Dirty politics update - 09/05/2014

So, Rawshark wants revenge? You poor sensitive flower, Cameron!

The bully is able to dish it out but can't take the pressure.

Well, I have a message for the Slug: have you ever heard of the expression 'what goes around comes around' May you get it in spadefulls, you arsehole!

No doubt, with the way things work in the judiciary he will get his injunction - the court will leave all the arguments to be made after the election. By then it will be too late.

Don't believe for a single moment that the slug is acting on his own: all of this will have been worked out with the National Party.

The Nats are painting a picture that the public do not care about this but only about policy. 

The truth is they aren't interested in policy either, because National don't have any. Perhaps they are lured by Key's smile - they haven't noticed that it has turned to a scowl.

I would like to complement the Herald (and you will know hoe rarely I do that!), and in particular David Fisher, for coming to the party and covering dirty politics so well.

Don't foreget we still have Kim Dotcom's revelations to come!

Slater wants court to stem hacker's flow

Blogger seeks to gag media, claiming Rawshark wants revenge

NZ Herald,

5 September, 2014

Cameron Slater says further exposure of hacked information would inflict a huge personal toll.

Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater is going to the High Court to try to stop media publishing information taken by the hacker known as Rawshark.

Slater has filed papers claiming further exposure of information from his emails and social media accounts would inflict a huge personal toll.

"I believe the hacker and associated persons are setting out to destroy my reputation and cause me the maximum amount of mental distress possible," he wrote in an affidavit.

In a case to be heard today in the High Court at Auckland, Slater will ask for a legal halt to the use of the information by the Herald, TV3 and Fairfax Media.

He also wants the order to apply to the hacker, and the news organisations to turn over to him the information they have.

The move comes two weeks after the publication of Nicky Hager's Dirty Politics, which accused the National Party of attacking opponents through Slater's blog.

Since publication, Rawshark has released material online and through the news offices named by Slater.

In the affidavit, Slater said personal information and confidential correspondence with "political figures" was among content he wanted protected.

He said the named organisations had journalists he believed were in contact with the hacker, who appeared to be motivated by his views on the Whale Oil blog.

"I believe the hacker is releasing information as some form of revenge, not in any sort of whistle-blower capacity or to advance public interest."

Slater said he believed his Gmail account was hacked on March 2 when someone changed the passwords and copied 10 years of emails. He believed the hacker later got into his Facebook account and copied private messages.

The Gmail account had "thousands of emails" including exchanges with accountants, doctors, psychiatrists, personal communication with his wife, "highly sensitive" information he had "received as a journalist" and "correspondence with political figures which I believe was transacted in confidence".

Since Dirty Politics was published, Rawshark has made public information online and through the three news media organisations Slater names in his court application.

Slater said Hager had not contacted him before Dirty Politics was published, and material in the book sourced from his emails was distorted and out of context.

The court papers called for an urgent hearing because of ongoing publication.

They pointed to a claim by blogger Martyn Bradbury that the Whaledump Twitter account, which was shut down yesterday, had been closed to stop "two exclusives".

Bradbury claimed on The Daily Blog that Whaledump -- which has resurfaced as Whaledump2 -- was close to releasing emails between Slater and the Prime Minister's former press aide Jason Ede, who is now understood to be working for the National Party.

John Billington, the Queen's Counsel who is acting for Slater, said the daily release of information meant a hearing was required urgently.

Mr Billington said an injunction could have been applied for without notice but the media organisations and hacker had been given notice so they could "argue what are important issues for the court".

Best wishes to whaleoil defamation businessman who was shot at in April

On April 13th of this year, Matt Blomfield,  the businessman who his taking Cameron Slater to court for defamation, (ironically over stolen emails taken from Blomfield’s computer and handed over to Slater), was threatened and shot at in his home

Our best wishes to Matt and his family and we all hope the Police investigation as to who threatened and shot at Matt is released soon.

http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/09/05/best-wishes-to-whaleoil-defamation-businessman-who-was-shot-at-in-april/

Everyone knows the polls are inaacurate and are slanted. 

