Random Politics

[Golden Teapot]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

GT catches the bus to work?

This comes as quite a shock. You sit with... poor people?

Sure why not? It's cheap and it's fast.

[crocos]

Originally Posted by Golden Teapot

Sure why not? It's cheap and it's fast.

You must be lucky enough to be on a low-traffic route or be able to go to work at off-peak times, I'm thinking.

Takes me 25-30 min to get into work by car, over 90 min by bus.

[[LvN]N3misiS]

[Ab]

If my options are a) sitting in a vehicle stopped in traffic burning petrol that I paid for, or b) sitting in a seat with an idevice connected to the interwebs in my hand while someone else drives, I'll take b thanks Lockwood.

[Golden Teapot]

Originally Posted by crocos

You must be lucky enough to be on a low-traffic route or be able to go to work at off-peak times, I'm thinking.

Yes it's very low traffic - there's a dedicated motorway (the Northern Busway) for the bus. I was on the bus before this was built too and yes it took a bit longer but that was just more time to chill out and listen to music (these days I chill out and read a book on my iPad).

[zeekiorage]

After many years of using the car I gave public transport another try between 2011 and 2012. Took the bus for about 15 months to Auckland central. Let me tell you that public transport is neither cheap nor comfortable.

[xor]

Originally Posted by zeekiorage

After many years of using the car I gave public transport another try between 2011 and 2012. Took the bus for about 15 months to Auckland central. Let me tell you that public transport is neither cheap nor comfortable.

Where did you travel from? I'm out south AK and it's pretty easy to get into the city. Sucks if you want to go out West/East though.

[Ab]

https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/s...39433426886658

[CCS]

[Ab]

lawl.

Questions that come to mind:

How much is in the account?

With what bank, in what country?

How many times has Shearer "forgotten" he has this account?

[CCS]

According to 3News"

The New York-based Chase cash account, which was used to collect Mr Shearer's United Nations salary, hasn't been included on the Register of Pecuniary interests since he became an MP in 2009.

Also, at least $50,000. Can't answer your last question.

[Ab]

So lots of money, in an offshore account, that he's "forgotten" to declare at least four years in a row?

Bye bye leadership.

[CCS]

Name: David James Shearer
Employment status: untenable

So... bets on who will be the 3rd Labour leader since Helen? Robertson? Cuntliffe?

[fixed_truth]

Originally Posted by Ab

So lots of money, in an offshore account, that he's "forgotten" to declare at least four years in a row?

Bye bye leadership.

I agree with Farrar that it's an honest mistake. But still it's amateurish form from someone in that position, and even though I doubt that Shearer will leave over this, I wouldn't mind if he did. Shearer is a great New Zealander and humanitarian and even a capable MP. But unless he's a very late bloomer he just doesn't seem to have enough of the skills necessary to lead a political party.

[CCS]

http://youtu.be/ZLWTRTTSaPs

[Saladin]

Originally Posted by Ab

https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/s...39433426886658

I picture Gower doing a little gnomish dance of glee at finding this.

And now iI've read his latest tweets - Billy Big Steps over and over, the image is only stronger.

[madmaxii]

He's a nasty little shit, follows in the Campbell mould.

[chubby]

labour suck.
on NatRad the other day the lead story was whining by the grey ex-leader(of labour) about how spending cuts(by national) contributed to defense force deaths.


this is what youve got?!!!

[Ab]

Naturally and as usual just as National starts looking shaky, along comes Labour to save the day.

[ZoSo]

Political round-up: Shearer fails 'holier than thou' test

[Ab]

At Kiwiblog:

According to the UN, the salary of a senior manager in a Middle East post would be around US$190,000 a year. Now consider that this is tax free, and that when you are on assignment basically all your living and travel costs are work expenses. So the vast majority of your salary can be saved.

Shearer worked for the UN from 1989 to 2000 and 2002 to 2009, which is a total of 18 years. The total UN salary over that period could have been a bit over US$3 million tax free and expense free.

