The political week that was

MONDAY

Mondays won't be the same. The Letter is going into hibernation. Richard Prebble wants a break from writing his weekly missive. He has a new book in the pipeline. He thinks that politics is currently "very dull". We find it hard to believe Prebble would ever find politics dull. The Letter was a bit like the man himself - never afraid to make a prediction no matter how outlandish. It was unashamedly Act-biased and almost devoid of any honest analysis of the party's predicament. Almost. There was the occasional admission of Act's difficulties as the party sank in the polls. Far more interesting was Prebble's take on other parties' ups and downs, particularly his assessment of National, Act's supposed ally. The Letter was a pretty reliable purveyor of parliamentary gossip, though rarely of the truly titillating sort. And occasionally it hit the jackpot with something which really was news. That made it a must-read.

TUESDAY

You can take the man out of Wellington but you can't take Wellington out of the man. Trevor Mallard comes to Parliament wearing a shocking yellow shirt and black-striped tie - the closest he can get to matching the Hurricanes' colours. National MPs jest that the Minister of Sport has been struck by a dollop of vomit. "I thought he was a duck not a chicken," quips National's John Key, making a play on Mallard's surname. All of which is, well, water off a duck's back as far as Wainuiomata Man is concerned. Mallard laps up the attention, having a crack at anyone from National who comes from Crusaders Country - his old foe Gerry Brownlee just happening to fit the bill. However, amid the jousting Mallard has to admit that Tama Umaga and company are not the only things capable of running very fast in the wet. "I won't wash it with my white ones," he reassures the House.

WEDNESDAY

Michael Cullen continues to reflect on last week's Budget, saying the calls for tax cuts confirmed it is very hard to make wise fiscal management appear sexy. "I had considered changing my habit of delivering the Budget in a new suit. Instead I could have given it stark naked. But that would simply have encouraged the Dominion Post to repeat last year's Budget headline: "Is that it?"

THURSDAY

He may be shedding kilos, but is Rodney Hide shedding votes by Dancing with the Stars? Both TV One and TV3 make reference to Hide's absence from Parliament in recent weeks - seven out of the last 10 sitting days according to Susan Wood. His absence is compounded by Act's other MP, Heather Roy, also being away from Parliament training with the Army's territorials and learning skills which might come in handy in a real political crisis - firing machine guns and chucking grenades. Hide gives Wood his now-standard patter about how New Zealanders love someone who accepts a challenge and "gives it a go". Wood raises the votes in the House that he has missed - parental leave for the self-employed, majority verdicts for juries and even a confidence vote. Hide says none of them mattered, and compounds this faux pas by saying Act's two votes would not have made any difference. He then blusters that Epsom constituents have never had a better MP. His attendance record at Parliament is "second only" to that of the party whips. Hide has rarely sounded so rattled. So what should he do? Halt the texting campaign that has been keeping him in the competition and bow out tomorrow night? Or soldier on like his colleague?

FRIDAY

Sticks and stones might break his bones, but words ... well, words can damage in politics. Perhaps the dirtiest word in New Zealand politics is "Australian" - which is how Labour want to portray Don Brash after his praise of Aussie Treasurer Peter Costello for cutting taxes in his Budget. Steve Maharey is already referring to National's leader as Don "Digger" Brash. Another Government minister has come up with something even less flattering, privately describing Brash as a "planker" after the Leader of the Opposition's now infamous walk along one as he boarded a yacht in Wellington harbour.