Smears from Helen

Rather than just say the obvious, which is that a Government Department behaved badly to visiting MPs, Helen has decided to go for the smear treatment and is insisting that the National MPs who walked out were not being rebuked for sitting in the front row, but for boorish behaviour during the ceremony.

This shows wonderful powers of telepathy as the PM wasn’t at the event in question.

MP Paula Bennett, who was there, dismissed Clark’s allegations as fiction, saying that the kaumatua made it very clear that he found it offensive and that it ‘brought shame’ for two women to sit in the front.

This is very simple. The Department broke Government policy by complaining about the seating arrangements, and they have apologised. Also if Georgina Beyer had not unilaterlly over-ridden the wishes of her committee none of this would have happened.