On Monday David Shearer ruled out standing down Jones over his involvement in the Bill Liu cash for citizenship case with Larry Williams on Monday night.

He explicitly said says it’s meaningless anyway.

What new information has he received that made him change his mind?

Perhaps it was the information that the herald brought to light on top of the sterling work done by Wishart on the Bill Liu case back in 08/09.

This Herald article from 2009 also makes an interesting observation:

Liu was considered a high-risk gambler by the DIA’s casino monitoring division because of his volatility, high-stakes gambling and history of self-barring, the Herald was told.

A DIA spokesman confirmed that Liu was of interest. “Mr Liu is one of a number of gamblers of significance whom the department has discussed in its interaction with SkyCity”.

Liu’s gambling also attracted the attention of the police. That interest was at times intense and included surveillance, a source told the Herald. “The focus was to see whether evidence of money laundering could be detected.” No charges have been laid.

… so Liu was being watched by the DIA and police for potentially laundering money – as well as his immigration issues – but Jones still approved citizenship.

Has Labour only just googled this stuff?

It is also interesting that apart from claiming that he would be executed he also claimed membership of Falun Gong. There is a little problem with given his propensity for gambling. Falun Gong prohibits gambling so his claim to be a member (which Jones appears to have accepted) seems a bit convenient:

As part of its emphasis on ethical behavior, Falun Gong’s teachings prescribe a strict personal morality for practitioners, which includes abstention from smoking, drugs, gambling, premarital or extramarital sex, and homosexuality.

David Shearer has kicked this to the Auditor-General but their request is for the Auditor-General to look at the process….not the decision. This is farcical.

“I’ve asked for the Auditor-General to look into all the departmental as well as ministerial processes involved in this case.

“Shane has encouraged me to take this action because he has been left in the impossible position of not being able to clear his name. An inquiry will enable him to do so.

“While the inquiry is underway, Shane Jones will stand down from his portfolio responsibilities and from Labour’s Front Bench.

Based on what Labour has asked of the Auditor-General they are simply trying on what Helen Clark did with Philip Field. There really should be a full indepedent inquiry now.

Liu claimed to be involved in ‘formalising’ agreements and good relations between NZ and China.  What agreements? Officials said they could not confirm this was true.  And how does a fugitive who supposedly faces torture and organ harvesting in China find himself helping develop good trade relations?

Of course, citizenship can be revoked if you tell porkies on your application, just like residency (and a fake name certainly qualifies) – extradition/deportation can then follow.

Jones knew this.

Furthermore - this advice to Jones (see the top of Page 7) explicitly rules out the humanitarian clause as a reason to grant citizenship.

“It is therefore considered that Mr Liu is not eligible for the grant of citizenship under the former section 9(1)(d) of the Citizenship Act 1977.”

Jones’ decision last night to parrot the claims made by Dover Samuels, made the whole thing look even more murky.

Time for David Shearer to show some leadership and demand a full independent inquiry into this cash for citizenship scandal.

Andrew Little is upset because a process server shone a torch in his eyes:

Little last week invited Collins to send “thuggish characters” and last night a process serving agent was waiting for him when he got home.

“It was dark, the guy leapt up and shined a torch in my face and served me with the papers, so fair cop.”

There was an unwritten law that politicians didn’t bother each other’s families, he said.

“I was pleased they didn’t come inside the gate, they didn’t hassle my home, that’s what I was most worried about.

“I think Judith Collins came very close to the mark. As it was the guy was sitting just outside our place, and lying in wait for me to get home.”

God he is pathetic. He started the silly game by defaming Judith Collins, then by saying bring it on to her law suit, then by skulking like a coward.

Unbelievably he still thinks Judith Collins isn’t serious.

Little said he would be consulting with his lawyer today and be releasing details of the case to back up his and Mallard’s claim they had done nothing wrong.

They would show Collins had refused to answer questions in Parliament about the leaked letter and the MPs were doing their job by trying to hold her account.

“To the extent that her reputation is based on her being a straight shooter in Parliament, there is evidence to the contrary of that and I want to get that out sooner rather than later so people can see exactly what it is she is on about.”

