Question Time 12 February 2025

Sat right in the Prime Omelette's eyeline for the first four questions, then switched sides to see Tamatha deliver Question 7. - Why premiere The Perfumed Garden in Wellington? It's a globally significant city, it's got plenty of musicians and I live here. So do the two Daves. Golriz lives in Auckland, but she hasn't said yes yet. - From my perch, I could see the team that edits the broadcast footage. I had another think about my LED strip idea: there's already a strip along their podiums, so maybe there's a way of decorating that with a light. It felt odd to sit there, but we sat there fairly often when Jacinda was PM. - Delegation from Mongolia was being led by Matthew Hooton. Point of order about the Land Rover. Chippy called the incident 'a question of privilege', while The Pink Skull accused him of misrepresentation. Brownlee hasn't decided to proceed. 1. Van Der Molen to Willis TV 5, NW 5 'Westpac expects growth in the economy to be positive' - Nicola Monetary Policy Statement is happening next week. 2. Chippy to Omelette C 6, PO 4 'Average mortgage rates have fallen' - Omelette Land Rover saga: Omelette said 'The Speaker has dealt to the issue' while Chippy thought that The Pink Skull should apologise in the House, and suggested that issues of conduct are for the Prime Minister, not the Speaker. 'I have confidence in all my ministers' - Omelette. Dragging on. Bit of a waste of a question. 'Members expressing in the heat of the moment' - Omelette on anti-Mexico statements. 'They should be grateful' - Winston on immigrants. 3. Foster to Jonesy AF 5, SJ 5 Minerals strategy. From where I was, I could see that the Prime Minister genuinely seems to enjoy Shane's speaking style. 'Economic seeds are germinating ... we cannot import minerals from the Congo' - Jonesy. Then he said that they want to open up DOC (Department of Conservation) land for resource extraction. 'Who needs facts?' - Chloe. Slightly more difficult to hear from above, but her voice booms out like few other politicians. 4. Marama to the Omelette MD 7, CL 5 Child poverty. 'This year's Budget package takes 17,000 children out of poverty' - Omelette

Māori make up more than two-thirds of kids in state care. Mr. Luxon didn't enjoy this line of questioning. The trademark squint was intense. 'Housing was an abject failure under the last government' - Omelette. 'We know it's untrue; what can we do?' - Kieran, during a point of order. 5. Carmel to Upston CS 6, LU 3 Poverty and deprivation. Upston seemed to think that the answer was to reduce the number of kids in benefit-dependent homes. I thought she said that was receiving the DPB* as a mother on Q&A, but might be wrong. *Domestic Purposes Benefit. The benefit for single Mums in the 1980's and 1990's. National are still saying that it'll get worse before it gets better. Switched sides. Debbie was wearing an awesome multi-coloured jacket. 'If I answered questions like this, they'd cut my benefit' - Gary. 6. Campbell to Bish (Bishop) HC 5, CB 4 Patsy Question. Spruiking upgrades to Christchurch roads, though the primary question was about transport. One of the roads is Brougham Street. That's where the video store was when we moved to Ilam, so I'd go there often. It's an arterial road. 'fucking patronising cunt ... we built a road, and everyone got rich!' - Gary on Bish. 7. Tam to Bish TP 8, CB 4 Housing. Kāinga Ora has cut 103 housing projects. 'Kāinga Ora's funding ran out ... a fiscal cliff left by Grant Robertson' - Bish. 'He's talking about creating ghettos. Using government policy to separate the poor from the rich.' - Gary

'The member needs to listen to the answers I'm giving' - Bish.

8. Edmonds to Willis BE 6, NW 3 'economic growth needs more and better-paying jobs' - Willis. 'Her smug condescension just winds me up' - Gary. Lots of hot words. Very dramatic. All flash, no substance. 9. Fleming to Stanford GF 5, ES 5 Educational outcomes for Māori. Sounded a lot like National Standards. 10. Kieran to Potaka KM 7, TP 3 Emergency housing. 8% reduction. Mealy-mouthed waffle from Potaka. 'Saving costs, not people' - Kieran. 11. Anderson to Potaka MA 6, TP 5 Kāinga Ora. Gary mentioned that Tama said kainga like a white person. Rent debt = end of tenancy (12 weeks?). $22 million of debt by 2024 for KO. They're going to forgive some debt 'to a reasonable amount' ... I think I missed the point of this, but Gary said during our 420 sesh that they were doing that to string them along. 12. Henare to Slimeon Brown PH 7, SB 3 Healthcare. 'There has been a steep decline in delivery' - Slimeon. Brownlee took Slimeon to task for an answer, to our surprise. Confidence in the health commissioner? Yes. 'In past times, this was a better Parliament' - Winston, chiming in. - Real answer: I've never wanted to ask Chloe another question IRL. Like, if it was a proper discussion, I'm keen, but randomly sidling up during a protest conflicts with my desire to document politics.