Ex-MPs gone wild
Disgraced former politicians Kiri Allan and Golriz Ghahraman both crashed out of Parliament in a spectacular fashion and their actions continue to haunt them. After a battle with NZ Police and the Ombudsman, the media were finally able to get more details on what happened the night former Justice Minister Kiri Allan’s career crashed along with the Crown car she was driving. Police records show that Allan was “verbally abusive” and demanded that her court summons be made to “disappear”. She also said “words to the effect that she wrote the law and wanted to know if the police officer bothered reading the law or had learnt the law.”1
The Post reports:
Police arrested Allan about 9.42pm for refusing to accompany them and handcuffed her. She was “verbally abusive” towards officers.
“[Allan] became physically inactive and physically resistant, and grabbed hold of shrubbery to avoid being moved to the patrol vehicle,” the notes say.
“Once moved to the patrol vehicle, Ms Allan initially refused to get into the passenger seat.”
This is, of course, old news that has only now been revealed. In Golriz Ghahraman’s case she appears to be making fresh trouble. She drew attention to herself via a review of K Rd restaurant Atilier. She claimed she and her friends received the “most gross treatment” and that “Some incredible Māori, Pasifika and queer leaders were totally screwed over mid brunch in the face of a written confirmation. It was sad and sh*t and not Karangahape kaupapa.” The restaurant owner was reluctant to comment, but eventually said “Obviously [Ghahraman] had a little bit too much to drink and didn’t behave appropriately – that’s all I can say.” It seems doubtful that a fancy restaurant in the ultra progressive enclave of K Road would be a hot bed for racism. The incident clearly shows that the former MP has not been humbled in the slightest by her fall from grace.
Some of the redacted Official Information Act pages from police.
They let her work in the kitchen?! Mushroom Poisoner got plum job in prison 🇦🇺
Erin Patterson has been found guilty on all charges related to the murders of her ex-parents-in-law and ex-aunt-in-law as well as the attempted murder of her ex-uncle-in-law. She poisoned the three deceased with death cap mushrooms hidden in a beef wellington. Her convictions are not particularly surprising as a criminal mastermind she is not. What was gobsmacking though, was the news that while awaiting trial for POISONING THREE PEOPLE TO DEATH Patterson was given a job IN THE PRISON KITCHEN. Allegedly she has made at least one fellow inmate sick by tampering with food. My goodness, who on earth signed that off?
Te Pāti Māori announce their candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election
The passing of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp has triggered a by-election in the Māori electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau. Following a hui on Thursday, the party has announced that broadcaster and presenter, Oriini Kaipara, will be their candidate. She has connections to Ngāti Awa, Tūhoe, Tūwharetoa, and Ngāti Rangitihi and is currently working as NZ Olympic’s cultural lead. Kaipara explained her reasons for stepping into politics saying she was “tired of sitting on the sidelines and being impartial, being objective.”
Peeni Henare was most recently Labour’s candidate in the seat, but there has been no word if he will have another crack at it. It is a two-horse race between the two parties regardless and Oriini Kaipara makes for a formidable opponent.
This is why we can’t get things built
ACT MP Simon Court has taken to social media to share examples of the absurd requirements developers and businesses are having to adhere to in order to get resource management consent. Court is part of the get-shit-done trio that includes Chris Bishop and Shane Jones. They are the leaders of the Fast Track legislation and all seem hellbent on reforming our painful RMA laws. Check out the following two examples of how cultural conditions are hamstringing projects. Court says “This is the kind of fluff that ties up consenting processes and makes everything we do slow and costly in New Zealand.”
Click to view - “In rural Central Hawke’s Bay, a resource consent for a solar farm that could power around 7,500 homes came with conditions like these.” - Simon Court
Click to view - From the resource consent for IKEA in Sylvia Park.
