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Speaker 1: Political master stroke. Was it from National yesterday to adjourn

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Speaker 1: the debate, to move the privileges debate to the June

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Speaker 1: the fifth focus goes back on the budget for Budget week,

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Speaker 1: the hype and the steam goes out of the issue.

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Speaker 1: Or are they risk to doing this? Bridget Morton, political

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Speaker 1: commentator with me this morning. Bridget good morning, Good morning.

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Speaker 1: The multi party described this as psychological warfare. What do

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Speaker 1: you reckon?

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Speaker 2: I think it's just actually knowing the standing orders and

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Speaker 2: knowing how to use parliament and clearly National did that

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Speaker 2: yesterday and they're also able to therefore take the moral hyground.

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Speaker 2: They're actually about to say this allowed those two parting

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Speaker 2: Maori mp to be there for the budget and actually

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Speaker 2: that that's one of the most important things that needs

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Speaker 2: to happen in the parliamentary calendar, and they're going to

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Speaker 2: be there to have their vote in their name.

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Speaker 1: And yet Chris Hipkins and Labor voted against it. How

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Speaker 1: does it make them look? Well?

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Speaker 2: I think for them they were in a tricky position

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Speaker 2: because they don't agree with the extent of the punishment

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Speaker 2: being handed out and they do think. Hipkins did give

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Speaker 2: a powerful speech in the House today just about the

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Speaker 2: extent of the punishment, But it was clear from National

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Speaker 2: jumping up that Hopkins had not anticipated that this might happen,

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Speaker 2: and I suspect perhaps that that actually had more time

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Speaker 2: to contemplate it. They may have actually agreed with the

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Speaker 2: government and had that delay.

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Speaker 1: Is Hopkins and I might be going out on and

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Speaker 1: this might be a long bow. But you know, he's

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Speaker 1: arguing because he wants to go from twenty one days

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Speaker 1: down to one day. That's a like ninety five percent

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Speaker 1: reduction in sentence. You know, does he risk playing into

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Speaker 1: that soft on crime thing?

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Speaker 2: Well, I don't think it's necessarily soft in crime, but

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Speaker 2: it does make him look like he's not willing to

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Speaker 2: stand up to Party Maori, and at the moment, should

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Speaker 2: they want to be back in government, they would need

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Speaker 2: to Party Maori as a coalition partner. And it doesn't

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Speaker 2: necessarily demonstrate that he would be a strong leader if

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Speaker 2: he's willing for that kind of behavior, which was egregious

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Speaker 2: as happened in Parliament during the Treaty Principal Buill debate

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Speaker 2: to happen without any significant pushback, and one day is

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Speaker 2: a very small punishment for what they did.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, but also Act went a little bit

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Speaker 1: far asking about in terms of imprisonment.

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Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, I think that was frankly just a bit silly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, totally silly, in a waste of everyone's time. Bridget,

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Speaker 1: thank you very much. We'll probably talk to you after

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Speaker 1: the budget. Bridget Morton, political commentator.

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