This is a collection of interesting and insightful tweets relating to the revelations about the National Government's Cabinet Club fundraising scheme. As usual, the tweets are in reverse-chronological order i.e the most recent first [Read more below]
#cabinetclub hits the streets. pic.twitter.com/TSUfo1PixT
The Cabinet Club CARTOON in today's @nzherald pic.twitter.com/qkIIJ4I9RM
Funny how it took only one Ministerial resignation for #corruption & whole @NZNationalParty house of cards begins to collapse #CabinetClub
@NZNationalParty How can u be a Minister for the rest of the day but cease to be one once u enter a #CabinetClub meeting? #notcredible
Ghost of Norman Kirk @ourbignorm
@johnkeypm. If members acting as MP's when raising funds via the Cabinet Club, why call it the Cabinet Club? Why not MP's Club? #nzpol
Nights at The Cabinet Club #nzpol pic.twitter.com/v8hcqDv3YI
Heard rumours that since the #CabinetClub stories broke, now a flood of enquiries from new members. Thanks @TovaOBrien and @trevormallard!
Sharon Murdoch @domesticanimal
Poll dancing at the #CabinetClub. My #cartoon pic.twitter.com/yURIvZQX8Q
Some Cabinet Club meetings have been disappointingly under-attended. pic.twitter.com/9vvkVpMRzC
Political historians will look back on week of 5/05/2014 and report that this was when the election season started.
Scariest thing about Cabinet Club is the complimentary entry to the Key Party. pic.twitter.com/zSwJSSZuic
National needs to work out it's line. "You do it too" is weaksauce. They are the govt and YDIT is seen as defensive and a sign of shame.
is the speakers plan to kick the left out of the house & let wealthy #CabinetClub members buy seats?
Sanctimony thy name is the Green Party #hypocrites #fauxoutrage
The amount of Nat fanboiz screaming BUT LABOUR DOES THIS TOO kinda misses the point that it's still wrong #cabinetclub
Hayden Donnell @HaydenDonnell
They called it Cabinet Club only after the teachers told them off for calling it Cabinet Gang.
McCluskey. @JordanMcCluskey Protected Tweets
I'm ambitiously relaxed about Cabinet Clubs.
Chelsea Torrance @tripthestation
Trevor is alluding that Woodhouse is whoring himself out in a motel like it's a bad thing #nzqt
Laura McQuillan @mcquillanatorz
Peters asks why Woodhouse "went to a seedy hotel to meet with a woman-basher" - Speaker says that's sub judice (but Liu has pleaded guilty)
So apparently any implication of "cash for access" is out of order. How can a government which prostitutes itself be held to account?
Maybe it's just my notoriously thrifty ways, but thus far in NZ whenever I wanted to have access to an MP I phoned and scheduled a meeting.
> Idiot/Savant @norightturnnz
@gtiso I just email them - or tweet. No need to pay money.
@WoodhouseMP embroiled in cash for access scandal. Blurred lines under scrutiny between fundraising & access as Immigration Minister
> Dene Mackenzie @mackersline
@clarecurranmp @WoodhouseMP I pay $3.50 for a long black to get access to you Clare. When you turn up.
> Clare Curran @clarecurranmp
@mackersline isn't $3.50 a bit cheap? (For a coffee) @WoodhouseMP
Want access to MPs? Then come to Vote Chat! Tomorrow: @WoodhouseMP. Access coming out your ears! @clarecurranmp May 23. Access smorgasbord!
Want access to MPs? Then come to Vote Chat! Tomorrow: @WoodhouseMP. Access coming out your ears! @clarecurranmp May 23. Access smorgasbord!
@richard_prosser You can't get much cheaper than free! Live-stream here too - free! http://www.otago.ac.nz/votechat
Unfolding stories on Govt is like kicking over a piece of wood and seeing all the insects scuttling about, finally seeing the day of light.
Winston seems to have a real story here but he’s making a pig’s arse of telling it. #nzqt #CabinetClub
Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
Also, National ministers seem to conflate talking to people, with getting heaps of money for talking to people. Obvious difference. #nzpol
@JulieAnneGenter @metiria don't you talk to your donors?
@JordNZ @JulieAnneGenter I think most are either MPs or members, so quite often
@JordNZ @JulieAnneGenter access to Ministers is very different - they have privileged authority & there are special rules accordingly
> John Brinsley-Pirie @brijo247
@metiria @JordNZ But you still pay money and get more access right? Or is that fine as long as you agree with the party you are accessing?
Isn't one of the reasons people join a political party is to have more access to the MPs? Certainly why I joined the Greens in 2003.
