War of spin leads nowhere

by Jake Quinn

Prime Minister John Key says Labour leader Phil Goff is virtually “wallowing in the gutter” over alleged sleazy text messages and calls from Richard Worth to Labour activist Neelam Choudary.

Mr Key was much more reluctant to comment on the issue yesterday, saying he had a country to run

You know your winning the spin war when Audrey begins her NZ Herald piece with: “Prime Minister John Key says Labour leader Phil Goff is virtually “wallowing in the gutter” over alleged sleazy text messages and calls from Richard Worth to Labour activist Neelam Choudary. Mr Key was much more reluctant to comment on the issue yesterday, saying he had a country to run.”  [Bravo John, Bravo]

Meanwhile her side kick John Armstrong tears Goff something new with his daily contribution titled “Goff overplayed his hand – and suffered”, while the “leftest” every feminist (and many leftists) love to hate, Chris Trotter, jumps predictably on the victim doubting bandwagon, once again. And everyone else repeats Key’s stella line that “He has Washed his Hands of Worth”.

And all of this goes on while Prime Minister John Key hasn’t actually told anyone precisely why he fired Richard Worth.  Was it because of the texts? that would seem a bit rash, seeing as he hadn’t seen them when he fired him. Was it because of the Police investigation? that would seem a bit rash as he has denied any criminal activity and the Police investigation hadn’t even began.

So why was Worth fired? What exact behaviour was it that was not befitting of a Minister? What was it that Worth admitted to Key, that allowed him to accept his resignation sack him? This question has remained unanswered as we have all obsessed over the daily Key vrs Goff battle with the media coughing up sport-report-like coverage of what in the broader picture are insignificant matters.

[Update: Worth has resigned from Parliament, but will we ever find out precisely why?]

If only the editorial line matched the cartoonist’s

by Jake Quinn

THE TEXTS

* Do you want to come swimming?

* How you getting on with the Goa purchase?

* Does that possibly mean you might be back [in India] in mid January with a discreet ITG group?

* You are my favourite new best friend to use a Facebook expression. RWW

* I don’t need anything. Perhaps a tie from the Indian School of Business at Gachibowli but that might be impossible. RWW XX

From yesterday’s Herald. By Rod Emmerson.

And today’s offering:

Today’s Herald editorial fairly well sums up the Richard Worth issue and suggests that Mr Key and Mr Goff really need to move on, for both of their sakes.

And a piece from Audrey Young shows that providing the content of the text messages is only going to embarrass Phil Goff and Labour, unless the juicier ones can be tracked down from the Vodafone network… [or unless someone else comes forward with fresh allegations this week]

These five are, well, underwhelming.

THE TEXTS

* Do you want to come swimming?

* How you getting on with the Goa purchase?

* Does that possibly mean you might be back [in India] in mid January with a discreet ITG group?

* You are my favourite new best friend to use a Facebook expression. RWW

* I don’t need anything. Perhaps a tie from the Indian School of Business at Gachibowli but that might be impossible. RWW XX

Key’s time to move on claim falls on deaf ears

by Jake Quinn

The day after John Key addressed his weekly post cabinet press conference saying he’d had enough of the Richard Worth saga and that “it’s time to move on”, the papers are packed to the gunnels with stories about just that.

John Armstrong writes: “Labour is playing a bigger game here – one that is really all about pulling a popular prime minister off his perch and making him look and behave like just another politician.”

Audrey Young writes: “hostilities between Prime Minister John Key and Labour leader Phil Goff over the matter stepped up yesterday over conflicting versions of their telephone conversation about it on May 6 – including the time of it.”

Patrick Gower writes: “Prime Minister John Key is still refusing to say what made Richard Worth’s ministerial role untenable – but has ruled out drugs, alcohol and Dr Worth failing to tell him the police were investigating a serious sexual allegation.”

Colin Espiner writes: “Another day passed yesterday without any communication between Key and an Indian woman who claims that former internal affairs minister and National MP Richard Worth sexually harassed her with phone calls and text messages.”

Tracy Watkins writes: “Police have spoken to National MP Richard Worth about a Korean businesswoman’s complaint of criminal behaviour.”

