0 Darien Fenton retires; is Clare Curran next?

Labour list MP Darien Fenton will leave Parliament at the General Election. Whether she has retired or whether she is being retired is a moot point. But Ms Fenton joins fellow unranked (Labour's caucus is ranked down to #25 of 34) MP Rajen Prasad in heading for greener pastures.

Interestingly, we blogged a prediction of this in September last year, courtesy of Patrick Gower from 3News; check this out:

Paddy Gower also tipped the imminent demise of Clare Curran. Neither she nor Ms Fenton were Cunliffe loyalists, as evidenced by their low rankings within Labour's caucus. Will Clare Curran be next to be pensioned off?

And as a final irony, Darien Fenton came to Parliament after many years as the general secretary of the Service and Food Workers' Union. Isn't it ironic that Labour's 2012 rule change gave the unions the determining vote in Labour leadership contests, and Ms Fenton's political career has been ended by the bloke who the unions wanted to lead the Labour Party.

0 We can't help but wonder...

Rajan Prasad, one of Labour's hidden talents got himself noticed yesterday. Questioning the decision to give a special work visa to Nigella Lawson, despite her admited drug use, he expressed thoughts on drug use that might be better kept to himself; check this out:

Mr Prasad said as a general rule he did not believe people who abused drugs should be allowed in to New Zealand but there should be discretion to allow it in special circumstances.

So we can't help but wonder; given that Green Party co-leader Russel Norman admitted (very freely) on The Nation the other week that he had used cannabis at some past time, is Dr Prasad saying that the man David Cunliffe might need in order to form a government ought never have been allowed to immigrate to New Zealand?

We're not big on people who use illegal drugs either. But we would suggest that Dr Prasad talk to his colleague Darien Fenton, a self-confessed recovered heroin addict about the power of second chances.


Right; see you later. We have a plane to catch!