The Naked Politician

Yesterday I read of an Australian state minister who was forced to resign because he was caught dancing naked in a bar. Quite right too. It should be a capital offence for any Australian whose names are not Nicole and Kidman to be caught naked in public. Nevertheless, the message here is that the resignation occurred with some promptitude and over what most of us would think a relatively minor matter. Contrast that with the Winston affair and our handling of such matters in New Zealand. This is not the first time a New Zealand parliamentarian had been allowed to hang on with an adhesion akin to Britney kissing Madonna. True, some of them get stripped of their ministerial portfolios but they soon regain them. None that I can remember has actually been forced to resign and I doubt very much that Winston will be the first. In any case, time is running out for that. So I think Winston will survive the current term of government. Whether he returns for the next one I very much doubt. Personally though I have no issue with that. Winston does his job, still has a constituency that adores him, dresses better than Rodney Hide and he might get down and dirty but at least he doesn’t get…naked.