In order for the press to get bored with this story and move on they need to run out of new information and developments. And this is just not happening.

The saga of the meeting – ignored, agreed then cancelled – of the Auckland Indian women and the PM, continues to drag on.

Throw into the mix that the Police having discussed the complaint of criminal behavior with Worth and his impending ‘return‘ (he’s due back to Parliament in a week remember) and this story is only just nearing its midpoint.

Sorry John, no one else thinks “it’s time to move on”.

Worth muck won’t stick to Goff

by Jake Quinn

On Friday a nasty turn to the Worth saga began to take hold, but it failed to get traction that evening on television news because of the David Bain verdict.

A few journalists, following attempts by Farrar and Cactus Kate, tried to stick some of the Worth muck to Phil Goff, implying that he was part of the whole stink because he’d dropped the bomb about the second and unrelated case of alleged wrong doing, and that he had been cunning and strategic in doing so.

This however, was not the case at all. Mr Goff had been approached by media, not the other way around, in regards of the case of the Labour Party member who says she received offensive and lewd text messages and phone calls from Dr Worth.

This morning on TVNZ’s Q+A Phil Goff explained that after Key broke the news of Mr Worth’s resignation, Key mentioned Goff’s complaint to journalists, who then when straight to Goff for comment.

So Goff didn’t “hang on it, waiting for the prime moment to drop it” as some have suggested. In fact he probably had no intention of going public with it at all, until Key and the media forced his hand.

Obligatory Worth round up

by Jake Quinn

The NZ Herald’s Patrick Gower tells us: “The woman who laid a complaint with police against Richard Worth says he invited her to Parliament, hosted her in his ministerial capacity then took her to a hotel room he had arranged for her where a sexual encounter took place.”

While Audrey Young reports on a separate case of alleged wrong doing: “She alleges that Dr Worth offered her [Not Audrey, good lord – but the complainant] a job as his ethnic adviser and as a board member – on the Lottery Grants Board, Mr Goff says – and that she received about 40 text messages and 60 phone calls from him. “Several of the phone calls made by Dr Worth to me were vulgar, sexually explicit, and I believe were made when he was drunk,” the statement says. She said he started ending his texts with “xxx”.”

Meanwhile Dr Worth insists: “I have not committed any offence. I am presently cooperating fully with the police and will continue to do so… I maintain that I am innocent of any crime.”

Last night Prime Minister John Key spoke to RNZ Checkpoint’s Mary Wilson. It is worth a listen. The transcript is here. Key begins by saying he will not have a private meeting with Goff’s source (the complainant) and that she should go public with her evidence. Mary Wilson presses him for about 30 seconds. He then changes his mind suggesting that perhaps a meeting would be a good idea, after all. Moments later, Goff tables the evidence (text msgs etc) in Parliament. Mary Wilson shows herself in this interview as one of New Zealand’s most effective political interviewers.

xxx

Update: Cartoon from the Herald’s Rod Emmerson:

Richard Worth, the gift that keeps on giving

by Jake Quinn

Only one thing sells more newspapers than a good political downfall and that is a good (alleged) sex scandal. Please don’t misinterpret my use of the word ‘good’ in the latter part of the last sentence.

Throw in a smattering of ‘how well did our much adored swashbuckling Prime Minister handle his first serious political scandle’ and we’ve got ourselves a swingin’ media hootenanny.  Buckle up.

Matthew Hooten, my new favourite neo-con-ultra political commentator, offers his increasingly insightful analysis of John Key’s handling of the issue so far on 9-noon this morning.

Hooten suggests that if, as PM, the Leader of the Opposition comes to you in confidence with an issue as serious as the one in question they are either being serious or setting you up. If you think they’re serious, take it very seriously. If you think that it’s a set up, take it even more seriously. Seriously. 

Seriously though, questions remain about: how seriously the PM took Mr Goff’s complaint in the first place, the PM’s decision to kick the issue from budget week to post budget week because of its impact on govt PR, the outside chance that the PM mislead the House in expressing confidence in all his Ministers last Tuesday, and the changing position of the PM throughout yesterday.

Please don’t misinterpret my use of the word ‘giving’ in this post’s headline.

Update: Goff on Breakfast this morning