The Jackal: November 2021


25 Nov 2021

The end of a toxic leader

If there's one thing that Judith Collins is usually good at, it's using scandalous information about other people to her advantage. Not above undermining her own political party, Collins has been known to even leak against her fellow MPs, particularly those who posed a threat to her as the leader of the beleaguered National Party.

That’s what makes her downfall so extraordinary. By attempting to sanction Simon Bridges using a complaint about inappropriate behavior from five years ago, Collins has appeared the political novice, and not the cutthroat operator that we’ve all come to know and despise.


Today, Stuff reported:

Live: Judith Collins rolled as National leader

Judith Collins is out as National's leader after her demotion of Simon Bridges threw the party into disarray, Stuff understands.

Bridges was to be demoted and stripped of his portfolios in response to a complaint about comments he allegedly made to a female colleague a number of years ago, it was announced on Wednesday night.

The complainant is understood to be MP Jacqui Dean.



You’ve got to question Collins’ faculties here. Firstly, she has failed to accept that she's the main cause of National’s polling slide. Evidently a majority of voters don’t support the vexatious nature of Collins and her chief advisor Cameron Slater and any attempt to paint them in a different light was obviously a folly only the most deluded right-wing propagandist would believe in.

But by attempting to use a dirty tactic to fend off a leadership challenge, even if there is merit to the initial complaint, Collins appeared incredibly arrogant, even by her standards. Collins even claimed that she had the support of the board to demote Bridges, a bold faced lie that also sealed her fate. In effect there was no other option left to her colleagues other than to end her short tenure as the so-called leader of the National Party.

In fact the blue “team” has been nothing more than a shambles since Collins and her forlorn entourage obtained the opposition benches last year, particularly during the Delta outbreak whereby they still appear conflicted about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

However it’s the desperate attempt to hold onto her unwarranted power that has ultimately resulted in Crusher's downfall. Besmirching Simon Bridges with an old complaint is one thing, but trying to convince a predominantly male dominated caucus that she wouldn’t use similar underhanded tactics against them is quite another.

Clearly this total failure to read the room is a huge misstep showing that Judith Collins has no place leading a political party, or a place in Parliament for that matter. In my opinion she should do the right thing and resign entirely before the next election.

Published by the Jackal



11 Nov 2021

National aligns with the anti-vaxxers

What is it about the National Party that’s causing them to look so indecisive at the moment? Not only do they often criticise the Government for implementing policy that they themselves have previously promoted, National also seems to have no firm stance on important topics such as MIQ facilities, which they previously wanted to build but now want to demolish.

This indecision is causing very large amounts of confusion for journalists and voters alike, who cannot decipher exactly what National actually stands for. I mean contradicting themselves because they simply forgot what their position previously was is one thing, but contradicting the party line when it comes to things like vaccines should be ringing some large alarm bells.

Perhaps the worst flip-flopper amongst the blue “team” is none other than their leader, Judith Collins. Although she tries hard to appear reasonable, Collins has been caught out a number of times sabotaging the Covid-19 health response and supporting anti-vaccination protests.


Last week, the NZ Herald reported:

Judith Collins on Groundswell NZ protest and James Shaw's COP26 trip

National Party leader Judith Collins says she will attend Groundswell NZ's "Mother of all Protests" on November 21 to show her support for Kiwi farmers.

Groundswell NZ is the farmer-led group behind the successful "Howl of a Protest" in July when rural people took to the streets in tractors and farm vehicles to show their concerns over Government regulations and the "ute tax".



Unfortunately a few regulations and the “ute tax” aren’t the only things these farmers are protesting about. And just like the Destiny Church, Groundswell is clearly a politically motivated movement that will encourage anti Government sentiment wherever they can, even if it means aligning themselves with the anti-vaxxers.

Here’s a photo of Crusher Collins’ mates Brian and Hannah Tamaki, who have been organising numerous anti-vaccination protests around the country despite court orders banning them from doing so. They’re having a meeting with Leo Molloy and Groundswell organiser Scott Bright on the right, who earlier this month gave gifts of food to people attending an anti-vaccination protest organised by the misnamed Freedom and Rights Coalition.


