This is a selection of some of the more interesting tweets in response to revealations about recent texts sent between John Key and Cameron Slater. As usual, the most recent tweets are first. [Read more below]
Alastair Thompson @althecat
The PM is amazingly vulnerable on all this, his mistakes with @Whaleoil are so personal. An unprecedented situation for a PM IMO.
Keir Leslie @KeirLeslie
Depressing thought for the day: this is the best time of the three year term for Key to have his worst time of the term.
Finlay Macdonald @MacFinlay
Calling the PM's obfuscations sophistry is unfair to all decent, upstanding sophists.
Philip Lyth @philiplyth
Wait a moment. Slater says both that Police are investigating attempt to cause him harm AND that he had an autocorrect fail? How stupid.
Jordan McCluskey @prinnbanktce
When the house of cards comes tumbling down, see how all the kings and queens full into ruin.
Jarrod Gilbert @JarrodGilbertNZ
Not too long ago, many thought John Key would be remembered as a 'do nothing' prime minister. Gee, what he'd give for the legacy now.
Dovil @Dovil
I didn't read the report, I didn't know what was going on, I don't remember what happened, I didn't understand question. Mr Key, take a bow.
Jonathan King @MrJonathanKing
Is "I misheard" the new "I can't recall"?
BestestLeftist @aaronincognito
Key is spinning plates. He's dashing from reports to texts, trying to keep the lies spinning. How long before it all starts crashing down?
Ana Samways @AnaSamways
Cam Slater says that he never said Labour was trying to 'kill' him, says the party had tried to 'kiss' him. Blames autocorrect.
Hamish Keith @hamish_keith
Andrew Little claims he has not be briefed by SIS on the Whaleoil killing attempt but thought Judith Collins had thrown him under a bus
Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
John Key's options: 1. Admit he told a lie. 2. "Brain Fade" 3. "I misinterpreted question" 4. Deny, use attack as defence.
> Patrick Gower @patrickgowernz
So, John Key's approach was: 3. I misheard question ("I misinterpreted question") & 4. Deny, use attack as defence.
Philip Matthews @secondzeit
Can all press gallery reporters please speak VERY SLOWLY AND CLEARLY to the Prime Minister from now on?
Philip Matthews @secondzeit
Key "misheard" the question. Just like he "misinterpreted" the one about Phillip Smith.
Joel Rowan @RealJoelRowan
A fair few people in National probably thought about trying to kill Slater as well tbh.
Election Satire @2014satire
Police investigating after reports leading political figure is "acting like he's on drugs"
Deborah Russell @BeeFaerie
If only John Key had thought to say that it was his 'office' txting Cameron Slater, not him. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/63583181/How-did-Key-mislead-Parliament …
Jarrod Gilbert @JarrodGilbertNZ
Distinct lack of success in killing Cameron Slater. *Just another addition to Labour’s list of failures in 2014.
d.a.v.e @caffeine_addict
so Labour cant even kill people properly? How are they expected to govern?
Ministry of Spin @MinistryofSpin
Cameron Slater accuses Labour of trying to kill him - assumes organisational skills Labour has yet to demonstrate
Jesse Mulligan @JesseMulligan ·
It must be impossible to tell whether John Key is signing his name at the end of texts, or telling you he's just kidding. #JK
NZ Question Time @Alt_NZQT
2017 Campaign: If Labour can't be trusted to assassinate Cameron Slater, how can you trust them to run the country?
Reed Fleming @reedfleming
Does the fact that PMs office released texts, and that "PM" is identified as the sender mean that further texts to slater are OIAable?
Jackson James Wood @_jjw_
Hope John Key has a waterproof phone what with his leaky texts.
Andrea Vance @avancenz ·
Of all the headlines I expected to see this year "Labour tried to kill me" was not one.
> Toby Manhire@toby_etc
@avancenz Labour had nine long years to kill Cameron Slater
Toby Manhire @toby_etc ·
Can we call it txtg8?
RATm @Dirtyrat200
Slater sees Phil Rudd on TV "Yeah, thats him, the pinko scum"
Danyl Mclauchlan @danylmc ·
Poison tipped tipline #SlaterAssasinationPlot
Clint Smith @ClintVSmith
It's not usual newspaper policy to reprint unevidenced defamatory conspiracy theories as their main headline, is it?
Will de Cleene @ZippyGonzales ·
Spam is unsolicited. The word you're looking for is enabling.
Lamia @LI_politico ·
If a political party is behind a plot to murder you shouldn't you go to the police?
