Our ‘impartial’ Speaker was working overtime during Question Time in the House on Tuesday. As usual it was Ardern he was running interference for; but this time it was by proxy – in the form of Winston Peters.
Gerry Brownlee was having a fine time playing off the comments of Shane Jones versus the comments of Ardern and quizzing Peters about whether or not Ardern was incorrect when saying Jones was wrong.
It kicked off when Jones said, “I think the number of students that have come [to New Zealand] from India have ruined many … institutions.” and Ardern publicly reprimanded Jones, labelling his language around Indian immigrants “loose” and “wrong”.
Brownlee asked Peters about this, seeking clarification and Peters waffled on about what the Indian Weekender newspaper said, totally avoiding the question.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: If the Minister is publicly now supporting the comments of Mr Jones, was the Prime Minister incorrect to say that he was wrong?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Mr Jones made it very clear what he was referring to. I’ve just recited the Indian weekend newspaper as an authority. But let me go further: these issues were highlighted by the Migrant Workers Association and the Indian Workers’ Association on a number of occasions when the previous administration was in Government. That’s precisely what we’re cleaning up.
More Peters’ waffle so Brownlee asked again.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: If the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister, is now supporting Mr Jones in his statements, was the Prime Minister incorrect to call him wrong?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Let me make it very clear that Mr Jones has these authorities: the New Zealand Herald on 5 December 2016—here it is: “‘We need to blow the whole thing apart and start being honest about what’s happening’ … who the Herald has agreed not to name. ‘Because it’s not about education at all.'”, this is from The New Zealand Herald. RNZ, again, 12 September 2016: “Indian community leaders have warned [them] of … backlash because Indian students are increasingly running into problems including prostitution, crime, … exploitation by employers.” We’ve got page after page after page of Indians saying this was happening under the previous administration—and we’re fixing it up, and that’s how we’re going to build trust.
Even more Peters’ waffle – totally not answering the question. Brownlee, rightly, objected.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. Any review of the answer to that question would find that it had very little to do in answer to the question.
SPEAKER: It may be that the material was somewhat supplemented, and it could have been cut off earlier. But it was certainly addressed early on.
The answer was “certainly addressed early on”. Really? Let us summarise the waffle:
Let me make it very clear that Mr Jones has these authorities:
- the New Zealand Herald on 5 December 2016 […]
- RNZ, again, 12 September 2016: […]
- We’ve got page after page after page of Indians saying this was happening under the previous administration […]
The question was, “Was the Prime Minister wrong …? And the answer “to be very clear”, was a list of media reports. The PM was not mentioned anywhere in the answer.
But according to to our ‘unbiased and neutral Speaker’ the answer was “certainly addressed early on.” So after a bit more to and fro Brownlee tried again.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: The point is that there was no answer to the question as to whether the Prime Minister was incorrect and inappropriate in telling Mr Jones that he was wrong.
SPEAKER: I think the member was asking a question where it was slightly more nuanced than that. If the member wants a further supplementary, he can have another go.
Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. That is not correct. The Hansard record will show exactly what my question was. My question simply was to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Winston Peters: was his support for Shane Jones indicating that the Prime Minister was incorrect in saying that Shane Jones was wrong. I got no answer to that.
SPEAKER: I’ve ruled that it was addressed. […]
Hansard
Brownlee is absolutely correct – the Hansard record shows clearly that the question was never answered. Mallard is an embarrassment as a Speaker.
Still, we can’t have people from the CoL side of the House publically admitting that Dear Leader was ever wrong, can we now?
Mallard 0, caught and bowled Brownlee.
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