Thursday, October 18, 2007



Arrogance

As mentioned below, the Terrorism Suppression Amendment Bill is unlikely to be debated today, and was not mentioned as a priority in today's business statement. Michael Cullen's response to a query about this was that the agenda of Parliament is determined by the Leader of the House, not the public of New Zealand.

What struck me most about this was not the futility of the denial - of course the government is moving the bill down the order paper to avoid claims that it was burning the Reichstag - but the arrogance on display. Someone, I think, has forgotten what Parliament is for and who they are supposed to represent.