Wellington on a Plate, our foodie festival, starts soon, and this year it will be a month long. Usually, it is a nice, if not particularly remarkable event, where many local restaurants produce special menus which qualify for the Wellington on a Plate logo. Most of the dishes can be found all year round, depending on where you go. It doesn’t compare to the Wairarapa Wine and Food Festival, or audacious events such as the Wild Food Festival, but it is still good, and generally well received.
And this year, there is a very special event included in Wellington on a Plate.
You will never guess…
Yes. The ‘first bloke’ is hosting a Wellington on a Plate event… at the Beehive, no less.
Well, I assume it will be held at Bellamy’s… the restaurant attached to the Beehive itself.
What better venue than The Beehive to dish up discussion about food sustainability and New Zealand kai?
Talking Plates.
Special speakers, first bloke of New Zealand, Fish of the Day host and keen fisherman, Clarke Gayford, and Kapiti Coast fisherman, Scott McNeill, from Awatoru Wild Foods talk about food sustainability with a focus on kaimoana (seafood), using the whole fish, no waste and #knowyourfisher campaign.
Five light courses paired with thoughtful discussion.
Your ticket includes:
Food & Wine
What a disgrace. Could you imagine Bronagh Key or Mary English doing something like this? Of course not… because they did their job well. They supported their respective husbands while they were prime ministers, kept a low profile and looked after their families while the prime ministers were doing their jobs. This is something that Clarke, the ‘first bloke’, is quite unable to do without a ‘look at me, look at me’ moment every few minutes.
The worst thing about this event is that it is already sold out. Wellington is the ‘beltway’ after all, but why on earth would anyone want to go to that?
I think it is completely disgraceful that the prime minister’s partner prostitutes himself like this, putting himself out there like he is some kind of celebrity. He is not. He is a minor host of a specialist TV show that no one watches… or at least, they didn’t until Jacinda became prime minister. Now he pushes himself relentlessly, living off the back of his famous partner. He is nobody, but boy, has he cashed in on her notoriety big time.
If you feel that the ‘first de facto couple’ are ripping off the public for all that they are worth, you are not alone, but if people are stupid enough to pay to attend these things, then there is nothing to say.
There was a time when the office of the prime minister was respected for, among other things, its restraint and its public persona of respect and of not seeking out attention. All of that has truly disappeared with Jacinda. She is the ultimate photo opportunist, and her partner is the ultimate opportunist who makes money out of every opportunity. They are both making huge amounts of cash out of their public profiles.
Most of us think that is not a good thing. Many of us have forgotten that this is not what a prime minister and his/her partner is all about.