Parliament's Speaker Trevor Mallard, bullyboy turned gamekeeper and photographic censor, really is something else.
Why not just be consistent and ban all photographing in the Beehive?
The NZ Parliamentary Press Gallery, in my view, are usually fairly responsible, and should not put up with this nonsense. Just have the guts to refuse to take any photos then sit back and enjoy the political whinging that ensues when the oxygen is cut off.
Frankly, most people seem disinterested in photo shots of Ms Ardern, Mr Gayford or baby — hardly oil paintings, and nothing out of the ordinary anyway, who seemingly only want sanitised magazine-type airbrushed photos taken to maximise the posturing.
Anyway, Mr Gayford and Neve have no special rights over and above the general public to wander around the Beehive corridors, but with typical socialist left-wing psyche, this family simply want to have it all their own way, a bit like covert capitalists.