KEY POINTS:
News that silver-haired songster Sir Howard Morrison turned down a million-dollar offer from political donor Owen Glenn to stand as an independent MP came as a surprise to many.
Sir Howard, known for speaking his mind on subjects as taboo as the size of female pop stars, has been vocal on many issues, from the "chip" on Neil Finn's shoulder to why the Australian rugby team should have its own haka.
"He offered me a million dollars to stand as a member of Parliament but I turned it down. I felt the entertainment business was enough for me," Sir Howard said outside Glenn's birthday party on Tuesday before adding in perfect political patter: "I'm quite astute. I've got a good mind. These are his words, not mine."
Sir Howard has all the credentials for a short, entertaining stint in the Beehive. He is a man who sometimes speaks before he thinks, he loves, and is loved by, the camera. He has even indulged in the odd attack on politicians. "I have read so much garbage, tinged with greed, and absolute quest for power that I think we are losing the sense of values, the morality and the real issues of the people," Sir Howard once said, declining to name who he was referring to.
Refusing Glenn's offer has deprived New Zealand of a politician in the mould of the past and present members for Tauranga. Perhaps Sir Howard will reconsider.