But that’s unfortunately not the only indication that Groundswell organisers are against vaccines.


On 2 November, Stuff reported:

Groundswell NZ denies being anti-vax after founder shuns vaccination promo video

Meanwhile, a photo of Groundswell's Pukekohe and Auckland co-ordinator, Scott Bright, sitting at a table alongside Brian and Hannah Tamaki has been shared on social media.

Hannah Tamaki has previously stated in a Facebook post that she would choose not to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Her husband, Brian Tamaki, has also said in a social media post that the long-term effects of the vaccine were “unknown” and claimed the vaccine was “untested”.

In fact, the vaccine has been extensively tested and any side effects happen within days and weeks, rather than in the long-term.

Bright has also provided fresh vegetables to the Freedom and Rights Coalition protests, but told Stuff he attended the protest in a personal capacity.



Of course Collins isn’t the only National Party MP who has aligned themselves with the anti-vaccination crusaders. Harete Hipango was also recently caught supporting a protest against a vaccine clinic in Whanganui.


Last week, Newshub reported:

Whanganui COVID-19 vaccine protest: Kaumātua felt 'sad' seeing 'our families out there'

The Prime Minister's day began with heated protests outside a vaccination bus in Whanganui on Wednesday, where she was scheduled to visit a vaccination clinic.

"I feel sad when I hear our families - they're our families out there, our nieces, our mokopuna," Whanganui kaumātua John Niko Maihi told Newshub.

"I'm surprised at how many people don't want to be vaccinated."

…

Another politician visited the protest - local National MP Harete Hipango.

"I'm here to support my community," she said, when asked if she was there to support the protest.

She left soon after Newshub clocked her, saying later she thought it was a protest about something else.


Then there's National Party MP Chris Penk, who has been liking numerous posts that promote the anti-vaccination movement in New Zealand.

What this shows is that a number of National Party MPs, including their leader, have stupidly aligned themselves with the anti-vaccination movement. There is no two bones about it. And with a potential 95% of Kiwis who will be getting fully vaccinated, that's going to be a hiding to nowhere for the main opposition party. As a result of their idiocy concerning Covid-19, the blue "team" will likely continue to poll very badly, particularly while Judith Collins is calling the shots.

Published by the Jackal



Government funds vanity projects instead of the disabled

If there’s one thing that can damage Labour's brand, it’s misspending public money on vanity projects and unnecessary PR campaigns instead of funding things that really matter to everyday Kiwis. The opposition knows this, and often attempts to exploit a perception that Labour isn’t able to properly allocate taxpayer dollars in a way that truly benefits the entire country.

However, unlike the opposition, the vast majority of voters are thankfully a lot more reasonable, particularly in terms of the Government’s funding allocations. This is especially the case when you consider the considerable amounts of money being generated for the Government through our hard work and an export sector that is incredibly profitable.

Obviously we should all share in our mutually generated wealth, and one of the best ways to do that is by ensuring our infrastructure is functioning properly and everyone’s basic needs are being adequately met. However, the current Government unfortunately appears to have lost the high ground and has already become arrogant about where they allocate vast sums of public money. Not yet into their third-termitis, the Labour led Government's disconnect between what should and what is being funded appears to be getting worse, and therefore needs to be highlighted.

While MBIE is busy spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars on flashy new PR videos about climate change, that try to place responsibility for man-kinds biggest existential threat onto us mere individuals, inflation has all but wiped out any wage increases for low to middle income earners, ensuring that most will be without the financial means necessary to adapt to the serious consequences of climate change.

While the Minister of Energy and Resources, Megan Woods, is busy making excuses for another badly produced video that cost taxpayers $600,000, students are having to take the Government to court to try and halt new oil and gas exploration…polluting enterprises that will ensure New Zealand has already failed to meet our COP26 obligations before the ink has even dried.

While Minister Carmel Sepuloni is busy promoting a new so-called Ministry for the Disabled, which will be run by the same old dysfunctional Ministry of Social Development, she's also splashing $500,000 worth of public money on a badly designed book website, which has little to no value for most hard working Kiwis. Meanwhile, the re-allocated support for people who’re struggling to survive is almost non-existent.

