~-~ Act always was revolting ~-~

[nitpicker1]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666622

[Magoo]

If a politician stabs another in the back is that politicide?

[nitpicker1]

If a politician stabs another in the back is that politicide?

FYI, politicide isn't defined yet, but these are close:  see http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=politicide,

be the first to define politicide,  go http://www.urbandictionary.com/add.php, of course you can do it!

[ssweetpea]

Did she try to nail Hide to a wall using real nails?

[nitpicker1]

Did she try to nail Hide to a wall using real nails?

Hers is probably getting ready for drying and tanned as a floor rug.

[Magoo]

Did she try to nail Hide to a wall using real nails?

[Magoo]

If a politician stabs another in the back is that politicide?

FYI, politicide isn't defined yet, but these are close:  see http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=politicide,

be the first to define politicide,  go http://www.urbandictionary.com/add.php, of course you can do it!

Submission under review

Your entry is under review by editors.
Politicide

[Newtown-Fella]

unfortunately i dont think that Hide will go however in the world of politics who knows ...

maybe he wil and take a stab at Lord Mayor of Dorkland ... oops sorry Auckland

Hide calls media conference

Act Party leader Rodney Hide has called a media conference at 1.15pm.

It's expected he's going to make an announcement about the future of the party's deputy leader Heather Roy.

If she's replaced as the party's deputy leader Ms Roy will also lose her Consumer Affairs ministerial portfolio.

Doubts are being cast on the ability of Act MPs John Boscawen and David Garrett to serve as Government ministers.

One of the two is expected to be asked to step up to the job if Act's caucus does roll Roy for disloyalty.

Labour leader Phil Goff says neither Mr Boscawen or Mr Garrett is qualified to be a Government minister.

He says they're new to parliament and haven't shown the experience or competence to take up a ministerial role.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/7774963/hide-calls-media-conference/

[Newtown-Fella]

Boscawen confirmed Act deputy leader

First-term Act MP John Boscawen has been confirmed as the new deputy leader of the Act party, replacing Heather Roy.

The decision follows an Act party caucus meeting this morning.

Mr Hide is holding a media conference at 1.15pm.

Mrs Roy is said to again have been trying to rally party opinion against leader Rodney Hide.

At the end of the last year, the Herald revealed that Mrs Roy and party founder and MP Sir Roger Douglas had led an unsuccessful move to oust Mr Hide as party leader.

A special caucus meeting was held, but no vote was put.

Act has only five MPs - Mr Hide, Mrs Roy, Sir Roger, Mr Boscawen and David Garrett.

Key on Act

Prime Minister John Key said he would have a discussion with Act leader Rodney Hide following any decision made about the Act deputy leadership.

He did not want to speculate on who he could work with as a minister in the Act caucus until a decision was made.

When asked if he had confidence in Heather Roy as a Minister of the Crown, he said: "Right at the moment, yes."

He again ruled out working with Sir Roger Douglas as a minister, as he had done before the 2008 election.

"His agenda is a far right agenda and that doesn't sit well with a centre-right Government."

He said he "absolutely" had a say in who would replace Mrs Roy if she was ousted as deputy leader.

"And constitutionally it's my responsibility.

"If there was a change in deputy leadership then I would anticipate having a conversation with the Act leader [Rodney] Hide."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666723

[Newtown-Fella]

Key steps in to save Hide's Act job

Rodney Hide survived moves to oust him as Act Party leader last month after Prime Minister John Key privately indicated National's deal with Act would be off if the minister were dumped.

And it is believed that at the height of controversies in the two support parties - the Act leadership and the Maori Party's turmoil over MP Hone Harawira - Mr Key briefly considered a snap election to gain National an outright majority.

Act founder Sir Roger Douglas, with deputy leader and Consumer Affairs Minister Heather Roy, is understood to have led moves in the party against Mr Hide during the controversy over the international travel costs of his partner.

The Act board was told the caucus had issues over the leadership, and a special caucus meeting was called for November 22.

Mr Key is understood to have learned about the moves against Mr Hide shortly before that - between his return from Apec in Singapore and his trip to Trinidad for the Commonwealth summit.

He told Mrs Roy that if Mr Hide were removed from the leadership, her own ministerial position would be in jeopardy.

Mr Key has long ruled out having Sir Roger as a minister.

National's confidence and supply agreement with Act, including the two ministerial positions, was negotiated between Mr Key and Mr Hide.

The Act caucus meeting was held, but the push to oust Mr Hide had fizzled by then and no vote was taken.

Shortly after the caucus meeting, Mr Hide told Radio New Zealand he had asked the caucus to "review" his leadership and there had been a discussion about it.

Two incidents provided the catalyst for the moves against Mr Hide.

The former perk-buster had got around a directive from Mr Key against using ministerial budgets to take partners on overseas ministerial trips by using the separate parliamentary travel discount for MPs and their spouses.

And he was sprung over criticism of Mr Key he made at an Act fundraising breakfast in Christchurch, when he said the PM "doesn't do anything".

Mr Hide subsequently made abject apologies on both counts.

The Epsom MP is Minister of Local Government, Minister for Regulatory Reform, and Associate Commerce Minister.

Sir Roger, aged 72, has publicly criticised Mr Hide for being too populist. The former Labour finance minister returned to Parliament a year ago after retiring from Parliament in 1990.

National has 58 MPs in the 122-member Parliament. It has the support of Act (5), the Maori Party (5) and United Future (1). If its relationship with Act had ended, it would still have had enough support to govern.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616488

[nitpicker1]

Key steps in to save Hide's Act job

...Rodney Hide survived moves to oust him as Act Party leader last month after Prime Minister John Key privately indicated National's deal with Act would be off if the minister were dumped....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616488

that was old news, this is more recent and I think Rodney won't really like this either



Twyford: 'Super City' Tabloid Referred To Auditor General
Monday, 16 August, 2010 - 14:51

Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford has referred the Auckland Transition Agency tabloid newspaper 'Auckland: Your Council. Your Vote.' to the Auditor General.

"The public needs to be reassured that the 16 page tabloid newspaper they paid for is an appropriate use of public money in an election period," Phil Twyford said.

"Headlines such as 'putting local into local government', 'good news for libraries', 'improving services and lowering costs' and 'easy to do business' are straight from the Rodney Hide play list.

"These issues are being hotly, and quite properly, debated by candidates right across the region, yet we have a bunch of neutral public servants using public money to take highly political positions on these issues," Phil Twyford said. "If this is not interference with the democratic process, then what is?

"The publication is riddled with government propaganda and dripping with Rodney Hide style spin. The ATA argues outrageously in favour of the benefits of the new council-controlled organisations when the truth is these corporate monopolies are undemocratic, lack genuine transparency and direct public accountability, and are almost guaranteed to lead to increased costs to citizens.

"The new Watercare company is an obvious example, with candidate John Banks letting the cat out of the bag, following a secret briefing, that the rationalisation of water charges across the region will lead to higher water costs on families," Phil Twyford said.

"The tabloid conveniently doesn't mention water charges under the new structure, the issue the public is most interested in knowing about, yet it goes out of its way to loudly and prominently boast that they will deliver lower costs and better service to customers for building permits and resource consents.

"I have asked the Auditor General to investigate the publication against guidelines for central and local government communications during an election period, after receiving a number of calls from voters angry that their money is being spent on blatant government propaganda in the middle of an election," Phil Twyford said.

