Taking the blame

Speaker Trevor Mallard often bemoans literacy and numeracy standards around Parliament, and it’s clear that he holds himself just a little bit responsible. Education Minister Chris Hipkins declined to answer a question involving some maths, saying “it would be almost impossible to make that calculation”. An unimpressed Mallard responded: “I was Minister of Education, I think, when the member was at school, and it’s probably my fault that the maths are like that.” ideas from outside the sector. He was speaking about another country, but a few people would have been shifting uncomfortably in their seats, as he was talking to the same advisers and consultants who have been endlessly circulating in the New Zealand energy sector, seeing reviews come and go.