Peter Dunne can't even get his unpleasant political facts straight

Tumeke tears Peter Dunne to shreds in an amusing post fisking Dunny's mean spirited attack on Jeanette Fitzsimons and his delusions that United Future have been a more effective party than the Greens.

Peter Dunne: First, no member of the Greens has ever held office as a Minister in a government. That sets them apart from every other small party that has emerged under MMP. The Alliance, ACT, New Zealand First, the Maori Party and UnitedFuture have all had Ministers in government, able to push through key aspects of their respective parties’ policies. In contrast, Jeanette’s self-confessed Parliamentary career highlight was chairing the Local Government Select Committee. The usual hallmark of political success is being part of a government, and on that basis the Greens have been our most unsuccessful small party under MMP.

Tumeke: "And why have they not been in government? Because Peter Dunne in particular has kept them out by refusing to sit alongside them if they were ministers. He preferred being a minister with Winston Peters, even when his shameless deceptions and rorts were on full display in the final year of the last Labour government."

Check out the NZ Herald from 2005 - where he reiterated his demand that the Greens not be part of any formal coalition. The same article recalls Dunne's bizarre attack on the media on election night.

It is a shame Labour went along with Dunny and Winston Peters unjustified demands to exclude the Greens from Government. In 2002 Labour could have formed a Government with the Greens, but the Labour party leadership chose to go with United Future instead. In 2005 two Green MPs were appointed as Government spokespeople for Energy Efficiency and the Buy Kiwi Made Campaign. Was there much effective difference between these 'spokespeople' positions and the minor ministerial portfolio outside cabinet held by Dunne? In effect, not a lot. Being a minister was more of vanity project for Peter in any case.

Given his previous statements about the Greens, Dunne wondered aloud whether to attend Green co-leader Rod Donald's funeral in 2005. He ended up going, and ignored repeated requests from Dean Peter Beck to turn his cellphone off. His cellphone rang during the service.

Dunne's majority in his electorate has been disappearing for the past four elections, so hopefully in 2011 we will see the end of another of Roger Douglas' friends from the Forth Labour Government.