Around and about
Morph has four jokes which aren’t bad. I like No 4 the best.
Peter Metcalfe catches Judith Tizard out in a porkie. Of course as the porkie related to Judith claiming to be busy, I doubt anyone believed her in the first place! [Update: porkie accusation retracted - Judith's office have confirmed she was subbing on a select cmte]
Mike Heine has taken a break from getting Marian Hobbs into trouble and has some nice transcripts from question time on Whangamata Marina.
Liberty Scott blogs on why local content quotas for radio are a nonsense.
No Right Turn keeps up his excellent efforts with details of which private members bills get drawn from the ballot and also descrptions of new bills submitted to the ballot. NRT gives far better coverage of private members bills than the media or even the main parliamentary website.
Clint Heine has details of a Dutch immigration film where they show potential migrants a topless woman emerging from the sea, and advises people that if they can’t bear to watch it, no need to apply. Heh I think I might pass!
Not a blog but in equally bad taste Mike M has pointed out to me the Schapelle Corby Tours website where you can arrange to visit her in prison and have a photo taken with her. I’m pretty sure it’s a joke!
Michael Ellis discovers that kangaroos are now on the loose in Austria as well as Australia. Truly.
March 17th, 2006 at 11:00 am
I’ve been trying to get the Clerk to put more information online (or even just to publish a PDF of the appropriate page from the parliamentary Bulletin), but have hit some resistance. Basically, while they have a “fair copy” of the bill (the version which will be introduced to the House if it is drawn), they don’t regard it as a public document, and don’t regard it as their job to make them available to the public. Some MPs of course are quite secretive about their legislative plans (something I’ll be making sharp coments about in the next batch of bills).
Democracies are supposed to be open, and we are supposed to be able to know what our lawmakers are up to so we can hold them accountable. This should extend to being able to see the full text of any bill they put in the ballot. They’re not before the House, but they’re in the process, and so we should be able to see them.
March 17th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
David, as you well know, MPs often fill in for other MPs on Select Committee if someone has leave to be away. That is what Judith Tizard was doing. A lie? No, just a lazy blogger (Peter Matcalfe) who doesn’t know how Parliament works and was too lazy to ask anyone.
March 17th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
I wondered if she’d been subbed onto the other SC. Thanks, Tony.
March 17th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Tony,
I’ve never heard of Ministers sitting on select committtees before or replacing another MP. Perhaps you could take the trouble to cook up more convincing spin?
–Peter Metcalfe
March 17th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
I’ve never heard of Ministers sitting on select committtees before
Huh. I understand its an almost daily occurence.
March 17th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Darryl,
“Sitting on the select committee” indicates that a person is acting as a member of that select committee. “Appearing before the select committee” which is what Ministers do in select committees is something else.
March 17th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Peter, I work in the Government Whips Office which deals with Select Committees – whose on them and who gets replaced, and I can assure you Judith was on the Select Committee. Unless you want to accuse me of lying too?
March 17th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Tony,
I’ll required far more than just your mere say-so considering that your original explanation of my supposed laziness completely ignored Judith’s ministerial status (which was a core part of my skepticism) and also failed to mention that the education and science select committee was meeting that day (contrary to the information that I cited from the Clerk’s Office). I wouldn’t accuse you of lying – instead I’ll accuse you of being pathetically maladept in the communications business as the manner of your rebuttal reeked of pathetic spin so much so that it looked as though you had worked in David Benson-Pope’s office.
Had you just pointed out that a) Ministers outside Cabinet are now subbing on the select committees from time to time (which certainly wasn’t the case not so long ago) and b) Judith was subbing on the Education and Science Review comittee which met that day then your rebuttal would have credibility attached to it. But since it didn’t, you only have yourself to blame for my skepticism.