Jacinda Ardern is big on pithy statements, and the complete opposite when it comes to reality. She’s made much of her “kindness” and bringing empathy to her job. Yesterday in the house there wasn’t much kindness but there were plenty of reminders that Labour really is the Nasty Party behind the cheap plastic facade of the Prime Minister kindness schtick:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has bested Judith Collins during a debate at Parliament, calling her a “Karen” who won’t be protected from such insults by hate speech law reforms.
It was the start of a bad day in the House for National, and it came smack bang in the middle of a bad week.
Collins, the National Party leader, tried to needle Ardern on the proposed hate speech laws during Question Time in the House on Wednesday afternoon, after Ardern and Justice Minister Kris Faafoi flubbed a series of interviews about what exactly they wanted to criminalise earlier in the week.
“What is her response to Tova O’Brien, who wrote, quote, ‘Jacinda Ardern is wrong about her own hate speech law, completely and utterly wrong’?” Collins asked, to chuckles from Labour MPs which Speaker Trevor Mallard yelled “order” to suppress.
However, having spent a couple of days recovering the position, Ardern was prepared to firmly shift onto the front foot. The prime minister, or someone in her orbit, had taken the time to survey Collin’s Twitter account.
Ardern began by saying she disagreed with the statements Collins was putting to her.
“I also, as it happens, disagree with the member’s statement on Twitter that somehow, it will become illegal to call someone a ‘Karen’.
“That is absolutely incorrect, and I apologise, that means these laws will not protect that member [Collins] from such a claim.”
“Karen” is a pejorative term generally used on social media to describe a white woman who is pushy, entitled, and demanding.
Amid the raucous laughter and clapping, Collins stood to raise a “point of order” in an attempt to shoot back. But the promised cutting rebuttal never came.
“I’ve decided to make sure not to ask that point … I thought it would be cruel to ask it, so I won’t,” she said.
Stuff
And then both Chris Hipkins and Grant Robertson abandoned the kindness schtick and showed their nasty too.
It was all downhill from here. Before Collins could get her next question in, Labour Minister Chris Hipkins – who is also Leader of the House – leapt to his feet to interject.
“Mr Speaker. I wonder … whether it would be acceptable to ask her what her response is to a number of public comments made by Christopher Finlayson in the last 24 hours?”
Finlayson, a former high-ranking National MP, had been scathing about the party’s “destruction” in a story published by Stuff on earlier in the day.
He said: “Political parties have to feel the cold blast of opposition before they acquire the humility to be in government again. But if you’re asking me to express sympathy for them, forget it.”
Stuff
So, senior Labour Ministers from the Prime Minister down have decided that they’d rather go on the attack than adequately answer proper questions regarding the Government’s proposed hate speech laws.
Jacinda Ardern knows they are losing the debate on hate speech so, they are attacking rightful opposition to their proposed law instead.
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