Top political gaffes 2014: Election special

By Simon Wong

Online Reporter

Monday 22 Dec 2014 10:35 a.m.

 

You may have forgotten already, either intentionally or not, there was a general election this year.

It got pretty crazy, some would even say it reached "peak cray".

There was a lawsuit from a famous rapper, a few misplaced "jokes" and comments, a blow out or two by MPs and party press secretaries, and a little book about dirty politics -all before the country even got to the polls.

With the end of the year approaching and "Best of" lists seemingly mandatory, this election special of top political blunders condenses the most weird and sometimes farcical moments from the campaign trail.

'Rap God' Eminem sues the National Party:

Well, not Marshall Mathers himself, but publishers of his copyright. When National's campaign ad was released – the one with the row boat, remember? – it had a few people rapping to a very familiar tune. The legal action was started, with allegations the ad used the rapper's hit 'Lose Yourself' from the film 8 Mile. Campaign manager Steven Joyce insisted it was "pretty legal" and the party used music from a recognised production music supplier. His response was picked up by British satirist John Oliver who made light of the situation on his US show.

Key calls Kim Dotcom a 'sugar daddy'  

It was a comment from the Prime Minister on RadioLIVE which drew criticism of him being sexist, after calling Dotcom Internet Party leader Laila Harre's "sugar daddy" because he bankrolled the party.  He stood by his comments, saying if he wasn't putting up the $3 million for the campaign, "she wouldn't be there". Harre, unsurprisingly, found the comment deeply offensive. The money didn't matter in the end anyway, because the party's high risk strategy of coat-tailing into Parliament on Hone Harawira's Te Tai Tokerau seat failed spectacularly.

David Cunliffe's wife outed as Twitter bully

If you think politicians were under pressure during the election campaign, spare a thought for their families. Under David Cunliffe's leadership, the Labour Party suffered one of its worst defeats in its almost 100 year history. His wife Karen Price apologised for setting up an anonymous Twitter account to attack Cunliffe's rivals and critics, citing post-election "media pressure". She said sorry and later deleted the account.

Winston's joke hits the Wong note:

New Zealand First's campaign launch was derailed by a joke he made in his speech, which was labelled racist by some. He insisted his "two Wongs don't make a white" joke was funny and anyone didn't laugh were the "language Nazis". The Race Relations Commissioner kind of defended him, saying while it was inappropriate, it wasn't racist. Members of the Chinese community claimed the comment was pretty old school, but still "seriously off base".

Colin Craig's music knowledge criminal

Throughout the campaign, at least according to the seemingly innumerable polls, the Conservative Party could have conceivably made it into Parliament. And with a star on the rise, the party's leader Colin Craig allowed 3 News to spend some time with him on the election trail. When asked what his favourite New Zealand band was, he said he was loyal to Dave Dobbyn "or Police or something like that". But hang on. The Police as in quintessential English rock band featuring Sting? 

Puffed up little blowout

Remember the Internet Mana Party? Their election launch at Western Springs College, on the same day as the National Party, was meant to set the tone for their election campaign, and in hindsight, it actually kind of did. The event was going relatively smoothly until it was thrown into disarray by press secretary Pam Corkery who verbally abused journalists wanting to talk to the Internet Party's founder Kim Dotcom about hacking. She coined one of the more colourful phrases of the campaign trail: "You puffed-up little s**t".

Hone takes the high road on cannabis

The other half of the Internet Mana alliance also had a bit of a blowout, after Mana leader Hone Harawira walked away from an interview with political reporter Tova O'Brien after one question about a U-Turn by Mana around the legalisation of cannabis. Mana had been one of the toughest opponents of decriminalising cannabis, but the party changed its stance to be more in line with the Internet Party which was for it.

Labour candidate's less than positive comment

Labour's "Vote Positive" slogan suffered some very negative media coverage after candidate Steve Gibson, ranked 56 on the list, made a derogatory comment on a Facebook post about Prime Minister John Key.

Gibson called Mr Key "Shylock", referring to a villainous Jewish money lender in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, apparently oblivious to its meaning. But regardless of that, the phrase "nasty little creep with a nasty evil and vindictive sneer" also made it into the post – no confusing that one. Gibson apologised and deleted the comment and was given a final warning from the party's top brass.

It didn't end there for Gibson though. Following Labour's disastrous election loss, he attacked the party saying it should have someone like him – "an outsider" - to lead it.

Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!

OK, it's not really a gaffe, but ACT Party's newest candidate and subsequent leader David Seymour burst onto the political scene with an unintentionally viral video introducing himself and showing off his beloved Epsom electorate. The video was shared left, right and centre, but Seymour took the inadvertent attention in his stride, making the most of the media coverage. 3 News reporter David Farrier caught up with Seymour on Epsom's leafy streets to talk to him about the video. "The thing about making a video that may go viral is that you don't know you're doing it until it's too late." 

A question of trust

In the second leaders debate, Labour leader David Cunliffe got tripped up on by John Key on crucial details of the party's flagship, but complex Capital Gains Tax. Key asked Cunliffe whether a house in a trust would be exempt from the tax, but he stumbled in his answer. Key attacked his opponent on the policy, but he too got his facts wrong saying the family home in a trust would be included in the tax (they weren't), and 300,000 homes were in trusts whereas the census shows it's more like 215,000. Cunliffe clarified the position the next day, explaining he wanted to be "dead sure" of the facts before answering.

Honourable mention:

Judith Collins attacks the media:

An honourable mention goes to Judith Collins who had a bizarre interview with 3 News reporter Brook Sabin. It came in the wake of Maurice Williamson's resignation as minister over a political scandal involving a Chinese businessman in May and pressure over her connection to export company Oravida of which her husband is a director. Ms Collins was being attacked relentlessly by Opposition MPs and under constant pressure from media about a trip she made to the company's Shanghai office during an official trip. She verbally attacked TVNZ journalist Katie Bradford, claiming she'd asked her for help getting her ex-partner a job with the police – something Ms Bradford denied.

3 News

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/top-political-gaffes-2014-election-special-2014122210#ixzz3McaVwKNg