"I understand the tabloid was discussed in detail with Rodney Hide before going to print, and I will be asking him parliamentary questions to get to the truth."

http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/twyford-039super-city039-tabloid-referred-auditor-general/5/58953

[nitpicker1]

I am gobsmacked 

John Boscawen ?    THIS John Boscawen ?   http://www.act.org.nz/mp/john-boscawen 

Seems to me both John and Rodney will need the targets unpinned from their backs




Removing Roy all Boscawen's idea
17/08/2010 15:24:02


Act's new deputy leader maintains removing his predecessor was all his idea.


John Boscawen won a caucus vote today which has seen him replace Heather Roy.


He also becomes Act's second Minister in Government with Ms Roy resigning her portfolios.


Rodney Hide is refusing to say why Mrs Roy was rolled nor will he comment as to whether he sought her removal.


But John Boscawen says it was his decision and his decision alone to challenge for the deputy leader's position.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=180709

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Mr Key has long ruled out having Sir Roger as a minister.

If he gets desperate enough, Jonkey will grovel to Sir Roger to stay in power.

Remember that Jonkey said he would NEVER work with Winston.

Yet when it was rumoured that Winston might be teaming up with Michael Laws, and NZ First's ratings in a recent opinion poll showed 4½% support for NZ First, Jonkey did a humungous flip-flop and said he wouldn't rule out working with Winston.

In other words....Jonkey's ONLY principle is that he will do anything in his desperation to remain the PM.

See the following thread on this messageboard....

• ROFLMAO — yet another gigantic flip-flop from John “no-principles” Key

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

[nitpicker1]

Guess who dobbed McClay in!   

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Guess who dobbed McClay in!   

Would it be that trougher on the left in Tom Scott's cartoon? 

That cartoon is appearing in The Dominion Post in the morning.

I reckon it's an absolute classic....I betcha it won't be a favourite with Hide and Boscawen, eh? 

[nitpicker1]

Guess who dobbed McClay in!   

Would it be that trougher on the left in Tom Scott's cartoon? 

That cartoon is appearing in The Dominion Post in the morning.

I reckon it's an absolute classic....I betcha it won't be a favourite with Hide and Boscawen, eh? 

Would it be that trougher on the left
Who else but ?  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10666888

so there is SOMETHING useful hatching sumpin somewhere

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Ex-Act MP Deborah Coddington was being interviewed on Radio NZ National's Nine to Nooon about fifteen minutes ago.

She said she isn't at all surprised at what has occured and is predicting the end of Act as a political force (should that be farce?). She sees right through that spectacle of Hide and Roy appearing on the late TV news last evening trying to make out that everything is A-okay, when the leaked 80-page document tells the complete opposite.

She reckons the Winston & NZ First steamroller are going to annihalate Act and Winston will have his revenge.

As Deborah pointed out, Act are polling at less than 2% in spite of having two of their MPs in Cabinet, one of them in a very high-profile position. Whereas Winston & NZ First are polling at 4.5% in spite of them not even being in Parliament, and Wiinston is only just starting to ramp things up. The poison dwarf (Hide) must be feeling very insecure right now!

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Someone posted the following comment to one of the stories on the Dominion Post website (at STUFF) about the turmoil in the Act party. I reckon it kind of hits the nail right on the head. The fall of Act and the rise again of Winston.


Murray —  08:26pm, August 18, 2010
 
Winston Peters should kill two birds with one stone.

If he wants John Key to have to front-up and answer the questions without duck-shoving around, rather than stand against Key in Helensville, he should stand against Hide in Epsom.

Key will realise that Peters will beat Hide hands-down, so he will have to play his joker ... he will have to be the candidate for the electorate in which he is resident ... he will have to save Epsom for National.

With Rodney Hide becoming "pork-snouter" rather than "perk-buster" and the ACT Party falling apart at the seams, and a lot more SuperGold cardholders in Epsom than three years ago who see National trying to survive on ideas gleaned from Winston over the years ... increased public savings, less sell-outs of strategic assets and land, curbs on RBNZ interest rate rises, foreshore and seabed resolution, better immigration policy ... Winston Peters will be the top-polling candidate by an easy mile.

Actually ... Chris Carter has worked hard for his electorate and has huge grass-roots support ... Phil Goff/Pete Hodgson made him the scapegoat over credit card spending ... he would not be abandoning Labour if he stood for NZ First in Te Atatu, because John Key has categorically stated he will not work with Winston Peters because he thinks he is unable to take him at his word ... nothing has happened that would change Mr Key's conclusion.

All roads lead to Damascus.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

ACT in turmoil as deputy dumped

By JOHN HARTEVELT - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Wednesday, 18 August 2010



THE Government's key support party is in turmoil after its deputy leader was rolled, prompting questions about the coalition's majority.

The ACT Party stripped Heather Roy of her senior position yesterday and sent her on two weeks' leave "to reflect on things".

She was forced to resign her ministerial portfolios, sparking a minor revision of the party's governing agreement with National. John Boscawen is the new deputy leader and will be sworn in today as consumer affairs minister and associate commerce minister.

Prime Minister John Key insisted his centre-Right majority of two seats was safe, but Ms Roy and fellow ACT MP Sir Roger Douglas were refusing to talk last night about their futures.

Mr Key said: "It's unlikely, I would have thought, that Heather Roy would vote against either ACT's position or the Government's position because she holds strong political beliefs and I believe they are in line with the National Government's beliefs."

If both Ms Roy and Sir Roger abandoned ACT and withdrew their support for the Government, Mr Key would have to rely on UnitedFuture MP Peter Dunne or the Maori Party to pass legislation.

Mr Key was not concerned by the possibility, but Mr Hide admitted yesterday that ACT was doing it tough over the spill. "This is a tough day for the ACT Party and it's very, very tough for Heather, so I've asked her to reflect on things and take a two-week break," he said.

He insisted he had not been challenged as leader but admitted he was worried about his own performance. "I've always made it clear that a leader is always subject to a vote and that means you have to work hard every day to maintain the support of your colleagues. I've had concerns about my performance and I'm always trying to do better."



ACT president Michael Crozier appeared rattled by the events, struggling to answer straightforward questions about Ms Roy.

Asked if he was aware of any moves by her to undermine Mr Hide, he said: "Not as such, no."

Neither Mr Hide nor Mr Boscawen would explain why the challenge against Ms Roy was mounted. It is understood Mr Hide was concerned that saying too much might provoke legal action from Wellington lawyer and former ACT MP Stephen Franks, who was supporting Ms Roy at yesterday's meeting.

Her plotting against Mr Hide has been an open secret in Parliament since a cryptic speech at the party's annual conference in February urging the party to do more than "rely on Rodney". Backed by Sir Roger, she also tried unsuccessfully last year to rally party sentiment against Mr Hide.

But her ambitions for joint leadership were not strongly supported enough to succeed.

It is understood Mr Key has counselled Ms Roy against the idea and has even laughed it off. He did not return a phone call from Ms Roy on Monday night, despite knowing a move against her was in the offing.

"There are always bust-ups and it looks like that's what we've experienced today," he said. "They are not the first small party in Parliament to have had a bust-up and they may well not be the last."

Labour leader Phil Goff said the spill showed Mr Key was the only person keeping Mr Hide in place as ACT's leader. "You've got a party of five people and about five factions in it – that's the main support party for the National Party."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4034046/ACT-in-turmoil-as-deputy-dumped


Roy reaps what divisive speech sowed

VERNON SMALL — FIRST READING

The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Wednesday, 18 August 2010


RIGHT-HAND MAN: New ACT deputy leader John Boscawen, left, gets the
nod from leader Rodney Hide. — ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post.

HEATHER ROY should now have some idea of what utu feels like. After white-anting Rodney Hide's leadership – including her extraordinary "Black Swans" speech at the party conference this year – the biter has been badly bitten.

