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Shall we open the week with a prediction?��

This is the week the Government will call an inquiry into the accusations around the Māori Party, the marae and the use of Covid and census information.��

The trouble is if the Government doesn’t call an inquiry, too many questions start to get asked around transparency and trust.��

The allegations are too specific. They are not hearsay from people who heard from people. They are very specific, detailed allegations from people who were there.��

The denials are fine. But the questions remain un-investigated and they are too serious not to be.��

Whether a Privacy Commissioner and Stats NZ hiring a bloke to do it is enough, but I doubt it from the Government's point of view.��

Do remember, although this goes directly to one party in Parliament, it potentially involves everyone in Parliament.��

If those running the country can't be seen to be scrupulous, then that’s trouble.��

The Māori Party themselves haven't helped, with the president John Tamihere rolling out his standard line about this all being about race.��

John is too angry to be credible these days. He has this enormous chip on his shoulder and everything is a conspiracy around race.��

The irony here is that the people making the accusations are Māori. So it's not about Māori, it's about rules and laws and whether they have been broken.��

Not helping is the food and voucher giveaway. Although Māori can argue this is koha, the previous Government set a damning precedent where bribes, because that’s what they are, were handed out for vaccines and Census participation and they muddied the waters.��

But what is clear is using Census and vaccine information to campaign and/or recruit for elections is illegal and that is what we need to find out - did it happen, or not?��

There is also the matter of said information then being used to contact people via text for votes and not following the prescribed electoral laws.��

So does the Government pull the trigger? And when they do, why?��

Does it pass the pub test?��

Not even close. ����

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