I remember an Israeli acquaintance laughing hysterically at our lack of problems, because the front page of a major NZ newspaper was about a large seal that had got onto a motorway and was causing trouble. Seriously, our major news items often read like we all live in some hick back-country village. That’s a good thing, by the way.
One of the 3 major “scandal” highlights from 2015: “National cabinet minister Murray McCully is involved in the controversial setting up of a sheep farm in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Saudi businessman Hamood Al-Ali Al-Khalaf, seemingly to negate the risk of Al-Khalaf suing the New Zealand government”. Another highlight from 2017: “Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei reveals that she had at one time committed benefit fraud during the 1990s”.
Honestly I feel like most of the ones in the UK — until Boris — were just as parochial, only scaled up a bit. BJ was a walking scandal who has forever sullied British politics, and it’s no surprise that the various PPE scandals that are coming out happened on his watch.
Sorry, but what 'scandals'? The one where he had a handful of people in his garden? I mean theoretically during COVID administrative actions, but in practicality it has nothing to do with anything at all other than optics? BoJo was clownish, but he was not doing deals with Russians or stealing money.
Angela Merkel made massive deals with Putin for expansion of energy integration which was a key economic driver in a massive war in Europe. Gehard Schroder cut a deal with Russian Oil companies after he was voted out as Chancellor, just as he was leaving office whereupon he took Board Positions on said Russia Oil companies literally the day after being out of office including massive monetary payments. Which is beyond conflict of interest, just straight corruption, that of course also put Germany - and Europe including the UK on a trajectory to war.
Justin Trudeau was caught wearing Blackface. Twice. And there are other instances of this, as he has hinted 'he doesn't remember how many times he did it'. He implemented extrajudicial measures to quell a protest that was threatening his political legitimacy, while lying to the public that it was at the behest of the RCMP, whilst they in fact denied it was at their request. Those measures included the ability to seize individuals finances. He's allowing local provincial leaders in Quebec and Alberta to literally ignore the Constitution without a challenge. His family accepted $500 000 in consulting fees and travel from an entity his cabinet subsequently awarded a $1 Billion 'no bid contract' to. He bullied his Justice Minister into not investigating SNC-Lavalin, a massive international construction firm. There is $32 Billion in unaccounted for COVID payments. The $5M/year government payroll project is now close to a Billion dollars in cost.
Those are mostly 'material issues' meaning the scandals in these circumstances affect the nature of our governance, some of it in existentially consequential ways (aka 'extrajudicial actions').
I have no love or support for Boris Johnson - but 'scandal' is how the press (especially even outside the UK) turned his floozy escapades into material issues while they ignored nearly criminal actions elsewhere.
'Forever sullied British Politics' ... you must be young.
Wikipedia has a list of political scandals here, which is mostly fairly laughable if you are from most other countries, with headline numbers being $100,000: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_scandals_i...
I remember an Israeli acquaintance laughing hysterically at our lack of problems, because the front page of a major NZ newspaper was about a large seal that had got onto a motorway and was causing trouble. Seriously, our major news items often read like we all live in some hick back-country village. That’s a good thing, by the way.
One of the 3 major “scandal” highlights from 2015: “National cabinet minister Murray McCully is involved in the controversial setting up of a sheep farm in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Saudi businessman Hamood Al-Ali Al-Khalaf, seemingly to negate the risk of Al-Khalaf suing the New Zealand government”. Another highlight from 2017: “Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei reveals that she had at one time committed benefit fraud during the 1990s”.
We apparently had no scandals at all in 2012.