Her message to ACT was a political suicide note: "If all that our message is worth, in electoral terms, is drifting around between 1 and 4 per cent and that — in order to achieve our aims — we are reliant on Rodney holding Epsom, then we are not free to choose very much at all!"

Now her ministerial warrants are gone and her deputy leader's job is in the hands of the intense and unlikely John Boscawen, a man so focused and unworldly that he could continue speaking with a lamington on his head during the Mount Albert by-election.


HAVE SOME CAKE: John Boscawen of the ACT party
received a lamington to the head at a Mount Albert
candidate debate. — Picture: TV3 News.

After failing to heed warnings from the party, most of her colleagues — with the possible exception of Sir Roger Douglas — and even Prime Minister John Key, she pushed on in the belief that if she could only lead the party its vote would soar. That, she argued, would remove ACT's reliance on the Epsom seat — Mr Hide's stronghold and the party's lifeline to power — and by logical extension, its need for Mr Hide.

The ACT leader may have kept his hands clear of the blood, but he will no doubt have allowed himself a quiet smile of satisfaction last night, though the inevitable damage to the party's reputation will be less welcome.

Ms Roy's enemies blame her inability to accept the weight of opinion against her, and point to the unhelpful influence of a key adviser. Whatever the reason for her self-immolation, she now has two weeks to contemplate her options. Will she quit the House and make way for the next MP on the list, or strike out as an independent?

In the unlikely event Sir Roger went too — he has long been a critic of Mr Hide's approach — then Mr Key's certain majority would be on a knife edge, though good relations with Peter Dunne and the Maori Party should ensure him a comfortable ride.

All the same, it underscores the wisdom of Mr Key's decision to deal Tariana Turia into the game after the 2008 election.

Much has been made of his call being in the interests of national unity and National's future options. But it also had a dash of realpolitik about it — that divisions in ACT run so deep it could eventually fly apart. Yesterday may be only scene 1 in that play.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4033979/Roy-reaps-what-divisive-speech-sowed


Leaked notes show ACT infighting

By JOHN HARTEVELT - The Dominion Post | 6:26PM - Wednesday, 18 August 2010


ALLEGED BULLY: ACT Party leader Rodney Hide.
 — JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/The Press.

ALLIES of ousted ACT Party deputy leader Heather Roy have dumped pages of notes in which she talks of a "nasty party, comprised of bullies".

In a bizarre twist, Roy has just issued a statement saying she will stay on as a member of the ACT Party Caucus and that she is looking forward to the future.

"I am concerned that notes I prepared for the Caucus meeting have been leaked.  The document was prepared for the caucus discussion only, prior to the vote on the deputy leadership," Roy said.

"These were background notes that I spoke to when defending my position as deputy leader."

Roy was rolled as deputy leader and forced to resign her ministerial portfolios yesterday after a successful challenge by John Boscawen.

Fallout over her toppling has boiled over today with a series of contradictory statements and allegations.

The leaked documents, marked as "legally and privileged" run to dozens of pages of background notes.

"This Caucus has allowed itself to be hijacked by lies and innuendo," the notes say.

"The Leader [Hide] set out, some time ago, to undermine my authority and my effectiveness as a Minister. He told Wayne Mapp I was going before ever talking to me about alleged unhappiness with my performance. He went hunting for things to trump up into complaint."

"I bit my tongue many times. I have maintained that in this term. Despite our deep embarrassment as the perks fiasco blossomed I was not part of any move to replace Rodney."

The notes say that Roy "faced Rodney's vendetta".

"ACT sees team leadership as primitive combat, with a need to destroy a colleague’s reputation to justify an otherwise inexplicable decision."

Public opinion that ACT was a "nasty party, comprised of bullies" would be confirmed.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4037339/Leaked-notes-show-ACT-infighting

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Hide, Roy can't get act together

By MARTIN KAY and JOHN HARTEVELT - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Thursday, 19 August 2010


GOING IT ALONE: ACT leader Rodney Hide speaks
to The Dominion Post after Heather Roy pulled
out of a joint interview at the last minute.
 — CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post.

ACT LEADER Rodney Hide and his deposed deputy Heather Roy have made a bizarre attempt at a show of unity after leaked documents revealed she accused him of being a "bully" as she put up a fierce battle to keep her job.

Ms Roy pledged last night to stay on as an ACT MP despite the release of a scathing 82-page dossier, which is heavily critical of Mr Hide and exposes the extent of the deep rift between the pair.

"Tough things are said in caucus. These are behind us now," she said. "Caucus has made a decision and I am looking forward to getting back to work as a productive member of the ACT team."

ACT founder and MP Sir Roger Douglas — the only member to support Ms Roy staying as deputy — also pledged his loyalty to Mr Hide and said he had no intention of leaving the party, ensuring National's majority with ACT for centre-Right issues remained intact.

Ms Roy's statement came hours after the leak of a confidential file of notes she prepared before the caucus showdown that saw her sacked as deputy and forced to resign as a minister.

The file — which Ms Roy said later had not been presented to the caucus but were "background" notes — included claims of shouted abuse and stormy arguments as she and Mr Hide feuded after her unsuccessful attempt to roll him as leader.

The note described "two very confrontational meetings with Rodney Hide", after which she decided she would not meet him alone again. "He routinely tries to bully and intimidate me ... There was an instance recently where he was extremely angry at my staff, characterised by shouting abuse in offices and also as he stormed up and down the corridor."

Since Mr Hide had faced criticism in November last year over his taxpayer-funded travel, he had "barely spoken to me", and when they did meet his tone was "menacing". Notes also described ACT as a "nasty party, comprised of bullies" and claimed Mr Hide had "a vendetta" against Ms Roy.

Hours after the notes were leaked to the New Zealand Herald, Mr Hide and Ms Roy agreed to a series of media interviews together in a bid to show a united front.

But she pulled out of an interview with The Dominion Post after apparently becoming upset at TV coverage of the leak.

Mr Hide attempted to brush over the contents of the dossier last night, saying Ms Roy had written it while she was upset about the looming caucus showdown.

"I regard her as part of the team, and she's looking forward to that prospect."

The file was leaked soon after Mr Hide's confirmation that Ms Roy took a failed complaint against him to Ministerial Services, claiming he breached security by taking a document from her office against her will.

He said the defence paper was not sensitive, and he took it to his office to read as there was nowhere to sit in Ms Roy's office. He said the complaint was "odd" and agreed it underscored the depth of the rift.

Ms Roy said in the notes that she was concerned Mr Hide would copy the paper to use in a "witchhunt" against her.

Prime Minister John Key said he was aware of the complaint, but did not think there had been a breach of security.

John Boscawen, who replaced Ms Roy as deputy, was sworn in as the new consumer affairs minister and associate commerce minister yesterday. Her associate defence minister role was scrapped.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4038356/Hide-Roy-can-t-get-act-together


Editorial: Unseemly squabble demeans ACT MPs

The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Thursday, 19 August 2010



IT IS one thing to perch up in the "gods" and pour derision on the dramatis personae.

It is another, as ACT leader Rodney Hide is discovering, to strut the stage. The skills required of a critic are quite different from those required of a leading man.

Like another political maverick, Winston Peters, Mr Hide is more comfortable attacking than defending. And like Mr Peters, he has found corralling his colleagues a more difficult proposition than harrying slack ministers and officials.

In Mr Hide's case, the task is even more challenging because he heads what Labour leader Phil Goff has called a "party of five people" comprising "about five factions". That is an exaggeration, but not a big one. When Richard Prebble surrendered the party leadership in 2004, four of his seven parliamentary colleagues put up their hands for the job. Humility is not a commodity much in evidence among ACT's MPs.