Obviously the Government’s current incrementalist approach to beneficial social change isn’t going to fix the entrenched inequality that creates adverse effects throughout Aotearoa, whereby one in five Kiwi kids continues to go without adequate food or proper housing.

In fact the Labour led Government has decided, somewhat under the cover of Covid-19, to even start hassling disabled WINZ clients again, in order to make cuts to their welfare payments. Surely not I hear you say? But here’s a small sample of tweets from a recent online discussion by and for the New Zealand disability community, which clearly shows the Government isn’t being very kind at all, not even to our most isolated and vulnerable citizens:



Of course it would be a lot worse for impoverished Kiwis, particularly those living with disability, under a National and ACT Government, especially one where Judith Collins was calling the shots. But that doesn’t excuse the Labour led Government or let them off the hook for continuing to persecute the disabled while wasting taxpayers money on PR vanity projects that have no cultural or societal worth whatsoever.

Published by the Jackal



4 Nov 2021

Dean Brosnahan - Arsehole of the Week


There's no question that someone who lies about having had a vasectomy to get unprotected sex is a complete A hole! But what really made Dean Brosnahan an Arsehole Award winner this week was that he repeatedly harassed one of his victims, who later fell pregnant to him, with further sexual assaults and death threats to her and her baby.

Brosnahan, who had been charged with raping a tenant of a property he managed, then went on to work for the Ministry of Social Development for four months, also matching tenants to potential rental properties. This raises serious concerns about a sexual predator who may have also been forcing other vulnerable females, namely WINZ clients, into having unwanted sex with him to get a house to live in.


Yesterday, Stuff reported:

Police didn't tell Ministry of Social Development its job applicant was being investigated for rape

Stuff this week reported that in 2020 the ministry (MSD) hired Dean Francis Brosnahan, who was under police investigation for inducing a woman into sex by lying to her about having had a vasectomy. He had pursued her through a listing made through the company he worked for, Oxygen Property Management. She fell pregnant.

Brosnahan left his role with Oxygen – Stuff understands other tenants also made complaints about Brosnahan to the company – and was quickly hired by MSD as a housing broker. Oxygen and MSD were both unaware that Brosnahan had also resigned from a previous role at Corrections, facing allegations from three women relating to sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour.

In late May, MSD learned Brosnahan had been charged with rape – through Brosnahan and his lawyer rather than through a second vetting – and Brosnahan resigned three weeks later. Wellington regional manager Jamie Robinson said that after learning of the charges, MSD took immediate action to meet with Brosnahan and raise concerns. Over three weeks, two attempts to meet with him were delayed by Brosnahan, Robinson said.



You’ve got to wonder why he was allowed to resign and wasn’t immediately sacked instead?


Victims adviser Ruth Money said police were negligent to not reveal the information, particularly given Brosnahan had pursued the victim through his role as a property manager. It is understood part of Brosnahan’s role at Work and Income was matching tenants to potential properties. MSD said that when it became aware of the charges, Brosnahan had no further face-to-face contact with clients.

 

Of course an incomplete Police report the Ministry of Development initially received and the Police direction that the Ministry should reapply for another background check at a later date certainly should have made them think twice about employing Brosnahan. I mean why would the MSD ignore such glaringly obvious red flags like that for four months?

Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said MSD had “acted on the information it had, as soon as it had it ... MSD has HR policies it must follow when someone employed by them is accused of a crime, especially if they maintain their innocence. MSD correctly followed these processes.”


MSD clearly didn’t act on the information it had as soon as it could have. Because if it did, Brosnahan wouldn’t have been hired and then placed into a position of power where he could potentially take advantage of other vulnerable women.

However the real kicker here is that in 2015 Brosnahan was allowed to resign as a Corrections Officer after an internal investigation found that he had sexually harassed numerous women there as well. For some reason though the file containing his misdeeds simply disappeared. How often are these types of things covered up I wonder?

