Did the cake stall fundraising pay for Lucy Lawless' fruitless trip to Parliament?

Lucy Lawless with Waitakere mayor Bob Harvey ( left) and Greenpeace campaigner Bunny McDiarmid on the Auckland Peace Heritage walk. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

She didn't have an appointment to see the prime minister, but that didn't stop actress Lucy Lawless from expecting to meet with John Key this week. She pouted at reception where the trailing news cameras followed her every move. That's as far as she could go.

She wants John to go to Denmark and she came waving a cheque with money raised from cakes stalls and sausage sizzles around the country. Key had agreed, she said - with television news cameras lapping up every word - that he would go after she told him Greenpeace would find the money to pay for his flight. Was that a "yes, dear" as a case of appeasement?

Copenhagen is not on the agenda for the Keyster next month. The cake stall fundraising did nothing to change that. He does not believe the leaders who go will come up with a deal on climate change. Not a lasting deal, anyway. Attention-grabbing, high-level political statements may come out of it, but isn't that what we saw at the Beehive this week?

Lucy Lawless is doing good work and I admire the way she has put herself on the line for causes she believes in. Plenty of other celebrities in this country are only happy to jump on a charitable or environmental bandwagon when the cameras start flashing.
On her fan website on Wednesday, she wrote:"I showed up at Parliament with Dr Jim Salinger to present to our Prime minister, John Key, the money raised in traditional Kiwi form, dollar by dollar at cake stalls and sausage sizzles, in order to purchase him a ticket to Copenhagen for the world Summit on Climate Change. He declined to come down to meet us. Well, the man is running a country after all. Plus, the farmers are screaming at him over the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme, PLUS, China is breathing heavily down his neck (and not in a loving way) about the Dalai Lama's trip here. It was a tough day for the PM and I imagine we were just the icing on the cake."

Television anniversary gives viewers a special treat

The state broadcaster is spending a modest amount to honour 40 years of network news next Wednesday night with a two-hour party in the TVNZ atrium where former stars like Kate Hawkesby, Jenny Goodwin and Paul Holmes will be reminiscing.

TVNZ also has a special treat for viewers next week. As part of the anniversary celebrations, the network is inviting former newsreaders to read one last live bulletin on the Breakfast show on Thursday morning. Goodwin, who was the first female network newsreader in the Commonwealth apparently jumped at the chance. She was the original Judy Bailey. It has been 25 years since she last read a news bulletin.

The ego has landed

Which D-list celebrity with an A-list ego unceremoniously dumped his hard-working agent via Facebook this week presumably because his wife wants the role? Sick of leaving imprints on the couch each day, wifey has apparently decided the life of Riley is not for her - business and management deals are. The agent, while surprised a courteous phone call couldn't have been made to break the news, is well rid of the high-maintenance ward who is happy to bleat incessantly to any woman's rag with a chequebook. Only, what he doesn't realise is that those paid-for-stories happen because of the relationships the agent has with journos, not because the "star" is worthy of being written about.

Rachel Glucina

Pictured above: Lucy Lawless with Waitakere mayor Bob Harvey (left) and Greenpeace campaigner Bunny McDiarmid on the Auckland Peace Heritage walk. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey