Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The Government isn't trying to silence the Māori Party

Well, that ended up being a fizzer, didn't it?

I mean, wow, here we were. We were expecting this big debate over the Māori Party punishments to drag on for days, if not weeks, and overshadow the Budget - and the blinking thing didn't even last an hour. It got postponed to next month.

What happened was, in retrospect, very simple and very obvious, just a move from the Government.

It came to the Government's turn to talk about it - and up pops Chris Bishop, Leader of the House. He says - hey, I move it gets postponed, and guess what, it gets postponed because the Government has the majority in the House, so they simply voted for that, and there we go, clear air for the Budget.

Most relieved, I would say, would be the Government, because it means that they do get clear air for the Budget on Thursday.

Most bummed out, I would imagine, would be the Māori Party - who'd even gone to the effort of organizing a protest on the full court of Parliament.

So basically, what's happened is we put this thing to bed for a few weeks because of a checkmate move from Chris Bishop.

But while we've got this pause, can I just make an observation?

It's quite remarkable how quickly this has gone from being a thing about the deliberate flouting of rules consistently by a party doing it as part of a PR strategy to being a thing about the National-led Government using parliamentary process to banish MPs they don't like, thereby turning us into a "banana republic".

This is the kind of reportage that I'm reading at the moment. Suspending the Māori Party MPs threatens democracy.

It is a drastic step that looks, on the face of it, undemocratic. Those are two different articles, by the way - it seems to be a theme that's emerging.

But hang on a minute here, because it's going to take a lot to convince me that this is the case of a heavy-handed Government silencing innocent dissent - because I haven't forgotten how we got here.

I haven't forgotten that the Māori Party planned to disrupt Parliament that day. They planned to disrupt it - and then they carried out that plan.

I haven't forgotten that Debbie Ngarewa-Packer pointed her fingers in the shape of a gun at another MP and that the Māori Party refused to turn up to the Privileges Committee when they were asked to - and when they were supposed to.

I haven't forgotten that that the Māori Party refused to apologize and accept they've done anything wrong and that the Māori Party then leaked the recommendations of the Privileges Committee, which is against the rules, and that the Māori Party co-leaders have said that they will do this again - most likely with the Regulatory Standards bill.

I haven't forgotten any of that stuff. And it's remarkable to me how quickly people want to turn this into a bad Government story instead of a bad opposition story.

And it's also remarkable to me how quickly people have forgotten what this party did to end up here today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well that ended up being if visit didn't it.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I mean, wow, here we were, We're expecting this big
debate over the Mary Party punishments to drag on for days,
if not weeks and overshadow the budget, and the blinking
thing didn't even last an hour got postponed to next month.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
What happened was actually, in retrospect, very simple and very obvious,
just to move from the government came to the government's
turned to talk about it up pops Chris Bishop, Leader
of the House says, hey, I move, it gets postponed
and guess what, it gets postponed because the government has
the majority in the House, so they simply voted for
that and there we go, clear air for the budget.
Most relieved, I would say, would be the government because

(00:38):
it means, of course that they do get they do
get clear clear air for the budget on Thursday. Most
bummed out, I would imagine, would be the Marti Party,
who'd even gone to the effort of organizing a protest
on the fore court of Parliament. So basically what's happened
is we put the bed to the thing to bed
for a few weeks because of a checkmate move from

(00:58):
Chris Bishop. But while we've got this pause, can I
just make an observation, which is that it is quite
remarkable how quickly this has gone from being a thing
about the deliberate flouting of rules consistently by a party
doing it as part of a pr strategy, to being
a thing about the National led government using parliamentary process
to banish MPs they don't like, thereby turning us into

(01:20):
a quote that are in a republic. This is the
kind of reportage that I'm reading at the moment. Suspending
to party Mardi MP's threatens democracy. It is a drastic
step that looks, on the face of it undemocratic. Those
are two different articles. By the way, it seems to
be a theme that's emerging. But hang on a minute here,
because it is going to take me. It's going to
take a lot to convince me that this is the

(01:40):
case of a heavy handed government silencing innocent descent. Because
I haven't forgotten how we got here. I haven't forgotten
that the Maori Party planned to disrupt parliament that day.
They planned to disrupt it that day and then they
carried out that plan. I haven't forgotten that Debingardi were
pack appointed her fingers in the shape of a gun
at another MP, that the Maori Party refused to turn

(02:02):
up to the Privileges Committee when they were asked to
and when theyre supposed to, that the Maori Party refused
to apologize, and except they've done anything wrong, That the
Maori Party then leaked to the recommendations of the Privileges Committee,
which is against the rules, and that the Marti Party
co leaders have said that they will do this again,
most likely with the Regulatory Standards Bill. I haven't forgotten

(02:23):
any of that stuff, and it is remarkable to me
how quickly people want to turn this into a bad
government story instead of a bad opposition story story. And
it's also remarkable to me how quickly people have forgotten
what this party did to end up here today. For
more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to News

(02:44):
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