What about Don Brash's emails then?

[Hitcher]

See the above poll. Should Nicky Hager be allowed to publish his book or is Don Brash entitled to have his privacy protected?

[yungatart]

No! And, Yes!

[Buddha#81]

No! And, Yes!

cumon tell us what you really think!

[Big Dave]

viva apathy!

[Hitcher]

Well this thread is certainly off to a ripping start!

[Cajun]

they should not be published, how would you like it if someone got all your emails and decided to publish them, for world to see.

Even if he did nothing wrong.

Understand his public email account, but his private email account should be that private. for your and the person your emailing to see.

Nicky Hagar is just a reporter who live is build around digging dirt, why doesn;'t he get out there and do something useful

[terbang]

Brash, like any politician, has got to learn that when standing in a glass house, you don't throw rocks...
Publish it except the personal stuff. It might make a few more of these pollies think about keeping their act a bit cleaner.

[apteryx_haasti]

Considering how "accurate" his previous works have been, I would take anything published by Nicky Hagar with a grain of salt as big as my head.

Hey, Hitcher, shouldn't you be surfing?


Surf's up for public servants

21 November 2006

NIKKI MACDONALD

Government workers spend at least 35,000 hours a year on Trade Me, a Dominion Post investigation suggests.

That's equivalent to a year's work for more than 18 full-time staff, and about $1million in lost productivity, based on average public sector hourly earnings.

The annual figure was extrapolated from a one-month snapshot obtained under the Official Information Act.

And it's likely to be conservative, given that six of the 16 agencies surveyed either did not respond or were unable to measure the amount of time workers spent on the auction website.

Four government staff have been disciplined in the past year for inappropriate Web surfing, and one Social Development Ministry worker was sacked.

Two Corrections workers resigned while being investigated - one for excessive Internet browsing and attempting to get around blocking software, the other for trying to access pornographic sites.

An employment lawyer says excessive personal Internet use is also increasingly common in the private sector.

However, none of the 15 agencies that responded thought personal Internet use was a significant problem.

National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee said it was unacceptable if staff were doing personal browsing in work time. "That's proof positive that we have a massively bloated public service."

Internet policies vary in the public sector, with some departments using software to block non-work-related sites, while others allow "reasonable" personal use.

Some government staff - such as fisheries and benefit fraud investigators - use Trade Me for legitimate work.

Of the eight government agencies able to measure time spent on the site, the Justice Department was the worst offender.

Its 3015 employees spent 1386 hours on Trade Me in August, suggesting annual use of about 16,000 hours. Technology manager Carol Abernethy said the Internet was an important work tool for staff and the department allowed reasonable personal use.

Kensington Swan partner Susan Hornsby-Geluk said personal Internet use was a huge issue for employers, and they were only now figuring out what to do about it. Few employers outlawed personal use, but most large employers had Internet policies that defined what was reasonable.

[Hitcher]

Hey, Hitcher, shouldn't you be surfing?

But I am. I have waxed my baud specially.

[oldrider]

I would like to vote "I don't care" but despite what Hagar says theft is theft and he is full of shit so I voted for Brash's privacy.
There are some mealy mouthed parasites feeding off parliament in NZ right now.
I do think Brash needs to take a good look at himself, he is a bit too naive to really cut it in politics. His Aaerghhhh! Eeerrrrrr! Eeeerrrrrrh! Drives me nuts!
He is not hungry enough, he got there too easy. Hungry fighters fight best! (applicable adage).
I personally loath Helen Clark as a politician and prime minister but she has killer instinct and despite a sheltered life and upbringing, she has grit and knows how to fight dirty to win, a true street fighter.
She makes the rest look like pathetic amateurs by comparison. Damn it, hate to have to admit it. :shutup: John.

[yungatart]

cumon tell us what you really think!

Sheesh - even when it is words of one syllable, you still don't get it?
No, the book shouldn't be published. And, yes, Don Brash does have a right to his privacy.

[Timber020]

Don Brash is a non event, hes going nowhere, hes got nothing, if he floated away tomorrow his name would be forgotten in a week

[Harry33]

Don who????????????? (I think this is more than 10 char haha)

[Motu]

With all the dirty politics going on this year I say go for it - expose the whole damn lot of them,expunge them all and start over.This present lot,from all sides,are the lowest of the low.

