I said last Friday that Kris Faafoi would not offer to resign, that the PM would neither sack nor censure him.
I’m not any kind of wise soothsayer, it was the most obvious prediction ever.
I don’t even know why the media bothered putting up the obviously ridiculous questions of “will she sack him?” and “will he resign?” Don’t waste your breath. The answer is of course not.
Why? Well, look at the pattern, look at the form. Look at the precedents set.
Iain Lees Galloway, Clare Curran (who in the end sacked herself given the PM wouldn’t), Meka Whaitiri, Phil Twyford, Shane Jones, Winston Peters. Any number of ministers in her cabinet who’ve breached protocols, behaved dodgy, skirted around conflicts of interest, interfered where they shouldn’t have. Or in Twyford’s case, just been incompetent.
It really doesn’t matter what the offence, this is not a ‘hold them to account’ leadership. It’s not an accountable government.
It’s self-proclaimed year of delivery delivered us plenty of headlines and scandals, just not much substance.
So it doesn’t matter that Kris Faafoi who now says he “did a dumb thing” trying to help a mate with an immigration case: “bro, bro, you’re whanau bro”, no that’s all bye the bye. It was dumb, nothing to see here, let’s all move on.
And in the blink of an eye, the media has.
Nick Smith was not so lucky back in 2012 when under John Key he faced intense pressure to resign after he intervened for a friend in an ACC claim. He had to go, and did.
But this is a new world order, this is a new and different government with a new approach.
Mistakes can be made and wrists will be slapped, wet bus tickets issued. Pats on the head, and “aren’t you a naughty boy then?” seem to suffice.
No wonder there is a long line of cabinet ministers in this government behaving, shall we say, ‘loosely’.
Why not when there are no consequences? If you run a loose ship, don’t be surprised when all the sailors are drunk.
They seem to line up outside the PM’s office for a quick, or should I say ‘stern’, if we can believe that, telling off, and back to business as usual.
Here's my question: Is anyone in this government taking anything seriously? Just wondering, because it is after all a country we’re running here.
I’d hazard a guess that things might tighten up a bit next year, being election year and all, because if not, how can any of us be expected to take seriously a government who won’t even take itself seriously?
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