Unfortunately we will likely never know who exactly has been paving the way for this sicko for all these years? But what we do know is that Corrections, the Police and the Ministry for Social Development has failed miserably here to protect numerous vulnerable women from a known sexual predator.


Robinson previously said that neither of Brosnahan’s two references gave MSD cause for concern.


Honestly! Like a sexual predator is going to put ‘accused of rape’ on their references.

The complainant told the court that she felt Brosnahan was in a significant position of power, given he could help put a roof over her head, or not.

After she fell pregnant Brosnahan had repeatedly urged her to “kill the baby” while lying on top of her, or pushing her towards traffic.


Disgusting! And to think that the Ministry of Social Development is more concerned about their reputation than this guys victims. Instead of launching a proper in-depth investigation into what Brosnahan got up to while in their employment, they have instead launched a PR campaign to try and absolve themselves from any wrongdoing. No wonder most people think that the culture within many Governmental departments is rotten!

Published by the Jackal



3 Nov 2021

Why is the Government listening to Des Gorman?

Des Gorman - Idiot
The Covid-19 response in New Zealand has, until recently, gone pretty well really. Successful lock-downs helped us to beat the first wave, we've seen comparatively few deaths and case numbers are well below those of our trading partners. However, it seems that whenever the Government starts listening to the wishes of the opposition and their propagandists, the wheels invariably fall off our once renowned response to the pandemic.

The first sign that the Government was changing tack away from a health response driven by expert advice was when they decided to prematurely open up a travel bubble with Australia, even though many states in the lucky country were struggling with increasingly high Covid-19 case numbers.

As you may recall, the Government was soon forced to halt their ill-conceived quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble, but the damage was already done. Not long afterwards the Delta variant inevitably raised its ugly head here, and has now become well established in Gods own.


In May this year, NPR reported:

New Zealand Pauses 'Travel Bubble' With Australia Amid Coronavirus Outbreak In Sydney

Less than three weeks after launching a quarantine-free "travel bubble" between New Zealand and Australia, officials in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, announced Thursday that flights from Sydney would be temporarily suspended after new coronavirus cases were detected there.

 

The Labour led Government had played Russian roulette with the virus and lost. Then in August 2021, the first unlinked community cases of Delta were detected. But instead of learning from this monumental mistake, which will undoubtedly cost many millions if not billions of dollars, Labour is once again throwing the dice to see if they can beat the odds.

While they ignore the advice of numerous experts, including the countries best virus modellers and our most eminent epidemiologists, the Labour Government, in all their wisdom, is choosing to instead listen to people like Des Gorman, who isn’t properly qualified to provide advice concerning Covid-19. In fact his own University recently distanced themselves from the Act Party associated “professor” because of his numerous unscientific reckons.

This hasn't stopped the old fool from continuing to advocate on behalf of the virus though.

 

On Monday, RNZ reported:

Vaccinated Aucklanders should have more freedoms - Des Gorman
 

University of Auckland emeritus professor of medicine Des Gorman said easing restrictions was the only way to maintain public compliance.

"If you leave Auckland where it is, I think you're going to have an outbreak of civil disobedience.

Gorman said despite rising case numbers, it is safe to ease restrictions.

"I think it is, providing you distinguish between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Very clearly vaccinated people are a much lower risk to the health system and so they should have greater freedoms," he said.

 

And here’s a brief rundown of the expert advice the Government is currently ignoring:



On Sunday, Newstalk ZB reported:

Professor Michael Baker: Alert levels likely to remain the same

New Zealand recorded 143 new community cases today - 135 in Auckland, 6 in Waikato and 2 in Northland.

Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker says he doesn't think a move could be justified in Auckland because the numbers are still rising very steadily.


On Monday, 1 News reported:

Hendy says Level 4 should be considered for Auckland

Covid-19 modeller Professor Shaun Hendy says the Government should consider a short Level 4 circuit-breaker for Auckland as Covid-19 cases are expected to rise in the coming weeks.

On Saturdey there were a record 160 Covid-19 cases in New Zealand followed by 143 on Sunday - the vast majority in Auckland. Hendy says he expects cases numbers to continue to rise. 