No one has mentioned on Radio New Zealand, for example, that they don't reflect the opinion of predominantly young people that don't bother with a landline and work online and with cellphones - the people that, hopefully, Intenet-Mana will attract.

Their main function seems to be to engineer public opinion. "If the rest of the flock is voting National,perhaps I had better as well"

Election 2014: Political dirt doesn't stick to Nats in new Herald-Digipoll

Key says poll shows fatigue over Dirty Politics as Labour falls again

NZ Herald,

5 September, 2014

National's polling has barely flickered in the three weeks since the Dirty Politics book was launched and the party could still govern alone on 50.1 per cent in the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.

Prime Minister John Key told the Herald the results reflected "a huge fatigue factor" with Dirty Politics

Labour continues a slow decline, now at 23.8 per cent, and its support among males has fallen to 18.4 per cent.

New Zealand First continues a slow rise to 6 per cent, up 1 point, and would bring in seven MPs - one less than it has now. The Conservatives have risen by 0.5 to 3.8 per cent but unless they cross the 5 per cent threshold, or win a seat, they won't make it.

The Greens are unchanged on 11.4. Internet Mana is up fractionally and would still bring in four MPs if its leader, Hone Harawira keeps Te Tai Tokerau.

The Maori Party is down to 0.4, Act is on 0.4 as well, and United Future is on 0.3. The popularity of Mr Key has gone up a little in the past week.

David Cunliffe's ratings as preferred PM actually went up even more than Mr Key's, the likely result of greater exposure he is getting in the election campaign and a capable performance in the first televised leaders debate.

National would need 61 seats to govern and the poll result would deliver it 63. With current support partners Act, United Future and Maori Party it would have 66. Labour, the Greens, Internet Mana and New Zealand First would have 55.

The common wisdom is the party in government takes a hit in an election campaign as other parties get greater publicity. But other parties haven't got much exposure this campaign. It has only been in the past few days that the issues related to the book, based on emails of Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater, have not dominated the political agenda.

The close association between former Justice Minister Judith Collins and Mr Slater was laid bare in the book. She resigned from Cabinet last week. In the Herald-DigiPoll survey that began the week Nicky Hager's book was published, National was on 50 per cent; the following week it was 50.7 per cent and this week it is on 50.1 per cent.

Mr Key said last night that "after four weeks of Dirty Politics, it is quite clear there is a huge fatigue factor and it is not a voter driver." He said he believed the capital gains tax was a "massive vote loser" for Labour because it was fraught with complexity and voters did not understand how it would work.

Joyce: Public interested in 'issues'

National Party MP and the party's campaign manager Stephen Joyce told Radio New Zealand the poll showed the public were more interested in the "real issues" of the economy and what that would bring to the country in terms of services.

He did not expect the party would be able to govern alone.

"Because under MMP you always need partners and I think we would fully expect not to be in a position to govern alone after September 20 and we will need partners and we will be looking to have partners.

"National would be happy to work with Act, United Future and the Maori Party, he said.

"The other two options for us, realistically, are the Conservatives and [New Zealand First]."Ideally there would be more than one option to make up a government, Mr Joyce said.

On the continuing fallout from Nicky Hager's Dirty Politics book, Mr Joyce said the public had processed the information quickly.

"They don't see it and won't see it as big an issue as other people did."

Labour's King: "Polls overstate National's figures"

Labour Party campaign spokeswoman Annette King told RNZ polls were "incredibly volatile".

"We're waiting for the poll of polls and that's election day."

Historically polls had overstated National Party's figures by about 6 per cent, she said.

"So the results you're seeing in these polls won't necessarily reflect the results on election day.

"Also historically in these polls Labour is understated."

- Additional reporting Rebecca Quilliam

See: Most voters in abandoned poll wanted Collins gone