Ben Gracewood @nzben ·
Logistically, how does the Labour Party kill a man? Specifically targeted welfare laws? I'm baffled.
David Farrar @dpfdpf ·
I thought the campaign was peak weirdness, but we have now reached a new level.
Andrea Vance @avancenz ·
I really hope Labour's first #nzqt question to the PM today is: "do u stand by all ur st8ments"
Clint Smith @ClintVSmith ·
It's not usual newspaper policy to reprint unevidenced defamatory conspiracy theories as their main headline, is it?
Danyl Mclauchlan @danylmc ·
'Strike me down and I will get more blog traffic than you can imagine.' Slater to McCarten, probably
Dovil @Dovil ·
All for funny side, because hey, you have to laugh at wtf moments. But a man with an obsession with guns is having paranoid delusions. Um.
Clint Smith @ClintVSmith ·
Key's texts show him giving succor to slater's defamatory fantasies, and now he's republished them
Paora Ropata @kiaora4that ·
Apparently Labour put a contract out on The Whale but couldn't get resource consent from any council to beach the mofo.
Matt Nippert @MattNippert ·
So Slater's spinning the release of his texts to Key as just collateral damage from a triumphant canary-trap? Chaos and Mayhem strike again!
Dr. Jonathan Jon @jusinsider
@danylmc we now know why the urgency for the SIS to get more power. It is to stop @nzlabour from killing Slater.
GCSB @GCSBIntercepts
"Look, I may have snap chatted him that night as well but I can't be sure. It depends on whether he uses the alias Blubber Boy 69."
David Slack @DavidSlack ·
That assassination plot chronology in full. 1. Sir Geoffrey Palmer appointed to Whaling Commission. 2. Cameron completely loses his shit.
West Side Tory @tauhenare ·
The most interesting story in the @nzherald this morning is "How to kill a Whale" still no answers but would make a great book. #Whalehunter
Danyl Mclauchlan @danylmc ·
Key somehow forgot about that recent text exchange with Slater in which the the Whale accused Labour of trying to kill him?
jo @jofromgreylynn
Edwards from #rnz put in an OIA before Christmas asking for all texts/communication between the PM and Slater, hasnt even had a reply.
Duncan Garner @Garner_Live
Key couldn't remember texting Whale like he couldn't remember hosting Lord Ashcroft - at his house! Remember? More on @RadioLIVENZ Drive 3pm
Firstline @FirstlineNZ ·
Little denies staffer Matt McCarten is behind the leaked report. "I know his level of computer skills... He struggles to open his emails."
Alastair Thompson @althecat ·
@NzMorningReport you should have @danylmc on to explain how the text story emerged, it's a peak cray tale http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/the-very-odd-slightly-left-of-centre/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter …
David Slack @DavidSlack
Woah, this changes everything. When the PM was telling all those lies, HE HAD HIS FINGERS CROSSED. God, MSM, you're useless.
David Slack @DavidSlack
Plot against Slater now known to include Obama, Putin, Rolf Harris and aliens in deep cover inside Philae lander
David Slack @DavidSlack
Hi. I'm John. I'm 53, like golf, long walks through banks, making Dad jokes, and golf. Am textually curious. No time wasters.
David Slack @DavidSlack
WHALE POETRY Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn't there again today This whole thing's getting super cray
Lamia @LI_politico
So the PM changed his number in September!! http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10460563/Dirty-Politics-latest-scalp-John-Keys-phone-number … It's not "unsolicited" if you give the guy your new number!
Lamia @LI_politico
That text exchange with PM and WO has a shit ton of allegations that people could focus on instead of the the fact that the PM lied.
Keith Ng @keith_ng ·
Prediction: Between Key's dwindling options and Slater's wish to go out in a blaze of glory, #whalemageddon will not be averted.
Keith Ng @keith_ng
Looking forward to @Whaleoil producing an umbrella tipped with plutonium with isotopic signature matching that of Fraser House plutonium.
Lew @LewSOS
The Thick Of It is actually a pretty good guide here. The first few dozen layers of mendacity, skullduggery and bullshit kinda hold together
> Lew @LewSOS
But it's when you have to keep building that they start to get shaky. Bullshit makes a worse foundation than sand, and messier than cards.
Toby Manhire @toby_etc
Sorry if this has already been thrashed out, but is the assessment that Slater was punishing Key or that Slater's blogger pet betrayed him?
