The intolerance of things Maori reached new heights at Parliament today as MPs, both Maori and non-Maori, took exception to the use of te reo in the House.

"The stuffiness of the Labour Party peaked today, as did the sanctimonious of Tu Wyllie, when they tried to deny Tuku the opportunity to speak Maori in the House," the Maori Affairs Minister, Hon Tau Henare, said.

"It was an incredible display of pomposity by Johnathan Hunt and his dial-a-Maori on the back bench who, instead of defending the right to speak Maori, bandied around that member and said yes! He's right to demand a translation from Tuku before agreeing to let him speak in te reo.

"When politicians get up to speak in te reo pakeha, do we ask for a translator to interpret what is the truth and what is political grandstanding or porkies?

"This very argument highlights the profanity facing this country. Thankfully there is one party in this House prepared to step outside the box and give the issue of te reo some serious grunt so the attitudes of the Johnathan Hunts et all remain in our colonial past, where they belong," said Mr Henare.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>