about as left wing as sitting Chairman of the Community Safety Board George ‘They should bring in the water cannons’ Wood?
SCENE THREE: Pretty much every media commentator and freelance journalist in New Zealand jumps in the fray, but as usual Occupy New Zealand Facebook provided the most comprehensive summary of them all, with a plethora of associated links.
May 6: ” We grew up in a New Zealand with ethics. That stood up to U.S. political bullying; that retained our own sovereignty with regards to womens rights, gay rights, military regulation & our environment; that didn’t change our laws to mirror our imperial overlords but to embrace progressive social change. We were taught to be proud of those differences and also proud that such a small country could push back against huge empires. Inevitably, with each initially unpopular stance we took; other countries caught on, and we gained international respect for our geopolitical risk-taking.
Well now we live in a day and age where commentators on both the right & the left are outright saying that we have sacrificed our sovereignty to the Americans over the Kim Dotcom saga. That the NZ Government failed to protect a legal resident & now that a U.S. judge has indicated the case may never go to trial; our government may be found liable in civil court. You have to read Rodney’s Herald opinion piece to understand it. The level of rhetoric has been elevated to an extent where both Rodney, on the far-right, and Matt McCarten, of the left, are essentially saying the same things. Why? Because corruption is corruption, no matter where on the political spectrum you sit.
Rodney’s opinion here.
Matt’s here.
And this tasty morsel: apparently the dodgy dealings surrounding the Dotcom case are not restricted to politicians: the Crown Law office “knew” that correct procedures were not being followed, on the morning of the raid on Dotcom’s NZ rental property.
“I would have thought John Key would be a bit more pragmatic. I think John Key has been entirely out of step with the public.” You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the article to get to that quote, but its truth is undeniable.
John Key says he’d never heard of Dotcom til the raid; then refuses to stand down Banks during investigation? Tops it off with claiming to not know the Wellington Hikoi Against Asset Sales was happening on the very steps of the Beehive?
At this point we’re half expecting John Key to start denying knowing John Banks. Can things really get any more incredulous?
ACT THREE: Due in part to the attention of the global Occupy movement, John Banks, Kim Dotcom and New Zealand go viral for all the wrong reasons. Again, Occupy New Zealand Facebook documented the media whirlwind that encompassed the globe – being carried in countless major corporate publications internationally. Yet astonishingly John Banks, openly protected by John Key, remains in power to this day.
SCENE ONE: May 7: ” KIM DOTCOM RELEASES JOHN BANKS MUSIC VIDEO CLIP!!!!!!! This is the FUNNIEST most utterly HILARIOUS thing we have seen throughout the John Banks saga. Spread far and wide. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6871058/Kim-Dotcom-releases-John-Banks-song
“Is John Key Having A John Howard Moment?” More like John Key is having a John Banks moment…
May 9: ” Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee. “I can’t believe Key (and of course, his manipulative media muppet mates) continues to defend the indefensible in the case of that lying dog- Banks. Local body electoral law is clear, any donation over $25,000, cannot be anonymous and donations under this amount where the donor is known cannot be listed as anonymous.
The very reason for this law, is to give the public transparency around what entities are making large donations to political candidates and parties, so that any conflicts of interest can be identified.
What we have in the Banks/Dotcom case is what is beginning to look like exactly what the electoral law is there to prevent- a candidate effectively lobbying on behalf of a donor in return for a large stack of cash.
What it looks like here, is that Banks has said ” Hey Dot, we better break that donation up into 2 lots of $25,000, so that when i lobby my mate Maurice on your behalf nobody is able to see that i’ve been motivated to do so by your generosity, you sly old German sausage.”- and i paraphrase just a bit.
Banks’ position as a Cabinet Minister is now clearly untenable, he may still have the Prime-minister’s confidence but he no longer has the public’s confidence. What’s more he doesn’t have the necessary level of credibility and integrity to hold Ministerial office, if indeed he ever did.
The longer The King of Crony Capitalism, aka John Key stands by his man the more his perceived credibility and integrity will suffer.”
May 10: ” Oh dear… it appears Banks’ corruption & Key’s protection of him have finally hit the international media… *gasp*
Always interesting to see how our leaders are portraying our country to the world. We’ll be posting a selection of these international articles, starting with this one, from the British newspaper The Guardian. Enjoy! http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/07/kim-dotcom-john-banks-video
This one from a little closer to home… The Australian, on dodgy Banks, shonky Key & Kim Dotcom pwning them.
Ouch. From Bangkok to Spain to Britain to the States… our Prime Minister & John “What helicopter?” Banks are the laughing stock of the international political scene.
Here comes the right wing P.R. job – always be suspicious of an article that begins with the official corporate apologist soundbyte – and check out who owns the newspaper. This, the most corruption-friendly piece we’ve seen so far, comes from Bloomberg’s “Business Week”. (Yes, Bloomberg, as in, Mayor Bloomberg of NYC, who has just spent seven months having the NYPD beat, taser, detain, falsely arrest, and sexually assault unarmed peaceful protesters). It appears this piece is as good as its’ going to get for our own dodgy politicians. Good question for Key next time one of you journo’s who obsessively read this page (but are too scared to like/share it): “John Key, have you http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-29/dotcom-s-political-donation-up-to-police-says-n-dot-z-dot-s-key”>ever personally met Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City?”
