Tuesday, 23 February 2021 10:12

Hats off!

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: Your old mate was a little confused by Maori Party MP Rawiri Waititi’s stance over not wanting to wear a tie in Parliament’s debating chamber.

Waititi was booted out of Parliament on the first day back this month, after a dress code scuffle with Speaker Trevor Mallard.

As he was leaving the house, after being ejected by Mallard, Waititi said: “This is not about ties, it is about cultural identity.”

The Hound suggests Waititi may very well have had a valid point about the archaic rule around wearing neck ties in Parliament, which has now been relaxed.

However, he suggests if Maori Party co-leader is going to pull the old ‘cultural identity’ claim then he’d probably have more truck and ‘mana’ if he were not wearing his omnipresent, ridiculous-looking cowboy hat, which is hardly traditional Maori garb!

More like this

Time for action

OPINION: If David Seymour's much-trumpeted Ministry for Regulation wants a serious job they need look no further than reviewing the rules and regulations governing members of the so-called House of Representatives.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Drill baby, drill!

OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.

Featured

PM hints Govt to deliver 46% reduction in farming consents

The Government is set to announce two new acts to replace the contentious Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Prime Minister hinting that consents required by farmers could reduce by 46%.

Leaving Paris Agreement would be a dumb move – PM

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “a really dumb move”.

University of Waikato breaks ground on new medical school

The University of Waikato has broken ground on its new medical school building.

Te Radar celebrates kiwi farming heritage in latest release

Undoubtedly the doyen of rural culture, always with a wry smile, our favourite ginger ninja, Te Radar, in conjunction with his wife Ruth Spencer, has recently released an enchanting, yet educational read centred around rural New Zealand in one hundred objects.

Sheep Measles Spike: Farmers urged to strengthen control measures

Farmers are being urged to keep on top of measures to control Cysticerus ovis - or sheep measles - following a spike in infection rates.

Export delays, weather and global supply pressure hit NZ avocado growers

The avocado industry is facing an extremely challenging season with all parts of the supply chain, especially growers, being warned to prepare for any eventuality.

National

Government approves nationwide recycling scheme for primary sector plastics

Rural recycling scheme Agrecovery is welcoming the Government's approval of regulations for a nationwide rural recycling scheme for agrichemicals and…