Imagine a different scenario
This tweet has had around one million views around the world.
Many on the left have celebrated what Te Pati Maori and other opposition parties did. But I wonder what the reaction would have been in say a couple of different scenarios.
Imagine the Destiny Church Party had got some MPs into Parliament and the House was voting on the first reading of a bill to legalise abortion – an issue Destiny MPs regard as fundamental to their identity. And imagine as the vote was occurring the Destiny MPs didn’t just get up and do a haha, but they crossed the floor to face Jacinda Ardern and did the haka opposite her, while the entire public gallery full of her supporters joined in.
I suspect those cheering on what TPM did, would be demanding they be arrested if it had been the other way around. They would have been denounced by every media outlet. Government MPs would have been interviewed about how they fared for their safety. Every columnist would be writing about how this is a terrible thing for the country.