David Shearer must have spoken before he thought yesterday; not an unusual trait amongst politicians, of course! Speaking about the Auditor-General's decision to take a look at the tendering process for the convention centre, the Herald quoted him thus:
He said there was "obviously something dodgy" around the deal "otherwise the Auditor General wouldn't take a look".
Now if David Shearer had paused for thought, he would have remembered this (our emphasis added):
Labour list MP Shane Jones has been stood down while the Auditor-General investigates his role in the Bill Liu passport case.Leader David Shearer called in Lyn Provost this afternoon as pressure mounted on Jones to explain why he granted Liu citizenship in 2008, over-ruling the advice of officials.
That's right Dear Readers; the Auditor-General's office is investigating Shane Jones because David Shearer asked them to! Does that mean that there was "obviously something dodgy" around Shane Jones' behaviour in the Bill Liu case? Or does Mr Shearer apply different standards to his own MP's to those to which he applies to the Government?
5 comments:
Given the Voice of National's similar attempt at deflection, it does look as if National is desperately trying to find some avenue out of the consistently poor coverage it is receiving in most media at the moment.
The argument is not consistent. Mr Shearer can assert "dodginess" in one case without all such references to the AG falling into the same category. But I don't think that logic is the issue at the moment.
I marvel at your ability to try and make a silk purse out of a sow's ear Robert! . But what makes this even more damning for Mr Shearer is that the A-G accepted his invitation to investigate Jones, but with far broader Terms of Reference than those that Shearer wanted. The A-G saw through his attempt to take the heat off Jones.
But having witnessed the dinner in question with my own eyes from a distance of less than five metres (and it was an animated discussion!), do you think as I do that it's conceivable that Jones might jump waka at the next election?
Jones' case is not so interesting. Key being investigated by the AG, on the other hand, is fascinating!
As expected, Key's 'welcoming' the probe, he loves it, wants to marry it, in the same way Collins is welcoming the scrutiny she's now under. It's the National Party playbook prescription; brazenly deny right up til the moment of your execution. Bring it on!
This is silly gotcha politics at its very worst. Congratulations. With all that's going on this is what you choose to crow about? Slim pickings for the shill.
Dodgy PM or dodgy maverick MP?
I know which would be more serious... similar to your argument of Banks not being in same position as Jones huh KS?
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