This is the most comprehensive international print article we’ve seen so far, including links to Banks’ appalling media performances & a lot of background information. Never heard of this news site before but definitely one to bookmark.
Oooh fascinating. According to New York Magazine; “Amnesia” is just the beginning. So Dotcom really isn’t done with Banks, Key et al. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/05/kim-dotcom-working-on-movie-book-and-album.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nymag%2Fvulture+%28Vulture+-+nymag.com%27s+Entertainment+and+Culture+Blog%29
John Key & John Banks even made it into the Hollywood Reporter. For all the wrong reasons. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kim-dotcom-song-amnesia-political-scandal-320970
Wow. New York Magazine. The Hollywood Reporter. The Guardian. And even Radio Samoa!!!! Is there a country left in the world that doesn’t know we are run by morons?To finish up our international Banks & Key scandal print journalism collection, here is two fantastic opinion pieces we came across. The first, cleverly points out:
“I see that Mr Key has been complaining to anyone who will listen about how hard done by he is, and that nobody understands any more. Well let me remind you, John Key, that you didn’t become Prime Minister by accident. You made a lifestyle choice and now you have to live with it, and if you don’t like it any more you should take yourself off the generous taxpayer-paid benefit you’re on and go get a real job. These f***ing government beneficiaries are all the same.” http://www.imperatorfish.com/
*Cheer*!
The second comes at the issue from several new angles & is well worth reading: http://gregroughan.com/2012/05/09/the-dilbert-management-theory-of-john-banks/
Kia ora koutou, enjoy the rest of your evening Aotearoa 
Penny Bright – asking the kind of questions that Leighton Smith didn’t have the guts to ask the Prime Sinister John Key when he appeared on Newstalk ZB today. Instead, they talked about why it is wonderful that the government is accepting bribes from corporations. They called it a “win-win” situation. We call it the death of democratic principles. In the meantime, the unfortunate electorate of Epsom is still under the representation of a political dead-weight while the M.P. for Helensville… doesn’t even live there. He lives on the opposite side of Auckland in a multi-million dollar mansion in Parnell. One of the many reasons they call him Shonky John Key.
Penny says – “The Banksie BRIBERY scandal is still bubbling away ………………..
What hasn’t yet had the MAN ON THE MOON headlines on this issue – is – what is the difference between Taito Phillip Field and John Banks?
Taito Phillip Field was sentenced to SIX years jail upon conviction of bribery and corruption charges, for providing immigration assistance to Thai nationals in return for work on his properties.
John Banks provided ‘immigration assistance’ and Coatsville property purchase assistance to a German/ Finnish national, in return for a $50,000 Auckland Mayoral campaign donation?
perception …. perception …. perception ….
The difference, Taito Phillip Field is ‘brown’ and ‘dodgy’ John Banks has political protection at the highest levels from NZ Prime Minister ‘shonky’ John Key?
(Please be reminded that John Banks and Don Brash have never been CHARGED, let alone convicted, as former fellow Directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, for signing Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered propectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009 which contained untrue statements….)
NZ is the ‘least corrupt country in the world’ – according to Transparency International’s 2011 ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – based upon the subjective opinion of anonymous businesspeople……
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’”
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com/give-a-grrl-a-banner/ “
SCENE TWO: As the New Zealand public hits the point of political scandal overload, the National Party and John Key begin an aggressive pre-Budget unveiling of draconian austerity measures, cuts to public services and advancement of their “partial” privatisation of state assets. All without so much of an acknowledgement as to the unravelling geopolitical situation and issues with corporate-capitalism, nor of the mounting domestic dissent and protest that is an ongoing backdrop to this saga. John Key gets caught out lying about being unaware of the location of a massive protest march that attracted thousands onto the very steps of his Parliament, involving many political parties, unions and concerned members of the public. His credibility continually erodes in the eyes of the public and the media, now realising that they were no longer solely driving the conversation, begin to shake off the dust and take them to task. For the first time since the establishment of Occupy in New Zealand, some issues begin to get a more open & fair coverage. Despite this, citizen journalism continues to provide a faster response and more comprehensive pool of information than mainstream media can keep pace with.
May 15: ” John Key taking swipes at a corporate media that dares question his intentions and failings. The media are “in a more aggressive and hostile mood towards us”, but Key does not worry about the media “despite what they think”. “I am not that bent out of shape about that – I expected it,” Key said. Although the mainstream media in NZ has a long history in mispresenting “reality” it’s comforting to see them make Key squirm…
…not to mention the countless bloggers and citizen journalists keeping the pressure on.
Media By Us….Not Media Bias! “
May 21: ” PROTEST TODAY! ‘Do the ‘Honorable’ thing John Banks! RESIGN! NOW! 12 noon till 2pm outside the electorate office of John Banks (27 Gillies Ave ) calling for his RESIGNATION of – the not so ‘Honorable’ MP for Epsom, because he is not ‘fit for duty’ as an MP – let alone a Minister. Have you seen “Give A Grrl A Banner“? This shows some of the banners we’ll have on display – today!