[candor]

You can't stop a leak once it's started. Now we have to know - those of us interested in economic thrillers do anyway. So tell us about it, then throw Hager in the can for breaching dirty Don's privacy. I'm sure its an offense to open others royal mail. Then everyone will be happy. Think how much less harm MPs will wreak if they feel E-ml repressed by risk of future "inspection".
All for transparency - lies lead to wars!

[Big Dave]

But I am. I have waxed my baud specially.

Shame it's a 1440. Only drops out.

[dnos]

DOH! shoulda said all but the private ones.

Would be a bloody good to see what has been going on behind the scenes and show the rest of those politicians that they should shape up if they are worried about stuff being made public it makes it seem they are hiding something.
Tomorrow a new retrospective law will be passed making all correspondence of MP's unavailable to the public. WOOHOOO

[jrandom]

Information wants to be free (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_wants_to_be_free)! Publish the damn book already. I won't buy it or read it, but, you know?

Ah, what the fuck.

Shrug.

Hitcher, you should move to Auckland. We worry about important things up here.

[ManDownUnder]

The emails should be made available to the intended recipients.

End of story.
*ding* next!

[Clockwork]

I hate the idea of a politician with something to hide :nono:
Hidden agenda's are never a good thing.

[sels1]

Publish and be damned.
Brash and co are probably not doing anything worse than any other political group has done - none of them are squeeky clean - but if they get caught out, then hang em out to dry - even if only as a deterrent to the rest.

[SPman]

Should be published. There is no personal info in there, just stuff showing that the Brash camp are as corrupt and devious as the people they are slinging mud at.
Once this book is out, Brash is fucked and he knows it!

http://www.publicaddress.net/default,3725.sm#post3725
http://tumeke.blogspot.com/
http://www.scoop.co.nz/#nz

[Finn]

If we're going to publish Don Brash's emails, why don't we publish Helen Clarks at the same time? Would make interesting reading.

Don Brash tried his best to save NZ from themselves in the last election. It's time he moved aside and let John Keys take the helm.

A youngish and successful male as Prime Minister. Yipee! No more rag week in Parliment.

[Motu]

Don Brash couldn't save himself from a thrashing at the polls or exposure before the media - he didn't have a hope of saving the country.If that's the best National could do it's better they just faded away.

[McJim]

The polititians in NZ seem too preoccupied with mud slinging and private detectives - it would be nice if they channeled some of their energy into making NZ a better place with clearer laws and policies.

My opinion? The bloke's a pillock and I don't really care what's in his emails.

[Pixie]

If we're going to publish Don Brash's emails, why don't we publish Helen Clarks at the same time? Would make interesting reading.

Don Brash tried his best to save NZ from themselves in the last election. It's time he moved aside and let John Keys take the helm.

A youngish and successful male as Prime Minister. Yipee! No more rag week in Parliment.

Clark's are mostly just kissy kissy ones to Heather Simpson.
Btw What is Heather's relationship to Homer? Long lost lesbian sister?

[Finn]

Don Brash couldn't save himself from a thrashing at the polls or exposure before the media - he didn't have a hope of saving the country.If that's the best National could do it's better they just faded away.

So we all agree that NZ needs saving. So Don Brash isn't the man and Labour will continue NZ on the downward spiral.

Let's face it, Kiwi's aren't the most intelligent people so let's hope they tick; Young Male next election. That'll do it. We've got to get rid of the bitches that control NZ. Apart from being ugly to look at, they just don't have a clue.

Vote Young Male Motu, it'll help get that block off your shoulder.

[Lou Girardin]

Leaks have been a feature of politics since time immemorial. When did censorship based on not upsetting political figures become the norm in NZ?
Publish, and if Brash has got cause to sue he should do so.
Anyway, he's backed down now. Just another bumbling display of political naivette from the man who would be Prime Minister.
In reality, he's just a stalking horse for Keys.

[Motu]

Vote Young Male Motu

No,crusty old bugger,someone who's not afraid to say what they think,someone who doesn't give a fuck about what they say or who's toes he stands on.I don't see any young guys tough enough to take the hard line approach we need to change this country,Don Brash is a doddery old fool out of Dad's Army.

[elle-f]

IF he could recall ANYTHING that he had written or who he had met with that would be a bonus. His interview yesterday was just stupid - his answers being.....i dont recall that, not that i recall, i cannot remember........it goes ON and ON!!

