Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Thursday, 27 June 2019

"Twyford Absent at Ardern's Reshuffle" -- Another Non-Story

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UPDATE 4:30 pm. The Reshuffle

There's apparently nothing worthwhile to report in NZ at present. We've temporarily run out of police standoffs, murder, domestic violence and more people killed on the road. That kind of stuff is also rather heavy, so for something light (Guy Fawkes and puns aside) we turn to Parliament.
 

There was a Labour caucus meeting this morning to discuss the expected cabinet reshuffle. We weren't invited. We had no way of knowing what was discussed inside so we counted the MPs going in and found Phil Twyford "was nowhere to be seen.".  Ha! The "beleagued Housing Minister" was avoiding the embarrassment of his impending relegation.



 But wait. "Twyford was not the only minister absent." Grant Robinson, Damien O'Connor, Kelvin Davis and Carmel Sepuloni were also missing. Was there also trouble in Finance, Agriculture, Tourism and Social Development?  Were these ministers also headed (sic!)  for the guillotine?

We don't know, but there's enough here for half a story before we search for reasons

Here it is. Phil was in Auckland to speak to the Planning Institute. He'd been granted leave in May. And the others? Apparently, it is "normal to have MPs absent from a caucus meeting, especially it it had been called at short notice like this one."

So what, exactly, is the story here when  there was nothing really to report?


The NZ Herald published the "story" at 9:35am. Had they waited until 3:15, Jacinda herself would announce the ministrial responsibilites to be reshuffled.  Then, perhaps, they'd have a story worth telling.

-- ACW

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