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A couple of weeks ago, in his River City Press column Rana Reckons, Rana Waitai reckoned that the appointment of Hamish McDoull as Labour candidate for Whanganui was done and dusted.

Right on Rana. Your column is always full of solid common sense and that’s a refreshing change – the only thing common about common sense is how uncommon it is.

Who had a say in this? The local Labour Party membership? The beloved leader and her minders? I suspect a divine decree from the Czarina herself but I’m willing to be persuaded otherwise.

Did Jill Pettis stand down or was she pushed? Did she “voluntarily” stand down before she was given the old heave-ho?

Good luck Hamish. But keep your powder dry. There’s no internal democracy in your party of choice.

Published this morning in New Zealand Matters

Mallard Reducks

I live in hope, but I forgot the rules.

Nobody ever got rich underestimating a politician’s capacity for cynical disregard of the electorate or that electorate’s ability to forget the politicians’ abuse of their trust.

I’m not a Labour supporter, mainly because I can’t abide the Czarina’s demeanor of superiority, her status as minister for everything and her hijacking of every kindergarten fence painting for a photo op. I respect her intellectual ability and her political skills but the person who sneeringly talks down to me from the evening news will (probably) never get my vote.

However, I believe that in many ways they’ve been a good government, ably abetted in retaining the reins by National’s continual ability to shoot itself in both feet at any given opportunity.

Trevor Mallard has been an effective minister, albeit occasionally erratic. Our government would be the poorer without him. And he seems a nice bloke.

Nevertheless, what he did was not acceptable. He should have walked the plank and awaited redemption (à la Ruth Dyson) until the next government or opposition is formed.

He still has his $250,000 salary (my guess), the ministerial car and the perks. He’s been demoted 3 places to the second bench but with a wink, wink, nudge, nudge has been given a virtual promotion with the redistribution of portfolios.

It’s not right.

I spent 20 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy. For the last 5 of those years I was a commissioned officer. If, while holding that commision or the Queen’s Warrant which preceded it, I had done what Trevor did, I’d have been court-martialled, lost my commission and been discharged from the navy.

Not so those who would have been my employers.

What sort of an outfit is this?

Oh dear Trevor, what have you done this time?

Now in theory, there’s no argument. Our great and glorious leaders foisted the family violence legislation on us so that people would stop bashing their babies to death.

That worked, didn’t it?

Yeah, right.

You and I are paying big bikkies for ads on the box telling us that violence isn’t alright. Not ever.

So what do you think folks?

Is Is Rocky Mallard out for the count?

It’s a toughie for the Czarina. How many seasoned campaigners does she have on the front bench? How many lurking on the back benches who have the talents necessary to foot it in debate as well as Trevor?

Not a lot.

Dear me, what a quandary. Honour or expediency?

Helen’s admirable management skills and ruthless leadership will be sorely tested. If she lets him off with the wet bus ticket treatment will enough voters forget?

Probably.

So what next?

My guess is a stern talking to, demotion to twentyish in the cabinet rankings, and full redemption after the next election. Which, as Helen well knows, is far from lost.

But let’s not lose sight of what happened here. A senior cabinet minister indulged in a premeditated brawl. He didn’t invite the far from blameless Tau Henare outside to show him his stamp collection.

A person with the standards of integrity we should expect from our elected representatives should have had his resignation on Helen’s desk the nest morning.

A resignation tendered with bags packed, not a Clayton’s resignation offered tongue-in-cheek with a wink and a nudge.

Originally posted this morning in new zealand matters.

You never had it so good – well, not quite

During the current government’s regime the average earner may be earning a couple of hundred dollars a week more, but take home pay adjusted for inflation has only risen by $10 a week.

The dreaded “bracket creep” is to blame.

Labour says it just shows how important it is to keep inflation under control.

Yeah, right. If the inflation hadn’t had occurred you wouldn’t have got the pay rise and anyway as I stated above the figure is adjusted for inflation.

Welfare state to the rescue

There’s an exception. If the earner has children, the income redistributing Working for Families package will compensate – at the expense of those who don’t have kids and by turning most of the population into welfare beneficiaries.

If you didn’t know before where Michael Cullen’s whopping great surpluses come from, you do now.

Those of you who didn’t read Len Goldsack’s letter published in yesterday’s Chronicle about Norm Kirk’s super scheme may wish to read my post (click here) on my blog New Zealand Matters.

I don’t find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Len very often – in my opinion his left bias is a little extreme. On this occasion he’s spot on.

Because, collectively, we were sucked in by electioneering subterfuge, dissembling and outright lies we threw out the family silver.

Nothing beats being an informed voter.