Shackles to spare

Amid the royal razzmatazz in London, the PM didn’t quite manage to kick into touch some own goals occurring at home.

- MICHELE HEWITSON

A riddle: when is a waka jump not a waka jump? Apparently, when former Labour MP, now Te Pati Maori MP, Meka Whaitiri does the leaping. Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe has decreed that her resignation email did not meet the criteria for what, under the so-called waka-jumping law, ought to have forced her to give up her Ikaroa-Rāwhiti seat.

He hasn't released her email, if indeed there is an email, although apparently there is no legal reason he can't. He said: "I think it would be a dangerous situation for the Speaker of the House to start interpreting things that are clearly not being officially submitted to me. Now, as I began my ruling, members can say whatever they like outside of this House but unless they inform me in the correct way by sending me a signed letter that is the case, I cannot act on it."

What the hell does that mean? That she failed to sign her letter? No, because apparently she didn't send a letter. 

It seems to mean she did not send a letter, signed or unsigned, and instead sent an email, which presumably was unsigned. So, the Speaker, despite knowing that she has resigned, does not know that she has resigned. Perhaps she has actually sent a letter, by pigeon post otherwise known as NZ Post, in which case it should arrive by Christmas. But nobody seems to have the foggiest idea.

Nobody in her former party seems to have heard from her. It's a conundrum wrapped in a nonsense tied up with gobbledygook. The legislation banning waka jumping is named the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018. That "integrity" is in brackets just about sums up the absurdity.