Nevertheless, if ACT is to play a constructive role in Parliament, Mr Hide has to manage the egos and expectations of his colleagues. Tuesday's dumping of Heather Roy as deputy leader of the party, reportedly after she complained to ministerial officials that he had taken a defence document from her office, shows he has been unable to do so.

Mr Hide and Ms Roy have been at odds for years — at least since Ms Roy backed rival leadership contender Stephen Franks in the 2004 leadership contest — but the behaviour of both in recent weeks is inexplicable.

Their dispute over a defence document that Mr Hide took from Ms Roy's office has escalated to bizarre heights, with dossiers being compiled and red-eyed reconciliations being staged for the television cameras.

Given what has now been revealed, it is not surprising that neither Mr Hide, Ms Roy's replacement, John Boscawen, nor the third ACT MP who voted to oust Ms Roy from the deputy leadership, David Garrett, want to publicly explain their actions. It has all the dignity of a playground squabble over a cricket bat.

However, if Mr Hide, who built his reputation championing transparency and accountability, wishes to be taken seriously, he has no option but to say why Ms Roy was sacked. It is not acceptable to dismiss it as an internal party matter as he has attempted to do. Wellington is not Stalinist Russia where dissidents were dispatched to the Gulag and never heard from again.

Eighty-five thousand people voted for ACT in the 2008 general election. They are entitled to know why an MP, appointed to a ministerial position 21 months ago, has been summarily dumped and why the MPs they elected to Parliament are more preoccupied with jockeying for positions internally than advancing the economic reforms advocated by the party's guiding light, Sir Roger Douglas. He, incidentally, voted for Ms Roy to remain as deputy.

If Mr Hide does not provide those answers, his party will be further marginalised at a time when it should be gaining support on the political Right as National puts down roots in the centre.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/editorials/4038302/Editorial-Unseemly-squabble-demeans-ACT-MPs


Elephant there one minute, gone the next

JANE CLIFTON — ABOUT THE HOUSE



The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Thursday, 19 August 2010

FINALLY yesterday, Parliament got a chance to talk about the latest political elephant in the room: the dumping of Heather Roy from her ACT deputyship and ministerial jobs. Whereupon the elephant promptly left the room.

No sooner had the Speaker granted an urgent debate on the Roy sacking than all the ACT MPs in the House made themselves scarce. Labour's Darren Hughes was left addressing his questions on what Ms Roy had done to deserve her demotion to five empty seats. Ms Roy is off doing what her leader Rodney Hide calls "reflecting", and the four remaining ACT MPs fled — presumably to discuss how to fill their 15-minute urgent debate speeches without actually talking about the debate's subject.

Mr Hughes said though John Boscawen's promotion was "good news for lamington bakers everywhere" — a nod to the new ACT deputy's by-election speech made with a protester's lamington smooshed on to his head — people deserved to know why ACT had accepted his challenge of Ms Roy.

Exclaiming about reports Mr Hide had taken a secret defence document from Ms Roy's desk, Mr Hughes said: "He's been going through her drawers!" Grubby-minded colleagues snickered, but Mr Hughes rallied to ask why one day a defence paper was so important Mr Hide was "sneaking it from her desk", and the next, ACT had surrendered the Defence portfolio altogether.

But Finance Minister Bill English said Labour was just jealous that ACT's difficulties had been dealt with in a day, rather than spanning weeks, multiple apologies, media chases and "all the palaver" that attended Chris Carter's estrangement from the Labour caucus.

Mr English got his biggest laugh inadvertently when — with ACT in exile and Hone Harawira sardonically chewing gum and plainly enjoying his coalition's discomfort — he said: "What this Government has established is a healthy, stable coalition."

It was almost as hearty as the laugh Mr Hide got when he said ACT's relationship with the Government was now stronger than ever. The National benches were by now almost deserted, so faint was its desire to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with ACT.

But Mr Hide was happy to fight his own battle, flanked by three of his MPs, who had by now returned. What had happened, he said, was simply "a democratic process". Mr Boscawen challenged for the job, and the caucus held a free vote, which Mr Boscawen had won. "It's called ‘democracy’!" he added, saying that in Labour's "Helengrad" the idea of a caucus having a free vote had not been well understood.

However, he rather undermined the impact of this jibe by getting Ms Roy's name wrong. "Let me say this about Helen Clark ... ah, about Heather Roy..." he floundered, before recovering with: "You have never heard me say a bad thing about Heather Roy."

Well, not till now. Confusing Heather with Helen might be considered renewed grounds for a leadership coup.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4038353/Elephant-there-one-minute-gone-the-next


ACT split between a one-man band and aspirations of 5%

VERNON SMALL — FIRST READING

The Dominion Post | 7:25AM - Thursday, 19 August 2010



JUST HOW LONG the ACT party has been dysfunctional is unclear, but it sure as hell is now.

Of course it has been no secret there have been tensions for ever between the purist ACT vision of Sir Roger Douglas (and his offsider Heather Roy) and the various manifestations of Rodney Hide; perk- buster, muck-raker, dancer with stars in his eyes and more recently perk-luster.

But that has now spilled over spectacularly with the emergency meeting to oust deputy leader Ms Roy and the slow leak of the background to it.

The most gossipacious is the sandpit spat between Ms Roy and Mr Hide over whether he was allowed to take back to his office a paper written by her defence adviser — and the consequent spillover to the party's board over accusations the paper in turn had been distributed more widely.

If ministers in the same party need to call in Ministerial Services to resolve such a dispute, then Mr Hide's "hope" that Ms Roy will return after two weeks' leave and play a constructive part must be the triumph of hope over recent experience.

He is certainly taking a much more conciliatory line with her than you might expect, because the row runs deeper than just the paper war in Ms Roy's office.

It started in earnest last year with suggestions — denied by Ms Roy's allies — that she had tried to organise a coup-lite and have herself appointed co-leader.

It reached a head at the party's conference in late February with her infamous "Black Swans" speech. Her supporters insist she was only telling a few home truths and had never put a challenge in place.

But her speech was widely interpreted as an attack on Mr Hide — not least because it came without warning — and as a thinly veiled call for at least a change of direction and strategy and perhaps a change at the top. Without the numbers — until John Boscawen came down off the fence and voted against Ms Roy and in favour of himself — a coup remained impossible. With two in favour of change and two — Mr Hide and David Garrett — opposed, the party was in deadlock, as its poll rating dwindled.

But like rust, Sir Roger — even without the numbers for a front-on coup — never sleeps in his desire to have the party return to what he sees as its roots; campaigning on "pure" ACT ideology and - as a corollary — campaigning for the party vote and not relying on Epsom and Mr Hide's hold on it. He genuinely believes the party has the support to get back above 5 per cent on that basis — a belief Ms Roy clearly shares.

The latest attempt was apparently a strategy paper being prepared for the party — another Douglas/Roy-backed scheme — that was seen as a threat to Mr Hide (whose focus is usually more tactical) and a backdoor way to challenge his leadership.

It would have looked at the party's long-term future, what direction to take and how it would brand itself as a party supporting — but not always agreeing with — National. It would also have searched for ways for the party to lift its profile in the economic debate, beyond the effective but backroom work by Mr Hide in regulatory reform.

Mr Hide clearly saw this as a threat — perhaps the final one — in his continuing war with Ms Roy but it is an issue ACT desperately needs to address, if it is to survive the current factional fight.

It is by now a familiar problem for small parties barnacled on to governments under the MMP system.

Keep your head down and you will never be seen on the public and poll radar. Kick up, and you are seen as the source of instability and trouble and wear the blame; especially if, like John Key, the prime minister is massively popular.