Little said he was convinced Collins wouldn’t want the matter to go to trial she would be forced to defend her personal reputation.

Little has said to anyone who would listen around parliament that he has consulted 4 lawyers already…now he is off to a real one as it turns out that the advice of Charles Chauvel, David Parker, himself  and Lianne Dalziel didn’t amount to much.

Emmerson is brilliant…Shane Jones movie viewing pleasures, carpet cleaners and dodgy behaviour…nice.

Andrew Sullivan posts about why he is so passionate about gay marriage.

You can feel secure but without civil marriage, you aren’t. So many of us learned this in the plague years – watching de facto spouses denied entrance to hospital rooms, thrown out of shared apartments by the spouse’s family, denied access to the funeral, brutalized by those who never cared for someone until he died. I swore to myself then that this would be my life’s work: to prevent such horror from happening again. We’ve made a start. But as this video shows, we are not close to the end yet. And that churches - churches - should be in the vanguard of brutalizing these people in this way – and justifying it -  fills me with oceans of sadness. And grief again.

How can anyone deny basic rights to those in a committed relationship? How is that conservative? How is that just? And how can politicians promote something as meaningless as a gay mardi gras instead of something as meaningful as marriage?

What Sainsbury didn’t point out during his tears and whining was that this “expert” – Roger Brooking – is a grassroots Labour activist. True to form this tool hijacked the interview to push his ideological opposition to private prisons.

If Sainsbury had bothered to look at Brooking’s Twitter account, rather than repeat crap he heard on Moaning Report, he would also have seen personal attacks on Tolley.

No wonder Anne Tolley got demoted from Education. Now in charge of prisons and still can’t add up. infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=87…

— Roger Brooking (@RogerBrooking) March 23, 2012

Good on her for not treating this left-wing low-life as an equal.

Close Up looks like a lame horse waiting for the final shot. No wonder the pressure is getting to Sainsbury.

Cactus compares Trevor Mallard to O.J. Simpson…and not in a good way:

Some people I know have played the game of dodging the civil serve. It can go on for months and you are well within your rights to do it and really there is no point other than adding to the psyche sport. Mallard I reckon is clever enough to drag it on for a month if he really wants to.

He is relying on the “OJ” effect, in so far that after a period of time you actually want OJ to escape as the whole process has become so hilarious.

But being neither an adored sports star or black, Mallard is probably not going to gain the same level of public sympathy.

Yes Trevor, we are laughing at you, not with you.

This time it is the Anglicans. They haven’t worked out that the world won’t end if they have women bishops. Better than covering up the buggering of little boys though.

Historic plans to allow women to become bishops have been plunged into crisis after existing bishops voted through an eleventh-hour concession to traditionalists.

Campaigners for women in the episcopacy in the Church of England are considering whether to vote the plan down themselves, with some privately condemning it as a “compromise too far”.

Others say that the concession would give legal status to the view that women bishops would carry a “taint”.

Yet traditionalists also voiced disappointment at the measure, which they said falls far short of the assurances they say they need, and warned the Church is facing a “terminal” crisis.

It comes after the Church’s House of Bishops met behind closed doors in York to give its approval to the long-awaited legislation.

In theory it clears the way for a landmark vote at the Church’s General Synod in July to ordain women as bishops.

Shane Jones says he granted citizenship to Bill Liu because he believed the poor guy was going to be shot and his organ’s harvested.

“I was told the execution of this man… that he would be executed… which is the reason the officials gave for him not wanting to go back to China.”

Mr Jones said declining it would have been like signing a death warrant.

Mr Jones says he was told that Mr Yan would be “jailed, executed and his organs harvested” if he was sent back to China.

“That to me comprised grounds for a humanitarian decision,” Mr Jones says.

Really?

How come Bill Liu was planning to take these Labour MPs to China?

“He said he had a lot of support from members of Parliament … he was going to take them to China,”

Surely if he was going to be shot in China that would be the last place he’d want to visit?

The excuse given by Jones holds as much water as a colander.

West Auckland that is, where people have taken to aflicting their children with Silly First Name Syndrome. Only pain and suffering comes from Silly First Names.

