The “Women of #nzpol Twitter roundup” is brought to you in the interests of amplifying women’s voices in the political debate and also because:
If you’re even peripherally aware of what goes on in NZ politics you will have heard about what went down in Question Time yesterday. Harried and useless on the issue of New Zealanders being detained on Christmas Island by the Australian government, our honourable Prime Minister decided to scream across the House that Labour was “supporting rapists”.
And then David Carter cemented his position as Literally The Worst Speaker Of The House Ever, Possibly In Any Country In History by neither finding this comment unparliamentary, nor facing the music of a no-confidence vote.
Many props to the Opposition MPs who walked out on that charade. Here’s what the women of #nzpol Twitter had to say.
https://twitter.com/DeniseRocheMP/status/663889031239852032
https://twitter.com/Dovil/status/663889891860721664
They did.
Then they came back to hold David Carter to account.
The reaction was not good.
https://twitter.com/DearMama_/status/663960693637386240
Metiria Turei asked if John Key is losing it.
And there are a lot of issues to think about.
Deborah Russell has a great post up about the situation of the people in the detention centre.
Commenter weka at The Standard provides an interesting list of the government’s record on sexual harassment and assault.
Ultimately, I’m glad some people took a clear stand against the many levels of bullshit going on in this story.
Kelvin Davis spoke passionately about the situation on Christmas Island – which he’s seen first hand – at the Labour Party conference. We have to be clear: these are people who have already served their time for the crimes they’ve committed. Many of them have no family or community ties in New Zealand, having left when they were kids. They’re being subjected to utterly inhumane treatment on a rock in the middle of the ocean under a law designed for getting rid of terrorists.
But instead of doing something decisive about the problem, John Key has settled for slinging shit at the Opposition who are literally doing their jobs by holding him to account. And David Carter is letting him use the highest body in our democracy to do it.
Stephanie Rodgers 
4 Replies to “Women of #nzpol Twitter: on John Key, David Carter and using rape for political gain”