The catalyst is not always the same but the result is. It happened spectacularly to NZ First and to the Alliance and in both cases a schism devastated the party's support.

If ACT is to survive as a viable force — and not as a Peter Dunne or Jim Anderton-esque rump after the 2011 election, breathing through the oxygen mask of the Epsom electorate — then it will need to resolve not only its personality clashes but also its fundamental strategic plan.

Not least, will it allow most of its resources to be thrown at retaining Epsom or — while accepting Mr Hide's important role for the party in that seat — will it take the Green route and trust it has a core constituency of more than 5 per cent that will ensure its long-term future?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4038978/ACT-split-between-a-one-man-band-and-aspirations-of-5pc


Roger Douglas mulls his future in ACT

By JOHN HARTEVELT - The Dominion Post | 12:06PM - Thursday, 19 August 2010


ACT FOUNDER: Sir Roger Douglas.
 — DON SCOTT/The Press.

THE ACT Party saga has lurched to its next chapter, with veteran MP and party founder Sir Roger Douglas saying he is not sure he will stand at the next election.

The comments to Fairfax Media this morning came after an explosive leaked document revealed bitter divisions between the party's leader Rodney Hide and his former deputy, Heather Roy.

Roy was rolled as deputy leader and forced to resign her ministerial roles on Monday after a challenge by John Boscawen.

In notes prepared for Roy at Monday's meeting, Hide was described as a "bully" with "a vendetta" against her.

"ACT sees team leadership as primitive combat, with a need to destroy a colleague's reputation to justify an otherwise inexplicable decision," the notes say.

Minutes after the notes emerged, Roy pledged to stay on with the party and tried to put up a united front with Hide.

Sir Roger this morning said his party had "taken a hit" over the affair.

"Obviously, this hurts the ACT brand, and if the ACT brand is hurt then Rodney's brand is hurt," Sir Roger said.

"And we can't deny that because actually accepting that collectively we've done that is the best starting point — acknowledge where you are and then do something about it."

Sir Roger backed Roy to stay on as deputy leader in Monday's vote, but they were defeated three votes to two.

Asked this morning if he was still committed to the ACT Party, Sir Roger said: "You know, my position is, I've got 15 months and I've got to decide some time next year whether I stay on. If I don't stay on, it's not because I'm not committed, it will be a decision that, hey, I'm 73, is this the right thing for me to be doing at 73?"

Sir Roger said the party had to show it was stable.

"I don't know where we're at," he said.

"What we need to do is show that we're a hell of a lot better than that. And to do that, we need to get our strategy right, we need to get over-riding principles understood and then we need to move forward together."

"I guess we haven't necessarily shown we've been capable of that. I'm not blaming anyone for that. When these things happen, it's no one individuals fault. Collectively, we've got to take responsibility."

Roy fronted for broadcast media last night but bailed out of agreed interviews with print media.

She is refusing to talk this morning, turning away requests for an interview.

Sir Roger said he believed Roy intended staying on.

She had done the right thing by fronting for some interviews.

"We had a caucus yesterday and I think there is a genuine desire to move forward together," he said.

"I can say that to you, but frankly, you're not going to acknowledge that until you see it in practice. ... You prove that by what you do and there is a determination to do that. How well we can execute that, that's what we'll be judged on."

______________________________________

"A NASTY PARTY, COMPRISED OF BULLIES"

Highlights from Heather Roy's leaked caucus notes:

• Replacing Roy would be "likely to be perceived by most as the bullying actions of white middle-aged men against women in leadership. Leading inevitably to a drop in ACT's public favour, a bad result in the election and quite possibly the end of ACT in Parliament altogether."

• Roy was concerned that Hide would take a classified defence paper away and copy it. "His purpose for wanting the document was to use it in a witch-hunt against me."

• The notes also describe "two very confrontational meetings with Rodney Hide" after which Mrs Roy decided she would not meet with him alone again. "He routinely tries to bully and intimidate me ... There was an instance recently where he was extremely angry at my staff, characterised by shouting abuse in offices and also as he stormed up and down the corridor."

• "At many of the meetings we have had, he has indicated that I am not performing to the level he would expect of the Deputy Leader of a party. His tone during these discussions is menacing."

• The notes say that Mr Hide "interfered" in Roy's Associate Defence Minister role and asked for Roy to be removed.
  
  "It is very difficult for me to work when my own leader is determined to undermine me in this way and it is very clear to me that he has used others to further this agenda."

• They also describe ACT as a "nasty party, comprised of bullies" and that Mr Hide had "a vendetta" against Mrs Roy.
  
  "This Caucus has allowed itself to be hijacked by lies and innuendo," the notes say. "ACT sees team leadership as primitive combat, with a need to destroy a colleague's reputation to justify an otherwise inexplicable decision."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4040663/Roger-Douglas-mulls-his-future-in-ACT

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Roy fiasco descended to eavesdropping

By VERNON SMALL - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Friday, 20 August 2010



RELATIONS WITHIN ACT sank so low that former deputy leader Heather Roy asked an aide to eavesdrop on a conversation between her and leader Rodney Hide, leaked papers show.

In a running dispute over Mr Hide's access to defence papers, Mrs Roy asked her senior private secretary to stay in her adjacent office while Mr Hide came to read a document on the shape of the reserve forces "and listen to any conversation that ensued".

The revelation was in a leaked 82-page document prepared in Mrs Roy's defence as she faced the caucus showdown that saw her sacked as ACT deputy on Tuesday.

In it, Mrs Roy says she insisted Mr Hide read the reserve force paper in her office – citing security issues – but he took it to his own office. "I said again that it was a classified document and that I wanted it back," she recorded in a note of the meeting. "He continued to walk out of my office ... "

Ministerial Services looked into the issue and found there was no security breach, but noted her concerns about the paper's fate once it passed from her hands.

Mr Hide said yesterday that it was "a nothing document" and he had not photocopied it. He revealed there were other papers at issue. "There was a second paper the minister of defence [Wayne Mapp] ... had concerns about." It contained "mild swearing".

"There is a sort of appropriate language you use as a minister on public documents. By the way, these comments weren't by Heather." The leaked papers show that comments by Mrs Roy's adviser, Simon Ewing-Jarvie, on a document related to the upcoming white paper on defence had referred to parts of it being "BS".

Dr Mapp confirmed last night that he had concerns with some of the language used by Dr Ewing-Jarvie, whose job went when Mrs Roy was dumped as deputy leader and as a minister.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

An 82-page dossier prepared as part of Heather Roy's battle to stay as ACT deputy has revealed a total breakdown of her relationship with leader Rodney Hide.

Extracts include:

"I have been the target of false or misleading allegations during a meeting I was not at. The leader set out, some time ago, to undermine my authority and effectiveness as a minister ... he went hunting for things to trump up into complaint." — Mrs Roy responds to "issues of behaviour" from an August 03 caucus meeting which she could not attend due to illness.

"In the 2005-08 Parliament, I maintained what I could of respectability for the party through Rodney's journey of reinvention. I bit my tongue many times ... Despite our deep embarrassment as the perks fiasco blossomed, I was not part of any move to replace Rodney." — She reveals her embarrassment at Mr Hide's appearance in Dancing With the Stars and other pursuits and denies being part of an attempt to oust him.

"He routinely tries to bully and intimidate me and this is not conducive to a good working relationship. There was an instance recently where he was extremely angry at my staff, characterised by shouting abuse in offices and also as he stormed up and down the corridor." — Mr Hide has dismissed her claims of bullying.

