Political diary

SUNDAY

The morning after, John Key can reflect on this year's Waitangi Day having been one of the better ones, with him getting positive feedback to his speech on race relations which he now intends to update annually at the celebrations. After delivering a brief mihi, one Maori reporter told the Prime Minster his te reo had improved markedly from the year before and observed Key must have had some lessons. Key grinned. "I'm now working on my English."

WEDNESDAY

Apart from occasional bouts of lightheadedness from lack of sustenance, Paula Bennett stoically completed her 40-hour famine in aid of earthquake-devastated Haiti, securing pledges totalling around $11,000. Her staff, however, obviously thought the Social Development Minister might not make it and her rumbling stomach would succumb to temptation. A strict list of rules was drawn up for staff under the heading of "health and safety advisory". The rules included no one talking loudly about getting coffee; no one eating any food in Bennett's vicinity; no noise to be made when opening packets of food; no food to be eaten which had aromas which might waft into the minister's office; no lollies other than barley sugars allowed in view on anyone's desk; no sugary drinks allowed in view of the minister though water bottles were okay. "Even if the minister approaches you in her ministerial capacity requesting food or drink of any nature other than water and barley sugars, for tomorrow and part of Wednesday you have the power to say 'no' to her. If we all follow these nice simple rules, we are all going to survive the 40-hour famine this year." Bennett admits the going got tough at one point when someone used the microwave and the smell of food wafted into her office. But she made it, celebrating with an office lunch of paua fritters.

THURSDAY

We would never have imagined it, but Jeanette Fitzsimons gave her colleagues some heart-stopping moments during her 13-year parliamentary tenure. The MP who officially retired at midnight on Thursday was farewelled by friends, colleagues, Green Party staff and members plus environmental activists at a function in the Beehive banquet hall the previous evening. Among those paying tributes was long-time colleague Keith Locke. He told the gathering that the combination of Fitzsimons' heavy workload and her desire to make use of every minute of the day had seen her late for the start of question time in Parliament on some afternoons. This was a bit of a worry if she had a question to a minister early on in proceedings. Failing to be on hand to ask one's designated question plus follow-up supplementaries is a definite no-no in Parliament and rarely happens. Locke talked of there being several times when the House was edging ever closer to Fitzsimons' question with still no sign of her. Then she would suddenly appear out of nowhere at the very last minute, leaving colleagues to sigh with relief and wipe the sweat from their brows. On her last day in the House, Fitzsimons asked a final question, probing the Prime Minister on (what else) climate change targets. At one point, she sought leave to table a document. However, it came out as: "I seek to leave ..." rather than "I seek leave to ..." A Freudian slip, perhaps.

FRIDAY

National's Phil Heatley might have career opportunities beyond Parliament he hasn't even considered in his wildest dreams. The Housing Minister was briefly chatting to someone in the ground floor foyer of the Beehive when a couple in their 60s happened upon him. The woman saw Mr Heatley and cooed "oo-ahh" in her English Midlands accent. She asked a bystander who Heatley was. The bystander happened to be Heatley's press secretary. "The Housing Minister," he replied."Oh, he's lovely," she purred. "He's like Harrison Ford. He's lovely."