Question Time 23 October 2024

Gary's take on the philosophy of the 'white supremacist' coalition: 'you are what you own' Gary spotted Chippy at the Fight Back Together rally, and gave him a piece of his mind. Saw the first bit of the rally, but went inside. Rawiri had a brief kōrero with Gary walking up the steps to the House. 1. Bidois to Willis DB 5, NW 5

Net core crown debt = $175 billion, which was lower than expected, but still adds up to 42.5% of GDP. Net debt rose by $20 billion in 2023-2024. Seymour attacked the opposition during a supplementary.

2. Chippy to the Prime Omelette C 7, PO 3 Does he have confidence in his Ministers? The Prime Omelette was only too happy to oblige, lauching into a powerfully affirmative speech, which felt like he was out on the hustings for 2026. 'The appalling thing is he thinks he's doing well' - Gary. Andrew Bayly ... he corrected his statement from yesterday, and there's more on that in question 11. 'It is material as to whether Andrew Bayly was drunk' - Chippy. Brownlee dropped his microphone during a point of order, and it made a loud sound. 3. Avocado Princess to the Prime Omelette AP 5, PO 4

Luxon handled this question fairly well. He said that National plans to 'crack down on organised crime.' More chatter about the OT roofs thing. People in the facility hopped up onto the roof to protest that they weren't getting access to food or fresh air.

'The Minister is working incredibly hard ... there's no jokes about this' - Luxon. 4. Unkovich to Costello TU 5 CC 5 More money for St. John's ambulances. A $21 million increase, bringing the total to $357 million.

'Emergency services are critical' - Costello. Gary reckoned that this was a soft win for her, and he was right. 5. Edmonds to Willis BE 6, NW 3 Well, Nicola was back into her regular thing today: attacking the opposition.

How do tax cuts help unemployed people? She waffled on, but didn't answer the question at all. This question made me yawn. Nicola said 'the cheek of it' in response to one of Barbara's attempts to paint Labour as superior. I wonder if she'd thought through the implications of saying that to a Pasifika person... 6. McCallum to Stanford GM 5, ES 5

Open work rights will return for partners of people with skilled migrant visas. 'This change will make sure that New Zealand is an attractive destination' - Erica.

7. Verrall to Doocey AV 6, MD 4

On behalf of Shane Reti, Doocey fronted questions about a workforce crisis in the health sector, saying that 'this government has already made a record investment in health ... this government is committed to building a culturally responsive [?] workforce.'

8. Kirkpatrick to Mitchell DK 5, MM 4

Operation high water resulted in lots of arrests in ōpōtiki.

'Last year we saw the Mongrel Mob taking over ōpōtiki for a few days' - Mitchell.

Why is it important to crack down on gangs? 'because it's good politics' - someone that was sitting behind me. We found out later that she watches regularly at home. 9. Belich to Van Velden CB 6, BV 3

It's pretty obvious that Brooke is now queen of the cookers. She's plugging all that Covid-19 response bs ... 'cooker alert, cooker alert' - Gary.

'This government is delivering for all workers, particularly the 85% that are not members of a union ... we need a government for business' - Brooke.

'Ramblings of a sociopath' - Gary.

10. Rawiri to Mark Mitchell RW 7, MM 4 Does bias affect police raids? 'There is no systemic bias or racism in the police' - Mitchell. 'Police are constantly working with and consulting with iwi and hapu' - Mitchell.

Was the raid in ōpōtiki timed to coincide with the iwi hui in Christchurch? 'That's moving into conspiratorial territory' - Mitchell. It amuses me that the coalition which actually enabled that conspiracy buffs is claiming that the left is being conspiratorial ... trying to reclaim that for their evil ends as well. 11. Arena to Andrew Bayly AW 7, AB 2

Well, he didn't look good in this question. Arena stuck to her guns, and grilled him, and he gave a bunch of non-committal answers that made him seem like a total dick.

Winston butted in... 'he's suffering from a lethal dose of toxic Trumpism' - Gary.

'The questioning is getting to an interesting point' - Brownlee.

12. Lan Pham to Penny Simmonds LP 7, PS 4

'This government is committed to improving fresh water' - Simmonds. Lan spent most of the question deconstructing that statement.

'We do not think writing things in a plan makes them happen' - Simmonds, who has put a brief pause on any fresh water reforms (until the end of 2025).

'Dark day for democracy' - Scott Willis.