“Great game, SimCity, that’s right. Now, it’s a wonderful game: you lay out the streets and the infrastructure first, and the tiny people on the screen would then organically build their homes and businesses where you built the infrastructure,” Court said, wistfully reminiscing his misspent youth, before lecturing Parker that the bill “misses the valuable lesson of SimCity: the role of government is not to colour in planning maps, telling people where they are and are not allowed to build homes and businesses. The role of government is to deliver the infrastructure, which enables communities to thrive and a healthy economy to grow.”
Beehive Diaries isn’t so sure and can remember playing a version of SimCity in which colouring in planning maps is exactly how the game worked.
The fairest mo of them all
It’s Movember in Parliament, as everywhere else. Some MPs are sporting truly … impressive facial hair. We wonder though, about Labour co-leader Kelvin Davis who has grown a grey goatee (a “greytee”).
His benchmate in the chamber, Megan Woods has warned Davis of his resemblance to Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame and noted that once people had noticed the resemblance they would not be able to unsee it.
Davis had shaved the goatee by Thursday, noting that so many people had compared him to Colonel Sanders he had little choice.
Duncan Webb, sporting a handlebar moustache pushed Parliament’s Movember tolerance, asking Health Minister Andrew Little to weigh in on who sported the best moustache. Speaker Adrian Rurawhe wisely intoned that Little need only answer the question insofar as he was responsible as minister (not at all, in other words). Little, ignoring rules around drawing the speaker into the debate, replied that Rurawhe’s ‘tache was the best - a fair judgment.
Honourable mentions go to Act’s Damien Smith, who appears to be channelling the spirit of his party’s founder, Roger Douglas, and Reserve Bank Economist Paul Conway, who visited Parliament on Thursday morning, also sporting an impressive moustache.
Judith Collins’ homecoming
Former National Party leader Judith Collins is living her best life. Dampening speculation she might retire at the next election, Collins sought and won reselection in her safe Papakura electorate and is busy at work shoring up support.
This week she tweeted about a visit to Papakura High School for the first “in-person” prizegiving in three years - always a special occasion.
Even more special was the fact Collins could present, in person, the Judith Collins cup for leadership.
