A juicy scandal and Judith Collins

Cameron Slater managed to arouse my curiosity. Of course I have seen him on TV, but he hardly registered as someone I would take a real interest in. The Judith Collins saga however has broader implications than sheer gossip on a doubtfully interesting gossip blog. I am trying to reconstruct what happened. Mark Hotchin, formerly of the disastrous Hanover Finance Company rings up his good mate, Judith Collins, who happens to be the Minister of Justice, in charge of, among other things, the Serious Fraud Office. 'Hi darling', say Mark, 'one of your pen pushers is making a nuisance of himself. Just because Eric and I lost a half a billion dollars of investors' funds and tried to help a bit by reinvesting my hard-earned dividends to make the books look better, this chap Adam Feeley or whoever he is, who thinks that he runs the Serious Fraud Office, is thinking of bringing criminal charges against me. We can't have this sort of thing going on, can we?' 'Sweetie' Judith, not wearing her ministerial hat replied: 'I'll see what I can do. Some of these bureaucrats I am supposed to be working with, are getting too big for their boots. See if my good friend, Cameron, has any dirt on this chap.' So one thing lead to another, Cameron managed to find a speck of mud to throw at Feeley, Feeley resigned, his successor dropped criminal charges against Hotchin, and all ended well. Except that it didn't. Judith Collins was ignominiously fired. Mark Hotchin sympathized 'Judith dear, sorry that you got into all this trouble, but I am sure that you will bounce back again. These socialists, who have taken over the government don't value enterprise. No wonder that the country is in the pickle it is in. Entrepreneurship, as you know involves taking risks. Sometimes you have to put a spin on things, make products look better than they are in the cold light of day. There is nothing criminal about that. It is thinking outside the square. It is such pen pushers in the ministries that hold back development. What sort of government is this, supposedly committed to free markets and free enterprise, that spends money on breakfasts for children from families too dumb to look after themselves, instead of using the money to give enterprising businessmen a leg up. You may be better out of this government. When you come back you can take a sword to them.' Judith Collins, I am sure, appreciated these sentiments, after all, while she was accountable to pretty boy investment banker turned Prime Minister, she couldn't say what she really wanted to say. But when she comes back she will sort out this lot. So we have a real juicy scandal on our hands, which might make the coming elections interesting at least.