"At the last few meetings I have found you confrontational and aggressive. In the interests of my safety I am no longer happy attending these alone." — An email to Mr Hide on July 21.

"Dear Heather. I am sorry you feel the way you do. We wont [sic] meet. We can cover all the issues at caucus and at the board. Rodney." — Mr Hide's response.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4042528/Roy-fiasco-descended-to-eavesdropping


Sagging figures add to ACT's troubles

By JOHN HARTEVELT - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Friday, 20 August 2010



THE ACT PARTY is on its knees, with tight finances and sagging membership compounding its loss of face over the ousting of Heather Roy.

ACT's founder, Sir Roger Douglas, is unlikely to stand for re-election next year and president Michael Crozier is also looking toward the exit.

Leader Rodney Hide is fighting off leaked allegations from his former deputy that he accused her of taking drugs and that he is a bully who leads a party that "sees team leadership as primitive combat".

"Look, it's not great. It's been a bad couple of days for us," Mr Hide said yesterday.

The meltdown started on Tuesday when Mrs Roy was rolled as deputy leader after a successful challenge by John Boscawen.

The next day, explosive notes attributed to Mrs Roy were leaked, revealing bitter division with Mr Hide. They labelled him "intimidating" and "a bully" with "a vendetta" against Mrs Roy.

After an attempted show of unity with Mr Hide, Mrs Roy retreated into hiding yesterday, refusing to discuss her future.

Mr Crozier said he was sure the party had been damaged. "Politics is a rough game and from time to time things sort of reach the point where there is a bit of a tidy-up.

"I would like Heather to carry on and it's my impression that that is her thinking too."

He revealed the party had only about 1000 members at last count. "We're paying our way, but it would be nice to have a bit more, of course."

He would "prefer not" to stand stand again as president when his tenure finished early next year.

ACT's five MPs are in Parliament only because Mr Hide won Epsom, carrying his four colleagues on a 3.65 per cent party vote. Mrs Roy's leaked 82-page dossier claims Mr Hide's hold on the seat was "tenuous at best".

Mr Hide said he knew of rumours of "a bad poll" but he had not seen it. An ACT poll done two months earlier had put him 10 percentage points ahead, he said.

Sir Roger said yesterday that his party had taken a hit. "Obviously, this hurts the ACT brand, and if the ACT brand is hurt then Rodney's brand is hurt."

He had not decided whether he would stand at the next election. "My position is I've got 15 months and I've got to decide some time next year whether I stay on ... It will be a decision that, hey, I'm 73, is this the right thing for me to be doing at 73?"

Prime Minister John Key said the governing pact between National and ACT was strong, despite the ructions. "There is no question of an early election."

Former ACT leader Richard Prebble said he had not followed the upheaval but was not concerned about it.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/4042562/Sagging-figures-add-to-ACTs-troubles


Strife mounts for ACT party

By JOHN HARTEVELT - The Press | 10:00AM - Friday, 20 August 2010



ACT IS on its knees, with tight finances and sagging membership compounding its embarrassment over the Heather Roy row.

ACT founder Sir Roger Douglas is unlikely to stand for re-election as an MP next year, and party president Michael Crozier may step down.

Leader Rodney Hide is fighting off leaked allegations from Roy, his former deputy, that he charged her with drug-taking and that he is a bully who leads a party that "sees team leadership as primitive combat".

"Look, it's not great. It's been a bad couple of days for us — a tough couple of days," Hide said.

The meltdown started on Tuesday when Roy was rolled as deputy leader after a successful challenge by John Boscawen.

The next day, explosive notes attributed to Roy were leaked, revealing bitter division with Hide.

They called him "intimidating" and "a bully" with "a vendetta" against Roy.

"I think those documents suggest to you that there have been problems," Hide said. "I was hoping those problems, for Heather's sake, we could deal with internally."

After an attempted show of unity with Hide, Roy yesterday refused to discuss her future in the party.

Crozier said the party had been damaged by the scandal.

"Politics is a rough game and from time to time things sort of reach the point where there is a bit of a tidy-up," he said.

"I would like Heather to carry on and it's my impression that that is her thinking too."

He said the party now had only about 1000 members.

Crozier said he would "prefer not" to stand again as president when his tenure finished early next year.

The chairman of ACT's upper south region, Geoff Russell, said membership was "OK".

"Every organisation could do with more members. ... not as many people are putting their hands up to get involved as they did in the old days," Russell said.

ACT has five MPs only because Hide won the Epsom seat at the 2008 election, carrying his four colleagues into Parliament on a 3.65 per cent party vote.

Among the allegations in Roy's leaked 82-page dossier is a claim that Hide's hold on the seat is "tenuous at best".

Hide said he had heard rumours of "a bad poll", but he had not seen it. A party poll done two months earlier had put him 10 percentage points ahead, he said.

Douglas, who founded ACT in 1993, said the party had "taken a hit" over the Roy dispute.

"Obviously this hurts the ACT brand, and if the ACT brand is hurt, then Rodney's brand is hurt," he said.

ACT Whip David Garrett said it would be silly to deny that the party had been through "a trying couple of days".

"We have disparate elements in our caucus — that's never been a secret."

Prime Minister John Key said the governing agreement between National and ACT remained strong, despite the ructions.

"There is no question of an early election."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4042679/Strife-mounts-for-ACT-party


The latest STUFF readers poll on The Dominion Post website....

• Can ACT survive?

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Toxic sacking leaves ACT in a mess

By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Saturday, 21 August 2010



"IT'S NOT VERY TIDY," an ACT staffer conceded sheepishly as the meltdown in relations between Rodney Hide and Heather Roy was laid bare. Talk about understatement.

The chaotic and at times bizarre handling of Mrs Roy's dumping as ACT deputy this week was "not very tidy" in the same way the disintegration of the Alliance in 2002 could be described as "a bit messy".

Even as the fallout over her sacking reached its most toxic, with the leaking on Wednesday of her claims of Mr Hide's shouted abuse and stormy corridor rows, he was still painting her downfall as nothing more than a straightforward result of first-term MP John Boscawen deciding to have a crack at her job.

"I never wanted to get into the ins and outs of who said what, who did what, who thought what," Mr Hide said. "What we had was a situation where John Boscawen put his hand up. He did discuss it with me, but I didn't tell him I'd support him. He said, ‘I want to put my hand up and be deputy’. I said, ‘Well, John, I always like a person that's prepared to step up to the plate’."

The comments came after Mr Hide and Mrs Roy attempted a bizarre show of unity when an 82-page dossier was leaked hours after she pledged to stay on as an ACT MP and support Mr Hide as leader, the day after her sacking.

The attempt was called off when Mrs Roy became upset during what was to have been a round of interviews with Mr Hide after she saw coverage of the leaked document. She has since stayed away from Parliament and refused requests for comment, but still appears intent on returning.

"Tough things are said in caucus," she said. "These are behind us now. Caucus has made a decision and I am looking forward to getting back to work as a productive member of the ACT team."

Mr Hide has refused to say what led to Mr Boscawen deciding to challenge Mrs Roy's position as deputy — and therefore as a minister – and why he backed Mr Boscawen instead of her.

But the leaked dossier of notes prepared for her defence ahead of Tuesday's caucus showdown reveals claims of a breakdown in the relationship with Mr Hide, with her describing him as a bully and saying she would no longer meet him alone.

Mr Hide dismissed the notes as unfair and untrue, and said he was not a bully. Mrs Roy also said she never described him as a bully, but had sometimes felt a bit intimidated in meetings and had raised concerns about his tone.

The notes are thought to have been compiled, at least partly, by Mrs Roy's ministerial adviser, Simon Ewing-Jarvie, whose job went when she lost her executive posts on Tuesday. Repeated attempts to contact him have failed.

