Simon Bridges; Minister of Back-Handed Compliments

Simon Bridges made a cracking speech in the General Debate in Parliament this afternoon. He has certainly proved that Shane Jones is a man alone in the Labour Party; check this out:

Shane Jones has shown a rare outbreak of pragmatism on the vexed subject of mining and oil exploration with his recent entreaties. But he is a lone voice in the wilderness, as Bridges demonstrated.

Nor were the Greens spared ridicule. Accusing the Greens of "quackery", Bridges gave viewers a history lesson with his reference to the passage through the New Zealand Parliament in 1908 of the Quackery Prevention Act!

The General Debate is usually pure theatre, and Bridges provided that in spades. But it was also a most effective speech using a back-handed compliment towards Shane Jones to attack the anti-mining, anti-drilling, anti-progress brigade of the LabourGreen Party.