Ani O'Brien: Racist or righteous? - Privileges Committee versus Te Pāti Māori

I have written many times before about narratives and the role of constructing the binary of good and evil in politics. This week we again see how storytelling is shaping a prominent political conflict with the race to own the narrative as the Privileges Committee hands down its recommendations. On the one hand, Te Pāti Māori has rushed to take the role of victims enabled by the other opposition parties and the majority of the media. They have run with accusations of racism and colonisation. On the other, the Government parties argue that the punishment for the trio of Te Pāti Māori MPs is simply fair consequences for breaking the rules of Parliament.

Ele Ludemann: Postponing debate smart move

Yesterday’s debate on the Privileges Committee’s recommendation to suspend three Te Pāti Māori MPs was going to be protracted and ultimately pointless.

TPM and the Green Party planned to filibuster and while Labour said it wouldn’t follow their example, it was unlikely to support the motion.

There would never be a good time for this waste of time and taxpayers’ money and it would have been worse in Budget week.