There may have been a lot of firework action around the country last night but the politician with more experience than most in incendiary devices is former soldier and now Luigi Peters' 2IC Ron Mark.

Clearly without realising it, he hurled one into Parliament's bear pit the other night, declaring war on Korea again.

Mark is certainly, well making his mark, since giving up the Carterton mayoralty at the last election and again taking his Stetson to the capital.

He's always quietly seen himself as 70 year old Luigi's successor, even if others have been talking about the roving Pacific ambassador Shane Jones for that job. To that end he slid into the deputy's role, pushing out Tracey Martin, a week before it was officially announced. The fact that it didn't leak is credit to Luigi's tight control on his colleagues, not surprising considering they're all there because of him.

Mark's been captured in the bear pit mouthing a most unparliamentary word and more recently giving the bird to one of his political opponents.

But it's the incendiary device he hurled at the Nats' Melissa Lee that's landed him in the firing line this time.

Totally mispronouncing the word "condescending," he accused her of being it during her reflections on coming to this country as a migrant from Korea around 30 years ago. Lee was banging on about shops closing at 5pm and restaurants not long after that. She was arguing that people should have more choice rather than having to abide by the ridiculous law that requires some shops to close in some areas, but not in others, over Easter.

It seems that Mark was listening to a different speech because he wrongly accused her of telling the grizzlies that Kiwis need to grow up which he says he doesn't like being told to do. To that, in his dramatic way, he imperiously declared he had a short message for her: "If you don't like New Zealand go back to Korea."

But now he wonders what all the fuss is about. Well it's about ignorance, inaccuracy and condescension.

And it's about being juvenile, so perhaps Melissa Lee had a point, even if she didn't express it herself!