Felix Marwick @felixmarwick
when I think this year can't get any more bizarre - politics proves me wrong
Clint Smith @ClintVSmith ·
When Key said he received unsolicited text from Slater he "briefly acknowledged", was he misleading House? He had a substantial conversation
Rob Hosking @robhosking ·
Odd thing to forget, someone texting you that the Labour Party is trying to kill them. You'd think it would kind of stick in the mind
Toby Manhire @toby_etc ·
Lawyers: Could Matt McCarten sue Slater or Prime Minister for libel for saying/publishing that he was involved in illegal hacking?
Bounder @DawgBelly ·
What I don't understand is why after the whole election debacle Key didn't change his phone number and not give it to Slater? Unless...
Lew @LewSOS
Yesterday upon the stair I got a text that wasn't there It suddenly was there today But how I wish it'd go away
Lew @LewSOS
#textses
Jessica Williams @mizjwilliams
also - do text convos not usually start with "hey you", "what up?", "OMGWTFGUESSWHAT?!" etc. Is there a bit missing from the start I wonder?
Jessica Williams @mizjwilliams ·
The kind of texts I forget: "OMG running late sorry", "call me asap", "miss your face", etc.
> Jessica Williams @mizjwilliams ·
The ones I don't/wouldn't: things about leaking reports, hacking conspiracies, plots to kill people. I generally remember those ones.
NZ Question Time @Alt_NZQT ·
Did Cameron Slater take his concern "Labour tried to kill him" to Police? Maybe the PM did on his behalf?
Ginny Turnbull @ginnyturnbull
Dang, I was sure we voted down that 'murder Cameron Slater' remit at last Labour conference.
Andrea Vance @avancenz
will WO get an apology from PM for this privacy breach?
Philip Matthews @secondzeit
The way that the name "Jason" comes up so easily and casually in that exchange, as though he is a good pal of both of them.
Giovanni Tiso @gtiso
Cameron Slater is abbreviated as CS, whereas John Key is abbreviated as... PM. Whoops.
Giovanni Tiso @gtiso
You know how Key insists he doesn't talk to Slater in his capacity as PM? Look again at that document released by his office.
Philip Matthews @secondzeit
I can see why Key thinks that the guy who claims the Labour Party is trying to kill him is a reliable source about the SIS OIA.
Giovanni Tiso @gtiso ·
Wow. Slater and the PM couldn't sound more chummy in that exchange.
Andrew Little @AndrewLittleMP
@GbatNZ Have searched Leader's office. No gun cabinet. No knives. Also checked library. No candlestick holder, nor Miss Scarlett
Giovanni Tiso @gtiso
For the record, when Slater says "they tried to kill me", he means Dirty Politics was a plot to drive him to commit suicide.
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery ·
What's the purpose of releasing the texts? To make it look like Labour does #DirtyPolitics too. JOHN AND CAMERON AND THE REAL VICTIMS etc
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery ·
By my count this is the second time the Prime Minister has released Slater's private communications. Is this the "double rule"?
Reed Fleming @reedfleming
Key needs to learn how to use snapchat.
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery
I don't know about you, but I don't easily forget conversations where someone says that a political party is trying to kill them.
James Cardno @jamescardno ·
On one hand, I find #peakcray funny as hell. On the other, it's sort of shorthand for "systematic corruption of our parliamentary system".
Philip Matthews @secondzeit ·
Now that we see how long the text conversation was, it makes it even more unlikely that Key forgot about it the next day, and today.
d.a.v.e @caffeine_addict
I wonder if John Key and Cameron Slater had textual communications tonight.
Sanjay Patel @spat106
What John Key is trying to say that the text message from Cameron Slater is as unsolicited as a hug from Roger Sutton.
Keith Ng @keith_ng
#whalemageddon
Miriyana Alexander @miriyananz
Best sign yet the govt doesn't disregard #dirtypolitics. Key admits text exchange with Slater http://nzh.tw/11364989 via @nzherald
Philip Matthews @secondzeit
If Key has lied about something this basic, maybe there does need to be a wider investigation into the whole Dirty Politics story.
Paora Ropata @kiaora4that
The PM would've fixed up that little faux pas regarding Cameron even if txt records hadn't been leaked, right?
Raybon Kan @RaybonKan
John Key's only way out is to appoint Whaleoil as boss of SIS, so all their dealings become official secrets.
Philip Matthews @secondzeit
This isn't about being left or right, or party political, but I'm pissed off that we have a Prime Minister whose first instinct is to lie.
