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| New Zealand election: party over for Kim Dotcom as PM wins with landslide | New Zealand election: party over for Kim Dotcom as PM wins with landslide |
| (6 months later) | |
| In the 32 months since the ostentatious FBI-backed raid on Kim Dotcom's opulent home north of Auckland, the German émigré has become an integral, irrepressible and unavoidable force in New Zealand politics. | In the 32 months since the ostentatious FBI-backed raid on Kim Dotcom's opulent home north of Auckland, the German émigré has become an integral, irrepressible and unavoidable force in New Zealand politics. |
| Undaunted by US attempts to extradite him to face charges stemming from alleged copyright breaches by his Megaupload website, Dotcom mounted a vigorous counterattack, both in the courts and the public square, ultimately leading to the resignation of two ministers of the crown and a seething feud with the prime minister, John Key. | Undaunted by US attempts to extradite him to face charges stemming from alleged copyright breaches by his Megaupload website, Dotcom mounted a vigorous counterattack, both in the courts and the public square, ultimately leading to the resignation of two ministers of the crown and a seething feud with the prime minister, John Key. |
| Dotcom's most audacious political intervention, however, came with the founding of the Internet party and the brokering of a surprising strategic alliance with the Maori-centred leftwing Mana Movement. The two parties were united by a determination to change the government, and fuelled by a donation of about $4m (£2m) from Dotcom. As a non-citizen, Dotcom could not stand for parliament, and so was given the official title "party visionary". | Dotcom's most audacious political intervention, however, came with the founding of the Internet party and the brokering of a surprising strategic alliance with the Maori-centred leftwing Mana Movement. The two parties were united by a determination to change the government, and fuelled by a donation of about $4m (£2m) from Dotcom. As a non-citizen, Dotcom could not stand for parliament, and so was given the official title "party visionary". |
| That vision and the mission imploded catastrophically, however, with New Zealand voters returning Key's National party to government by a landslide, and the Mana leader, Hone Harawira, turfed out in his northern Maori seat, Te Tai Tokerau. Internet Mana was never likely to meet the 5% threshold required to gain seats in parliament, so relied on the other criterion, a constituency seat. This weekend Key can boast the best result for any party since New Zealand introduced its proportional system in 1996, with 48% of the vote. Labour, the main opposition party, by contrast received a dismal 25%. | That vision and the mission imploded catastrophically, however, with New Zealand voters returning Key's National party to government by a landslide, and the Mana leader, Hone Harawira, turfed out in his northern Maori seat, Te Tai Tokerau. Internet Mana was never likely to meet the 5% threshold required to gain seats in parliament, so relied on the other criterion, a constituency seat. This weekend Key can boast the best result for any party since New Zealand introduced its proportional system in 1996, with 48% of the vote. Labour, the main opposition party, by contrast received a dismal 25%. |
| Speaking at the Internet party's gathering at the Cloud – an elaborate stocking-shaped tent erected on the Auckland waterfront for the 2011 Rugby World Cup – Dotcom accepted that he bore responsibility for the humiliating result. "The brand Dotcom was poison," he told party supporters and the media. | Speaking at the Internet party's gathering at the Cloud – an elaborate stocking-shaped tent erected on the Auckland waterfront for the 2011 Rugby World Cup – Dotcom accepted that he bore responsibility for the humiliating result. "The brand Dotcom was poison," he told party supporters and the media. |
| Since his arrest in 2012, Dotcom has been a polarising figure in New Zealand, but his reputation suffered serious damage in the extravagant "Moment of Truth" event that he hosted with the Internet party at Auckland Town Hall last Monday. | Since his arrest in 2012, Dotcom has been a polarising figure in New Zealand, but his reputation suffered serious damage in the extravagant "Moment of Truth" event that he hosted with the Internet party at Auckland Town Hall last Monday. |
| Dotcom had long promised to produce evidence showing the prime minister was in cahoots with the Hollywood bosses who were pursuing him in the courts; and that contrary to Key's claims, he had in fact known about the Megaupload founder long before the eve of the FBI raid, and had worked to ensure that Dotcom was granted residency in New Zealand, from where he could be plucked by American prosecutors. | Dotcom had long promised to produce evidence showing the prime minister was in cahoots with the Hollywood bosses who were pursuing him in the courts; and that contrary to Key's claims, he had in fact known about the Megaupload founder long before the eve of the FBI raid, and had worked to ensure that Dotcom was granted residency in New Zealand, from where he could be plucked by American prosecutors. |
| The afternoon before the Town Hall spectacle, however, an email was published by the NZ Herald newspaper, dated 2010 and purportedly showing the Warner Bros executive telling a Motion Picture Association of America executive that Key had "told me in private that they are granting Dotcom residency despite pushback from officials about his criminal past". | The afternoon before the Town Hall spectacle, however, an email was published by the NZ Herald newspaper, dated 2010 and purportedly showing the Warner Bros executive telling a Motion Picture Association of America executive that Key had "told me in private that they are granting Dotcom residency despite pushback from officials about his criminal past". |
