Prime Minister Helen Clark says she is concerned about Labour MP John Tamihere’s latest criticism of his cabinet colleagues, and thinks the MP has been under stress.

Mr Tamihere’s extraordinary comments have been published in Investigate magazine after a conversation with its editor Ian Wishart.

Tamihere told Investigate magazine:

“Heather Simpson – Helen’s assistant – wanted me in the tent as damaged goods. Too tough to lose completely. She’s dangerous, a very dangerous woman.”

Asked what was the most powerful network in the Labour executive “the Labour Party Wimmins division… it’s about an anti-men agenda”

“(Prime Minister Helen) Clark has been brutalised by people who have called her lesbian, no children and all the rest of it. Her key advisor Heather Simpson is a butch, and a lot of her support systems are, Maryann Street and so on, and she’s very comfortable in that world and comfortable with it. I’m not.”

“Men’s problems are traditionally dealt with by the criminal justice system. Women, on the other hand, get a bloody Cartwright Inquiry and get millions of dollars thrown at their breasts and cervixes.”

Rodney Hide’s blog has an additional Tamihere quote:

“They [Helen Clark and her mates] don’t have families. They’ve got nothing but the ability to plot.”

to which a commenter has added pertinantly:

“His comment about families is what all of us think. Socialist ideologues tend to be children from the previous generations ‘middle-class’ who don’t have close families. ”

John Tamihere will be the keynote speaker at the Men’s Issues Summit in Auckland on May 6th.
More info and registration: www.mens-summit.org.nz