Ryan Bridge: Do people care about the suspended Te Pati Māori MPs?

Government debt is the worst it’s been since the 1990s but today, two days out from a Budget designed to fix it, our Parliamentarians be debating a haka. 

The public largely doesn’t care about this stuff. Pocketbook politics always trumps theatrics - except if you're Te Pati Māori.

No matter how today’s debate over the Privileges Committee report goes, and it could go on for a long time, Te Pati Māori wins.

A loss for them in our Westminster system, what we might think of as a sanction or punishment, is to them a badge of honour.

Already their well-followed social accounts are beating the drum of discontent. 

There are some who say that 21 days without pay is too harsh. People are comparing the haka and Debbie’s gun gesture to Brooke's C-bomb. 

They miss an important point. 

Both the c-bomb and the haka were pre-planned choreographed stunts.

The difference between the two is Brooke asked the Clerk in advance of her stunt if she was allowed to use the word. The answer was yes.

Te Pati Māori did not.

Brooke’s stunt did not disrupt a vote being taken in the House.

Te Pari Māori's did. 

Voting is the essence of democracy, where the elected express the views of the electors. It’s Parliament’s Holy Communion. 

And nobody’s yet said sorry.

That doesn’t mean the punishment a slim majority of government members voted for is not overly harsh. 

The Clerk reckons it is. Brownlee clearly reckons it is. The Opposition reckons it is.

Does the punishment really fit the crime? Or have standards slipped so badly, the House such a hot mess, that a precedent and a message needs to be sent? 

The public, largely, doesn’t care.

The question today is how long will National let this debate drag on with amendments and filibustering before a compromised is reached?

Winston and Seymour will be hardliners, of course. As will the Greens and TPM.

But for the bigger parties the risk is if you play politics over policy for too long you look childish. 

The only winners from today’s sideshow will be the minnows and, of course, the rest of us. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Government debt is the worst it's been since the nineteen nineties.
But today, two days out from a budget designed to
fix it, our parliamentarians will be debating a hacker. The public,
I don't think largely cares about this stuff. Pocketbook book
politics always trumps theatrics, except if you're to Party Mardy.
No matter how today's debate over the Privileges Committee report goes,

(00:21):
and it could go on for a long time, to
Party Marti wins a loss for them. In our Westminster system,
what we might think of as a sanction or a
punishment is to them a badge of honor. Already, they're
well followed. Social media accounts are beating the drum of discontent.
There are some who say that twenty one days is
too harsh. People are comparing the hacker's and Debbie's gun

(00:44):
thing to Brooks sea bomb, for example, They miss an
important point. Both the sea bomb and the hacker were
pre planned, choreographed stunts. The difference between the two is
Brooke asked the clerk in advance of her stunt if
she was allowed to use the word. The answer is yes.
To Pati Marti did not. Brooks stunt did not disrupt

(01:05):
a vote being taken in the House. The Mardi parties did.
Voting is the essence of democracy, where the elected expressed
the views of the electors us. It's Parliament's holy communion,
and nobody has yet said sorry. That does not mean
the punishment which a slim majority of government members voted for,

(01:26):
is not overly harsh. The clerk reckons it is brownly
clearly reckons it is. The opposition reckons it is. Does
the punishment really fit the crime? That's the question? Or
have standards slipped so badly? The House is such a
hot mess that a precedent and a message needs to
be sent to our parliamentarians. As I said, I think

(01:49):
on the whole the public largely doesn't really care about
this stuff. The question today is how long will national
let this debate drag on with amendments and filibustering before
a promise is reached. Winston and Seymour, they're your hardliners,
of course, to Party Mali, your Greens, the your opposing
hard liners of course. But for the bigger parties the

(02:12):
risk is if you play politics over policy for too long,
you look childish. The only winners from today's sideshow will
be the minnos and of course well the losers, I
should say, with the minnos will be the winners. The
losers really will be the bigger parties and the rest
of us. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,

(02:35):
listen live to News Talks at BE from five am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.