“The behaviour of Tau Henare in denying leave for Trevor Mallard to speak in a special debate because he is not Maori, is deplorable racism”, New Zealand First MP, Brian Donnelly, claimed today.

The House had just given leave to Sandra Lee and Alamein Kopu to speak on the use of Maori language in Parliament, even though time was up for the debate.

When leave was asked for Mr Mallard to speak, and he had been seeking a call for some time, Tau Henare declined the leave, stating to Mr Mallard “Because you are not a Maori”.

“I have never before experienced a decision being based upon the race of a member of Parliament”, Mr Donnelly said.

“Mr Henare’s behaviour was disgraceful. He has plunged Parliament to a new low.”

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>>