Question Time 15.10.2024

Union protest next Wednesday - 11:30am. Fight Back Together.

49th anniversary of the Misuse of Drugs Act was on the 10th.

Oh, and the word I was translating in The Realm of Darkness was literally 'a packet' Yes, the store houses are cool, but that's just what I chose. Today opened with a ministerial statement about the HMNZS Manawanui. Chris Penk spoke instead of Judith Collins. 'Gender had no role to play in the incident' -- the Army, Navy etc. have made a big deal about gender balance, so this is presumably a nod to that.

There wasn't any mention of compensating Samoa, nor of an apology. -

Peeni Henare spoke for Labour. He's growing a moustache.

He apologised to Samoa and suggested that the government should send a senior minister abroad to see things first-hand. 'If you tell the Americans that there's a Russian sub beneath it, they'll pick it up for free' - Gary There was a lengthy back-and-forth between Penk and Henare.

'It's not ideal to have lost one of our ships' - Penk 'It is akin to the Navy investigating itself?' - Henare How much oil leaked? 'It's difficult to reconcile the differing accounts' - Penk, who is waiting for an inquiry into the incident to conclude before doing much of anything.

Teanau spoke for the Greens, 'underscoring the importance of the relationship between NZ and Samoa' I think Penk's microphone was switched off, though he was still audible.

- Mark Cameron spoke for Act. 'United in the face of tragedy.'

Said Manawanui the English way and still stuffed it up. 'Is he going to talk about the people of Samoa? No, it's just an afterthought for them' - Gary. He was wrong: Cameron slipped in a sentence about Samoa near the end.

- Debbie spoke for Te Pāti Māori. Lots of good questions. How many are affected? Did we take too long? Penk dismissed these, saying that 'many were hypothetical in nature ... we have been relatively lucky.' 40 minutes of debate. These ministerial statements are gruelling.

- 1. Chippy to the Omelette C 7, PO 4 'Early signs our plans are working' - Omelette. Today had a Groundhog Day vibe. 'The South Island is important to me' - Omelette.

308 days since the new ferries were cancelled, and the paternalistic answer was that 'we'll sort it out for you, don't worry.'

'We're going to build a great hospital in Dunedin' - Omelette. Chlöe had a few supplementaries that didn't go anywhere.

'We have a wonderful piece of legislation called fast track'

[edit: 'fantastic' piece of legislation. Thanks Chlöe.] 'I don't know what the fuck he's talking about. Neither does he' - Gary. 2. Hamilton to Willis RH 5, NW 5

Reduced the OCR to 4.75%. Lots of financial jargon. Very tedious.

3. Edmonds to Willis BE 6, NW 5 Tuned out for this as well. Very chirpy atmosphere in the House! Winston was controversial as ever, with another supplementary that attacked the opposition. 4. Tana to Potaka DT 6, TP 4 Fishing in the Hauraki Gulf. Darleen got a laugh from Debbie with a comment about the receding hairlines of the government. 'How can you have a marine reserve with commercial fishing?' - Gary. Tama didn't really come anywhere near answering this, either in Question 4 or Question 12.

5. Foster to Costello AF 4, CC 4 Drug seizures. 515kg of methamphetamine, 5 arrests. Costello said that Transnational crime syndicates 'peddle their misery in New Zealand' and Gary remarked that 'they have bigger budgets than you ... governments spending billions chasing a trillion-dollar industry'

6. Debbie to the Omelette DN 6, PO 3

Waitangi Tribunal rulings on recent decisions that Paul Goldsmith is making as the Minister of Justice. Didn't sound positive, but the Omelette didn't give a shit. Does he see iwi and hapu rights as a threat to multinationals? Didn't get an answer. 'Many iwi actually embracing the Fast Track' - Omelette, who was then unable to name a specific iwi that was supportive of the law reform. 7. Ayesha Verrall to Costello AV 8, CC 3

Heated tobacco products. Costello used a pretty lame cop-out, saying that she didn't know what the products were because she doesn't vape. Gary complained that this would set a precedent where the government could refuse to answer drug-related questions by saying that they don't use them. 'I have been attacked and vilified' - Costello. Another crybaby minister. 8. Costley to Bishop TC 4, CB 5 Fast Track patsy question. Rawiri stood up to get a glass of water, which is a tactic that he often uses to signal that he disagrees with the member. 'Doubling the value of our mineral exports' - Bishop. Well, he's come out and said it. 'Economic growth is at the heart of what this government does' - Bishop. 9. Willow-Jean Prime to Chhour WJP 5, KC 4

Chhour opened by saying that she welcomes the inquiry into OT, which sounded like a welcome change of pace, but the rest of the question was the same as ever. 'I will not apologise for putting children first' - Chhour

'You're putting children at risk' - Carmel. 10. Wedd to Reti CW 5, SR 5

Immunisation rates. 95% of children vaccinated by two years old is their goal, and he said that they are delivering above targets. Some good news that everyone can enjoy.

11. Chlöe to the Omelette CS 6, PO 4

Asked the primary in te reo, which sounded ok. 'more growth ... the contours of an economic recovery are visible' - Omelette.

Israel-Gaza-Lebanon? 'calling for a ceasefire ... this conflict has catastrophic consequences.' - Omelette. Expel the Israeli ambassador? No.

12. Priyanca to Tama Potaka PR 7, TP 3

Repeat of Question 4 (another reason that Darleen is useless). 'We believe we've struck the right balance' - Tama. Kieran McAnulty took offense to Shane Jones using the words banshee and blight in his supplementary, saying that Irish people would clearly take those as offensive words. Brownlee didn't agree, but I think he's still mulling it over.