The Trans-Tasman political letter excels itself this week with some great lines in surveying the ACT train wreck.
” ACT was already in trouble before the events of this week. It doesn’t have a role any more and its continued existence in Parliament is based on National putting up a Claytons candidate in Epsom against Rodney Hide.
The most eloquent and well thought-out work which exemplifies the Act Party’s priorities and policies – or at least, what should be the ACT Party’s priorities and policies – was the 2025 Task Force Report released last year. And the Govt made it pretty clear it will implement the report’s proposals around the same time Osama Bin Laden holds an interdenominational church service in Jerusalem.
It leaves the ACT Party largely irrelevant but – as so often happens – being irrelevant intensifies the internal squabbles. The phrase “two bald men fighting over a comb” springs to mind.”
Juicy irony that the only thing holding them together are the baubles of office.
Go away troll
“its continued existence in Parliament is based on National putting up a Claytons candidate in Epsom against Rodney Hide”
I hear Aaron Bhatnagar is the likely candidate?
That’s interesting. Bhatnagar began his political life in ACT. Think he was a full time volunteer at one point. I’d like to see Labour put up a strong candidate… not with a view to win of course, but to add political fuel to the already out of control fire.
YES!!!
Great idea Anne 
I notice that Trevor said this in the House:
Nick Kearney, who until last night was a member of the ACT board, has now resigned from the ACT board because he has been caught trying to give New Zealand defence assessment papers to a blogger.
That’s a hell of a claim. Does he stand by it?
It leaves the ACT Party largely irrelevant…
I’m surprised you’re so keen to endorse that view. If a party needs to be getting its policies reflected in legislation in order to be ‘relevant,’ things aren’t looking good for Labour right now, are they?
Also: a link to the original at Trans-Tasman would be nice.
PMilt said
Perhaps you are forgetting that the Opposition already has a well defined role in the House? And that irrelevance comes to a *Government* coalition partner yet cannot get its policies reflected in legislation.
Ah, I see – no insult to Labour, just to its past and future coalition partners. One suspects Brendon won’t be so keen to find coalition partners “irrelevant” when a Labour govt is depending on them.
I’m kind of scared of what will appear in Parliament if ACT disappear. There’ll be a void on the far-right of NZ’s political spectrum which can be filled with lots of dangerous things, I hope we don’t end up with a Kiwi Jean-Marie le Pen or BNP
(For the record I’m not equating ACT or any of their MPs to being like those at all, but they’re the sort of things that could fill a gap left on the right of politics)
Just as easy on the left Nicola – Hitler and Stalin were both socialists. Its the democratic part of ’social democrat’ that allows respect for the individual in society.
doesn’t seem to make much sense, nicola. the party that is closest policy wise to the BNP or le front national in NZ is NZ First – who I believe your leader has said he could work with in a coalition.
doesn’t seem to make much sense, nicola. the party that is closest policy wise to the BNP or le front national in NZ is NZ First – who I believe your leader has said he could work with in a coalition.
If Peters and Laws worked together I think there’s a great danger of it turning in to something like that and I would hope nobody would work with those two.
Winnie great
Laws scary 
“It doesn’t have a role any more and its continued existence in Parliament is based on National putting up a Claytons candidate in Epsom against Rodney Hide”.
Bit steep given that there’s more than one political party in Parliament now there because other parties have chosen not to go for the party vote in that seat…cough…cough….
Not to mention the other coalition partner – the Maori Party, who have their own Heather Roy in rebel MP Hone Harawira and owe their continued existence to race based seats and the Labour Party gifting those seats to them every election with weak campaigning in Maori electorates.
Maybe Peters should run in Epsom not Helensville.