This from Fairfax:
 |
| Michelle Boag, Nationals great defender |
“Former National Party president Michelle Boag has accused female
opposition MPs of "parading their victimhood" after they stood up in
Parliament to talk about their experiences of sexual assault.
Boag made the comments in
response to a protest against Prime Minister John Key's comments that the
Labour Party was "backing the rapists" at the Christmas Island
detention centre.
One by one, a number of female
opposition MPs rose to demand an apology from Key, with some publicly stating
for the first time their experience as victims of sexual assault.
At least a dozen female MPs
either walked out in protest or were ejected by Speaker David Carter after he
turned off their microphones to prevent them from being heard.
Speaking to Radio Live, Boag said
the MPs had "made it all about them" instead of dealing with the
issues facing detainees."I was a bit disgusted by
those women standing up and parading their victimhood as if it was something
special." [Boag never conceded that Key wrong in that the numbers on Christmas Island...had no murderers etc]
Michelle Boag has a habit of defending some shady characters
she was a great mate of John Banks that great bastion of fair play, remember he
was the guy who couldn’t remember telling Kim Dotcom to split his donation into
two [2 x 25 thousand dollar lots rather than one 50 thousand dollar
donation] Bank’s election donation, Banks also couldn’t remember a helicopter
trip…
Michelle Boag had this to say about poor picked on John
Banks:
The verdict in the John Banks trial will send a "chill
up the spine" of every political candidate, says former National Party
president Michelle Boag.
Boag, who was an adviser to Banks
during the failed 2010 Auckland mayoral campaign, said although Banks had been
found guilty, he had done just the same as "every political candidate who has put in a donation form".
 |
| Dumped Act MP John Banks |
Justice Edwin Wylie found Banks guilty of filing a false
electoral expense return for his supercity election bid, saying Banks must have
been aware those two $25,000 donations which he declared as anonymous had in
fact been made by internet businessman Kim Dotcom. Boag said by long-held
convention, local body and national
political candidates weren't expected to probe closely the anonymity of
donations given to them. However, Wylie's ruling effectively said that
Banks "should have probed it".
False Vukcevic CV :
The Business council's current executive includes former Young Nats
president Daniel Fielding, and the vice-chairman is Auckland lawyer Stewart
Germann. Former National Party president Michelle Boag advises the executive.
Sources said MFAT officials were warned about concerns
within the council about Mr Vukcevic over a deal he did without initial council
knowledge.
 |
| Michael Vukceyic |
Senior figures in the council have been told of the false
claims in the CV.
Mr Germann said today that he was not aware of any problems
with Mr Vukcevic's CV and therefore MFAT and Mr McCully had not been informed.
He said The Dominion Post appeared to "be in possession of information of
which I am unaware so I am unable to comment further."
Michelle Boag a dumped National Party president yet again
has rushed into print to defend the indefensible. Her defence of Key after his
childlike tantrum in Parliament last week is normal behaviour for her. She
seems to feel that although he dumped her as president and appears to want
little to do with her she still feels the necessity to act as his mother.
But calling the behaviour of some women who stood in
parliaments debating chamber and stated that they were deeply offended by his
sexist and foolish outburst and sought an apology from Key for his idiotic
statement of suggesting that the Labour Party was supporting rapists.
Of course all of this could have been avoided if Key had
simply done the right and manly thing and apologised, but alas as usual he
continued ranting and raving and refused to even considering that an apology
was needed. Key knew that the speaker [David Cater] would do anything because
he never does…
I wonder if Michelle Boag blamed the young waitress whose
pony tail was yanked by John Key as she went about her work, not once, but up
to ten times after being requested to desist by her and even his wife. Answer
this question Michelle Boag…was Keys behaviour in pulling that woman’s pony
tail ‘Sexual’? When that young woman went public was she parading ‘her
victimhood’ This from Alison Mau of RadioLive:
 |
| Alison Mau. |
You have to admire Michelle
Boag for at least one thing – she stands steadfast in the path of any and all
criticism of the National Party, no matter what. But her impassioned statement
that, in getting themselves thrown out by the Speaker this week, a group of
female MPs were “parading their victimhood,” she has unwittingly triggered
another debate – where is it okay for victims to talk about sexual abuse?
Boag claimed that Turei, Delahunty, Davidson and the rest were doing
other New Zealanders who have survived sexual attacks a disservice by using
Parliament – a public platform, and one of privilege – to “give us their victim
statements.” This disgusted and offended her, she said, because other victims’
stories get no such prominence. They have no such platform.
Isn’t that the point?
Perhaps Michelle Boag will be furious and disgusted with me for talking
about my experience on the privileged public platform I enjoy every day (thank
you, RadioLIVE). Admittedly, I kept it short, gave an admission but few
details. Why so reticent? Because still, despite all the years that have passed
and all I now know about victim empowerment, I’m reluctant to bother you with
too much detail. That’s kind of sad in itself.
There were those, men and women, who called and emailed to applaud
Turei and the others. One texter said their act had made her feel “half normal
for the first time,” and that if they could survive and rise to the positions
they now have, then perhaps she could too. Another pointed out that “NZers have
tried to raise awareness of sexual violence on almost every frontier, and
little is done. Why not raise it in Parliament, aren’t they supposed to
addressing all social ills?”
So to Michelle and those who are concerned that highlighting sexual
abuse in Parliament is "not the proper forum" (a quote from another
of today’s emailers) I would say maybe that’s strictly, procedurally true. But
I don’t care.
You’ve gotta start somewhere" Quote ends..
These are the Wikipedia comments about Michelle Boag:
Boag was a
National Party activist, having joined
the Junior National Party in Auckland in the early 1970s. She was in the Prime
Minister’s press office in 1976, joined the National Party research unit and in
1985 was press officer to the Leader of the Opposition. She spent a short time
with the Liberal Party in Australia before moving to public relations work in
Auckland and Wellington.
[2]
Boag was a National Party Dominion councillor and on the
Dominion Publicity Committee before becoming
New Zealand National Party president
from 2001 to 2002, leading the party renewal in 2001-02 that brought
John Key to
power.
[3]
