‘Moving on’ is not acceptable

There’s nothing worse than politicians who are hypocrites, and right now the National Party falls right into that category.

If you ever wanted to read about a cop-out, here’s a cracker one for you.

The National Party, it seems, is ‘‘moving on’’.

Well, surely the public deserves more than the glib response that came from its chief press secretary yesterday.

Moving on from what exactly? An editorial published on October 25 raised the point that another issue had arisen from the Jami-Lee Ross saga, in relation to the ‘‘You deserve to die’’ text, said to be from a colleague with whom he acknowledged he had been having an affair.

Was it possible this text could be a breach of the Harmful Digital Communication Act, and could the sender of the text really stay in her role as an MP?

So, on November 8, the following questions were put to the National Party

❚ The ‘‘deserve to die’’ text reportedly came from a married MP. While National has indicated it is doing a review of its culture, has a separate investigation been launched to speak to the MP who reportedly sent his text?

❚ What discussions has the party had with the MP who reportedly sent a text like that?

❚ Has that MP been censured, faced internal discipline, or been stood down from duties? If no action has been taken by the party, why not?

❚ Does the National Party believe that the text message sent breached the Harmful Digital Communication Act?

❚ Does the National Party still believe the MP, who reportedly sent the text, is still fit to be an MP and represent the National Party, given they reportedly sent a text saying someone deserved to die?

❚ Has the MP offered to stand down? Or, are they still carrying out their duties as normal?

And wait for it, here’s the no comment from National.

‘‘The National Party has no comment on these matters. JamiLee Ross is no longer a National MP and the party is moving on.’’ Moving on . . . we don’t think so. Hence the following response was sent back to the National Party.

‘‘This response is not satisfactory, the public deserve an answer as to how you are handling the MP who reportedly sent a text saying ‘‘you deserve to die’’. Moving on is not acceptable. Can you please answer these questions by 5pm today.’’

And, wait for it, here’s the no comment again from National . . . ‘‘we have no further comment’’.

National may be ‘‘moving on’’ as it puts it, but in its wake it is leaving a trail of distrust, arrogance, and a big finger to its own party values.

Don’t forget that front and centre of National’s core values for building a society are two important words. Personal Responsibility.

Where is the personal responsibility of a party that won’t answer questions.

And where is the personal responsibility of the MP who reportedly sent the ‘‘you deserve to die’’ text?

Surely by now the MP in question would front up and take personal responsibility.

Hypocrites.

‘‘Jami-Lee Ross is no longer a National MP and the party is moving on.’’ National Party comment