The Hullabaloo over the Leak of Simon Bridges' Email

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UPDATE. Jami-Lee Ross unanimously expelled from National caucus. $1m by-election in Botany.
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I really don't see why the hullabaloo over Jami-Lee Ross and Simon Bridges. Yes, there's been a leak and, yes, we now have the probable culprit. Thank goodness. The media has been speculating — and casting doubt on Bridges' leadership— for weeks. Or is it months? In my opinion, this is an internal matter for National and should only be of passing interest to the media and the public. Bridges handled it in the best possible way, and no doubt the National caucus will do the same. 

Let them get on with the job, and start reporting on more important things that really matter. Taking cheap shots at the political parties and their leaders in "opinion" pieces based on rumour and speculation is not keeping the public informed: it's gossip. The media's focus should be on policies and what the political parties are doing about them. The media's political job is to inform, report and analyse news; not to make —and make up— the news as if they were the main actors.

Having said that, I'll let Alex Braae and The Bulletin have the first and last say on this blog. Read on, McDuff.

-- ACW

Tuesday 16 October  Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin, by Alex Braae and supported by Vector.  Brutal day looms for National amid Jami-Lee Ross saga, serious allegations made by Nicky Hager against NZDF, and damning indictment of MSD culture.The National Party has found itself plunged into a crisis over MP Jami-Lee Ross. He was named in a report as the most likely culprit to have leaked leader Simon Bridges' expenses months ago. It was an extremely minor brouhaha at the time, but now has blown up with major implications. Mr Ross himself sent an extraordinary series of tweets, saying he was about to be scapegoated, mere minutes before Simon Bridges fronted a press conference. Here's a first take explainer I put together yesterday afternoon to catch you up. The question is after such a dramatic day yesterday, what happens today? First of all, the National party caucus will meet today, and decide what to do about the Botany MP and former party whip. Jami-Lee Ross is far from a nobody backbencher – he has been in Parliament since 2011 and appeared to be rising up the ranks. That trajectory seems certain to end. Stuff's political editor Tracy Watkins writes that caucus is basically certain to suspend him, and expulsion also isn't off the table. On Radio NZ, political editor Jane Patterson writes that it's almost definitely the end of Mr Ross's political career, but he's trying to take Mr Bridges down with him. If he is expelled, what then? Writing on the NBR (paywalled) Brent Edwards says the recently passed waka-jumping law could be invoked, forcing a by-election in Botany. That would be ironic, as National has so vehemently opposed the law. Were that to happen, Mr Ross could try and win re-election, and come back as an independent, or stand with a new party. Is a coup in the wind? So far, National MPs who have spoken out have unanimously condemned Mr Ross. Judith Collins and Mark Mitchell – both former leadership contenders – went on Checkpoint to back Mr Bridges. Writing on the influential Kiwiblog, National-aligned pollster David Farrar also said the party's leadership needs to act decisively against Mr Ross, to ward off perceptions of disunity. However over on right-wing blog Whaleoil, Cameron Slater says Simon Bridges is also "exposed for his weakness as a leader." It's messy stuff. So why did this all go down? Politik has an answer – Mr Ross is understood to have wanted a big package of prizes for supporting Simon Bridges in the leadership election at the start of the year. The jobs he was allegedly gunning for would have made him extremely powerful within the party. But he didn't get them. The article certainly plays into the narrative being put by Mr Bridges – that these are the actions of a lone man lashing out. But wait, there's more: One of the tweets posted by Mr Ross made deeply serious allegations against Simon Bridges, that I'll quote here in full: "When I started to become expendable, I confronted him with evidence that I had recorded him discussing with me unlawful activity that he was involved in. Working on his instruction, he asked me to do things with election donations that broke the law." It's worth noting that Simon Bridges completely rejected those allegations at the press conference yesterday. Whether or not that is true, their could be serious legal and political consequences of that for either or both men. Watch this space. Finally, you can read the PWC report into the leak here, and a slight clarification made to it by Speaker Trevor Mallard here. One important thing to reiterate about the PWC report, which has sort of been lost – it does not conclusively say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jami-Lee Ross was the culprit. It just says the evidence points to him as the most likely leaker.