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

Hawke’s Bay farmers donate livestock to support rescue helicopter

A Hawke's Bay farming family of self-confessed 'frequent flyers' has donated the proceeds from their spring lambs.

Biosecurity NZ ramps up hunt for yellow-legged hornet on Auckland’s North Shore

Biosecurity New Zealand is intensifying its campaign to locate and eliminate the invasive yellow-legged hornet, following confirmed detections on Auckland's North Shore.

Canterbury farmer Sean Molloy joins New Zealand Pork board

Following a recent director election, Canterbury farmer Sean Molloy has been appointed to the New Zealand Pork Industry Board.

US removes reciprocal tariff on NZ beef

Red meat farmers and processors are welcoming a US Government announcement - removing its reciprocal tariffs on a range of food products, including New Zealand beef.

India-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) dairy outcomes

OPINION: As negotiations advance on the India-New Zealand FTA, it’s important to remember the joint commitment made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the beginning of this process in March: for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial agreement.