Key plays it straight as Little lobs on housing

John Key Those expecting fireworks in Prime Minister John Key and Andrew Little's first encounter since the Chinese-sounding-surname debate broke out were sorely disappointed.

Little went into Question Time with a string of questions targeting Key for alleged inaction over addressing Auckland's housing affordability and the plight of the "typical Auckland family" when all those Chinese-sounding people were swooping in and snapping up the houses at inflated prices.

Unusually Key opted for a tactic he rarely deploys: playing it straight. He restrained himself only to a few half-hearted digs at Labour. Even NZ First leader Winston Peters could barely get an insult out of Key, although the dig Key did bother to muster up was clearly aimed at the former lawyer's vanity when Key dismissed NZ First's foreign ownership bill as "poorly drafted".

There was more fire earlier in the day when Little took exception to TV3 political editor Patrick Gower with his pesky Irish-sounding surname for describing Labour's Chinese surnames campaign as "cooked up" to get a headline and a poll boost.

Little eyeballed Gower and told him he would not put up with such stuff from "a desperate reporter" who "wants to make name for himself". He denied Labour was in any way responsible for any backlash to local Chinese, saying that had only happened because of the way "other quarters" had responded to it.

But the Opposition's questions as to why National had not done more to stem foreign buyers were eventually answered in a completely different question altogether, when Key inadvertently revealed he'd been far too busy. Key said public response to changing the flag was so overwhelming "that every single night when I am in my office, I am signing letters thanking the young people of New Zealand who are writing to me in their hundreds with their flag designs".

As for Little, he is Daniel preparing to go into the lion's den. After Finance Minister Bill English reported back from China that its Government was concerned about "the tone" of Labour's campaign, Little revealed this year he plans to travel to China to discuss surnames and property with the Chinese Government.