Come on, it's an honest mistake. Doesn't everyone have a Chase Manhattan account with millions of dollars sitting in it? Shit, that detail could slip anyone's mind.

[fixed_truth]

He had been declaring the account and interest from the account to the IRD, but not declaring it on the MPs’ Register of Pecuniary Interests.

If it was a dishonest omission, then what would be the gain/rational for doing so?

[Lightspeed]

Some tricksie plot.

[Ab]

I too am more inclined to believe n00b fuckup more than secret molemen lizard people illuminati plot.

Which just goes to remind the public that the leader of the Labour party is a fuckin n00b.

[Golden Teapot]

I imagine the reason he is holding the money overseas is that he is expecting to win the next election. With that would come a tumbling of the exchange rate and he'd double his money.

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Ab

Which just goes to remind the public that the leader of the Labour party is a fuckin n00b.

All we got in NZ are n00bs.

[Ab]

Again, it's just that in the nineties anyone in Labour with a hint of leadership potential who wasn't on her payroll got capped by Helen. So Labour is full of the same old deadwood that's been hanging around since the Lange administrations (Mallard, King, etc) but who have no chance of leadership; and on the other hand there are a bunch of (in political terms) clueless newcomers who got where they are because of their fealty to Helen Clark (former Clark staffer Grant Robertson, former Clark staffer Jacinda Ardern, etc).

[Cyberbob]

I wonder what Jenny Shipley's up to these days.

[Ab]

Dealing with Mainzeal fallout presumably.

[chubby]

jenny was shuffled quietly out of reach there.
now decimating publicly owned electricity generation.

[xor]

Gillard goneburger?

[chubby]

natrad just reports that the government blocked an inquiry into solid energy...'we have enough information to work on... '

[[LvN]N3misiS]

When all is said and done ultimately the directors of solid energy shoulder the blame, it doesn't matter what politicians asked them to do as company law requires directors to act in the best interests of the company.

[creamcheese]

Originally Posted by Golden Teapot

I imagine the reason he is holding the money overseas is that he is expecting to win the next election. With that would come a tumbling of the exchange rate and he'd double his money.

Is that why expats often vote green?

[CCS]

[Golden Teapot]

Originally Posted by creamcheese

Is that why expats often vote green?

Yep - I'd do the same myself right up until the time I was coming back.

[Ab]

He should use some of that money to buy Telecom shares; Clare Curran's "I heard Telecom will sack 1500 people" announcement yesterday has wiped 54 million off the market cap already.

[leadinjector]

Originally Posted by Ab

I too am more inclined to believe n00b fuckup more than secret molemen lizard people illuminati plot.

Which just goes to remind the public that the leader of the Labour party is a fuckin n00b.

this. while i doubt he was trying to cover it up, the fact that he just forgot he had a 50k account overseas is... odd. hes probably nuts.

[Golden Teapot]

It's not a 50k account; it's an account with so much money in it that he's too embarrassed to indicate even the quantum of the balance.

[plaz0r]

Originally Posted by Golden Teapot

It's not a 50k account; it's an account with so much money in it that he's too embarrassed to indicate even the quantum of the balance.

That was my initial assumption too, but I'm not so sure. If you look at the information about the pecuniary interests register, it seems to indicate that you he wouldn't have needed to disclose the amount of money in the account; but rather just to declare its existence if the balance is over $50,000:

Debts owed to you (Form 8)
5(1)(h) the name of each debtor of the member who owes more than $50,000 to the member and a description, but not the amount, of each of the debts that are owed to the member by those debtors
Record debts of more than $50,000 that are owed to you.
[...]
You will need to include bank deposits if they are over $50,000.

Given that he wouldn't have to disclose the amount in the account, I can't imagine it would have avoided disclosing it out of embarrassment over the amount of money there.

Perhaps it was, like he said, just an honest mistake?