| The email was swiftly dismissed as a fake by the parties involved and almost completely ignored at the "Moment of Truth", with Internet party officials saying it had been referred to a parliamentary committee for investigation and therefore was out of bounds. | The email was swiftly dismissed as a fake by the parties involved and almost completely ignored at the "Moment of Truth", with Internet party officials saying it had been referred to a parliamentary committee for investigation and therefore was out of bounds. |
| At the same Town Hall event, Glenn Greenwald, supported via videolink by whistleblower fugitives Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, laid out the argument that New Zealanders had been misled by Key, who has repeatedly insisted there is no mass surveillance of his countrymen. | At the same Town Hall event, Glenn Greenwald, supported via videolink by whistleblower fugitives Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, laid out the argument that New Zealanders had been misled by Key, who has repeatedly insisted there is no mass surveillance of his countrymen. |
| Key lashed back at Greenwald, calling him "Dotcom's little henchman" and a "loser", but later conceded that Snowden "may well be right" in his claim that the NSA monitors New Zealand communications through the XKeyScore tool. For the prime minister it became convenient to be able to dismiss the surveillance revelations as just another part of the Dotcom circus. | Key lashed back at Greenwald, calling him "Dotcom's little henchman" and a "loser", but later conceded that Snowden "may well be right" in his claim that the NSA monitors New Zealand communications through the XKeyScore tool. For the prime minister it became convenient to be able to dismiss the surveillance revelations as just another part of the Dotcom circus. |
| "Dotcom's credibility," said the NZ Herald in an editorial, "has dropped even faster than his party's standing in opinion polls". | "Dotcom's credibility," said the NZ Herald in an editorial, "has dropped even faster than his party's standing in opinion polls". |
| The Greenwald-Snowden revelations and the "Moment of Truth" arrived just as the New Zealand election campaign had been beginning to clamber back on its feet after the "dirty politics" saga, which sucked up most of the media oxygen for the first fortnight. | The Greenwald-Snowden revelations and the "Moment of Truth" arrived just as the New Zealand election campaign had been beginning to clamber back on its feet after the "dirty politics" saga, which sucked up most of the media oxygen for the first fortnight. |
| The results returned on Saturday night belie the weeks of derailed campaigning and defensive strategy from the National party. Mike Williams, a former Labour Party president, said that none of the 40 local and national elections he had been involved in compares to this latest campaign. | The results returned on Saturday night belie the weeks of derailed campaigning and defensive strategy from the National party. Mike Williams, a former Labour Party president, said that none of the 40 local and national elections he had been involved in compares to this latest campaign. |
| "I've been to some bizarre places – I've been to a Northern Territories [Australia] election, and they take a bit of beating," he said. "But I've never seen anything like this. There's been almost no contest of ideas." | "I've been to some bizarre places – I've been to a Northern Territories [Australia] election, and they take a bit of beating," he said. "But I've never seen anything like this. There's been almost no contest of ideas." |
| Labour had clearly been starved of the opportunity to communicate its alternative vision, said Williams, adding that while Labour leader David Cunliffe had matched Key in debates, he had failed to gain from any loss of trust in National. | Labour had clearly been starved of the opportunity to communicate its alternative vision, said Williams, adding that while Labour leader David Cunliffe had matched Key in debates, he had failed to gain from any loss of trust in National. |
| Cunliffe, speaking to the party faithful in Auckland on Saturday night, pledged to fight to remain in his role, and lamented "a campaign beset by dirty politics and sideshows, involving potential abuses of power at the highest level that will still take months and months to unravel", but which had "distracted from the issues that are more core to the future of our country". | Cunliffe, speaking to the party faithful in Auckland on Saturday night, pledged to fight to remain in his role, and lamented "a campaign beset by dirty politics and sideshows, involving potential abuses of power at the highest level that will still take months and months to unravel", but which had "distracted from the issues that are more core to the future of our country". |
| Pointing to the failure of both the Internet Mana party and another nascent party, the Conservatives, which also failed to make it to parliament despite the millions poured in by its leader, Cunliffe took one morsel of comfort from the result. It "clearly stated", he said, that, "wealthy individuals cannot buy politics". | |
| On Sunday Australian prime minister Tony Abbott joined conservative politicians around the world in congratulating Key. "Had a good talk with NZ PM John Key today," Abbott tweeted. "I congratulated him on his election victory for a third term as NZ PM." | On Sunday Australian prime minister Tony Abbott joined conservative politicians around the world in congratulating Key. "Had a good talk with NZ PM John Key today," Abbott tweeted. "I congratulated him on his election victory for a third term as NZ PM." |
| British Prime Minister David Cameron also tweeted. "I've just spoken to my friend @johnkeypm of New Zealand. I congratulated him on a big election win on the back of a great economic plan." | British Prime Minister David Cameron also tweeted. "I've just spoken to my friend @johnkeypm of New Zealand. I congratulated him on a big election win on the back of a great economic plan." |