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Welcome to Inside Politics. When Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said yesterday he would do the haka on the floor of Parliament again “in a heartbeat”, he may well get the opportunity soon. There is a very good chance the contentious Treaty Principles Bill will be done, dusted and binned next week. It is in the justice select committee at present but there is every chance it will be sent back to the whole House and voted down at its second reading next week. Any haka at that stage would be one of celebration.
A note to Te Pāti Māori, however: timing is everything. Wait until the vote is over and the Clerk of the House has declared the bill has been defeated. The biggest breach of protocol last time was not the MPs’ haka per se, but the fact they interrupted the vote. Any interruption of a vote while it is underway is sacrilegious. If Te Pāti Māori had waited for the vote to be completed and for the Clerk of the House to have declared the first reading before doing its haka of protest, it may not even have faced a Privileges Committee hearing. As it stands, no amount of tutelage about tikanga from Sir Pou Temara will change the fact that the MPs disrupted the vote and stopped the proceedings of the House. It is a slam dunk.
The three Te Pāti Māori MPs boycotted the Privileges Committee hearing this week. Committee chair Judith Collins has given them one more date to appear – April 23 – which will be in the middle of a three-week recess, by which time the bill will be a dead duck.
With an iota of goodwill on either side, there is a compromise to be made here. The Privileges Committee could drop its unreasonable demand that the three MPs appear individually and not collectively. There is no reason they cannot appear together and be questioned separately. They could have their lawyer, former Attorney-General Chris Finlayson KC, present. He would likely add some decorum to proceedings, although under the rules he could address only procedural matters. Any evidence from third parties on tikanga or anything else could be tendered in advance, in writing.
The Privileges Committee can recommend a fine and/or suspension from Parliament – which is then voted on by the House in a motion. The MPs are most likely to face suspension from Parliament with their pay docked for the initial breach – between $300 and $400 a day, depending on their salary.
If there is no appearance and no co-operation with the committee, the suspension is likely to be longer.
It can be taken as read that Te Pāti Māori’s MPs won’t apologise for the haka – although they could concede that their haka could have been better timed.
Te Pāti Māori is planning its own inquiry on May 7. There is nothing wrong with that, whether or not it cooperates with the Privileges Committee. It will effectively be a day-long seminar on tikanga which could be educative and should threaten no one. It cannot replace the Privileges Committee.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick is facing collateral criticism for her defence of language used by MP Benjamin Doyle on the Instagram account Biblebeltbussy. Swarbrick said: “Members of any minority community, like our rainbow community, are accustomed to using and co-opting terms that may not be well understood by external groups, oftentimes with irreverence and absurdity.”
A gay friend (and member of the National Party) shared the letter of protest he felt compelled to send to Swarbrick: “In your defence of your colleague on Monday, you in effect decided to use an entire minority as a shield against the allegations made against them. Your statement... was offensive and incredibly damaging to the very LGBT people you and your party portend to champion and represent in the House.
“So many of us already have to deal with rank intolerance and innuendos about our sexual preferences that are thrown at us by religious organisations and online trolls. For you to attempt to normalise your colleague’s posts by in effect claiming that their language is just an everyday part of mainstream gay/queer culture is first and foremost untrue, and secondly does nothing other than give these people ammunition.”
It might not exactly be a case of foreign interference, but Australia’s election campaign is definitely being subject to foreign influence. The Global Times, aligned to the Chinese Communist Party, has taken exception to Liberal leader Peter Dutton describing the Chinese research ship cruising Australian waters as a “spy ship”. It accused Dutton of beating the drums of war and effectively endorsed the approach of Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. That has been seized upon by the right as Albanese sucking up to China and being a weak leader.
US President Donald Trump, however, has provided a counter-weight. Albanese, who looked as though he was set to lose the election to Dutton on May 3 after just one term, has the chance to lead a national-interest fight against new US tariffs. The election campaign could be very tight.
Albanese has come up with the best quote of the campaign so far in his description of the Opposition: “They are Chief Whip.”
UPDATE: Trump this morning announced 10% tariffs on all imports to the US, including imports from New Zealand, and much higher tariffs for some countries. Click here or see the top story linked below for details.
• Four MPs are headed to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to represent New Zealand at the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s 150th Assembly. They are National Chief Whip Stuart Smith, Labour’s Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, Green list MP Kahurangi Carter, and National East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick. About 180 parliaments or their equivalent take part.
• Following up on the investment summit in Auckland, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop was in Singapore this week, where he met pension funds and investment companies, including Temasek and GIC, to talk about New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline.
“Despite their anti-police virtue-signalling, as soon as the silver spoon socialists of the Greens feel like they might be victims themselves, they get the police involved” – Act leader David Seymour on death threats to MP Benjamin Doyle.
Willie Apiata gave his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans this week. Who is that? (Answer below.)
Goes to AUT’s Dean of Law, Khylee Quince, for the way she criticised Act MP Parmjeet Parmar’s draft bill banning the allocation of resources by universities on the basis of race. Citing a Herald article about the bill, Quince posted on Facebook: “Alternative headline: ‘Immigrant forgets where she lives’.” Unacceptable from anyone, let alone a professor of law.
Goes to Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith for his witty speech yesterday: “When Chris Hipkins sauntered into the first meeting of the Labour Party this year wearing jandals, he was sending a clear signal... that this is going to be the year of the flip-flop.” Hipkins has backed down after last week describing anti-police comments by Green MP Tamatha Paul as “stupid”.
Trump tariffs: US President Donald Trump has announced huge new tariffs on imports from China and the EU – as well as a 10% tariff on New Zealand.
House rules: Te Pāti Māori is unapologetic about refusing to front Parliament’s Privileges Committee and says it will hold its own hearing.
Doyle controversy: Anatomy of a scandal – Green MP Benjamin Doyle’s case explained.
OPINION – Doyle controversy: The case of Benjamin Doyle is more sickening than curious and provides plenty of lessons for all, writes Audrey Young.
Doyle controversy: Labour leader Chris Hipkins has offered a defence of sorts for Green MP Benjamin Doyle while attacking Deputy PM Winston Peters.
Police row: Labour leader Chris Hipkins has softened his stance on comments made about beat policing by Green MP Tamatha Paul.
Public spending: Minister for Rail Winston Peters has slammed KiwiRail for its “unacceptable” $8 million payment to global consultancy McKinsey.
Contract dispute: John Tamihere and the Government have gone to court over a $155 million Whānau Ora contract.
Health & safety reforms: The Government is moving to reassure landowners that they won’t be responsible for recreational activities they permit on their land.
Veteran support: War hero Willie Apiata has entrusted his Victoria Cross medal to Minister Chris Penk as he pushes for changes to the Veterans Support Act.
ANALYSIS – supermarket competition: Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis has given her strongest signal yet that she’s serious about breaking up New Zealand’s supermarket duopoly, writes Jenée Tibshraeny.
Quiz answer: Chris Penk, who is a former Royal NZ Navy officer and a former submariner in the Australian Defence Force.
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