 

Also on Monday, RNZ reported:

Covid-19 modeller warns against easing restrictions

There are calls for shops and public facilities to open under Level 3 Step 2.

Canterbury University Covid-19 modeller Professor Michael Plank told Morning Report any move would have consequences.

"A move to step 2 would accelerate case numbers, it's clear case numbers are still rising."

 

You would hope that the Government would at least acknowledge the advice from these esteemed experts. Instead, they have chosen to listen to a right-wing idiot with vested interests in seeing the virus spread. Despite Des Gorman's lack of any equivalent level of expertise, he somehow gets far more media attention than he actually deserves.

What this means is that the Labour led Government has chosen to put the bank accounts of already wealthy business owners ahead of the public's safety, which will potentially open them up to justified litigation by the families of those who pass away from this preventable disease.

Obviously we should have waited until Aotearoa reached a higher level of immunisation against a deadly virus that has now killed over five million people worldwide, particularly because case numbers here are continuing to climb. But the Government has instead bowed to pressure from those who obviously don’t have the entire countries best interests at heart...and that’s likely going to be a recipe for social and economic disaster!

Published by the Jackal



1 Nov 2021

Carmel Sepuloni isn't going to fix ACC

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is meant to be a no fault no blame system, and was initially designed to help people recover by providing the medical assistance they require. If injuries are long term, ACC is meant to support the disabled person financially with up to 80% of their previous weekly income as compensation.

However ACC no longer meets this brief. Considerable changes have been made over the years to ensure the Ministry makes a substantial profit by declining long-term claimants. They do this by making incorrect determinations and employing corrupt specialists who receive bonuses for misdiagnosing patients, basically because they no longer have any compassion for other people.

It’s not just ACC specialists who’ve got a vested interest in removing injured Kiwis from their books though. The entire organisation is geared to refusing long-term claimants, which usually means injured or disabled people don’t get the care they require. ACC does this primarily by declining claimants and then using incorrect diagnosis. However they also use the legal system to ensure most claimants, particularly those without resources, simply give up.

But that’s not the worst of it. ACC also deters claimants by ensuring that their privacy is breached, which is a further calculated attempt to dissuade Kiwis from making claims.


Today, the Otago Daily Times reported:

The hastily announced independent review into the management of Accident Compensation Corporation data and client information needs to do much more than skim the surface of the organisation’s culture.

Fourteen employees (including two in the Dunedin office) were stood down last week for alleged breaches of privacy.

The allegation from a whistle-blower that some Hamilton call centre staff were sharing details of client’s injuries and making fun of them in a private Snapchat called "ACC whores" was shocking.

This news came hard on the heels of concerns from clients and their advocates about too many staff having access to sensitive claims information, a concern echoed by some staff. Acting chief executive Mike Tully was quick to defend that situation when the concerns were brought to his attention, rather than stand back and reassess whether the way the claims were being handled was truly in the best interests of the claimants. It was not a good look, compounded by the later revelation, the result of a parliamentary question, that 1414 staff have access to sensitive claims.

Should the investigations into the privacy breach allegations confirm the bad behaviour, the temptation will be for the organisation to see those involved as bad apples.

 

Unfortunately the entire organisation is a rotten apple.

Prior to the change in Government, research showed that the claims process discriminates against woman, Māori and Pasifika people. This forced the new Minister, Carmel Sepuloni, to request a briefing about ACC’s dysfunction.

Earlier this year, ACC’s own analysis confirmed that the organisation was racist, sexist and ageist as well as discriminatory against people who are injured at birth. They were also found to be more prejudiced against certain occupations, namely those predominated by women.

Since then nothing has really changed. In fact ACC is still the same sick puppy it always was under the previous National Party Government.

Clearly making jokes about sensitive claims is one thing, but creating an entire Snapchat group called ‘ACC Whores’ so your fellow staff members can laugh about people’s injuries is entirely unacceptable. This all shows that there must be a thorough review of the culture at ACC, and in order to do that, a new Minister is required. Carmel Sepuloni has had long enough to fix what is still a terribly broken system.

Published by the Jackal