Larry Williams: Greens played dumb politics

All Blacks fans during the 2011 World Cup final. Photo / File

Opinion

On Rugby World Cup bar hours

The Greens yesterday demonstrated why they will never be a preferred option for any government in coalition. The Greens will only get into government if Labour is desperate.

The Greens' opposition to allowing bars to open during the Rugby World Cup was infantile. To claim that people will be pouring out of bars when kids are going to school was irrational drivel.

Most of all it was dumb politics. The PM has already picked this up, it will get done - the government the good guys, the Greens the bad guys.

On illegal migrants

Up to 27 people who entered New Zealand illegally will be allowed to stay. They claimed they were refugees -they were not.

The so-called refugees lied to get in here and the Department of Internal Affairs will not revoke their citizenship. I'm not expecting the Minister to call the officials in and read the riot act. Its un-PC to demand illegal migrants be put on the next plane out of here.

You can bet that the 27 who falsified their details to get into NZ are not alone. We are not quite the US or Europe, where illegal refugees number in the tens of millions, but I suspect there's a lot here, and the authorities are too weak to round them up and boot them out.

On the Bledisloe Cup

All sorts of theories are emerging as to why the All Blacks lost to the Wallabies.

Former All Black Ian Jones reckons that the All Blacks were holding back. They were foxing. It seems that the All Blacks might counter the Wallabies by playing McCaw and Cane to counter Pollock and Hooper, to get to the ball faster.

But Mark Reason, usually a very perceptive sports journalist says that the All Blacks are predictable, and worryingly the Wallabies didn't even play that well. He says that "Carter went from good to bad to worse". And that it was "strange that SBW and Savea took so much of the flak then, and Kaino's fine game went almost uncommented on. I wonder if All Black rugby is entirely over its racist bent when things go bad".

Now I must admit, that's a new one on me - that criticism was only levelled at the brown players. Nonsense.