The list of questions for oral answer on Wednesday looked a bit like someone was made to write lines as a punishment:
Does she stand by all her Government’s policies and actions?
Does she stand by all her Government’s policies and actions?
Does she stand by all her Government’s policies and actions?
Does she stand by all her Government’s policies and actions?
Does she stand by all her Government’s policies and actions?
The truth of the matter is that there is a punishment involved here.
In September the Speaker Trevor Mallard ruled that parliamentary footage of members used in adverts without their permission had to be taken down.
His decision was the result of a complaint from Labour MP Kieran McAnulty about a series of videos the National Party had uploaded to social media platforms.
The National Party has not removed the videos and says the Speaker doesn’t have the authority to force them to do so.
This defiance prompted the Speaker to punish the leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges by limiting his supplementary questions each day to five with further reductions each week that the videos remain online.
No restrictions were placed on other National MPs, hence the repetition of the same question to the Prime Minister from five separate National MPs.
Listen to how that played out in the House in the audio below.
Speaker Trevor Mallard in the House Photo: © VNP / Phil Smith
