Politicians never tell fibs…

… do they?

It was revealed today that John Key was caught out telling a “porky” in Parliamement. (In political-speak, “porky” = lie.) And quite a setrious one at that,

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The Prime Minister stated in the House,

“Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I cannot confirm that. It may well be; it sounds logical. But let me quote this from Fitch Ratings: “New Zealand remains well placed amongst the world’s highly-rated sovereign credits, with its creditworthiness supported by moderate public indebtedness, fiscal prudence, and strong public institutions.” But I will say this: when Standard and Poor’s was giving a meeting in New Zealand about a month ago, what it did say was that there was about a 30 percent chance that we would be downgraded. That is what happens when one is on a negative outlook. It did go on to say, though, that if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely.” –  Hansards

So according to the Prime Minister, Standard & Poors – one of the three main credit agencies – stated that if there was “a change of Government” (ie; Labour was elected), that our sovereign credit-rating would be “much more likely”.

Unfortunately for our happy-go-lucky Prime Minister – Standard & Poors denies saying any such thing,

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Specifically, S& P stated categorically,

“We don’t rate political parties. We rate Governments’.“

Caught out, it seems, the  Prime Minister then went on to say,

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Got it in an email

At his post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington on Monday, Key told media he was not at the meeting with Standard & Poor’s in September, but that he had received an email on September 6 from a trusted source who was at the meeting.

That source told Key Standard & Poor’s said there was a one-in-three chance that New Zealand would get downgraded and a two-in-three chance it would not, “and the inference was clear that it would be the other way round if Labour were in power,” Key quoted his source as saying in the email (see the full email below).

“The person is known to me, they’re known to be very trustworthy. I rang the person, had a conversation with them and it was relayed exactly as I relayed it in the House,” Key told media on Monday.

Key said he had not spoken to Standard & Poor’s to confirm whether S&P had made the comment.

“The person was at the meeting. I simply got the email, thought it was rather interesting, rang the person up. I’ve dealt with them before. They’ve given me information before which has been correct,” Key said.

The person was obviously confident that what he was telling Key was correct, he said.

“I wasn’t at the meeting, but all I’m telling you is it’s not a random comment I made up. I received the email, I verified it with the person. That’s it.” Source

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So in effect, Key got his “information” via “an email on September 6 from a trusted source who was at the meeting”?!

Riiiiight…

Kinda like, I heard this story which is true, ‘cos it came from a mate’s friend who is the brother of this guy’s hairdresser, and she heard it from her cousin who is the wife of the Prime Minister’s secretary’s gardener that…

The text of the email follows,

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Note that all identifying details have been removed. In fact, that “email” could have come from anywhere, including the Prime Minister’s secretary’s gardener.

Interesting.

In the Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament,  he refers to “…when Standard and Poor’s was giving a meeting in New Zealand…”.

But the “email” refers to “…a session with a range of economists yesterday morning – every year they do this session – with economists from Aus plus all the main NZ banks, and this year two from Standard and Poors…”.

In John Key’s statement, the meeting was organised by Standard & Poors.

In the email, the meeting was held by “a range of economists… with economists from Aus plus all the main NZ banks”.

So who organised this meeting?

Where was it held?

Who attended?

We don’t know. All we have is an anonymous “email” – unsourced and unverified –  statements from the Prime Minister that contradict the email; and a firm denial by Standard & Poors’  analyst Kyran Curry that they would ever make such comments.

The greatest irony here is not that  John Key may have lied and mis-led Parliament and the people – but that Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury is banned from Radio NZ for “defaming” the Prime Minister.

If ever you get a chance to watch the movie, “Wag the Dog” – do. It is a chilling insight as to how politicians and their staffers can manipulate the media to serve their own ends.

As for the Prime Minister – perhaps he will get away with it, again. But the “clock is ticking”, and these stories of deceit  are becoming more prevalent.

The media is finally catching on,

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Curiouser and curiouser,

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ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie was not at the breakfast meeting in Auckland and a spokeswoman said another colleague of his who was there was not the author. The BNZ's Stephen Toplis said it had not been him nor anyone at the BNZ. Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said he had not sent the email but wouldn't comment when asked if he knew who had. ASB Bank economist Nick Tuffley said he was at the function but didn't send the email.

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So the question remains;

Who wrote the email?

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