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That Was Then, This Is Now

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Once upon a time there was Ponytailgate. Now we have Liargate.

ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Oppostition) [sic] to the Prime Minister : Does he enforce high standards of conduct on all his Ministers, including himself?

Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): Yes. However, in respect of my actions at a Parnell cafe, my conduct clearly upset the staff member in question. I sincerely apologised to her at the time that I became aware of that, and I have continued to do so publicly. […]

No prevaricating, no hiding behind a QC, no waiting for a report, no need for a working group. A simple, I got it wrong and have apologised.

But that was not good enough for Little, he carried on:

Andrew Little : Does he accept that through his embarrassing and weird behaviour he has now made the office of the Prime Minister of New Zealand an international laughing stock?

Hansard 5 May 2015 Question 3

Well, it seems that Key did not have a monopoly on ’embarrassing and weird behaviour’, nor is he the only one who has ‘made the office of the Prime Minister of New Zealand an international laughing stock.’

Obviously Little, Ardern and Robertson were not the perpetrators of the alleged sexual assault on the woman at the centre of the current situation but they certainly seem to be engaging in some weird behaviour over it all.

What sort of standard of conduct is the current part-time Prime Minister enforcing?

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