An abnoxious time

There is no sadder sight in Parliament than a politician who doesn’t want to be there.

There are two of them in there now, both on the Government side: Andrew Little and Kelvin Davis.

Both entered New Zealand’s current parliament with good intent; both got scuppered by one man—Winston Peters.

Andrew Little’s situation is particularly sad. He made the ultimate sacrifice for his party after it became apparent that under his leadership Labour had no chance of winning the 2017 general election. He did so with grace and decorum and was widely praised for that.

I also believe he did so with the reasonable expectation that Jacinda Ardern would replace him, and that under her leadership and with the support of the Greens, labour had the best chance of winning that election or the next. What he may not have counted on was the role and the eventual importance of Winston Peters--a man who is I believe an anathema to all the principles Andrew Little holds dear—uppermost among them honour.

Now we have unwelcome sight in Parliament of Andrew Little trying to justify a bill that is widely described as the most spurious, self-serving act of legislation to come before Parliament in recent times. What must be particularly galling for Andrew Little is that, as Minister of Justice, the bill is in his name, whereas the reality is that it has been perpetrated by Winston and his paranoia that New Zealand First’s MPs may desert the party. The Electorate Integrity Amendment Bill or The Waka-jumping Bill, as it is also known, seeks “to enhance public confidence in the integrity of the electoral system by upholding the proportionality of political party representation in Parliament as determined by electors.” In reality it forces MPs to toe the party line—even in contravention of their electorate responsibilities, or risk expulsion from the party and Parliament. Compounding that, it’s been recently revealed that Winston Peters has in his party’s constitution a clause that makes his MPs each liable for a $300,000 penalty if they resign or are expelled from the party before the next general election.

The bill and the penalty are draconian and disgraceful. They are also, as the National Party MP leading the debate for the Opposition, Nick Smith, says unprecedented in any democratic parliament in the world.

Yet, poor hapless Andrew Little has to defend it. And his efforts to do so have come increasingly desperate yet lackadaisical. Yesterday, for example, he denied knowledge of the New Zealand First constitution clause, which seems hard to believe. And he even resorted to attacking Nick Smith’s pronunciation of obnoxious (“abnoxious”) to describe the bill, which rightly drew the ire of Speaker Trevor Mallard for being demeaning (to Smith) and bringing Parliament into dispute.

Clearly Andrew Little is more than a little uncomfortable. He is fighting for a bill that I believe he doesn’t believe in. No wonder he looks and behaves like he doesn’t want to be there.

The other MP whom I believe is disenchanted, but, unlike Andrew Little, makes no effort to hide it is Kelvin Davis. That is no surprise—Kelvin Davis seems to put little effort into anything, including reading his briefing papers. Kelvin Davis is the picture of misery—a fallen man whose always unrealistic expectations remain unrealised. Yes, as deputy leader of the parliamentary Labour Party, he may have expected to be made Deputy Prime Minister. However, that was never going to happen under MMP and certainly not after Winston became (once again) Queen-maker. Nor is Kelvin Davis up to the job, as he so ineptly demonstrated when he served as Acting Prime Minister. His churlish behaviour since has won him few favours or friends.

I know what it is like to be doing a job I don’t want in a place I don’t like. If circumstances permit you can always leave. I did. Perhaps Mr Little and Mr Davis you might like to consider that option. Jump to another waka. At least, as Labour MPs, you won’t have to shell-out $300,000.

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