Grant Robertson finds himself with a new job, while the PM takes the same approach to announcing her wedding date as to announcing travel bubble dates.
Tuesday: Grant Robertson, Minister of Implements.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson's first pre-Budget speech delivered a rose-by-another-name moment.
The Government has been sensitive about theword "delivery" since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced 2019 would be the "Year of Delivery" only for the Government to fall short across many of the metrics set.
Grant Robertson, ready to implement. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour MP Rino Tirikatene made the mistake of turning up early to Labour's caucus meeting the morning after reports of a stoush between the Māori MPs and Housing Minister Megan Woods over Māori housing.
With no other MPs for the media to talk to, poor Tirikatene ended up fielding question after question on the issue for a very long five and a half minutes before other MPs started turning up. It was a minefield for him: news of differences of opinion are not meant to be exposed.
Labour Party MP Rino Tirikatene. Photo / Jason Walls
He was too polite to simply walk away, despite his staffer's attempts to get him out.
Wednesday: PM drags out the suspense over wedding date
Let nobody accuse the PM of inconsistency. This week Ardern showed she intended to take the same approach to revealing the date of her wedding as for the travel bubbles with Australia and the Cook Islands.
PM Jacinda Ardern and fiance Clarke Gayford on voting day, not their wedding day. Photo / Brett Phibbs
It has involved first assuring people the event in question will happen.
In February 2020, she revealed the broad time frame the wedding might happen (after the election). In February 2021, she told Māori wardens at Waitangi there would be more news "very soon".
On Wednesday, she announced on Coast FM a date had been set – and which quarter that date was in (summer). According to the protocol, her next step will be to announce the date on which the date will be announced.
She also revealed she will not necessarily have a "bridal party" because she considers herself too old. That is a shame - her Minister of Implementation would have been good at implementing the rings.
If Ardern continues to use the travel bubble announcement process, wedding guests can expect to be told they attend at their own risk, may end up stranded in the event of an outbreak, may end up having to pay for accommodation for a further 14 days, or may be put into MIQ afterwards. But they will also be thanked for their efforts as part of her team of 500.
Tweet of the week:
Last Saturday, Labour's whip Kieran McAnulty discovered his duties included holding the Prime Minister's handbag.
If only I knew this was how the Prime Minister needed me to help today.