Ruby and Liam were among the most popular baby names in New Zealand last year but in West Auckland be prepared to come across Unique or Hannibal.

Many parents in the west are proud to give their children names that are a little different.

Shaela Nathan and John Tike of Henderson are parents to 10-month-old Hurricayn Rob and his 2-year-old sister Riivah Jayde.

Miss Nathan says her children’s names reflect their personalities.

“Riivah was pretty hard to name and it took three weeks before one stuck. She’s really calm and quiet,” Miss Nathan says.

“But when Hurricayn came out the midwife said he was loud and proud. When he cried you could hear him from the letterbox.

“Hurricayn also matches the season he was born in because when I went into labour it was 3am and pouring with rain.”

Miss Nathan has always liked unusual names but her parents were shocked by her choices.

“They were like `why’d you name him that for?’ but you only have to spend five minutes with him to know why. He’s going to be a rugby player for sure.”

Suburbs rugby premier team coach Ramsey Tomakino says he’s come across some unusual names during his three years with the Waitakere team.

“Last year we had Hannibal, Nissan and Rambo – we have lots of people who say they like seeing our team lists because of the names.”

⁴ Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
⁵ In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.

The NZ Herald notes that David Shearer is applying an interesting test in his reasoning for not standing down Shane Jones:

Shearer has rejected Key’s claim he is being hypocritical and says he would stand his MP Shane Jones down if Mr Jones was under police investigation.

Interesting…using that test…why isn’t Charles Chauvel now warming the naughty chair, or Megan Woods? they are currently being investigated by Police.

Of course the Shane Jones case is much worse than the other two, and certainly worse than the manufactured allegations against John Banks who was a private citizen at the time.

Shane Jones in contrast was a minister, making a decision that benefited materially a donor to the Labour party and to several MPs.

David Farrar raises some very good questions for Shane Jones to answer…if he can:

1. Who was this official who told him this? It wasn’t by some chance Daniel Phillips was it, the brother of Shane Te Pou – the Labour fundraiser who got paid $5,000 to help get Liu citizenship
2. Does having citizenship in any way impact whether or not one can be extradited to China over the fraud charges laid against him?
3. If one truly believes you face execution and persecution in your home country, don’t you apply for asylum not citizenship?
4. But if one applied for asylum, wouldn’t that actually require some substantiation of the claims that he was Falun Gong and fearing for his life, with adjudication by an independent tribunal, rather than Ministerial discretion as with citizenship?
5. Has Jones or Liu or anyone at all ever produced a shred of evidence that he actually faced anything in China except a fraud trial?
6. Does anyone seriously think Liu would have been granted citizenship if he had not donated to various Labour MPs, who advocated so strongly on his behalf?
7. Is anyone else curious about why Liu paid Labour Party fundraiser Shane Te Pou $5,000 to fill in a citizenship form for him? That’s a lot of money for filling in a form.
8. Is the more likely explanation that he paid Te Pou the $5,000, so Te Pou could use his political influence to get him citizenship.
9. Is it a coincidence that Te Pou immediately introduced him to then Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker
10. Is it also a coincidence that a donation to Dover Samuels election campaign was made from an unknown Chinese entity using the address of Daniel Philips, who is Shane Te Pou’s brother and worked for Shane Jones

I agree with David, and since Shane Jones also welcomes and inquiry, let’s be having one then.

One of the questions I asked was:

What other liquidation work have you and Matt Blomfield worked on together and when?

I also published a letter dated 8 November 2011 where Garry Whimp states that Matt Blomfield has not worked for either McDonald Vague or Blacklock Rose:

However via the tipline I have obtained evidence that suggests that Garry Whimp was being extremely economical with the truth, at best. But more probably he was lying like a flatfish.

In a court affidavit filed for another liquidation by Garry Whimp it shows that Matt Blomfield met extensively with numerous people at McDonald Vague and was paid by them on 6 July 2011 the sums of $2303.45 and $2562.20.

This affidavit shows that once again Matt Blomfield actively worked with or for Garry Whimp on liquidations and was paid money, into the Blomfield Trust. Matt Blomfield is still an undischarged bankrupt, and yet he is working on liquidations.