So the cabinet club story is that people give money to parties and MPs go to fundraisers? Stupidest. Story. Ever. Jesuschristpeople.
So after all this about the ‘Cabinet Club’ turns out Labour have been doing the same thing all along. Someone isn’t very good at politics...
So, do Ministers use their taxpayer-funded travel to travel to #CabinetClub and raise money for their party?
Cabinet Club: the lighter side of democracy-corroding corruption.
GCSB Intercepts @GCSBIntercepts
"No Gerry, donations to Cabinet Club don't earn Fly Buys points as well."
Let me get this straight. Nats are prevaricating and defensice on #CabinetClub? Must have sthing to hide, then. On face of it, shld be legit
So, do Ministers use their taxpayer-funded travel to travel to #CabinetClub and raise money for their party?
When people pay money to go to Cabinet Club they believe - rightly or wrongly - they are buying access to Ministers. #nzqt
Irony if it's the relatively-benign Cabinet Club thing that blows open the govt's cronyism, after so many more-substantive examples failed
First known photo of Cabinet Club. pic.twitter.com/biIum8EPeA
Third rule of #CabinetClub: Nobody wants to donate to Greens and Lab, so they want taxpayers to pick up their costs instead.
Second Rule of #CabinetClub: The Opposition don't really believe it's any of your business either - at least when they do it.
The First Rule of Not Having #CabinetClub: Genuine first-dollar transparency of both fundraising and access. Just don't hold your breath.
Cabinet Ministers can't comment on Cabinet Club because its not under their Ministerial responsibility.
Gerry Brownlee asks if a Green MP would ever be welcome at a cabinet club event #cheekydevil #nzqt
HEY GUYZ WHAT'S THE FIRST RULE OF CABINET CLUB? Probably that you have to pay money to hear the Ministers talk.
The first rule of Cabinet Club is don't ask Parliamentary Questions about Cabinet Club.
Nats flipping position on Cabinet Club. Yesterday, was 'nothing to hide'. Now trying to block questions, denying ministerial responsibility
Fishrider Records @FishriderNZ
The 1st Rule of Cabinet Club is there is no Cabinet Club. The 2nd rule of Cabinet Club is, if caught lying about it, call it Cabinet Clubs.
#CabinetClub may be legal & may be compliant with Cabinet Manual but this 'cash for access' racket looks terrible & fails smell test #nzqt
Oh, #CabinetClub has differential fees for recent migrants to suck money out of them
James Sullivan @ZaphodHarkonnen
New drinking game. For every reference to #CabinetClub take a shot of @cc_whisky #nzqt
Oh, so now they are "Cabinet Club" events. What happened to them being "Cabinet Clubs"? #nzqt
Did @RaymondHuo REALLY never invite @davidcunliffemp to a Chinese fundraising dinner when Cunners was immigration minister?
I think that the more appropriate name is "Democracy For Sale Club" #CabinetClub
Cabinet Club does sound slightly like a sugary milk-based liquor with the potential for a nasty hangover
Richard Pamatatau @RPamatatau
Is the "Cabinet Club" like Flybuys or frequent flyer programmes where the bigger your spend the greater your rewards? (Or not) #nzpol
Cabinet club vrs clubS story is the most hilarious thing in a while. think the press gallery might be feeling a little patronised about now
Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
Donghua Liu lobbying for immigration change: got visit frm Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse & discussed with Key at fundraising dinner
@patrickgowernz Much more balanced reporting on @tvonetv tonight. How much is @RusselNorman paying TV3 to throw their dirt???
minister of justice is unstable; ministers of police & welfare tell porkies directly to camera; president of national party obfuscates. nice
> Hamish Price @hamishpricenz
@richardboock Apart from the fact that @TovaOBrien has been hamming up a bs story, and all your clauses are factually wrong, a great tweet!
Would the speech notes of Cabinet Ministers gigs at Cabinet Clubs be OIAable?
> Reed Fleming @reedfleming Protected Tweets
@ShakingStick They’d claim they’re acting in capacity as an MP, or private indiv, not a minister.
Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
3 News tonight: Cabinet Club, donations, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse, immigration policy lobbying, Donghua Liu, John Key. #linked
John Key has attended 53 cabinet club functions since the 2008 election
If you have enough money a Government Minister will come to visit you. Screw #CabinetClub
How do you baffle a Nat? Add an S to any word. #CabinetClub vs CabinetClubs
Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
It's ridiculous for the PM to claim the Green Party is campaigning for climate action bc its a private agenda of big donors. @avancenz
@JulieAnneGenter it is as valid as the Greens claims.
> Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
@avancenz Also, living within means of finite planet is in our charter, so we've been campaigning on climate action since way before donors.
