well winston could be behind the whole thing all the way this reporter says he was working for the Herald Was he ? banks and Key were going to have meeting which was well known so get this ex cop caught as part of miltant uprising to leave his recorder, claim he had deleted it and then hands out a transcript which happens to contain some juicy reference to old people which Winston finds very useful to pull his party up from 2% polling and then who suddenly say they are polling 4.90 the herald run by an ex News of the world editor and how come Winston knew so much so quickly simply I smell a rat as his response was just too well organised and primed so start think folks the old smooth talker is at it again remember the owen saga, when he finally told the truth he knew about it all the way along.

I can't believe that 8(?) days out we still haven't had any TV coverage about the referendum voting options themselves. Sure, go to a website and find out if you can, but why haven't the options been spelt out in adverts instead of the annoying orange man telling us to go elsewhere to look? Talk about stacking the options! People aren't going to vote for the other options if they are unsure as to how they work.

I like the Welsh idea. They have MMP but they passed a law that said that MP's could be on the party list or they run for an electorate - but they couldn't do both. That might curb some of the RORTing and lack of respect this generation of MP's have for their positions and electorates.

Gotta love the hyprocisy from Labour, Greens and NZF - demanding the release of the recording when they think it will benefit them then, when it doesn't, decide it shouldn't be released and is a distraction. Labour, Greens and NZF - liars and hypocrites!

"Mr Goff said he would not use the tea tapes in the leaders' debate. "If they come up, I'll respond to them ... It's not the issue for this election.""

So, why did you try to make them an issue? Why did you insist they should be released? Why do you want to encourage breaking of the law by rewarding it?

"Green co-leader Russel Norman agreed the focus should move back on to policy, although the tapes had raised some serious concerns, especially the police search warrants against the media."

Yes, how dare they investigate a claim of illegality being made - thats not the polices job, is it?

"Effectively, as a result of a complaint from the prime minister of New Zealand, the police are now raiding our media and I'm actually quite disturbed about that."

Maybe they shouldn't have been implicated in illegal activities, then.

"I think Mr Key needs to reconsider his strategy because this is not the kind of thing we want in our democracy."

Who says? In OUR democracy (not your Australian one, Norman) I would like no organisation above the law (such as the media). Maybe you like having 'party favourites' above the law, but I know I prefer one law for all...

If voters want election talk back in this then the Media have to report it and ask questions about it, not about other rubbish.

It's shows how much of a nation of idiots some are that they don't recognise the media can make a goodf campaign bad by not reporting what they should and reporting small insignificant things as a distraction.

What a lot of trash - you guys write the stories, you ran the issue, don't play all high an mighty now.

Rob, suggest you look up the definition of private conversation. Calling the discussion between Key and Banks being private is, at best, debateable (legally). Also worth pointing out, as it has been before, that John Key and the National government pushed through the retrospective bill regarding illegal recordings of truly private conversations. Bit silly to be complaining about it now.

Bryan   #103   via mobile 12:12 am Nov 19 2011

We're focused on the bloody tea cup saga because that's all the media are showing us! What about the referendum!? Really embarrassed by the NZ media. Pushing their own agenda. You're all sacked.

What policy? National has no policies. Just a leader with a teflon smile that's just slipped down the side of his face...

Opinion poll: Do you think the tea tape saga is distracting from the real election issues? 0: Yes, we should be focused on the politics

Ummmmm Is this not politics? (to the right-winged Fairfax-owned StuffNZ pandering to it's conservative, white, babyboomer base)

The media needs to take the blame for this. Why were there packs of journos derailing policy debates/ events with questions about these tapes?

I'm no fan of National, but I don't think the media spotlight on the tapes is fair, or worthwhile.

Journalists! Get back to reporting/researching policy!