Quote of the Day - 30 August 2013

Barry Soper is back from a trip to Africa, rejuvenated, and in fine form. And he has laid into Trevor Mallard for his attack on Nick Smith during Question Time on Wednesday; check this out:

Over the next three weeks the spotlight will be on Labour and in particular the three wannabes. 
But it's a party that can't help tripping over itself as it did yesterday when Trevor Mallard flew into the bear pit, accusing the pedantic Nick Smith of bludging off the taxpayer after he tearfully relieved himself of his ministry last year when his Bronwyn Pullar conflict of interest became an embarrassment. 
Of course he's repented and is now back in the fold. Mallard claimed he'd stayed on in his taxpayer supplied ministerial home when he wasn't entitled to. 
Smith tells us he stayed on for a couple of weeks so that his kids could finish their school term which would seem reasonable in the circumstances. 
But big Gezza Brownlee wasn't going to let them get away with that. He ruffled Mallard's feathers, saying what's good for the goose is good for the gander. 
If he expected Smith to cough up some cash then what about Dithering David doing the decent thing? 
Since making the dramatic announcement last Thursday, and then refusing to take any questions about it, Shearer got on the next plane out of the capital and will be lying low for the next three weeks. 
He's still picking up his leader's salary and the perks that go with the job, which Gezza says is a bit rich given Labour's view of Smith's indiscretion. 
More points on the Tory board then as Labour again scores an own goal!

Labour simply can't take a trick at the moment. Maybe it's time for some of those who keep stuffing up to shuffle off into retirement.

A fishy protest

Rent-a-mob will be out in small force in Auckland today, but only after they've visited the fish market; Scoop reports:

Anti-GCSB protesters will show their opposition to the GCSB Bill this Saturday at 2pm by staging a demonstration outside John Key’s Parnell mansion.
In response to John Key’s statement that New Zealanders care more about the Snapper quota than the GCSB Bill, protesters will be rallying at the Holy Trinity Church in Parnell before delivering a six foot Snapper shaped like the Prime Minister to the gates of Key’s home.
Protesters will be bringing scores of dead fish to leave on Key's driveway as a symbol of their opposition to the GCSB Bill.

This is a daft protest on so many fronts that it is difficult to know where to start in rebuttal. But firstly, we strongly oppose targeting MPs' homes; even the Prime Minister's. The families of MP's are not part of political arguments; nor are MPs' neighbours. Involving them in this kind of protest, or the one outside Peter Dunne's Kandallah home a couple of weeks ago crosses the boundary between legitimate protest and intimidation.

Secondly, there's the fish issue. Any protesters who throw rubbish (in this case dead fish) onto private or even public property should expect to be arrested, and we are sure that there will be plenty of police on hand to do just that.

But what about the waste? We reckon that most of today's protesters will have been in some way connected to the Occupy protests of 2011, where they claimed to be the "99%". They oppose poverty, and they oppose oppression, and yet they are going to wilfully waste quantities of perfectly edible food. Surely, rather than symbolically flinging fish at the PM's house (which of course they describe as a "Parnell mansion", it would be better if every protester brought fresh fish with them which was then donated to the Auckland City Mission, or some other organisation which feeds the hungry.

Lastly, stunts like this do nothing to advance the cause. The most likely result of a misguided protest such as this will be a shift in public opinion AWAY FROM the cause being protested. New Zealanders aren't stupid, and they can small a rotten fish protest from some distance away.

John Key took all the heat out of the GCSB debate on Wednesday night. That probably explains why the protesters are getting personal, and targeting his home. By all means let them protest, but they should rethink their strategy because quite frankly, it stinks.