Trevor is too modest to answer his own question directly, but Jane Clifton has captured it perfectly in the Dominion Post this morning.
It’s becoming like a rerun of A Dog’s Show in Parliament these days, with Labour’s Trevor Mallard the purposefully stalking collie, and Education Minister Anne Tolley the heedless sheep that stamps its foot a lot and refuses to go into the pen.
That is certainly how it has felt in the House recently. Trevor’s questions have been factual, and go to the heart of the purpose of the national standards policy. Minister Tolley’s answers have been confusing, vague and often utterly irrelevant. Jane Clifton goes on
Like any good sheep, Mrs Tolley’s purposes are maddeningly opaque, and run to no set pattern. Two things are are becoming clear from their daily stoushes: one, that Mrs Tolley either cannot or would rather not explain the technicalities of the system, and two, that she cannot understand why her answers are regarded as unsatisfactory. This makes her haughty, and redoubles Mr Mallard’s roundup efforts.
The whole article is worth reading, hilarious and accurate. Question Time has not been great for National this year, and now they are wanting to avoid it all together.
