JUNE 8 2019 LISTENER 11
LIFE
Sounding bored at media panic
Elite or not,
virtually
anyone can
get a meetingwith a Cabinet
minister.ST
EV
E
BO
LT
O
NBILL
RALSTON
P
aranoid parts of the media
have been trying to paint a
dark picture of a scheming
group of commercial influence
peddlers secretly pulling the strings
of a puppet Labour Government.
Recent news stories have taken
aim at government-relations firm
Thompson Lewis and its relationship
with Jacinda Ardern and her
ministers.
The argument boils down to the
fact that three of the company’s
principals have worked in the
offices of various prime ministers.
GJ Thompson worked with Helen
Clark and temporarily as chief of
staff when this Labour-led
Government came to power;
David Lewis worked in
Clark’s office; and Wayne
Eagleson was chief of staff
to John Key and then Bill
English. These are three men
who know their way through
the tortuous labyrinth of
power and government in
Wellington.
Their company is described
as “a specialist corporate
affairs consultancy offering
government relations,
stakeholder management,
strategic communications,
media relations and crisis
management advice”. I
would have thought theThe notion that
the Government
is falling for PR
spin insults its
intelligence.
background of the three outfitted them well for
their stated purpose, although they might need to
concentrate on the last of those stated talents if the
media feeding frenzy really kicks in.
However, their proximity to power is alarming
some political journalists. One news site recently
ran a story that opened with the words, “People
in the lobbying industry have raised concerns”
about “close links” between one of the company’s
principals and Ardern, and goes on to quote the
worries of “industry insiders”, other lobbyists and
government-relations experts.
Could it be that commercial rivals have raised
those “concerns” because they are losing clients to
Thompson Lewis?
That article ended by opining on the question
of “transparency [to avoid] unwanted accusations
of corruption”, which, in my opinion, is a brave
if somewhat dangerous foray into the territory of
potential defamation. Stories in other media were
similar, if less brash.
At the core of the attacks on Thompson Lewis
is the fact that GJ Thompson is a personal friend
of the Prime Minister. Her office issued a standard
assurance that the pair “never discuss his clients or
his business”, but confirmed she seeks out Thomp-
son as a “sounding board from time to time”.T
his may sound somewhat
ominous until you realise
politicians use countless Kiwis as
“sounding boards”.
I occasionally acted as one of those
“sounding boards” for three previous
prime ministers, although I have to
admit there was little evidence that
they listened to the well-meaning
advice I gave them.
A recent story by RNZ highlighted
the vast herds of business people,
interest groups and lobbyists such
as Thompson Lewis that have had
meetings with ministers about a
huge number of issues. They were
described as “an elite group”.
Frankly, elite or not, virtually
anyone can get a meeting with a
Cabinet minister. It is the business of
politics.
Whether they can bend the
Government to their will with those
meetings is another matter entirely.
The recent stories attacking
Thompson Lewis are saying that the
public cannot trust the Government
to make a correct decision,
because it is being nobbled
by cunning government-
relations operatives.
This seems to show a
remarkable lack of faith
in the ability of the Prime
Minister, her ministers, their
Beehive advisers and the
public service to detect when
they are being fed PR spin.
In my experience of
covering Parliament, the
inhabitants of the Beehive
have well-developed bullshit
detectors and, if nothing
else, they are acutely aware
of the terminal effect in the
polls should they be caught
doing backroom deals. l