New Zealand politics

Scandals and Deceit in NZ politics

There are a whole host of scandals that testify to systems breaking down, cover-ups and stonewalling by the government that is determined that nothing will stand in the way of introducing its right-wing policies and deconstructing the NZ economy.

It also indicates a degree of desperation in a situation where the actual position of the NZ economy is dire
 

Veteran NZ First MP Winston Peters has been fairly straight when he describes a climate of deceit and lying.

MSD breach won't put brakes on Govt digital rollout

Prime Minister John Key says a one-off computer security breach at the Ministry of Social Development won't stop the Government from pressing ahead with its digital rollout across the public sector.

Radio NZ,

17 October, 2012

Sensitive information has been freely available through Work and Income public kiosks and was accessed last week by an IT analyst and a blogger who went public with the security breach.

The public service has been set a target of having 70% of public transactions online by 2017, though is also being asked to slash at least $130 million a year from its information and communication technology budget.

The Labour Party questions whether cost cutting will lead to further breaches, but Mr Key says the Government will press ahead.

"It looks to me like this is a somewhat isolated case where they had some advice to fix the system and may well have failed to do so.

"But we can't stop the digital rollout of Government because one particular programme was written poorly, and an error which was identifed and not resolved."

The Ministry of Social Development was warned a year ago about security flaws at the Work and Income public kiosks by specialist IT company that tested the system.

Deloittes will look into whether the ministry responded to last year's warning and whether the response, if there was one, was adequate.

Air Force urged to reveal safety incident findings

The Air Force is being criticised for a lack of openness over potential flaws in safety procedures, following revelations it transported dangerous gas cylinders on a commercial passenger flight.

Radio NZ,

17 October, 2012

On Tuesday, the Air Force confirmed that oxygen-generating cylinders were carried on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Vancouver on 23 August 2009 for a military exercise. It is not known how many there were.

The cylinders are similar to those that exploded on an American plane over Florida in 1996, killing all 110 people on board. They create a great deal of heat and oxygen and can fuel an intense fire when not handled properly.

The Air Force says it carried out its own investigation after the incident three years ago, and advised the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

The Airline Pilots Association says the Air Force potentially put hundreds of civilian lives at risk.

Association president Glen Kenny says it is disturbing that neither the commission, Air New Zealand nor the Civil Aviation Authority have found any record of the incident.

He says it is important that information on mistakes comes to light so they don't recur.

The Civil Aviation Authority was beginning an investigation into the incident on Wednesday.

The authority's chief executive, Graeme Harris, says it should have been told about the incident and the Defence Force inquiry.

Principals run out of patience with payroll system

School principals say the Ministry of Education's new payroll system needs to deliver a trouble-free payday.

Radio NZ,

17 October, 2012

The $30 million Novopay system has been dogged by errors since it was introduced two months ago, with many staff underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

Principals say the latest salaries delivered by Novopay overnight on Tuesday will be a turning point for the system.

They say if problems are not solved quickly they will want a review and will question whether Novopay is the right system to use.

The principals are unhappy with errors in the payroll and also with the amount of time staff are spending working on it.

Some schools have had payroll information earlier this week showing there would be mistakes, but the Ministry of Education says payroll company Talent Two will ensure the latest pay is as complete as possible.

Labour releases papers on Banks donations inquiry

The Labour Party has released papers showing the lawyer acting for ACT Party leader John Banks argued against police releasing any files from their donations inquiry.

Radio NZ,

17 October, 2012

Police decided not to lay charges following their investigation into Mr Banks' electoral returns for his 2010 Auckland mayoral campaign and donations that had been declared anonymous.

When police released files from the inquiry, Mr Banks' statement to police was blanked out.

Labour deputy leader Grant Robertson said on Tuesday a letter from Mr Banks' lawyer to police released under the Official Information Act makes it clear that he did not want his witness statement in the public arena.

"Well, Mr Banks keeps telling New Zealanders that he's got nothing to fear and nothing to hide. Yet, he's tried to cover up his own witness statement that he gave to the police."

John Banks would not comment on Tuesday.

Winston Peters calls a spade a spade

Yesterday Winston Peters was thrown out of Parliament. He accuses the government of deceit and lying – he is old enough to remember how politics were traditionally conducted.