| Friday, May 04, 2012 6:00 AM

Politics can get petty. We get so worried about the likes of Banksie being buddies with Kim Dotcom and getting a helping hand from the internet giant for cheap hotel rates in Hong Kong.

But at almost 700 bucks a night you'd hardly describe it as a doss house, in fact Banksie says it was so expensive that he paid for it with his wife's credit card!

Banksie ended his first week back after a recess break almost hoarse and more than a little frustrated. Being the Mayor of Auckland never saw him at the centre of a media scrum, but he's been there all week, hooking the ball in the hope that it's finally taken out of play.

But there are too many eager hands willing to keep the game going and that's what it's become, something of a game.

Banksie knows that he simply has to keep denying he knew his big buddy donated to his unsuccessful mayoral campaign and he's within the loose local body electoral law. Short of any proof that he knew he's home and hosed off.

To an extent he's the author of his own misfortune though, being silly when he was being asked serious questions after this issue took flight, courtesy of Labour's high flying muck-raker Trev Mallard.

You can't blame his opponents for coming at him like robbers' dogs. They know if they can take him out of play the Tory's one seat majority is up for grabs.

State Homie John Key must now be ruing the day he ruined his election campaign by inviting Banksie for a cuppa ensuring the blue ribbon Epsom seat went to ACT. But then he's a punter, he thought ACT would bring more MPs in with them, making life a little more comfortable but that wasn't to be.

If Banksie does get his comeuppance, highly unlikely, then there'll be a by-election and the man who wasn't invited to the cuppa, the Tory candidate for the seat, will glide into the slot and that'd be the end of ACT.

The immediate casualty would be the Tory's asset sales programme which would probably be delayed until next year, making it even harder for them to balance the books in three years time.

At least it'd give them an excuse for the inevitable!

Photo: Getty Images