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Politicians usually come to Parliament with the intention of burying their opponents, not praising them. National yesterday came up with the novel twist of trying to get Immigration Minister David Cunliffe to bury himself by praising him.
The gambit did not work. But it was worth a try.
Under Parliament's rules, Cabinet ministers get several hours' advance notice of the Opposition's initial question - but no indication of what the follow-up ones might contain.
A common tactic of Opposition MPs is to pitch their initial question in very broad terms to avoid alerting the minister to what they are really on about. Then they hit the minister with a series of supplementary questions revealing or highlighting something that has gone wrong in the minister's portfolio of which the minister may or may not be aware.
So when Lockwood Smith, National's immigration spokesman, asked Mr Cunliffe to list the three most important developments he had progressed in his portfolio, Mr Cunliffe would have smelled a very large rodent.
Mr Cunliffe offered a general reply about his department "enhancing economic transformation" and "ensuring security". Then he sat down and waited for the sting to come.
But it didn't. Dr Smith simply asked which achievement Mr Cunliffe thought was his greatest and why.
"We will leave that for the public to judge," Mr Cunliffe replied non-committedly - and, as it turned out, very wisely.
Dr Smith followed up with another patsy. What challenges remained in the Immigration portfolio for Mr Cunliffe to solve, if any?
The "if any" was the giveaway. In inviting Mr Cunliffe to blow his own trumpet, National was punting on Mr Cunliffe really blowing it.
A Cabinet reshuffle is pending. Mr Cunliffe is fancied for promotion, certainly into a senior portfolio and quite possibly on to Labour's front bench. The New Lynn MP, a former Fulbright scholar, diplomat and economic consultant, has proven extremely capable in the two years he has been a Cabinet minister.
However, there has long been a view among some at Parliament that Mr Cunliffe fancies himself a little too much, that he wears his ambition on his sleeve more than most. It would be fair to say he is not the most popular member of the Labour caucus.
National was hoping vanity would get the better of him and he would get overly loquacious about his achievements, thereby making a fool of himself and annoying colleagues.
Mr Cunliffe did not fall for it.
He instead seemed mystified by the line of questioning. "All I can say is that the member does not get out enough," he replied when Dr Smith asked him to compare his achievements with Climate Change Minister David Parker, another contender for the front bench.
Darren Hughes, one of Labour's whips and resident jester, interrupted, asking Mr Cunliffe if he had ever had to hurriedly exit a public meeting by climbing through a toilet window - an accusation famously made of Dr Smith when he was Education minister in the 1990s and was being hounded by university students.
The irrelevant question begged a witty response. Mr Cunliffe replied he had "no recollection" of doing that. It was an okay sort of answer. But, on the front bench, Mr Cunliffe would have to be faster on his feet than that.
