MPS aren't allowed to describe their colleagues as hypocrites. That's against Parliament's rules and if they breach these rules, they have to stand, withdraw and apologise.

I once had to say sorry to Judith Tizard for calling her "Her Madness", but I haven't accused a fellow parliamentarian of being a hypocrite.

In the penultimate debate of the 47th Parliament, however, I came pretty close. We were passing what started life as the Members of Parliament (Pecuniary Interests) Bill but ended up as an addition to Standing Orders. Only NZ First and Act voted against it, so from now all new and returning MPs (as opposed to just Cabinet ministers) will have to declare everything they own.

Moreover, they'll have to tell the public every country they visit, who paid for the trip and what gifts they received, any major debts they owe or are owed, property, investments, trusts, land, cars, houses, boats, racehorses, greyhounds, Rolexes, Jane Daniels suits (if you're the Prime Minister) - and how many Manolo Blahniks are in the wardrobe. But not if you put everything in your wife, partner, lover or offspring's name.

So if you're sneaky there's an easy way to hide your assets. The trip-up will occur when some honest and conscientious MP diligently attempts to declare everything he or she has ever owned but forgets that cracker piece of dreamtime Aboriginal foot painting presented on a Speaker's tour of Kangaroo Island.

In come the media and "Outski!" shout the headlines.

This addition to Parliament's rules was promoted by the Green Party, in particular co-leader Rod Donald. So it was curious that while the Greens supported this new standing order, they've been strangely silent on another standing order governing pecuniary interests: "a direct financial benefit that might accrue to a member personally, or to any trust, company or other business entity in which the member holds an appreciable interest, as a result of the outcome of the House's consideration of a particular item of business."

In other words, if there's legislation going through Parliament from which an MP might make a buck, you have to 'fess up.

Yet it takes considerable research to discover that the Greens' other leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons, is a major shareholder in Windflow Technology, a Christchurch wind-power company. Fitzsimons owns 30,000 shares (UK magnate Teddy Goldsmith, brother of the late billionaire Sir James, owns 50,000 and US tycoon Delane Wyeross has 79,000). The Green Party's taxpayer-subsidised superannuation fund has also invested in Windflow.

Rod Donald has called this "ethical investing" but in California, "environmentally friendly" wind farms kill more than 1000 birds a year - including endangered red-tailed hawks, golden eagles and burrowing owls. (A bit like a fishing fleet's bycatch - much abhorred by the Greens.)