National went on a wonky jihad against Iain Lees-Galloway two days in a row in the house. Simon Bridges let Mark Mitchell make the attacks in the house because he can’t because he is on the naughty step. Outside the house, Simon Bridges gave a trainwreck of an interview on Radio NZ going all-in on Mitchell’s flimsy scandal that wasn’t.
In the process, they’ve reinforced the belief that they are tits, in Bridges case, and lazy in the case of Mark Mitchell. All they’ve ended up doing is splattering themselves in poo and Michael Woodhouse along the way.
The opposition came out swinging against a ministerial decision to grant a recidivist drunk-driver residence, but it quickly became apparent National had also allowed the man to stay in New Zealand while it was in government.
It’s left National with some egg on its face, but it will be banking on the public reading the damning headlines and ignoring the finer nuances of a complicated case.
After a media firestorm last year, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway reversed his decision to grant Czech drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek residence, but the decision is still causing a headache.
Not only is the Sroubrek case still under appeal, it has also made any subsequent call by the Minister more vulnerable to opposition attacks.
The latest relates to a man whose identity, circumstances and country of origin all remain under strict legal confidentiality. We do know he was granted “Protected Person” status in 2012 and so can not be deported. He has eight convictions – six for drunk driving – but none since 2012.
National leader Simon Bridges claimed the government had granted the man the “keys to the kingdom” with increasing access to a range of entitlements.
“[The Minister] says, ‘here mate […] stay here as long as you want. You want to go on a benefit, you feel free to. You want to vote at our elections, you feel free to’.”
Radio NZ
But the argument holds little water given National’s prior dealings with the case – something that clearly came as news to Mr Bridges.
When questioned by reporters, Mr Bridges said he had no knowledge of National’s involvement, he wasn’t party leader at the time, and any questions were for Mr Lees-Galloway to answer, not him.
The problem for National is that as minister in 2013, Michael Woodhouse granted a temporary work visa to the man and, according to a statement from Mr Lees-Galloway, made it clear that would be rolled over. Immigration NZ did just that in 2016, approving a second temporary work visa.
Under that kind of visa, a Protected Person can work in New Zealand and access publicly-funded healthcare and welfare. You could argue the man had already been given the “keys to the kingdom” by the then-National government.
Residence does grant the man one key advantage: the assurance he can stay here long-term and the ability to apply for citizenship. But that’s not too far different from an ever-rolling-status of temporary visas.
Mr Woodhouse says he cannot remember the case coming across his desk or granting the temporary visa, which is odd given it is the sort of file that would likely set off alarm bells.
What an utter cluster-whatsit. The blame for this can be squarely sheeted home to Mark Mitchell for failing to do his homework, but that’s what you get when you follow along two inches behind Paula Bennett.
Bridges went all in and now looks like what everyone thinks he looks like, a fool in his Dad’s suit. Todd McClay can no longer hide his poor performance by glossing over his appalling approval ratings.
Of all the things they could be hitting the government over these two fools went after a non-scandal and one that ended up exploding a poo bomb in their faces.