It also shows that Garry Whimp is hopelessly conflicted in acting as Liquidator for any of Matt Blomfield’s companies, or any company associated with him, or with Rebecca Anderson/Blatchford/Blomfield, or with Yuta Iguchi. In particular Garry Whimp should not be acting for the liquidation of Vengeance Limited given the large amount of evidence I have presented.

The evidence above is just one more liquidation, yesterday I identified another, but my source has told me that in fact they have worked together on the liquidations of:

Flat Fee Management Limited
FFH Limited
FFNZ Limited
Flatfee Hamilton Limited Partnership
Flatfee NZ Limited Partnership.

According to my information, McDonald Vague described Matt Blomfield as a “contractor”. This again contradicts the letter that Garry Whimp wrote to a creditor. It would seem that in fact Garry Whimp and Matt Blomfield have an extensive working relationship un-fettered by pesky things such as conflicts of interest.

Exactly what Blomfield did is unclear for his two payments of $2303.45 and $2562.20  is unclear. But I do wonder if his Official Assignee is aware of these payments apparently being shuffled off to the Blomfield Trust?

It appears from court documents that the business was unlawfully taken over by an associate of Matt Blomfield’s called  John Kenel. Matt Blomfield turned up at the house of the business owner on the evening of 7 Feb 2011, with resolutions to sign placing his business in liquidation. The owners legal advice at the time was to sign these – He did not know at the time what the link between Kenel-Blomfield-Whimp was.

Note that John Kenel is now in business with one of Matt Blomfield’s chums, Ronald Bruce Johnson - Sebastian Black Limited. Bruce Johnson has featured extensively in the Blomfield Files.

It was later discovered that it was Matt Blomfield who had approached McDonald Vague, at Kenel’s behest, to see if they would take on the liquidation.  This was obviously because Blomfield had a “friendly” liquidator, and told Kenel that things would go his way if Whimp was appointed liquidator.

It turns out that Whimp had not prepared the resolutions correctly, which mucked up the liquidation somewhat – 2 of the entities that were supposed to be in liquidation were in fact not in liquidation.  In the end a complaint to the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants was filed against Garry Whimp.  McDonald Vague had to apply to the High Court to place the 2 entities in liquidation.

From the affidavit it appears too that the business had approximately $74,000 in cash available. The records also show that creditors were owed around $92,000…a shortfall of about $18,000. The affidavit then shows that McDonald Vague billed $77,486…of which Matt Blomfield through his Blomfield Trust got $4865.65. It appears that the creditors got nothing.

A quick look at the Liquidators reports tells a different story again from the court filed affidavit…there is something not right about this liquidation. If it involves Matt Blomfield and Garry Whimp then there is definitely something seriously wrong with it.

Garry Whimp and McDonald Vague have much explaining to do considering it appears they have lied about their working or other relationship with Matt Blomfield. Considering they are the liquidators of his companies they have some serious explaining to do.

Today I think I need to go see the Official Assignee.

It is hugely ironic that Labour is making leadership an issue in the lead up to the budget on Thursday.

I say ironic because Labour appears bereft of leadership.

With the Bill Liu/Shane Jones cash for citizenship affair making its way through court and the political beltway it can;t have been a surprise to labour that this was going to cause problems.

Phil Goff certainly has known about it for all the time he was a minister, and leader of the opposition. He would have been hoping and praying it didn;t come to court while he was leader.

Shane Jones has certainly known about it, he was even called to give evidence on Monday. So it is somewhat bemusing to watch Labour, Shearer and Jones claim that they know nothing except what Shane Jones has told us and he has told us he can’t remember much as it was 4 years ago.

Let’s hope he was more forthcoming with evidence in the court room than he has been so far with the general public.

Given that this case can have been no surprise to labour, after all it involves Shane Jones and David Cunliffe but also other Labour names including their fundraisers, you have to wonder why David Shearer has been caught flat-footed and stumble mouthed over the whole issue.

It just shows how politically out of touch Labour’s leadership has been for some time.

