Wendy Geus: Gaurav Sharma Co-stars as Potaka’s Lucky Charm…

Poll indicates National’s Tama Potaka will blitz the field in Hamilton West by-election

The media are flailing around searching for other missiles to chuck at Luxon over the Hamilton West byelection, as their ‘not another pale, stale, male’ line has become redundant with National’s selection of high calibre candidate Tama Potaka.

I must admit I had my doubts when he was announced as National’s Hamilton West candidate, given seasoned, likeable politician Tim McIndoe was keen to get back into the political fray. As former National MP for Hamilton West for 12 years he had the massive advantage of being a known candidate.

Mike Hosking: Sharma drama exposes PM's disappearing political nous

Another sign the Prime Minister has lost any political acumen she may once have had.

Her reaction to the Gaurav Sharma resignation was to whine about the cost of a by-election. The vote costs around $1 million. Why she would worry about $1 million is beyond me.

She wasn’t worried about the $50 million for consultants on the cycle bridge in Auckland that went nowhere. Just this week, she didn't seem remotely bothered by the $44 million to consultants so far, and counting, on the light rail that has yet to see a millimetre of track laid, despite the fact she personally promised it would be finished last year.

Karl du Fresne: A few thoughts on the Sharma affair

Overwhelmingly, the opinion of press gallery journalists – including some for whom I retain a degree of respect – seems to be that Gaurav Sharma deserved what he got. Luke Malpass says so; so does Audrey Young.

But I wonder whether the public thinks the same. Political events often look different from a distance than they do from the close proximity of the press gallery, and what journalists think is often wildly at odds with public opinion. As I’ve argued before, they’re ill-equipped to know what the public thinks about anything.

Garrick Tremain: Quick n easy

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on Sharma's DCM! 

Bob Jones: Enough

The media have had a field-day over the Sharma affair.

The non-descript Hamilton MP came into Parliament as part of the Labour landslide, its principal reason being the then religious-like faith by dopey Kiwis that Jacinda was the second coming and had eliminated coronavirus.

It’s my pick circa 30 of those new MPs will be gone after the next election, including Sharma, albeit in his case, probably earlier, and all never to be heard of again.

Cam Slater: It’s Amazing What Distance Does to One’s Perspective

Henry Cooke was one of this Labour Government’s handmaidens, dutifully regurgitating lines from the ‘Pulpit of Truth’ in order to keep his bosses’ paymasters happy. He, like many in the press gallery, had become a real life experiment akin to Pavlov’s dog experiments. But then he decided he needed an OE and so decamped to London, escaping the malign influence of the Ardern regime in the process. Isn’t it amazing what a bit of distance from Ardern’s regime does for one’s perspective. His article in the Guardian shows just how much the scales have fallen from his eyes.

Mike Hosking: The Govt begins the week in a world of pain

When Chris Hipkins says Gaurav Sharma's expulsion isn't pre-determined do you: 1) laugh or, 2) simply not believe him?

For a government that is this under the gun, statements like that don’t help.

Not helping either is the release of the letter from Sharma to the Prime Minister's office last December, proving this thing has been going on for a while and showing that despite the Prime Minister's office saying it’s all dealt with and it was all settled, the fact we are where we are, tells us that’s not true.

Garrick Tremain: Doctor Sharma

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on the eternal source of all truth! 

Dr Gaurav Sharma: Govt MP blows whistle on 'rampant' Parliament bullying, takes aim at official

Much has been said this week about bullying and the abysmal culture of our political parties who, in my opinion, continue to betray the trust of our voters. Over the last few years and under the outgoing Speaker Trevor Mallard there have been a lot of press releases to indicate that the broader work culture in the halls of Parliament is being changed for the better.

While this does sound like the right thing to do, it is - in my experience - a PR exercise to placate some of the backlash from the public in recent years. If there was any serious intent or effort to make a genuine change in Parliamentary culture, the current Speaker and the powers to be would have included Member-to-Member bullying in its terms of reference, if not initially then at least in response to the Francis Report which flagged this as a serious issue after interviewing MPs who spend upwards of 30-35 hours on the Parliamentary precinct over the three or more days we are based in Parliament on sitting weeks.

Point of Order: Labour MP may be overwhelmed with correspondence – or perhaps he wasn’t advised of the PM’s transparency pledge

On taking office back in 2017, Jacinda Ardern promised her government would be the most open and transparent New Zealand has seen.

In her first formal speech to Parliament she pledged:

“This government will foster a more open and democratic society. It will strengthen transparency around official information.”

Three years later she laid down a gauntlet for National, saying she wanted to avoid “negative fake news style” campaigns and signing up her party to Facebook’s voluntary political ad transparency tool.

But the transparency message perhaps did not did not get passed down to her back-benchers, as Point of Order’s recent experience suggests.

Point of Order: Simon said something sad and unfortunate (or so it seems) but we must be patient to learn from Dr Sharma what it was

Point of Order looks forward to hearing from Dr Gaurav Sharma, MP for Hamilton West.

Our interest in him and his sensibilities was whetted by a recent Parliamentary debate in which he indicated he had been upset by something National’s Simon O’Connor had said on the subject of academic freedom.

The occasion was the first reading of the Education and Training (Freedom of Expression) Amendment Bill, a private member’s bill promoted by ACT MP James McDowall.

The bill required tertiary institutions to protect freedom of expression and enabled them to issue codes of practice that set out procedures for students and staff to follow to uphold freedom of expression.

ACT and Nats supported the Bill. Labour, the Greens and the Māori Party had the numbers to sink it before it went any further.

Sharma followed O’Connor in contributing the debate: