On The House
Colin Espiner is the political editor of the Christchurch Press and 2008 Qantas Media Award winner as New Zealand's best political commentator. He blogs on the daily dramas at the heart of government and the lighter side of life with our politicians.
Goff goes blue collar
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Labour leader Phil Goff seems to be trying out a new swagger this week.
It's a kind of blue-collar, leather jacket look that is about as far away from Helen Clark as it is possible to get. And who knows, it might just work.
Goff's seized on the fuss over the proposed hike in ACC fees for motorbikes, addressing the protest rally at Parliament this week and rediscovering his own love of motorcycles, mentioning "my farm bike'' and "my road bike'' every chance he gets.
Judging by the number of bikers who descended on the capital, which security guards say was the largest protest action here since the hikoi over the foreshore and seabed, National might just have misread this issue.
There are early signs of a backtrack from ACC Minister Nick Smith, who is now saying maybe the fees won't go up by as much as first proposed.
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Key should go to Copenhagen
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John Key should go to Copenhagen.
The upcoming international meeting on climate change is too important for New Zealand's representation to be left to Nick Smith and Tim Groser, capable though I'm sure these ministers are.
And no, in case you're wondering, I haven't been swayed by the lovely Lucy Lawless's appearance at Parliament yesterday brandishing a boarding pass for Key's plane trip.
Although I do think Greenpeace's campaign to get him to go has been very clever, and quite effective.
It's just that Key has run through the gamut of excuses for why he can't, shouldn't, or won't go.
More hot air as Parliament returns
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Phewf! Parliament is back today. I've almost missed them.
The past two weeks have been all MPs' perks (a story which somehow seems to be the default setting of the media during any parliamentary recess) and Hone blimmin' Harawira. I'm inclined to agree with John Key when he said the country is just a little bit sick of the guy,
Of course one of the reasons John Key is sick of Hone Harawira is that the bloke keeps stealing the Government's headlines, and even pushing the prime minister down the bulletin.
Mind you, National didn't help its cause over the recess by falling to type and doing virtually nothing for the entire break. This almost guarantees that mischief will ensue.
Key, of course, was in Singapore for the Apec meeting, which proved to be a bit of a fizzer, with President Barack Obama's enthusiasm for the restart of negotiations on a trans-Pacific trade deal about the only thing worth writing home about.
Smacking revisited (again)
96 comments
It's been two years since the changes to Section 59 came into force, and the Ministry of Social Development has released a new report that says law-abiding parents are not being criminalised as had been feared.
The report was a condition of the National Party's support for Sue Bradford's legislation, and was written into the Act.
It's interesting, though, because the statistics that it dredges up can pretty much be made to suit whatever side of the fence you happen to sit on.
While the number of prosecutions for "smacking'' remains at just one, this is a bit of a misnomer since smacking isn't actually an offence anyway, despite what everyone keeps saying. There is no such offence in the Crimes Act.
So police have broken down the prosecution data by description of the offence, and that shows 39 cases involving a report of smacking have been recorded since the law change, and 189 of "minor physical discipline''.
Hone shoots off the other foot
306 comments
What was Hone thinking? Does he think? Or is it just stream of consciousness?
This morning on Auckland's Radio Waatea, Hone Harawira delivered his long-awaited apology for his comments about "white motherf.....s'' ripping off Maori for centuries.
It was, he said, a poor choice of words, and he apologised for the damage it had done to the Maori Party and its relationships with other parties in Parliament, and to the wider public. All good so far.
Then he went straight on to call Labour Party leader Phil Goff "a bastard'' who, he opined, "should be lined up against the wall and shot'' for passing the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
In response Goff has organised a press conference for early this afternoon, where presumably he will take umbrage at being so described.
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