Us too?
With employers, workers and many others trying to figure out what the new health and safety laws will mean, many will be pleased to know that MPs are also making a rod for their own backs. Parliament's legal advice is that the way the law is drafted, "MPs who operate out-of-Parliament offices would be 'persons conducting a business or undertaking' (PCBUs) for the purposes of the bill and would be subject to the primary duties of PCBUs, including the significant sanctions under the bill for breaches of those duties". This will come as a shock to MPs who have community offices, which is most of them. They have had the best of both worlds - they can hire and fire their office staff, but Parliamentary Services is technically the employer, dealing with all the hassles. MPs' offices do tend to attract sad, desperate and sometimes dangerous people, and incidents do happen, such as the axe attack on Helen Clark's office. As things stand, MPs could face the same hefty penalties as other "PCBUs" if staff are harmed. What are the odds of MPs deciding they are a "special case"?
Cool or cot-case?
This week, Wellingtonians celebrated 150 years of their city being the country's capital, after political skulduggery stole the role from Auckland. Among the events were a light show and concert on the grounds of Parliament. The proceedings included a congratulatory message from John Key, praising Wellington as the "coolest little capital". This prompted many people to recall his previous description of it as a "dying city". Of course, both statements could be correct.
