Question Time 01.02.2024

Back in the House today. I'd say that this day favoured the Government, despite me watching them closely with my crazy eyes from above the Opposition! I'm starting to appreciate how partisan the Speaker is .. it's more of a philosophy thing than an out-and-out favouritism, but Brownlee is certainly hewing closer to what National want (much as Rurawhe hewed closer to Labour). - 1:42pm - walked to Parliament after having lunch with Pippa (my Mum). 1:48pm - There's a large delegation in the Speaker's Gallery. Two TV tripods are set up to film the Government. 1:51pm - MPs are trickling in... 1:54pm - Arena arrives. 1:56pm - Hana and Tākuta. 1:57pm - Andy Foster. - 1. Carmel Sepuloni to David Seymour (acting PM) Seymour plugs his new Minister of Regulation role. Sepuloni follows up on the Casey Costello scandal. 'There has been no tobacco funding' - Seymour. Then Grant Robertson got technical and challenged the Speaker. This became a lengthy side-bar that also included Chris Bishop, James Shaw and Marama Davidson. Conflicts of interest ... David going to bat for NZ First (talk about a shock!). CS 6/10, DS 7/10. - 2. Catherine Wedd to Nicola Willis 'Through neglect, the personal income tax scale has failed to keep up with growth in income' - Willis. 'I am delighted to be part of this coalition government, which is committed to growing the economy' - Willis. CW 6/10, NW 7/10. - 3. Marama Davidson to Chris Bishop Colonisation and ancient history. 'I don't view history in a binary way' - Bishop. 'How can it be mansplaining to answer a question from a woman in Parliament?' - Bishop. Efeso had a supplementary. MD 6/10, CB 7/10 (yes, even though he was talking out of his arse). - 4. Robertson to Willis This was an oddity. One question and no supplementaries. GR 5/10, NW 7/10. - 5. Uffindell to Reti According to new data, the increased security presence in emergency rooms is working, and patients feel safer. SU 5/10, SR 6/10. - 6. Takutai Tarsh Kemp to Karen Chour. As per usual, Te Pāti Māori shared out the supplementaries, with Hana sitting up front and delivering two of those. Apparently OT is continuing to harm kids in greater numbers due to understaffing. I thought this question, and the next one, were the best from the opposition today. TPM 7/10, KC 6/10. - 7. Ayesha Verrall to Casey Costello 'The facts have been distorted by a media article' - Costello. Smells like bullshit. 'Do things in her office appear out of thin air?' - Verrall. Ayesha sounded genuinely angry, which gave this question some life. AV 8/10, CC 5/10. - 8. Mike Butterick to Mark Mitchell. Spruiking a range of rural flood protection and mitigation programs. $12.3 billion invested in flood risk mitigation. MB 6/10, MM 7/10. - 9. Ginny Andersen to Mark Mitchell More on the government's recent backtrack regarding police recruitment numbers. Bit of a snoozer... GA 6/10, MM 5/10. - 10. Julie Anne Genter to Simeon Brown Road user charges are being introduced for hybrids and EVs... the Greens aren't happy. Simeon did a good job of explaining his policy, but then he accused Julie Anne of misinformation, which takes him down a peg in the final analysis. JAG 8/10, SB 6/10. - 11. Jan Tinetti to David Seymour (acting minister of education). What does 'balance' mean regarding the history curriculum? - Willow-Jean Prime. Seymour's answer: that hasn't been determined yet. Labour 8/10, DS 5/10. - 12. Nancy Lu to Andrew Bayly Way over my head... I have no idea what they were talking about. NL 6/10, AB 7/10. - I couldn't see much of the Green MPs, but I think I heard Chloe chirping like a wicketkeeper. I had a nice view of my party during that question. 👋