How come Taito Phillip Field got sentenced for SIX years for ‘bribery and corruption’, for providing ‘immigration advice’ to Thai nationals in exchange for work on his properties – while ‘dodgy John Banks gets political protection from ‘shonky’ John Key, after giving ‘immigration assistance’ and Coatsville property purchase ‘assistance’ to a German/ Finnish national, in return for $50,000 donated to ‘Banksie’s’ 2010 Auckland Mayoral campaign fund? What’s the difference – apart from Taito Phillip Field being brown?
Isn’t it painfully obvious? That this MINORITY National Government has only 59 out of 121 MPs – so has no mandate for assets sales. That’s why John Key continues to defend the indefensible, and ‘have confidence’ in the ACT MP for Epsom, who is helping to make New Zealand ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ and absolute laughing stock, as per Kim Dotcom’s John Banks song – which has now had over 140,000 hits worldwide.
OPEN LETTER TO JOHN BANKS: left at his electorate office by members of the public protesting political corruption. Full details from Penny Bright:
“FYI – below is a copy of the letter that was pushed into the gap between doors at John Bank’s empty Epsom electorate office at 27 Gillies Ave, today, Monday 21 May 2012.
“OPEN LETTER TO THE ‘HONORABLE’ JOHN BANKS, MP FOR EPSOM 21 May 2012
Today, there is a protest being held outside your electorate office at 27 Gillies Ave, Newmarket from 12 noon till 2pm. The purpose of this protest is to encourage you to do the ‘honorable’ thing, and resign forthwith as the ACT MP for Epsom, and leave the NZ House of Parliament, before you bring it, and this country ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt in the world, into further international disrepute. How can you honestly consider yourself to be ‘fit for duty’ as either an MP or a Minister of the Crown? Why is it that former Labour MP Taito Phillip Field got sentenced for SIX years for ‘bribery and corruption’, for providing ‘immigration advice’ to Thai nationals in exchange for work on his properties – whilst yourself, the Minister of Regulatory Reform is effectively getting political protection from NZ Prime Minister John Key, after you have given ‘immigration assistance’ and Coatsville property purchase ‘assistance’ to a German/ Finnish national, in return for $50,000 donated to your 2010 Auckland Mayoral campaign fund, and gifts valued at over $500 which you failed to declare? Are you aware that Kim Dotcom’s ‘John Bank’s song’ has had over 140,000 ‘hits’ on You Tube, in my opinion, helping to make NZ an international laughing stock?
It is also of great concern to me, as a fighter also against ‘white collar’ crime, that ACT’s ‘one law for all’ has yet to apply to both yourself and Don Brash, current and former Leaders of the ACT Party.
As former fellow directors of Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, you both signed Huljich Kiwisaver Scheme registered prospectuses dated 22 August 2008 and 18 September 2009, which contained untrue statements, but you were never charged for so doing. This is a strict liability offence under s58(3) of the Securities Act 1978, but neither the old Securities Commission, the Finance Markets Authority (FMA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) , nor the NZ Police arguably ‘did their job’ and charged yourself or Don Brash.
John Banks, you are now the Minister of Regulatory Reform, yet four different ‘regulatory’ bodies failed to act against you, someone, who arguably couldn’t properly run a Kiwisaver Scheme, yet now has a key Ministerial post and you are supposedly helping to run the country ‘perceived’ to be the ‘least corrupt in the world’
(Copies of this correspondence are available on www.pennybright4epsom.org.nz )
Have you been politically protected at the highest levels, because this minority National Government has only 59 out of 121 MPs, thus no mandate for assets sales, because there is not a majority of National MPs, so is dependent on your pivotal vote?
Is this why NZ Prime Minister John Key is arguably continuing to ‘defend the indefensible’ and still express ‘confidence’ in you, although former MPs, Richard Worth and Pansy Wong appear to have lost his confidence over a lot less?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’’
www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com “
SCENE THREE: With the impending delivery of National’s budget on May 25th 2012, a budget that Key desperately needs Banks to aid in pushing through, it becomes clear that despite multiple police investigations into Banks and protesters campaigning literally on the doorstep of his empty electorate office, he will not step down. The collateral damage to Key is enormous and the immediate political future in New Zealand, unclear. We will keep you posted.
What -is- clear to us is that Occupy, social media, citizen journalism, Kim Dotcom and you and I are part of a true emancipation of knowledge, information, shared existence, extra-communication and societal evolution of which few mainstream sources are prepared to acknowledge outside of a monetary context. Nine months ago, the vast majority of citizen journalists were not citizen journalists; the livestreamers were not livestreamers; the Occupy media teams were not accredited journalists who wrote about the DHS, FBI & global politics; we were unemployed students, geeks, stay at home mothers, grandmothers, amateur photographers, just wanting to contribute something meaningful to this unprecedented global movement.
Solidarity to all out there who are doing the same under strenuous conditions and thank you to the international Occupy movement for your amazing support. Much love.
OCCUPY NEW ZEALAND – OCCUPY AOTEAROA – The Land Of The Long White Cloud
