The Letter Does It Again!!

Richard Prebble's Letter from Wellington once again pulls out a pearler!

I have written about this before, and Prebbs mentioned it in a letter to Jules. It is an interesting, and humourious publication, although often economical with the truth.

This week's edition is no different:

There is an article on how the Catholics are moving away from Labour in Australia, and a similar trend is occurring in New Zealand. It states that:

"It's hard to see Labour ever selecting another practicing Catholic as leader or to a list seat."

This obviously over looks Wellington Central MP Marian Hobbs, and Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen, both whom, I believe, are Catholic.

It then goes on to talk about how no one wins conscience votes, and how the big guns were reluctant to talk to the recent CUB vote:

"Labour MPs who normally don't get speaking time got to lead the debates. It quickly became clear why MPs like National's John Connell, NZ First's Bill Gudgeon and Labour's Lynne Pillay are backbenchers. Their rhetoric was partisan, extreme and not designed to win votes. Words they spoke are on parliamentary record and can't be withdrawn."

I was intrigued as to who John Connell was, as I had never heard of him, and consulted my "Guide to Parliament 2002-2005" which hangs above my office computer. I couldn't find such an MP. Either he was a fabrication of the ACT Research Unit, or they had mixed Brian Connell (Rakaia) and John Key (Helensville) up (they are on top of each other on the Guide). Not the best move for a potential coalition partner, I dare say...

It does, however, praise the passing of the Civil Union Bill (the margin of which it correctly predicted last week), and the hard work of Tim Barnett, so it can't be all bad, I guess.