National is threatening to veto a Labour bill to extend paid parental leave, claiming it costs too much (they’ve been exaggerating the cost). At the same time, they’re trying to defend writing a blank cheque for looters’ bonuses. And they’re getting nasty about it. Maggie Barry (who has already made headlines by demanding to know what party citizens submitting to select committee support and has proven to be the most stereotypically arrogant, privileged Tory you can imagine) attacked Jacinda Ardern for not having children yet while John Key had a hissy fit at anyone who questioned his looters’ bonuses.
Here’s Barry’s disgraceful behaviour:
Ms Ardern, who is 32 today, said National, which opposes the legislation, was asking people if they “preferred coal or children”.
“Stop subsidising heavy polluters and we can back kids. Build one less road of national significance and we can help kids and their families,” she said. “This Government has proven that their priority is not children.”
Ms Barry, 52, responded by asking: “How many kids do you have?”
The North Shore MP later added: “Don’t be so precious, petal.”
The Opposition side of the House erupted with calls for an apology, which the first-term Government member refused to give.
Labour MP Trevor Mallard later wrote on his Twitter feed: “Shame on Maggie Barry … Women parliamentarians should know better than to criticise each other for not having children.”Speaking after the debate, Ms Barry, who had her only child in her late 30s, said: “I am not apologising for it. I don’t think it’s a very sensitive issue. Jacinda dishes the dirt as much as any.
National was nasty right from the start of the debate:
The debate opened by Ms Moroney was punctuated by yells of “show us the money” from National MP Nick Smith.
Ms Barry said National was not arguing against the merits of paid parental leave, but the cost.
Her colleague Louise Upston, MP for Taupo, said that “in planet Labour, money seems to grow on trees”.
Closing the debate, Ms Moroney said she hadn’t been prepared for the “venom” that came from National.
“The sheer anger led by Dr Nick Smith and carried on by Maggie Barry was something I wasn’t prepared for. To me it demonstrated an anger towards working families,” she said.
“I thought it was quite ugly. This is coming from a government who were on the wrong side of the class-size issue,” Ms Moroney said.
Meanwhile, John Key, who can’t name the cost of his looters’ bonus free shares and didn’t even know that the government is going to subsidise looters by paying the stockbrokers’ fees, went into a tizzy when questioned about it:
Dr Russel Norman: Well, is he aware that there is $56 million in the Budget primarily to pay brokerage fees to the selling syndicate; and why is it fair for all taxpayers to cover the brokerage fees of the 5 percent?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I would need to check that matter. I am sure the member is probably incorrect in the assumption he is making.
Of course, it was Key who was wrong.
Dr Russel Norman: Given that the Government has failed to convince New Zealanders of the arguments around asset sales, as shown by every major opinion poll, is that because the Government actually does not have very good reasons, and his approach now is to say “Rubbish!” to anyone who disagrees with him, and to tell the people of New Zealand: “We are simply going to force it down your throat.” in a Muldoonist way, just like previous National Governments have?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY: There are many analogies one could draw with me, but Muldoon is probably not one of them
Weird, wasn’t Muldoon Key’s hero?
Of course, with the biggest borrowing binge in history and the worst growth record in 50 years+, I guess it would be unfair to compare Key’s record of utter failure to Muldoon’s record a stagnant economy and excessive borrowing fuelled by a massive round of tax cuts.
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