MP for Courtenay Place

The MP for Courtenay Place, Rt Hon Winston Peters, is not being charged by Police over the dispute with a Somali taxi driver.

In terms of the public relations side to the issue, it was rather unfortunate for Mr Peters that the Somali taxi driver turned out not to be some barely coherent recent immigrant, but a well spoken if accented gentleman who has done five years post university study in New Zealand. The Dominion Post concluded “No matter what gloss NZ First tries to apply to this debacle, the party’s leader behaved abominably and demonstrated the depth of his dislike for foreigners. If not a racist, he is certainly a bully. ”

I was fortunate enough to be at the NZ First Party the night this happened (after obtaining an assurance that my presence would not lead to Ron Mark doing “a Sowry” on me (a Sowry is now the verb for eviciting someone of a different political party from your booze up) and regret leaving before the exodus into town where all the fun was. However after four whole crayfish one can’t eat or drink much more!

The term MP for Courtenay Place reminds me of the time in the late 1990s when I was myself at a nightclub on Courtenay Place and overhaedr a coupel of what looked to be 14 year old girls discussing when Winston would arrive and concluding that at 11.30 p.m. it was far too early but they hoped for a sighting later. The thought of teenage Winston groupies made Tasmania seem an admirable place to live!