I'm with DPF - there is only one word to describe Margaret Wilson's leadership in the House this afternoon, and that is disgraceful. Not only was it blatantly partisan, but it seemed to have no other purpose that to save Winston Peters's reputation, not to mention his backside.
The allegations made by Hide were as serious as could be made against a Member of Parliament - that Peters received money to hush up allegations of corruption in the scampi industry. And yet Peters was allowed to dominate the exchanges with points of order that were rebutted by Rodney Hide and Gerry Brownlee. And yet time and time again Wilson ruled in favour of Peters, frustrating Hide to the point where he was thrown out of the House.
I will post the full transcript as soon as it appears on the Parliament website, so readers can make their own judgment. But here's mine. For many months I have maintained that Margaret Wilson is the second-worst Speaker in my memory; second only to the late Dr Gerry Wall. After today, Margaret Wilson is second to no-one.
UPDATE: In a very rare move, 3News has the footage of this afternoon's extraordinary events BEFORE the news bulletin
UPDATE #2: It's too long to post on its own, but here's the link to the transcript of Question 5 this afternoon. Read it, and judge for yourself.
7 comments:
The fat poof Hunt was the worst I have seen.... Until they gave the one term lister Wilson the job. This is the creature who took the privy council away from us as well.
Bill Ralston on RadioLive is seething about this now too.
From that exchange this afternoon one has to assume that Winston has something serious to hide - and that Labour are aiding and abetting him.
Disgraceful!
The EFA restrains freedom of speech outside parliament and the speaker constrains it inside the house. Shame on her.
I expect Winston to support the ETS tomorrow. I suspect the price of his support is for Labour to protect him from Hide - hence this afternoon's absurd performance.
MacDoc - I'm not one to say "I tiold you so" but...I told you so!!!
http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/2008/07/joining-dots-part-ii.html
I2: Yeah, you did.
I must admit, I was picking Winston to bomb the ETS - until I saw Margaret "The Swamp Queen" Wilson caving in to Winston. It would actually be more to Winston's advantage to scupper the ETS and distance himself from Labour. One can only assume that Rodney the Raucus has some real evidence of corruption for Peters to take the less advantageous option.
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