The current leader of the National Party has been snapped driving from Wellington to Tauranga in defiance of the lockdown.
Simon Bridges is the chair of the the Epidemic Response Committee, which meets each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
While other MPs are joining the meeting remotely via the internet, Bridges is turning up in person in Parliament and then cruising back to the Bay of Plenty to be with his family bubble.
But hang on!
Simon has a second bubble. This one appears to be some advisors and at least two Tory MP’s who are also on the Epidemic Response Committee, Whangārei MP Shane Reti and Taupō MP Louise Upston.
Bridges says because the PM has a bubble at Premier House in Tinakori and one in the nearby Beehive, he’s entitled to a bubble at Parliament and another at his Tauranga home.
“I don’t take these things lightly, but I am the leader of the Opposition, I’ve got constitutional duties, I’m running a committee in extreme circumstances where there is no Parliament.”
Yeah, nah. Simon’s been given the chair of a committee that is useful, but not crucial. A taxpayer funded tiki tour is not an essential journey.
Jacinda Ardern is actually running the show and her two addresses are discrete, secure, well locked down and only minutes walk apart.
What the Prime Minister does clearly is essential.
What Simon does is, well, hard to tell. But it sure ain’t essential.
As an aside, does anyone know if he gets an allowance for turning up in person? I don’t know, but we really should be told.
But wait! There’s more!!!
The day before the lockdown came into effect, Bridges hung out in a Mount Maunganui supermarket for a photo op. No social distancing at all.
The staff don’t seem thrilled about the chat, but that’s understandable. It is Simon Bridges, after all.
UPDATE: Twitter has been brutal:*
*hat tip ms!
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