ControversiesDuring his first term in office, National remained high in the polls and support for John Key was described by one commentator as 'stratospheric'.
[33] In 2011, he was nicknamed "
Teflon John", as nothing damaging to his reputation seemed to "stick" to him.
[34] Coming up to the election in 2011, the gloss began to come off.
[35] In October that year, Key was caught up in a controversy over the replacement of 34 three-year-old Government BMW limousines with new ones at a time of economic restraint. Initially, Key denied any knowledge of the plan although reports later surfaced showing that his office was aware of the deal. Key was accused of hypocrisy; he eventually apologised, calling it a 'sloppy' deal, effectively placing most of the blame on his chief of staff.
[36][37]
That same month, Key made a statement where he claimed
Standard and Poor's had said that "if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely". This was contradicted by S&P bringing Key's credibility into question.
[38][39] National won the election but New Zealand's credit rating was subsequently downgraded anyway – by two different agencies – Standard and Poor's and
Fitch Group.
[40]
The real turning point in the public's perception of Mr Key began with the
teapot tapes. Just before the election in November 2011, a recording was made of a conversation between John Key and
ACT Party candidate John Banks that they considered private – despite the fact that the meeting was held in a cafe and the media were invited to attend.
[41] Mr Key made a complaint to the police and tried to compare the incident to illegal hacking in the
News of the World scandal in Britain.
[42] He refused to answer media questions about what was said and the incident dominated media discussion in the days before the election. The unreleased recording allegedly concerns the leadership of ACT and disparaging remarks about elderly
New Zealand First supporters.
[43]
The event causing perhaps the most embarrassment to John Key was the arrest of
Kim Dotcom and the subsequent revelations that the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) had illegally spied on Dotcom. As Prime Minister, John Key is directly responsible for the GCSB
[44] which is not allowed to spy on New Zealand citizens – and Dotcom had been granted permanent residency. Three days later, the Prime Minister John Key apologised for the illegal spying. "I apologize to Mr Dotcom. I apologize to New Zealanders because every New Zealander…is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him."
[45] It subsequently came to light that deputy Prime Minister Bill English had been asked to sign a "ministerial certificate" suppressing details of the GCSB's involvement in the case while Mr Key was overseas – the only time this had been done in the last ten years.
[46]
In November 2012, Key told students at
St Hilda's Collegiate in Dunedin that football star David Beckham was "thick as bat****". The comments were picked up by UK papers
The Daily Mirror and
The Sun.
[47] On the same day, there was a storm in a teacup over Key's comments to a radio host that his shirt was "gay". "You’re munted mate, you’re never gonna make it, you’ve got that gay red top on there," he told host Jamie Mackay on RadioSport's Farming Show.
[48] The following day,
Lord of the Rings actor
Sir Ian McKellen said in a blog entry that Key should "watch his language".
[49]
The potential fallout from Dotcom's arrest continued in December 2012 when the High Court ordered the GCSB to "confirm all entities" to which it gave information opening the door for Dotcom to sue for damages – against the spy agency and the police.
[50] Later that month, John Key's rating as preferred PM dropped to 39% – the first time in his four years as prime minister that his rating slipped below 40%.
[51]
In March 2013 it emerged that Key has known Ian Fletcher, head of the GCSB, since they were at school, but denied the pair were friends. But in early April, it was revealed Key had personally picked Fletcher for the role at the GCSB,
[52] encouraging Fletcher to apply for the role. Despite Key's office claiming Fletcher was "the best candidate for the job", Fletcher was in fact the only one interviewed.
[53] Key said he hadn't originally mentioned the phone call because he "forgot".
[54] Political commentator
Bryce Edwards called it the "most appalling political management since he became Prime Minister back in 2008".
[55] Key was critical of reporting on the GSCB saga, calling journalists "knuckleheads" in a radio interview.
[56]
In April 2013 whilst visiting Chinese president
Xi Jinping in
Beijing, Key made headlines by suggesting New Zealand would back any
United States or
Australian military action against
North Korea.
[57] The following day he backtracked, saying the chance of New Zealand troops entering North Korea was "so far off the planet".
[58]
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Originally Posted by fungus pudding
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