> Dutton Peabody @MrDuttonPeabody
@JulieAnneGenter @avancenz The obvious difference being eco-concerned donors can't hugely profit from Green policies. Oravida, however...
@MrDuttonPeabody @JulieAnneGenter why not? many companies Green-wash and the Greens do want to be in Govt last time I checked.
@JulieAnneGenter what I see that the Greens are okay with donations - so long as they come from people they agree with!
> Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
@avancenz We favour state funding of election campaigns. Unfortunately that's not the situation, so we have to raise money.
> Russel Norman @RusselNorman
@avancenz @JulieAnneGenter buying access corrupts democracy. It is different to a straight donation
> Louis Houlbrooke @louishoulbrooke
@JulieAnneGenter @avancenz Plenty of private (big business) interests stand to gain from solar energy, mass transit etc.
> Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
@louishoulbrooke @avancenz Mainly tho it's humanity. (And actually bc of market distortions it's hard to commercialise benefits of PT.)
John Brinsley-Pirie @brijo247
I once paid money to go see a minister. They didn't implement any of my policy ideas. What a rip off.
#CabinetClub may be legal & may be compliant with Cabinet Manual but this 'cash for access' racket looks terrible & fails smell test #nzqt
.@JohnKeyPM says #CabinetClub is fine because Ministers don't get personal gain. Apparently access in return for donations is fine. #nzqt
Steven Joyce calls Cabinet Club "innovations in fundraising"... so that's the 'innovation' he's been going on about
Not every electorate has a cabinet club, some call them different things...we declare our donations, does the Labour Party? - PM #nzqt
Judith was on the ropes on Monday, and Labour bottled it today by getting distracted by Nat donations. Thanks #cabinetclub!
Hilarious. @trevormallard delivered Michael Cullen's address to Labour Party Fundraising Dinner when Lab last in govt! #nzqt
Turns out @trevormallard asked a whole lot of Parl written questions about cabinet clubs and shopped them to @TovaOBrien.
Look, I'm sorry, but Cabinet Club is a ridiculous name. Isn't National Bank up for grabs now after the ANZ merger? Much more apt.
Want my 10K back, you assholes. I thought you said "Cannabis Club."
Places you won't find poverty in New Zealand: Koru Club Northern Club Cabinet Club
Cabinet Clubs are not clubs, just as high-class prostitutes are not prostitutes, and conflicts of interest are not interests. #PlanetNats
The first rule of Cabinet Club is that rules can always be bought.
I'm starting a club where members instead pay to keep politicians AWAY from them. #CabinetClub
Sorry if we confused Ministers by asking about Cabinet Club, singular, rather than Cabinet Clubs #petergoodfellow
Are #CabinetClub points transferable to other loyalty Clubs? Can I pay off my Farmers Card with them?
Politics should be about equal acess for all Kiwis & not about buying into a #cabinetclub to get access to Govt ministers
You know how Paula Bennett has never heard of Cabinet Club? Ummmm … pic.twitter.com/07TZROGIYO
The first rule of Cabinet Club is to lie about knowing about Cabinet Club.
Paula Bennett has never heard of Cabinet Club — despite having answered a Parliamentary Q about it! http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/business/qwa/QWA_02791_2014/2791-2014-hon-trevor-mallard-to-the-minister-for-social … h/t @Kevthesecond
Here's an idea. Take the 3k, join the chch cabinet club, influence ministers into changing the welfare laws. #fullproofplan
Apparently @nzyoungnats are a shady, mysterious group that charge young people money to access Ministers and MPs! #cabinetclub
Might set up 'Journo Club' .. My house, three lucky donors, night on the piss with journos. Would it work? Then deny it. Of course.
It would work. I host Saino and Espiner, $20k, then Braunias and Campbell, $20k. Next day, Ali Mau and Lush $20k, Gower and Dann $20k. Yes?
In breaking news, TV3 will report that the National Party charges its members to attend party conferences. Where Ministers speak.
Look, the Cabinet Club is just a small billy club the PM belts errant cabinet ministers with, and then mutters "that's a paddling".
can't believe people are complaining about the cabinet club. how else are rich conservatives supposed to purchase privilege?
If Cabinet Club isn't about selling access to ministers, they sure chose a funny name for it
Cabinet makers must be so pissed off right now. #CabinetClub
I'm sure the woodworkers are annoyed that #CabinetClub has been taken by the Nats...
First rule about cabinet club is that you don't talk about cabinet club.
"I don't know what Cabinet Club is" is the new "I am Spartacus" except the opposite. #whatisCabinetClub
If you’re going to charge people for access to ministers “not present in a ministerial capacity”, best not call it “Cabinet Club”. #3News