The notes suggest tensions between Mrs Roy and Mr Hide simmered for several years and the relationship began to break down irretrievably in November 2009 after rumblings about his use of nearly $22,000 of taxpayer-funded travel perks to take his partner overseas.

The notes say Mr Hide — who made his political name as a perkbuster, particularly scathing about MPs' travel perks — was forced to publicly apologise for the spending after the caucus insisted.

A coup against him is said to have been brewing, with moves to replace him as leader with Mrs Roy and install ACT founder Sir Roger Douglas as her deputy. It is said to have petered out before a caucus vote after Prime Minister John Key told Mrs Roy the Government deal with National would be off if Mr Hide were rolled.

Mr Hide has denied there was a serious bid to oust him, though he has confirmed issues about his "performance" were raised at a caucus meeting that month.



The notes say Mr Hide visited Mrs Roy at home on November 21, when she accused him of trying to damage her. He demanded her unequivocal support, but she refused to give an outright commitment.

The relationship continued to deteriorate, exacerbated by rows over defence documents generated from Mrs Roy's office and penned by Dr Ewing-Jarvie, a former regular and territorial army officer and the author of ACT's 2008 national security policy.

Mr Hide was concerned that papers coming from Mrs Roy's office were effectively setting ACT party defence policy without reference to him as leader.

In an unspoken power struggle, Mrs Roy was making no secret of her view that ACT should focus on getting above the 5 per cent threshold needed for list-only seats, reducing the reliance on Mr Hide holding Epsom. The notes refer to polling that showed Mr Hide's grasp on the seat — ACT's lifeline back to Parliament — was "tenuous", and warn that ousting Mrs Roy as deputy would be likely to be perceived as "the bullying actions of white middle-aged men against women in leadership".

Mrs Roy was also worried Mr Hide would drop her down the list at the next election, threatening her return to Parliament.

The trigger point appears to have come on July 27, when Mr Hide demanded to see a paper on reserve forces. Mrs Roy insisted he read it in her office, but he refused, and took it to his office, returning it two hours later.

Mrs Roy said she did not want the paper taken away because she believed it was classified. She suspected Mr Hide would copy and leak it to discredit her. She asked her ministerial secretary to eavesdrop when Mr Hide came to her office. Mr Hide has said he never copied the document or distributed it to anyone and that, in any case, it was not sensitive.

Mrs Roy asked Ministerial Services for advice — she says clarification of the rules. Mr Hide insists it was a formal complaint. She was told there was no reason he could not have the paper as he was a minister and therefore cleared to see it.

The involvement of Ministerial Services — reported to Prime Minister John Key — appears to have been the last straw for the Hide camp, leading to Mr Boscawen's challenge, supported by Mr Hide and ACT whip David Garrett. Sir Roger voted for Mrs Roy, but has pledged allegiance to Mr Hide.

The question now is whether ACT can clean up the mess.

______________________________________

KEY PLAYERS

• Rodney Hide: An MP since 1996, when ACT made it into Parliament for the first time. Made his name as a perkbuster, but badly tarnished his image and was forced to apologise last year after using nearly $22,000 of the taxpayer-funded allowances for MPs' travel to take his partner overseas. Took over as leader in 2004 when Richard Prebble stood down, and his hold on the Epsom seat has ensured ACT's return after the last two elections.

• Heather Roy: An MP since 2002 and, with Mr Hide, one of the only two ACT MPs to survive the 2005 election. Became deputy leader and boosted her profile after joining the Territorials in 2006. Impressed as a steady minister, but has been dogged by reports she has been plotting against Mr Hide. Has made no secret of her belief the party is too reliant on his holding on to Epsom and should concentrate on getting above the 5 per cent threshold.

• Simon Ewing-Jarvie: A former army officer, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and later a territorial forces officer. Was 12th on ACT's list in 2005 and wrote the party's national security policy at the last election. Was Mrs Roy's ministerial adviser, penning many of the defence papers that came from her office. Is also thought to have compiled most of the leaked dossier. Left his job at Parliament when she lost her ministerial posts on Tuesday.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4046038/Toxic-sacking-leaves-ACT-in-a-mess


Hide's win comes at dreadful cost to ACT

JOHN ARMSTRONG on POLITICS

The New Zealand Herald | 5:30AM - Saturday, August 21, 2010


ACT Party leader Rodney Hide.
 — Photo: Sylvie Whinray.

SO RODNEY HIDE ends the most calamitous week in his party's history having won (at least for the time being) the debilitating power struggle that has been consuming the ACT caucus and the wider party for months.

But at dreadful cost. This is the most pyrrhic of victories — a variant on the old Vietnam war adage of having to destroy the village in order to save it.

In conspiring to oust Heather Roy from the deputy leadership, Hide may well have destroyed ACT not only as a parliamentary force, but also wrecked its capacity to resurrect itself if deprived of a parliamentary platform and the attendant taxpayer-provided resources.

Perversely Hide could cling on to his seat in Parliament, but even that is starting to look doubtful. And, even if he did, ACT would likely be relegated to the status of a cult-of-personality party, much like Peter Dunne's United Future.

Some would argue that has already begun to happen — and that Hide's taking over the leadership from Richard Prebble was what prompted the Deborah Coddingtons and the Stephen Franks of this world to leave and the Roys and Douglases who stayed on to wage internecine warfare against the new leader.

In order to save himself, Hide is justifying the dumping of Roy as necessary in order to save her. That was the only way of getting at the real target, Simon Ewing-Jarvie, her political adviser.

Hide went as far on Thursday to say the former Army officer had an "undue influence" on Roy and her portfolios. From all accounts, that is an understatement.

While Roy was sent home on two weeks' leave after being deposed at Tuesday's caucus meeting, Ewing-Jarvie was sacked and marched off ACT's floor in Bowen House, the party's parliamentary headquarters.

What must have been a moment of catharsis for Hide was ruined, however, by the truly awful handling of the announcement of the change in deputy.

The puzzle is why Hide did not explain what had really been going on, rather than turning his post-caucus press conference into farce by joining with his new deputy, John Boscawen, in pretending that dumping your deputy leader is nothing out of the ordinary.

Hide may have even garnered some sympathy for his plight. He would have held the political initiative.

The absence of any media strategy instead left a vacuum which was amply filled by the leaking to the New Zealand Herald and TV3 of Roy's 82-page dossier prepared for the defence of her position at Tuesday's caucus meeting.

The dossier reveals Roy had long lost respect for Hide, having bitten her tongue during his Dancing with the Stars-induced rebirth as Modern Urban Man. Since then their relationship has been on a par with two great white sharks circling one another.

Despite Hide's protestations to the contrary and Roy's assurances this week that the pair can put things behind them, the dossier's contents suggest this will take months, if not years, if ever.

As Labour's trials and tribulations with Chris Carter attest, once an MP is severely at odds with the party leadership, the infighting resumes at some point in ever more bitter fashion.

New Zealand politics is writ large with the rebels, the outcasts and the mavericks. They have only two options. They either sit quietly stewing and slowly wasting away on the backbenches or they stir up trouble for whoever demoted them.

Two factors mitigate against that happening in Roy's case. First, she like all ACT MPs is dependent on Hide's holding on to Epsom. That is a source of huge frustration for her.

However, her priority now is to preserve a high position on the ACT list. Further destabilising Hide will only make her enemies lobby even harder to push her down the list.

The other factor is Sir Roger Douglas — who voted for her to remain the deputy leader and who clearly has her ear.

