spinofflive
toby (6)

PoliticsOctober 16, 2018

Jami-Lee Ross accuses Bridges of corruption: the National implosion, explained

toby (6)

So remember how there was a bit of a battle going on between National leader Simon Bridges and Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross? It has just stepped up about 16 million notches.

Jami-Lee Ross has gone absolutely all-in against the National party leadership of Simon Bridges, in a way that has no obvious precedent in New Zealand politics. Not only did the Botany MP say Simon Bridges had poor political judgement and was doing a bad job of leading, he made an incredibly serious accusation of breaking electoral law, and says he will deliver evidence of that to the police. He’s at the same time lit a series of fuses in the National caucus, and resigned both his caucus spot and his seat, which will bring a byelection in the coming months.

But what exactly is being alleged? Jami-Lee Ross alleged in his press conference on the parliamentary tiles this morning, not far from a National caucus meeting assembled to discuss his future in the party, that he was directed by Simon Bridges to split up a donation of $100,000 into smaller amounts, so they could be hidden from the Electoral Commission. The donation was made by a Chinese businessman, named by Ross as Zhang Yikun, with whom Bridges had dinner.

Ross said he taped a phone conversation with Simon Bridges discussing the donation, and will deliver that tape to the police, before providing it to the media. Moreover, he has accused Simon Bridges of being “a corrupt politician”, among the most serious and defamatory allegations that can be made against an MP.

The MP for Botany said he will resign his membership of the party, and his seat, in order to stand again at an upcoming by-election as an independent. He said that vote will be a referendum in the safe National seat on the leadership of Simon Bridges.

But this all happened ages ago! The alleged events being talked about are months old now. So why just bring it up now? “I should have said something earlier,” said Ross. “I should have known it was wrong. I was naive, and I’m sorry.”

And that whole medical leave thing – was that real? Yes, Jami-Lee Ross confirmed that he’d had a mental breakdown. But he also said he had been declared fit to return to work by a doctor.

And he also pre-empted another charge that he said had been levelled at him and was likely to be made public. Speaking about an alleged smear campaign against him, he said four complaints had been made against him for sexual harassment to the National party’s hierarchy. He believes the allegations have been trumped up, and says that when he asked for “natural justice” on the complaints, he was told that the number of complainants could be inflated to 15. If any of the alleged complainants come forward, then this argument could collapse very quickly.

“I have done absolutely nothing wrong”: Simon Bridges at his press conference. Photo: RNZ

Immediately afterwards, Simon Bridges says the caucus votes unanimously to expel Jami-Lee Ross. “It’s the strongest possible action the caucus could take, and that’s because we’re united,” said Mr Bridges, flanked by a range of his most senior MPs.

And what of the allegations? “They’re entirely false. And I invite Jami-Lee Ross to take those to the police.” He said there was “zero chance” that such an action would succeed, but refused to get into the details of any donations. He said he had done “absolutely nothing wrong”.

“We as a caucus are now going to draw a line under this,” he added optimistically.


The Bulletin is The Spinoff’s acclaimed, free daily curated digest of all the most important stories from around New Zealand delivered directly to your inbox each morning.

Sign up now



Before the press conference, National MPs were unanimous in their condemnation of Jami-Lee Ross’s actions. They all declared their support for Simon Bridges. However, if the allegations about falsifying donations are proven, then Mr Bridges’ leadership would be utterly untenable. A reminder here, for legal reasons – these are at this stage unproven allegations.

It’s a dramatic falling out for the two politicians. Ross acted as Bridges’ “numbers man” (the guy who makes sure the votes are secured) during the recent leadership contest. They were close allies. On Politik earlier this morning, there was a report that Jami-Lee Ross expected more in return for his support than what he ended up getting – a seat on the front bench and a few portfolios.

Yesterday, Simon Bridges’ position was very clear – he completely denied engaging in any form of corruption or breaking electoral law. Today, he was alliterating – “he’s lying, he’s leaking, he’s lashing out.” 

And what about the thing that started it all – the leak of Simon Bridges’ expenses a few days before they were due to be released? The PWC report commissioned by Simon Bridges pointed to Ross as the most likely culprit, but didn’t go so far to say that it had been proven. And Ross still denies it. It seems like a rather small thing to blow a party up over in hindsight.