Deborah Russell says something silly in select committee…again
Famous for her ruthless comments about businesses struggling in lockdowns back in 2020 and swearing at David Seymour more recently, Labour’s Dr Russell has again made headlines for being a bit of an egg in select committee. This time she picked a fight with a mild-mannered former District Court judge David Harvey. Harvey was submitting in support of the Regulatory Standards Bill (although he suggests the Treaty of Waitangi should be included) when Dr Russell took umbrage. Her accusation was grossly unfair as the former judge had simply asked her politely if she was “familiar with Jean-Jacques Rousseau” before he launched into an explanation of his views on the “notion of liberty”. “I have a PhD in political theory so I’m familiar with [Thomas] Hobbes”, Russell responded. Not sure why she said Hobbes and not Rousseau to be honest. She went on to say “There is no need to patronise me. I am asking you what notion of liberty you’re working with.” To which Harvey responded with the quote “’Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains’. The chains in fact are legislation. Everywhere, any time that you enact legislation, you infringe on a person’s liberty, freedom of action or ability to choose.”
Dr Deborah Russell
Chris Hipkins seeks to discredit Covid Inquiry from the get-go
Having already completed his own pretty pointless and sanitised review of New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, former Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins is miffed to have to answer questions from the second iteration that exists thanks to the New Zealand First coalition agreement. He knows that this Royal Commission will not whitewash the criticisms of his Government and so he has launched a strategy of undermining it as much as possible. He has said it is a platform for conspiracy theorists and seems to think that the only New Zealanders entitled to have a view on the impact of his (and Ardern’s and Robertson’s) decisions around Covid-19 are the ‘well-to-do’ types who suffered little by way of adverse effects. Only those who have the ‘right’ opinions (e.g. share Hipkins’ opinions) should be allowed to speak to the Inquiry. Kudos to Ryan Bridge who reminded him that calling people conspiracy theorists doesn’t usually do much to deescalate things. It will be interesting to watch this cynical strategy of Hipkins’ play out.
New Zealand First leapfrog ACT and Greens in latest Taxpayers’ Union poll
The latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll is a good one for Winston Peters and New Zealand First. The party is up 3.7 points taking them to just shy of 10% and making them the third largest party. Winston Peters has gained 1.3 points in the Preferred Prime Minister stakes and is in third behind the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. If these were election night results, New Zealand First would be bringing 12 MPs into Parliament.
Turns out the school lunch changes are all good
After all the dramatics and what felt like months of negative headlines decrying Seymour’s school lunches reforms, all appears to be well. We had mainstream media reporting third-hand stories of flies surviving thermonuclear heat to emerge unscathed from packaging and tales of horror where some poor kids were served butter chicken everyday in a week. God forbid. However, now there are quiet (definitely not front page) reports that the scheme has not only saved the taxpayers $130 million but, in term three, three-quarters of students gave positive feedback, complaints fell by 92%, and more than 99% of meals arrived on time. Anyone who has ever had to feed children will attest to the impossibility of having 75% positive feedback on food.
In short - other stuff that happened:
- 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.
- The RBNZ kept the Official Cash Rate at 3.25% but signalled potential cuts as inflation eases toward its 1–3% target.
- Health NZ nurses, midwives, and healthcare assistants have voted to strike on 30 July, demanding better safe‑staffing measures. Health NZ had offered a 3% pay rise plus two $325 payments.
- Construction is underway on a 16.5 metre Buddhist statue in the Waiwera Valley and locals are not happy.
- Waipareira Trust has launched High Court action to fight its deregistration as a charity.
- Wellington’s mayoral race just got dirty - an old email from Ray Chung repeating gossip about Mayor Tory Whanau’s alleged NYE sexual conquest has been seized upon by Andrew Little.
- The Public Service Census 2025 shows 12.1% of public servants have experienced bullying or harassment at work.
The Waiwera Valley construction site where a 16.5m
Buddhist statue and plinth is being erected.
Photo / David Fisher NZ Herald
Stuff I found interesting this week:
Stuff I found interesting this week:
Ani O'Brien comes from a digital marketing background, she has been heavily involved in women's rights advocacy and is a founding council member of the Free Speech Union. This article was originally published on Ani's Substack Site and is published here with kind permission.
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