There was a disability rights rally outside Parliament today calling for a return to flexible funding for disabled people and an end to cuts. Several National MPs were present. They also pointed out that there are three categories of disabled people in New Zealand: those who are supported by Whaikaha, those who are supported by the ACC (the Accident Compensation Corporation), and those who aren't able to qualify for support. - Gary's take on the Budget: 'a landlord Budget. For landlords, by landlords' - Brownlee ruled in Maureen Pugh's favour regarding the Whakahōtea settlement, claiming that the karakia was a whaikōrero. This was challenged by several people, particularly Rawiri, who claimed that it was a breach of tikanga by the House. - 1. Chippy to the Prime Omelette C 6, PO 4 The Omelette was rehearsing for Budget Day. 'We have a big pipeline coming .. we don't believe in phantom projects' - The Omelette on infrastructure. 'Billionaires don't care how dumb their millionaire lackeys sound, so long as they carry out their agenda' - Gary. 'Useless lump of skin' - Gary on Brownlee. 2. Avocadö Princess to the Prime Omelette - ö 5, PO 3
'We want every New Zealand child to have a bright future ... we have made sure beneficiaries won't be worse off ... daily smoking rates have decreased' - Omelette All lies! 'Painfully embarrassing' - Gary. 3. Nancy Lu to Nicola Willis NL 5, NW 5 More Budget tapdancing. 'Less verbiage, fewer pretty pictures' - Nicola. This was one of several instances where the Government attacked the Opposition with a patsy question, and Brownlee gave Nicola a 'severe telling-off' 4. Barbara Edmonds to Nicola Willis BE 6, NW 3 'Ministers of Finances always describe the Budget as a success ... I intend to continue that tradition' - Nicola. Hansard isn't usually online by the time that I publish these, so these are the quotes as I wrote them down. 'Low income workers will be far, far better off' - Nicola 'Has she spoken to any?' - Gary 5. Greg Fleming to Erica Stanford GF 5, ES 4 Snoozer -- until there's evidence regarding the new schemes, it's all speculation. $429 million in savings over the next four years, to be 'pumped into the front line' 6. Kieran McAnulty to Chris Bishop KMA 8, CB 5 Kāinga Ora and Bill English ... 'a conspiracy that doesn't exist' - Bishop. This whole thing was like the rich people version of jobs for the bros. 'Who would be best to undertake this independent inquiry? I know! my old mate Bill: he's good with numbers and those sort of things...' Kieran was very good and asked some tough questions, but ultimately there wasn't much that he could do. 7. James Meager to Paul Goldsmith JM 4, PG 5 33% increase in violent crime, 110% increase in retail crime in the last five years. 'Three strikes stops white-collar crime, not violent crime' - Gary. 8. Willie Jackson to Tama Potaka WJ 8, TP 6 'The authority of the House depends on the Treaty' - Gary Will there be any assistance for Māori in Budget 2024? Potaka spouted some bs, then Willie quoted Winston, which wasted several minutes of time as Winston raged about being taken out of context. Rawiri attempted to get Tama to say that iwi had never ceded rangatiratanga in Te Tiriti; he said something which was almost that, but hedged his bets. 9. Tanya Unkovich to Shane Jones TU 4, SJ 4 'Growth strategy for the minerals sector' - Jonesy. 'Why do we need minerals if we're not manufacturing anything?' - Gary 'no coal!' - ö Another patsy question that attacked the Opposition. Nobody seemed to care. 'Stewardship land is not conservation land' - Jonesy. 10. Mike Butterick to Mark Mitchell MB 4, MM 5 Gangs = 18% of serious crimes. 'The feedback has been so positive' - Mitchell 'Has he talked to any rural cops?' - Gary. 11. Glen Bennett to Melissa Lee GB 7, ML 5 Good question. Conflicts of interest in Government procurement: the question was particularly focused on mental health funding, allowing Melissa to say that some of the questions weren't under her remit. Bennett asked her a question about 'decisions that differ from official advice', but I can't remember what the answer was. 11 Questions instead of the usual 12 today. Te Pāti Māori didn't ask a question.