NZ: A right-wing plot within the National Party

A leaked far-Right report and a plot within the National Party

“It’s crazy, Tea Party stuff, proposing to sell our politics to business and American interests.

The leak itself reveals a deep split in the party as factions gear up to fight for the wreckage post Key. Far from the Nats “turning on” an outside advisor, The Nation mentions “sitting MPs” and support for Lusk “within National’s caucus” – presumably the Collins faction.”

http://thestandard.org.nz/the-lusk-paper/

Breaking News: Dark plot about to be exposed within National Party

Martyn Bradbury

The Daily Blog,

26 January, 2013

The  Daily Blog tip line is running hot with rumours that the Prime Ministers Office is about to leak to the NZ Herald a list of National Party MPs who are paying consultants who have dark intentions.

The Daily Blog has blogged  that there are forces working in the National Party to manufacture the emergence of a hard right Government. This has been backed up by the National Party itself who found one such consultant had a very negative agenda for the Party.

We asked if the Aaron Gilmore affair was an inside political hit job,and after that, the PMs office has done some fishing and have found plans put together by some of these consultants that one inside source said “if these ever found their way into the hands of Nicky Hager, it would be over for National’.

The National Party hierarchy believe they can further their agenda via soft selling the changes as opposed to a semi-fascist one and have made the decision to leak to the Herald to kill this off.

The anti-reactionary centrists want to put all that reactionary influence outside the Party and place it with the Conservative Party (expect a deal for Colin Craig in Rodney), where as the pro-reactionary clique want to kill off the Conservatives to keep that extremism within the Party.

Expect the next couple if weeks to be bumpy for National.

HERE is a link to the leaked Lusk paper

National turns on hard right advisor

Simon Lusk pushed to get rid of the "wet wing" and make sure MPs obeyed donors. Now a leaker has revealed his agenda in an attempt to discredit him

NZ Herald,

1 June, 2013

Leaked documents written by a political strategist who has trained National MPs set out a vision for taking the party to the right of the political spectrum, tripling donations to $6 million a year and using donations and government jobs as inducements to control MPs.

Written by political strategist Simon Lusk, the papers were leaked by a "senior National Party source" to the Weekend Herald, TV3's The Nation and Fairfax.

The leaker was clear in his purpose - the National Party needed to clean house. It might be the broadest church in politics - as its 49 per cent poll rating suggests - but the insider says there is no more room for Mr Lusk and associates, who include blogger Cameron Slater.

The leaker was clear in his objective when contacting the Herald. "As far as I am concerned, dealing to them is not about airing dirty National Party laundry, but disposing of a political nuisance."

The disclosure reveals details of a plan which so disturbed the party that, at a board meeting in March 2012, it was warned of Mr Lusk having "a very negative agenda for the party".

The warning came after then-senior whip Michael Woodhouse was briefed on a paper written by Mr Lusk dated February 2012 and titled "Building A Conservative Fiscal Majority." It begins: "This National government has been a disappointment to fiscal conservatives.

The wet wing of the National Party control the senior ranks of the party and cannot be easily replaced without losing an election. After National loses an election there will be a clean out."

The purpose now, he said, was to plan ahead to "move the political centre to the right". "New Zealand's political market is exceptionally retarded. The first organised group to professionalise and fund politics properly will obtain prime mover advantage and control the market for sometime. This is a one-off opportunity to exploit the gap in the market and I am looking to exploit this gap."

Mr Lusk's plan began with selecting like-minded candidates young and seeding them in "safe blue" electorates which would vote National. He said local body politics should be targeted to get "fiscal conservative" councillors and mayors. And training was the key for the politicians, he said, so "when they are elected they can make real change based on solid planning rather than intent".

The message was also important - "dominate the media by controlling the message through credible right wing blogs". Mr Lusk also said there needed to be a focus on "taking over the public sector" to create a pool of fiscal conservatives who would work with politicians.

He also recommended making fundraising more professional and dominating company boards to help build a "war chest". "I can provide resumes for several people who are fiscal conservatives and understand the role they will play in the future."

He said National raised $2 million a year, which needed to triple in size. "Union money will not be able to match business money."

Overall, the work needed to be guided by a long-term strategy which would see a smaller government which was focused on "changing education, increasing mining's contribution to GDP and making property development easier".

He urged those reading it to "stop donating to the current government". "They have not listened and will not listen." He urged supporters to "blackball" current MPs to stop them "trading on their time as MPs to build a lucrative business career". It would show MPs "the consequences of ignoring donors". "If donors buy into this and the next National government does not offer former ministers jobs then there will be a very clear incentive for the next crop of ministers to listen carefully to donors rather than ignoring them."

The verbal briefing to Mr Woodhouse was only one way Mr Lusk attempted to extend his reach across the party. A member of the Prime Minister's office was also briefed and given documents. Mr Key has kept Mr Lusk at arm's length and is known to have little regard for him.

Mr Lusk's briefing came at a time when he was organising training sessions for potential National Party candidates. Disgraced MP Aaron Gilmore was among those keen to attend but was rejected after he failed to meet the fees charged.

It was these training sessions which one former MP believed gave Mr Lusk access to the party's inner workings. At the time, the party's "candidates college" was known to be weak while Mr Lusk, along with Mr Slater, were offering training they said prepared potential candidates for political life.

The party recoiled when it discovered he was running the sessions - particularly when its board was told how potential MPs and current MPs were attending. Board minutes from 2012 recorded an upcoming session for local body candidates. "Some Caucus members feel that they should be involved in this training programme," the minutes say.