He has acted as an intermediary and presumably helped persuade Roy to sit down with Hide for the television cameras on Wednesday evening in what was a belated attempt to portray some unity and stem the deluge of highly negative media coverage.

One Labour MP likened the icy body language between the pair to that in photographs of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in the latter stages of their marriage.

What it told you was that feelings are just too raw right now — especially for Roy — to be making any decisions about, staying, going or helping.

ACT members and fellow travellers will be quicker in determining what to do. The party's relative success in 2008 in increasing the size of its caucus from two to five MPs disguised the slow but noticeable decline in membership.

The venue for the annual conference has been getting smaller each year. Delegates at this year's conference in Wellington were markedly older than during the halcyon days of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Though motivated by self-interest, the dossier prepared for Roy's defence — quite possibly written by Ewing-Jarvie — is very neutral in its sobering assessment of the party's perilous position, and the possibility that Hide's moving against her will accentuate the slump in support and many party members quit, while funding by major business donors will dry up.

For many members, the attraction of ACT has been as the party of ideas and ideals, not personality. Or the kind of pragmatism that many members see as compromising too much in National's favour.

At the party's annual conference this year, both Roy and Douglas argued strongly for ACT to get out of the shadow cast by National.

Hide — still weakened at the time over his scandalous use of ministerial perks — appeared to listen.

He delivered stinging criticism of National's emissions trading scheme, National's endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Waikato River treaty settlement.

Then he stopped. Douglas says a new strategy which takes on board much though not all of his wishes for ACT to adopt a more independent stance is about to be signed off.

The onus will be on Hide to highlight those differences. It puts him on notice. This week's victory may yet turn out not to be quite the triumph he thinks it is.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10667674

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

ACT aide admits: ‘I leaked memo’

By MARTIN KAY - Sunday Star Times | 5:00AM - Sunday, 22 August 2010


LEAKED MEMO: Simon Ewing-Jarvie was Heather Roy's
ministerial adviser until she lost her posts on Tuesday.

AN AID to dumped ACT deputy Heather Roy says he leaked the memo accusing Rodney Hide of being a bully partly because Hide was smearing him with false claims about supplying drugs.

Simon Ewing-Jarvie, Roy's ministerial adviser until she lost her posts on Tuesday, said he leaked the 82-page document as the relationship between Hide and Roy went into meltdown.

Its release destroyed their bid to put on a united front after Roy was replaced by John Boscawen in a 3-2 caucus split. Ewing-Jarvie said he leaked the dossier because he wanted the truth about her sacking made public.

"It gutted me that Hide was saying ‘I'm not going to tell you why [Roy was sacked]’."

Ewing-Jarvie said he was going public because he wanted it known that Roy, a family friend, had nothing to do with the leak, and because he believed Hide spread false claims he supplied drugs at an ACT event.

He said the drug claims related to a function in late 2005 or early 2006 at which he handed out the party pill BZP (benzylpiperazine), which was then legal and freely available. He stopped using it when it became a class C drug in 2008.

"The substance was BZP, which wasn't illegal. Now it is and I don't use it," he said.

The leaked dossier makes a reference to Defence Minister Wayne Mapp being told by Hide about "a rumour about drug use", but gives no other details.

Hide, who says Ewing-Jarvie's role in Roy's office was a factor in her removal, said last night he was not interested in any claims by him. "I have nothing to say. He is no longer my problem."

Ewing-Jarvie said he had not held sway over Roy, "a strong and capable minister".

He said his difficulty with Hide went back to 2004 when he supported Stephen Franks to replace Richard Prebble, and that Hide turned on Roy after ACT polling in 2007 showed she was members' preferred leader.

Roy was also linked to moves to roll Hide last year, but former ACT board member Peter Tashkoff said yesterday he, not Roy, was behind those moves.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/4047726/ACT-aide-admits-I-leaked-memo


Everyone goes mad when political love turns bad

By MICHAEL LAWS - Sunday Star Times | 5:00AM - Sunday, 22 August 2010



IF THERE is one skill that I lack, it is the capacity to hate.

I don't know if this is a genetic failing, a conditioned response or that having three young kids simply saps you of the energy required. But I can't loathe.

Fortunately others have succeeded where I have failed. The ACT Party seems a mess of mutual loathing — utterly irrational from the outside — until you consider one analogy: that leaders and deputy leaders are politically married.

The fallout from any fallout is exactly the same as when a couple separate: toxic. And the ACT caucus is their family, each member being forced to choose sides, mummy or daddy.

There has been a great deal of press gallery gloating at this bust-up and the leak of an 82-page cry sheet constructed by MP Heather Roy has certainly added to the drama. But whatever one's feelings as to the principles involved, or one's perspective of the politics they embrace, it is impossible to derive satisfaction.

This is a story, after all, about people who once liked each other — loved each other politically — simply falling out of love. Too late, they realised the repercussions would immolate them all. But that is the nature of human relationships: everyone goes slightly mad when love goes bad.

Because politics is not about philosophy, it is not about principle, it is not about policies. It is always about relationships.

Which is why John Key works. Viewed through a parliamentary prism, there is nothing overtly brilliant about the man. He lacks the personal charisma of a Rob Muldoon or a David Lange. He does not have the after-hours bonhomie of a Winston Peters nor the intellectual menace of a Helen Clark.

Indeed there is a touch of the Chauncey Gardiner about him — the Peter Sellers gardener that charmed everyone in the classic 1979 movie satire Being There.

Others graft their aims and aspiration on to the benign countenance of the prime minister and see themselves reflected back.

This is the first prime minister who is actually liked. Not respected nor admired nor feared. Liked. You would have to go back to Labour's Walter Nash to find another prime minister so routinely inoffensive.

But now the Nats have a massive problem: ACT is disintegrating. No, ACT has disintegrated. You cannot say the things that have been said, nor do the things that have been done, and emotionally survive. Not when there are only five of you. And the three-two caucus split is as emotional as emotional gets.

Plus the media have it in for their leader Hide. When the press gallery pursues you as a pack — and the best and most experienced journos publicly write you off as a dead man walking — then such momentum is publicly irresistible. It is unfair, but that is the way that it is. Suddenly ACT's bolthole of Epsom seems a bolthole no more.

The overseas travel scandal fatally damaged Hide's reputation. It did not destroy it — nothing short of prison does that — but it stops him spreading his party's appeal. ACT is not perceived by anyone as an answer to anything.

And there is still the hate. Virtually everyone in parliament appreciates the venom that emanated from the Hide and Roy supporters in both the lead up and aftermath of the John Boscawen elevation. Such raw emotion does not dissipate overnight.

Which is where the marriage analogy might fragment. Two people who profess to hate or loathe each other can actually reconnect. In fact, often do. Especially if elements of the original attraction remain. Ah, good old lust.

That never happens in politics. There may be future accommodations, but there is never friendship.

Key knows this. Which is why he has the headache from hell this morning.

If ACT is going down the toilet, who are National's allies post-election? The idea of being dependent upon a Maori Party for their MMP majority must surely cause government's strategists to wake in the early hours of the morning and scream.

And so the vacuum has been created to the conservative right of National. With not one party currently in the House possessing the public ability to exploit it.

Nevertheless, I find it impossible to gloat at ACT's misfortune. They represented a particular viewpoint that was important to political debate; that did challenge the shibboleths of accepted practice and did require the status quo to justify itself. Their demise now is near complete. Their only hope is to survive as Rodney's rump.

Ultimately the ACT caucus was consumed by hate, personal and visceral; by a mutual loathing that no lust may repair. There is no commonality, no real organisation, and soon there will be no finances. All that will be left, will be regret.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/opinion/4047647/Everyone-goes-mad-when-political-love-turns-bad