10. CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by his statement “We may not always agree with what you say, but we will always listen”?
Hon BILL ENGLISHDoes the Prime Minister agree with Keisha Castle-Hughes that telling her to “stick to acting” is really odd, given that he had previously encouraged her to make a submission to the Minister for Climate Change Issues on New Zealand’s pollution reduction target?
The Prime Minister wholeheartedly supports Ms Castle-Hughes’ right to have a view about New Zealand’s climate change policy and her right to publicise that view.
Does the Prime Minister think that actors Lucy Lawless, Robyn Malcolm, and Cliff Curtis, who are also participating in the Sign On campaign, should “stick to acting”, and has he advised Michael Jones to stick to rugby and keep out of politics, or do different rules apply to potential National Party recruits?
They are all eminent New Zealand actors, and sticking to acting may well be a recipe for further success for them. However, an advertising campaign is not a replacement for serious analysis of the impact of a 40 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. Any serious analysis would tell us that such a reduction would have a very negative impact on our economy and on people’s livelihoods.
Should New Zealanders now assume from the Prime Minister’s put-down of Keisha Castle-Hughes, and from Paula Bennett’s release of private information about two sole parents, that it is OK for Ministers to attack people who disagree with them, and is that what he meant when he said he would set high standards for himself and his Ministers?
I would have thought that that member would know as much as anyone about the bullying, shut-down tactics of his colleagues, given that he announced his promotion to Parliamentary Under-Secretary, only to find it pulled back the next day.
John Boscawen