Longtime National Party member David Farrar, who runs Kiwiblog, was listed as a speaker at a February 2012 session at the Kauri Glen Lodge in Puhoi, north of Auckland, where the session was held. He pulled out.

"I was asked not to," he said, saying "party hierarchy" made the request. "It would look as if it were officially sanctioned," he said. He stayed for the social aspect - Mr Slater posted on his Whaleoil blog a photograph of Mr Farrar's rental car reversed over a wall - before leaving.

Political scientist Dr Bryce Edwards said the leak and the people it targeted revealed a glimpse into the "Cold War" for succession to the leadership of the National Party. "This is a simple left and right split in the National Party - and the struggle over the future ideological direction and leadership." On the pragmatic centre-ist side was "Minister for Everything" Steven Joyce while to his right (politically) was Justice Minister Judith Collins. Dr Edwards said Mr Slater was known to be close to Ms Collins.

The minister showed her own faith in Mr Slater, quoting his blog on Twitter and telling readers: "You might not like it but Whaleoil is better informed and better read than any other news outlet or social media."

Dr Edwards said the struggle was suppressed but constant. "It is a cold war, not a civil war."

A spokesman for both ministers rejected any involvement in a power struggle or connection to the leak. "It's all just a joke and we don't have anything to do with it."

Party president Peter Goodfellow said an internal power struggle was "a very far-fetched theory". "Whether such factions exist is highly dubious. There's no apparent division."

Having had sections of Mr Lusk's paper read to him, he said the views sounded "extreme". "Some of Mr Lusk's economic views would not be shared by the majority.

"We are a broad church. We can encompass most views."

Mr Goodfellow said the party had worked hard to improve training for candidates in recent years and "the need for his services has probably diminished". "We went out of our way to make sure it was more relevant to what people wanted." He said he did not make the call to Mr Farrar but "would have encouraged him not to participate either". "We would encourage our senior party people to be involved in our own internal process."

Mr Lusk is based in Hawkes Bay and spends his days hunting and fishing. He is involved in a fine wine trading company based in the British Virgin Island, where he is also connected to a lobster farming project. His political involvement saw National MP Sam Lotu-Iiga pay tribute to "the shrewd counsel of Simon Lusk" in his 2008 maiden speech. Other MPs said to have leaned on him for advice include Chris Tremain and Louise Upston. He did not return calls.

Shades of Blue

The National Party is a broad church, with many factions. They include:

Blue Greens

They're National but they're conservationists. Nick Smith is the greenest blue in the party.

Blue Liberals

National with a heart - Katherine Rich showed her liberal streak when she rejected Don Brash's social welfare plans.

Fiscal Conservatives

Small government, big business. Former party leader Don Brash later ran Act.

Internats

The overseas wing of the party. Prime Minister John Key is the ultimate homecoming story.

Young Nats

The path to the party from an early age. Nikki Kaye is currently the youngest minister in the House.

SuperBlues

The superannuitant wing. Dr Paul Hutchison has just picked up his Gold Card.

Ports and bloggers colluded: strategist

A political strategist who has trained National Party MPs says the Ports of Auckland colluded with right wing bloggers to undermine industrial action against the Ports of Auckland.

NZ Herald,

1 June, 2013

The claim is in a leaked document written by controversial strategist Simon Lusk - and hotly denied by the publicly-owned port company.

The document was dated February 2012 - when the port strike was most heated - and is part of Mr Lusk's strategy for the National Party.

It read: "The right currently controls the blogosphere, and the political journalists repeat much of what appears on blogs.

"The case in point is the way the Maritime Union have received huge negative publicity about their salaries, based on POAL (Ports of Auckland Limited) working with certain bloggers to control the story. Financial support for these bloggers will enable them to build their credibility and readership."

The issue of port workers' salaries became a central feature of the heated industrial action and was covered by a number of blogs, including the Whaleoil site run by blogger Cameron Slater, who was running rogue training courses for aspiring National MPs with Mr Lusk.

Mr Slater's blog revealed personal details about a striking worker's bereavement leave after the death of his wife and the company's efforts to assist him. The Privacy Commission later found the port had leaked personal details of its staff to the blog.

Ports of Auckland adviser Brent Impey said there was no collusion with any blogger, including the Whaleoil blog. He said Mr Slater had been granted access to the port "no different from any other journalist".

"Anyone who rings up who is going to be publishing, you give them the time of day."

He said the port did not know how the information was leaked. "We have carried out as much investigation as we can to find out how that information got out there. We have tightened systems since."

Mr Lusk's plan was rejected by the National Party the same month it was written, with former senior whip Michael Woodhouse telling the board the strategist had a "very negative agenda".

But Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said there had been a concerted attack on unions by Mr Slater. She said Mr Slater was "irrelevant" but was concerned about the port "putting the knife into its own staff".

Mr Slater had since targeted a number of unions. Meat Workers Union president Graham Cooke said the blog had attacked the organisation on a regular basis.

"What's worse is it was unwarranted. It was factually inaccurate and poorly researched."

He said he believed the attacks were driven by the industry in which the union's members worked. "Without a doubt there was a concerted campaign against us."

Mr Slater said he covered the strike as other media outlets did. He said there was no arrangement with the port to do so and he had not discussed it with Mr Lusk.

He said yesterday he had never actually been paid although believed he should be. On the port, he said: "I hate unions pathologically. I've hated them since I was 15 years old and I would do it for free.

"I have never been paid for any posts about unions, ever."