Keep going!
Opposition leader Simon Bridges is throwing up his arms in horror at the idea of a capital gains tax. (Photo: Getty Images)
Opposition leader Simon Bridges is throwing up his arms in horror at the idea of a capital gains tax. (Photo: Getty Images)

PoliticsOctober 16, 2018

Jami-Lee Ross has left Bridges’ leadership hanging by a thread

Opposition leader Simon Bridges is throwing up his arms in horror at the idea of a capital gains tax. (Photo: Getty Images)
Opposition leader Simon Bridges is throwing up his arms in horror at the idea of a capital gains tax. (Photo: Getty Images)

Even a unanimous vote by the National caucus to give the rebel MP the boot may not be enough to save the leader, writes Toby Manhire

As he isn’t shy to remind us, Winston Peters rightly predicted Brexit and rightly predicted President Trump. He probably predicted the kayak octoslap and Lotto history being made by a woman from the North Shore. And his favourite augury of recent months – that Simon Bridges will not contest the next election as leader of the National Party – is looking likelier and likelier by the moment.

This morning National Party MPs gather at the Beehive to decide whether to expel Jami-Lee Ross from their caucus. Pending an unlikely follow-through on the threats the Botany MP issued on Twitter yesterday about secret and incriminating recordings of the National leader, it will almost certainly be game over for him. Bridges’ best case scenario is a swift, decisive and unanimous (JLR excepted) defenestration. But what then for the leader?

Two of New Zealand’s busiest political pundits, Michelle Boag and Bryce Edwards, suggested on RNZ this morning that Bridges would emerge from all of this stronger. That’s a bizarre argument. Even should everything go as well for him today as possible, the question is not whether he will be left stronger but the extent to which his grip on the leadership is weakened.

For more than a decade, the National parliamentary party has evinced, day after day, a formidable discipline. Any bubbles of discontent – the Aaron Gilmours and Todd Barclays of yore – have been rapidly flattened. In the days after Bill English announced he was chucking it in, there were a few teasing moments as party factions and backbiting materialised in the press. But even that was extinguished pretty quickly.

 

This is another order altogether. And it isn’t over. Jami-Lee Ross would have us believe that he has evidence on unlawful plotting over donations on the part of Bridges – something vehemently denied by the leader. As a former front-bencher and party whip, he will be able to cause a good bit of damage if he is determined to go out guns blazing – and god knows they were blazing away in yesterday’s tweets.

There remains open the question of the “other behaviour” by Ross that Bridges raised in his press conference yesterday. Bridges also invited media to “draw your own conclusions” about whether there were any other caucus colleagues confederate with Ross. Even a unanimous show of hands today can’t eradicate suspicion of a rebel faction.

And don’t forget that the PWC report commissioned by Bridges is not quite a lay down misère. The metadata it relies upon to point the finger at Ross concerns calls and texts with an RNZ journalist and a police commander, but not the content of any of those. Ross says the journalist – it isn’t Tova O’Brien, but a reporter involved in the reporting of the follow-up story about the supposed leaker asking for the original inquiry to be shut down in the cause of their mental health – is a friend. The report offers, implicitly as supporting evidence, exchanges between Bridges and the speaker’s office around the time that the Trevor Mallard opted to end his inquiry. Mallard has since pointed out that he had been trying to get in touch with Ross believing him to be overseeing the National inquiry – it is not supporting evidence at all.

As the report itself states, ” This evidence is not conclusive.”

Most critically, this rare exhalation of internal division is bound to damage National in the polls. The only thing more awe-inspiring than the National Party’s consistent discipline is the National Party’s consistent polling. Could it be, just possibly, that they’re linked? And were National to fall by two or three or four points or more in the next published polling, National MPs in marginal seats or the grey area of the list will start thinking about their electability. And there is no greater guarantor of instability in a caucus than its members fretting about losing their jobs. And once all that starts, it’s hard to stop. Just ask Phil Goff, David Shearer, David Cunliffe and Andrew Little.

Bridges hasn’t done anything like a bad job. Yes, the decision to demand, and push on with, an inquiry on the relatively harmless leak of some travel expenses was a bad call – but it’s one that hindsight has mutated into a far graver mistake that it really was. But neither has he done anything brilliant. Cruelly, his greatest success this term was probably right at the start, when he snookered Labour on a parliamentary procedure matter. Here’s a photo of that moment. Have a look at who is in his ear.

Simon Bridges speaks to Labour MP Chris Hipkins during the Commission Opening of parliament. Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

There is at least one compelling argument in favour of Bridges hanging on to the job, at least in the short term. It has become axiomatic that opposition leader is the shittest job in politics. The Jacinda Ardern example suggests that the best length of time to be the leader of the opposition is no time at all. If you were hoping to topple Bridges as leader of the National Party, would you really do it now?

But wait there's more!