When National MP Erica Stanford asked Chris Hipkins a question, she probably did not expect him to respond to her with nothing more than an internet meme.
That is precisely what Stanford received in response to a written parliamentary question from December when she asked Hipkins a questionabout allocating MIQ spots for teachers granted a border exception.
"Has the Minister met with the Minister for Covid-19 response to request that MIQ spots be allocated to teachers granted a border exception; and if so, on what date, if not, why not?" the East Coast Bays MP wrote.
Hipkins, who is both the Minister for Covid-19 response and Minister of Education, responded with "please refer attached" and included a pdf file with a popular meme showing two images of Spider-Man pointing at each other.
The National Party's Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop took to Twitter to say that the Spider-Man reference was appropriate, "given attitude to MIQ and split migrants", pointing out that the name of the latest film about the superhero is called No Way Home.
Others on Twitter appreciated Hipkins' use of the meme in his concise response to Stanford.
amazing
[for those who don't keep up with who's Minister of what in New Zealand's Government - Chris Hipkins is the Minister of Education ... and the Minister for Covid-19 Response.
Chris Hipkins answering a parliamentary question with a meme is EXACTLY the kind of politics I am here for. Bravo sir. #nzpolpic.twitter.com/p66XpScoN8
