A Weasel has fallen foul of the Ombudsman is just one more “W” to add to the five basic inquiries old fashioned Journos once used to discover the actual story.

Some background;
Earlier this year, the Herald asked numerous government departments and ministerial offices, including that of the Prime Minister, for documents showing how they responded during and immediately after the deluge that devastated Auckland on January 27

Earlier in this parliamentary term now in its death throes, an electorate MP came out claiming he was “Bullied” and Kieran McAnulty was at the center of his allegations. Sharma who had dispatched Tim MacIndoe of National in the sweep of 2020 as Hamilton West Member of Parliament had already been in the sights of Frazer house during his selection and that opposition continued into the staff he was allocated as a new MP including one of the Party operatives who led the campaign to deselect him. None of that was of great moment as such behaviours are not new or strange. What should have alerted a whole lot more people, in particular the Media, was one allegation amongst the litany Sharma revealed, a system where the MPs were given detailed instruction on how to evade the legal constraints that are prescribed in the Official Information Laws that have been of considerable interest to Boshier the current Ombudsman, including avoiding putting anything that could be embarrassing in written form! For an administration that was intent on creating an aura of fairness, openness and transparency that one single bit of the quite well documented and provable allegations from Sharma who was eventually forced to resign his seat and stand as an “Independent”, should have had alarm bells ringing into following weeks, not so, only crickets chirping.

Today an increasingly under fire NZLP Prime Minister has been “Ordered” by Ombudsman Boshier to “apologise” for a proven breach of the Law of Official Information release. I do not know about anyone else but I cannot recall such a serious “Order” to a sitting, nah make that slumping, serving Prime Minister.
The arrogance, disrespect and avoidance of long established conventions by this sixth NZLP government installed by Peters in 2017 and now led by the one person who stood shoulder to shoulder to That Woman throughout her trampling over democracy, conventions and protocols that once sustained our fragile democracy in the absence of a written Constitution, is now on a path to self immolation.
I have long been a supporter of the fact New Zealand has no formal documented Constitutional arrangement, however the contretemps that are likely going to see off Airbus Albo from Federal leadership across the Tasman are proving daily how such a written Constitutional arrangement gives a real power to the people. Attempts in Australia to impose racial classifications and a two class of citizenry system require a vote across the nation where a total vote in favour is required to do what The NZLP have been assiduously doing under the super majority garnered under the extraordinary circumstances created deliberately under the responses in the over reaction to Covid 19 where almost all opposition was silenced. Even if a Nationwide vote comes to support the concept of a government based on race and unelected “First People” appointees, such a significant change also requires a simple majority of the six states of federal Australia in a second check and balance mechanism.

Death from a thousand cuts has been cast aside for CHipkins, it is now more like the flesh wounds suffered by the Black Knight of the Holy Grail where whole limbs ae being sliced off.