Bryce Edwards though sums up Shearer’s dilemma he created for himself:

Quickly accumulating unwanted baggage is a reality for most travellers. On his journey towards the Beehive’s 9th floor David Shearer, the “non-politician” elected with no political baggage, is quickly getting weighed down.

Shearer’s office, along with Government politicians, are no doubt poring over the Labour Leader’s previous statements about political corruption in light of the daily revelations about Shane Jones’ involvement with William Yan (aka Bill Liu), currently on trial in Auckland. Revelations in court yesterday show the link goes further than just Jones, as Shane Phillips (also known as Shane Te Pou), a professional Labour Party fundraiser, had close links with Mr Yan, taking Yan on a trip to Hawke’s Bay which included a visit with then Labour Internal Affairs minister Rick Barker. His brother also worked in Shane Jones’ office.

David Shearer unwisely tied his leadership to a now meaningless statement about avoiding “gotcha” politics. No sooner had he uttered those fateful words, he was jumping in boots and all playing “gotcha” politics like a pro. That lack of political nous and leadership displayed right there will see David Shearer forever marginlised and mumble-mouthed when it comes to ethics. But if you are going to call others to account then you must also hold your own to account.

David Shearer has painted himself into a corner and bizarrely he chose the paint and the brush. He must live with that and start to show some of the reputed leadership skills he was supposed to bring to the job.

If he fails in this most basic of tasks, then he is dog tucker and labour crisi of leadership will continue.

Shane Jones really knows how to dig a hole for himself:

Jones said today: ”Look, I certainly know that there was a live issue as to whether or not this man is who he says he was. Without access to files I just really can’t tell you whether I can recall…”

Earlier in 2008, immigration officials had recommended Yan’s residency – granted in 2002 – be revoked. Then-immigration minister David Cunliffe told them to investigate further.

Jones said he wasn’t briefed by Cunliffe or immigration officials.

”I don’t remember ever talking to David Cunliffe about this guy … I don’t ever recall being briefed by the immigration department on this issue. And the man was a resident as far as I was concerned, as I recall.”

He added: ”Um, in fairness it’s four years on. Without having access to the file I just can’t fully recollect. But what I do know is that there was always a mystery as to whether the man was who he says he was. Those were allegations.”

Twice in as many senteces he says there was a mystery about the identity of Bill Liu…but he approved his citizenship with great alacrity anyway…and then a number of Labour MPs and ministers had his citizenship ceremony in the Maori Affairs select committee room, even though there was “a mystery”.

The more I find out about this the more i am inclined to support an independent inquiry into the actions of Shane Jones and other in this whole murky citizenship for donations affair.

I was on Larry Williams show on NewstalkZB with Barry Soper.

First up, big crack down on the fishing industry and the use of foreign flagged fishing vessels.

Then we’ve got the Shane Jones issue of him not backing down from granting Bill Liu citizenship.

And finally Key tells councils to act like grown ups when discussing the sale of their assets.

Joel Sartore has been a conservation photographer for more than 20 years, shooting primarily for National Geographic. About seven years ago, he brought his gear into a makeshift studio and began working with zoo-raised animals, most of which have biologists and handlers tending to their every need.

I am on Larry Williams show on NewstalkZB with Barry Soper.

First up, big crack down on the fishing industry and the use of foreign flagged fishing vessels.

Then we’ve got the Shane Jones issue of him not backing down from granting Bill Liu citizenship.

And finally Key tells councils to act like grown ups when discussing the sale of their assets.

You can listen through normal channels or online.

I will post the audio as usual tomorrow.

David Farrar has come up with a good idea. I think it has much merit and David Shearer should really look at this as a way to extricate himself from the ditch he has dug so far.

We definitely need a full inquiry into this. The problem is that if the National Government establishes an inquiry into the actions of a Labour Minister, it looks hopelessly partisan no matter how credible a person is appointed.

But if David Shearer was to come out and agree to an independent inquiry, and agree on the terms of reference with the Prime Minister – then that would be a great sign of bipartisanship – and would allow the true facts to be established.