If he wasnt such a tosser i would think that people would be rallying around saying dont publish it.

It certainly seems to me that if they keep him in as leader after this they are going to fail........again.

[Balding Eagle]

So the National Party were talking to a bunch of right wing people. And Labour doesn't talk to a bunch of left wing people who equally would like to influence their policies? They are not influenced by the Labour/union movement? Yeh Right! It just seems that one side seems to be able to make it sound acceptable but the other lot can't.

Isn't it interesting that we want to have a Prime Minister who is able to debate a subject in public. I would have thought that if we were a thinking nation, we would want someone who could run the country primarily on the financial side. In that respect I would have thought that someone who had a doctorate in economics was somewhat more qualified than someone who has a doctorate in social history and who got his doctorate by producing a thesis on the social conditions in northern England in a period of 15 years or so in the nineteenth century.

Yeh Don made the odd cockup but I know who I would trust. It certainly isn't Niki Hagard. That guy has no credibility after his past attempts at being a conspiracy theorist. The guy sucks and anyone who buys his book is a fool.

[eliot-ness]

You can't stop a leak once it's started.

Maybe a finger in the dyke would have helped:innocent:

[dawnrazor]

You know, for an educated man, Dr. Brash it one thick c#@t

[Balding Eagle]

Naive he might be; thick he is not.

[Jamezo]

Oh my, I read the front page of the Dom Post, it does not make for nice reading.

The worst feature was the collusion with Mr Bassett of the Post; who helped write the infamous Orewa speech, then talked it up in his own editorials! As well as being a vocal mouthpiece during Brash's initial coup.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3877409a6160,00.html

This is the most insidious kind of political dirty dealing. I think Mr Brash could be endangering our ranking third in the world for the lowest levels of corruption, something I am quite proud of.

[Swoop]

Emails are "apparently" like a postcard... easily read by anyone who cares enough to take the time to do so.
Keep them private.

[Hitcher]

The worst feature was the collusion with Mr Bassett of the Post; who helped write the infamous Orewa speech, then talked it up in his own editorials! As well as being a vocal mouthpiece during Brash's initial coup.

Puhlease. There is a long history of New Zealand newspaper and magazine columnists rooting MPs and not disclosing their "personal interests". Even if they're not enjoying sexual relations, the political bias of many columnists stands out like dogs' balls. Look at the DominionPost's Tracey Watkins. She may as well have "I love Labour" tattooed on her forehead. The only person who thinks she is an unbiased and authoritative political commentator is Tracey.

New Zealand's media, politically the reef-fish who inhabit the Parliamentary Press Gallery, are characterised by two traits: cosiness and laziness. What's printed in the media is not necessarily fact, impartial or unbiased. It is up to you, gentle readers, to form your own opinions.

As for the collected utterances of Nicky Hager -- he's trying to sell a book in the pre-Christmas market.

[Jamezo]

Bias is unavoidable, direct collusion is another animal altogether.

I should hope Michael Bassett was not having sexual relations with Dr Brash, but it would not trouble my hopes for our nation's democratic process nearly as much as the completely unethical 'journalism' he was performing.

If you would pardon the truism, the fact that if this had not been uncovered in this perhaps surreptitious manner, it would have gone completely unnoticed, is the greater crime against my sensibilities.

[Hitcher]

If you would pardon the truism, the fact that if this had not been uncovered in this perhaps surreptitious manner, it would have gone completely unnoticed, is the greater crime against my sensibilities.

And of course your sensibilities have read the emails of the leaders of all of New Zealand's other political parties.

[Jamezo]

....which is the part that irks me, and thought I alluded sufficiently to it.

The fact that it is entirely possible for any leader of a pre-eminent political party to lie to and manipulate the public, and *almost* get away with it, that is my concern. We have no way of knowing the difference between a truth and a sufficiently covered up lie.

This particular instance I think demonstrates a degree of credibility of the National member(s) who leaked the information, but damns those who were complicit in the deciept.

[Lou Girardin]

I can never understand how otherwise intelligent people commit things to email that they would never do in writing. This didn't happen when people used phones.

[Pukuriri]

You really need to run with the idea ... NEVER put in print (or e-mail) what you dont want others to read / use! I would have thought Don and Helen would know this already?