Flowers and Fertiliser
The awards for the week.
Rome was not built in a day
Opposition will come your way
But the hotter the battle you see
It’s the sweeter the victory, now
Songwriter: Jimmy Cliff.
The Tory press likes to give out awards for the week, so today, here are some from the left.
If you’re wondering, Aunty Audrey, through her blue-tinted, granny Herald-issued specs, gave a brickbat to Ingrid Leary for using ChatGPT and being caught on the hop after sending an email by accident. I thought this was a bit weird.
You’ve got the government and the business community telling us that AI is our very near future, so what’s wrong with an MP using a productivity aid? But beyond that, I was more interested in Casey Costello's answers, and it felt like Audrey was running interference for the coalition with this distraction.
I’ve noticed that Leary has been on the receiving end of multiple attacks; in my view, that indicates she is doing a good job and should keep doing it.
Audrey ended her attack by saying, “Oh deary, Ingrid Leary”, which I assume is what passes for humour among her readers.
While Audrey issues Brickbats and Bouquets, I’m going with Flowers and Fertiliser, the latter brings us to our first “poo” award…
💩 David Seymour - bully and jerk.
Unlike King Midas, everything that Seymour touches seems to turn to poo, not least of which are his infamous school lunches, which this week had a bit of variety at one school in Christchurch by containing mould and what the locals refer to as liquefaction.
Rather than manning up and taking responsibility, Seymour went with a favourite tactic of Trump - and attacked his accuser. Speaking in the media, the Deputy PM accused principal Peggy Burrows of being a “media frequent flyer”. The suggestion that she was only raising an issue for attention was rich, unlike the gravy.
If there is one party that receives more media time than they warrant, it is ACT. Whether in office or opposition, they receive far more press than the Greens, for example, who attract more support. This was a reprehensible attack by the associate Education Minister on a Principal whose concern was the health and welfare of the children in her care.
Seymour then used the same tactic in a Select Committee, suggesting that the Labour MPs who were sticking up for the kids and the principal should win Oscars for their performance. In fairness to David, he’s probably not used to being around people who care about others.
As the ACT leader continued the tactic without apology, people got fed up, and my local MP, Phil Twyford, said, “Give it a rest, jerk.”
Thank you, Phil. You spoke for many of us.
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