The whole case is very murky. The person who helped Liu apply for citizenship was a fundraiser for the Labour Party. His brother worked for Shane Jones. Liu had donated to at least three MPs (two Labour, one National) and may held fundraisers at his restaurant which may have raised tens of thousands of dollars. And not only was the citizenship granted despite the official advice, a Labour MP arranged a special citizenship ceremony in the Maori Affairs Select Committee Room at Parliament just a few days later.

 A campaign by the Service and Food Workers Union and supported by more than 50 organisations calling for all New Zealanders to be paid a ”living wage” will be launched ahead of this week’s Budget.

The union is concerned there will be little in Thursday’s Budget for low-income New Zealanders.

A living wage is defined as an income which allows workers and their families to not only survive but participate in society.

The launch in Auckland’s St Stephen’s church in Ponsonby on Wednesday follows similar campaigns overseas in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

A coalition of organisations involved in the campaign have begun calculating how much a living wage would be in New Zealand using an independent economist.

But a figure is not expected to be announced at the launch.

So a bunch of union whingers are going to campaign for something they haven’t even worked out yet?

How about a bunch of employers launch a counter-campaign, called the “Productive and employable people” campaign, seeking staff who:

• Look for opportunities to improve their own employment situation, by up-skilling and moving up the employment ladder now and then rather than complain about being on minimum wage year after year.
• Reflect on why they are still only earning minimum wage at, say age 40+ or after 10+ years in the employment market.  If you’re earning minimum wage at age 40+ and you’re not a very recent immigrant, had significant health issues or just had piss-poor bad luck in life, then most of the problem is looking at you in the mirror.
• Put pressure on unions to earn their fees by assisting them to identify areas for improvement in their employability and help to bridge those gaps rather than spending their union fees on propping up the corrupt, inept and nasty Labour Party.
• Don’t turn up to work late, stoned, drunk, overweight, generally useless and with an attitude to match.
• Understand (or are prepared to learn) that employers set wages based on the value they perceive you add, and their ability to substitute you for another lemming.  Want a wage rise?  Then add value.  Employers can only raise their prices if they are confident their customers will agree that the value in the product or service remains after the price increase.  Employees need to reflect on the same.

This may perhaps a little harsh for a handful of people out there, but accurate for most of the vocal protestors.

Fuming after the very close connection with Bill Liu was exposed by Government officials, Shane Jones appears ready to execute the time honoured Labour Party tradition of attacking public servants.

On RadioLive this morning ‘slow hand’ Shane threatened officials who brought the case into the sunlight.

Very different to the David Shearer that fronted on Larry Williams NewstalkZB show last night.

[I]n a statement today, Len Brown reaffirmed that Auckland would not be selling off its strategic assets – the port and its airport shares.

“One of the biggest pressures we face is the costs around the amalgamation of Auckland Council, and that is a cost imposed on Auckland by the Government.

“Our core strategic assets will not be sold. Generations of Aucklanders have invested in them and they want them retained in public ownership. They bring in tens of millions of dollars a year, taking pressure off rates. Past assets sales have delivered very poor results. We do not intend going down that path,” he said.

But Auckland Council was considering the sale of non-strategic assets such as property, which could provide as much as $400 million dollars in revenue for ratepayers, he said.

The mayors press release is a load of rubbish.

Generations of Aucklanders have not invested in the Airport.  One generation of ratepayers as I understand it guaranteed any losses when the airport shifted from Whenuapai to Mangere.  I do not believe actual cash was invested but it was to create a benefit for Auckland.  Having created the benefit why do we not move on and use the Airport funds to create other benefits.  No problem selling one lot of family silver if you buy some other family silver.

We have the benefit of the Airport for growth etc whether the ratepayers own it or not.

Some one should ask Len Brown to specify exactly which generations have invested in the Airport and the Port.

What a nice cop – with a sense of humour all round.

A pair of Russians who were driving their car through the Ukraine was caught speeding by the local cops. As you would imagine, the two men wanted to dismiss the ticket so they came up with the bright of idea of speaking in English, convinced that the Ukrainian police officers would not understand a word they said.

And indeed, the first cop who approached their car did not speak English, which of course, made the two men happy. However, the euphoria did not last long as there was a second officer on hand who happened to know English…