MPs far too busy stone-throwing to record historic feat

For an institution normally as fast-footed as Diego Maradona in his heyday to offer its congratulations following any New Zealand sporting triumph no matter how small or trivial, Parliament scored a horrible own goal yesterday.

The Maori Party's sport spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell issued a statement saying it was great Maori knew they had a place in the world's most popular sport because of the stunning performances of Leo Bertos, Jeremy Christie, Rory Fallon and Winston Reid in yesterday's All Whites World Cup match against Slovakia.

There were postings about the game on Red Alert, the Labour MPs' blog.

But no one saw fit to put a formal motion to the House congratulating the All Whites for making sporting history in gaining New Zealand's first point in pool play in the finals of the world's premier sporting event.

Maybe, it was because MPs were too busy playing their favourite sport - stone-throwing in glass houses.

The scandalous misuse of taxpayer-funded credit cards by some of Labour's current MPs when they were ministers in the last Government has provided National with enough munitions with which to blast the Opposition until next year's election and beyond.

Labour came to the House determined to put the past week behind it by focusing on National's Achilles heel - that party's growing and varying number of positions on state asset sales.

There was little trouble until Labour's ally Jim Anderton asked how the Prime Minister could reconcile his statement the Government had done no work on privatisation with the Treasury's statement it was doing work on finding out why New Zealanders did not like privatisation.

He added the Opposition could offer advice as to why that was the case.

In John Key's absence - he was touching base with National's farmer vote at the Fieldays in Hamilton - Deputy Prime Minister Bill English replied that Anderton could probably do with a bit of Treasury advice himself following his month-long world trip as a minister which had included $1000 dinners.

English should have known what kind of response that was going to provoke. Quick as a flash Labour's Trevor Mallard was on his feet questioning whether that was an appropriate comment coming from someone who "had gained, as a family, over half a million dollars from pretending to live in Dipton".

English decided to hit back, describing Mallard's allegations surrounding his taxpayer-funded housing allowances as "ridiculous".

He suggested Mallard take those matters up with the former Speakers, who had approved his allowances and whom Mallard was now accusing of not having followed the correct procedures.

Mallard's response was a one-word interjection - "lies".

Accusing another MP of telling lies, fibs, or some other description for being economical with the truth is a definite parliamentary no-no.

Speaker Lockwood Smith had already warned Mallard for abusing House procedures.

"He [Mallard] is on very, very thin ice" At the same time, the Speaker accepted tensions were "fairly high" on both sides of the House. Fairly high? That was something of an understatement.