Not widely reported

Remember all the demonisation of the Speaker over the Mathers funding situation. The Herald reports:

Speaker of the House Lockwood Smith has been criticised for his decision not to grant funding for Ms Mathers, but he has said he does not have the authority to approve it.

The matter will be discussed by the Parliamentary Service Commission – made up of senior MPs from all parties – tomorrow night.

A spokeswoman for Dr Smith – who has been paying for the service from his parliamentary budget while the matter is being debated – said he had “some options to offer”.

So Lockwood has been using his own private budget to cover it. Hardly the person the Greens portrayed.

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said her party had received advice from a law firm on whether the money should come out of the support budget all MPs receive, or from that which supports the overall operation of Parliament.

I wonder how many hours of recording could have been paid for, by now hiring lawyers?