Bye bye parliament for a while.

Written By: - Date published: 3:56 pm, March 25th, 2020 - 10 comments
Categories: covid-19, health, james shaw, Parliament, politicans - Tags:

Gotta love parliament – James Shaw “there are no fiscal conservatives in a foxhole”.

Anyway, parliament in the chamber will be going dark for a few months. So will parliamentary TV (but you can still get that live).

Have a look at the archives from today- there are some politicians who are on form..

10 comments on “Bye bye parliament for a while. ”

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  1. ianmac 1
    25 March 2020 at 4:06 pm

    James Shaw had a moment of humour. "I was able to go to my Mum and say You're Grounded!"

  2. mac1 2
    25 March 2020 at 4:33 pm

    Bye Bye Parliament, but the work of MPs will go on.

    And what work, at what level of competence, at what level of commitment. As Shaw said in the House today, they never envisaged such a scenario when they took on the reins as a coalition two and a bit years ago.

    I am in awe of the style, the leadership and the compassion of PM Jacinda Adern. Truly three times now, "Cometh the hour, cometh the woman".

    • Ken 2.1
      25 March 2020 at 4:54 pm

      Well said, mac1.

      I think that we are not only blessed with a great PM and government at this time….we are blessed with a historically great PM and government at this time.

      • patricia 2.1.1
        25 March 2020 at 5:01 pm

        Yes Thank You Winston. It is easier and easier to grasp why you chose to go with her Leadership.

    • halfcrown 2.2
      25 March 2020 at 7:37 pm

      Yeah, agree with you there Mac, a true leader this country needs at this moment. Lets hope the brain dead dickheads out there who listen to the likes of Hoskins, Garner, Richardson or read drivel by that odious female De Plastic just to name a few are aware of that come election time.

    • Tony Veitch (not etc.) 2.3
      25 March 2020 at 8:36 pm

      Chris Martenson of Peak Prosperity spoke of world 'leaders' as being 'managers', not leaders, (and not very good ones at that) but singled out our PM for mention as a real leader.

  3. Carolyn_Nth 3
    25 March 2020 at 4:55 pm

    There was some very good cross party agreement. of course, the finer details from each party prioritised their concerns eg Nats and businesses, Greens and concer for those on low incomes.

    Nat MPs stressed the recommendations of NZ Initiative. David Seymour began a speech by criticising James Shaw for ideological comments as being inappropriate at this time. Then Seymour also referred to NZ Initiative's recommendations as being "practical" but, of course they have a focus on business.

  4. lprent 4
    25 March 2020 at 5:41 pm

    And that is all she wrote for at least a month.

    I liked Chris Hipkins pointing out that the Hansard for 1918 was just one volume. Kind of put some of the Seymour posturing about 'first time democracy has been shutdown in NZ' into the historical perspective.

    Interesting the verbal contortions Seymour was doing – but some them were just daft. I guess that he hasn't grasped that supermarkets in trust areas don't carry booze and that if those areas want to have access to it then they either have to go out of their isolation bubble to get it – with the consequent risks. Or it could just be that he is representing the liquor retailers who find themselves viewed as a non-essential luxury excessively priced retail network unable to guarantee social isolation because there are too many of them for the police to cover.

    For a change I did like Brownlee’s contributions. Pragmatic and obviously looking forward to keeping the government aware of their scrutiny from the special select committee. Now that was a useful contribution.

    • Craig H 4.1
      25 March 2020 at 8:37 pm

      Agree, Brownlee's experience with the earthquake showed – test and discuss, absolutely, but he's been there, done that, and perhaps appreciates the task at hand more than any other Opposition MP.

    • mac1 4.2
      25 March 2020 at 9:51 pm

      Agreed, too. He spoke well did Brownlee, and there had obviously been some excellent negotiations. The Nats have been well measured by Hipkins as Leader of the House; I bet they respect him more than they did at the beginning of this term.

      Having the leader of the opposition as chair of the committee was a well made decision, and one that allayed many fears and secured the support of the house. Even ACT's Seymour had to acknowledge that as a move that granted recognition of the role of the opposition, and he alluded to the events of this day as an example of why NZ was only one of seven countries who had lasted the democratic distance.

      Good television today. I liked also Shaw's contributions. His little rebuke to Brownlee that he should lay off the hand sanitiser was well delivered.