Tricky stuff, satire. After PM John Key noted how many Aucklanders were benefiting from higher house prices, the New Zealand Initiative think tank suggested we'd all be better off if other assets also rose in value. For example, suggested executive director Oliver Hartwich, if the law banned importing cars or making them locally, car prices would soon rise, and - voila - we'd all feel richer. After getting inquiries from people who apparently took him seriously, Hartwich last week felt obliged to issue a clarification, pointing out that he was joking.
Firm hand
One of the revelations of this Parliament has been the performance of Trevor Mallard as assistant Speaker. While some Labour MPs think he picks on them a bit much with pedantic rulings, his love of the institution and knowledge of standing orders has forced many MPs to lift their game. Other MPs noticeably avoid speaking when he is in the chair. It would be fascinating to see how he performed if he ever got the chance to be Speaker.
Expensive deaf ears
All may not be going well with the Government's attempt to rein in some of its departments' IT spending. The chief information officer at the Department of Internal Affairs was meant to lead the state sector's handling of these issues. But some departments' IT staff and contractors are essentially ignoring attempts to co-ordinate their work. Internal Affairs says the "challenge is to establish new ways of engaging and communicating with chief executives and ICT leaders to further strengthen support and commitment for this work". Translated, this means "they aren't listening to us and we can't really think of a way to make them".
