take the last plane to clarksville

OK Don Brash did it too. Or did he? I wonder what what was going through Tony Ryall's mind when he found out about the Don Brash story in the Dominion Post this morning. Ryall earlier described Helen Clark's quick trip as "Vladimir Putin speeding to the Kremlin".

We don't have named witnesses to the alleged Brash incident, but Labour does have a decent spin-team, and the spinners knew Brash was going to the rugby as well.

Helen Clark suggests getting a plane - a private one, paid by you and me, the taxpayer, to avoid near misses like this.

But why - to get to important events or to avoid being seen as breaking the law? Not that Clark was breaking the law by speeding, if the Bledisloe Cup is deemed "urgent public business". Most people seem unaware that Prime Ministers can break speeding laws if they go to urgent public events like the Bledisloe Cup, and most of them don't see Bledisloe Cup Rugby matches as urgent public business.

Or as Section 21(11) of the Traffic regulations states:

It shall be a defence to any person charged with an offence against this regulation if he proves that he was, at the time of the act in respect of which he is so charged, the driver of a motor vehicle—

(d) Conveying a member of the Executive Council engaged on urgent public business, or conveying any other person authorised in that behalf by the Minister and engaged on urgent public business in the execution of his functions

Of course that should not be a defence for Miss Clark or her drivers because she is not a he.

But I cant help wondering if the real reason the plane suggestion was mooted was to avoid been seen as breaking the law or to avoid having to catch the next plane even if there are only nine spare seats.

All in all, these two stories, and the portaloo artwork were the most irrelevant but most newsworthy stories of the past week.