David meets Michael

My good politico mate in Wellington, David Farrar who authors New Zealand's hugely popular KiwiBlog, recently recorded his 6 millionth visitor on the fourth year anniversary. He's [unfortunately] a member of the National Party, and through his blog, makes a substantial contribution to the daily political dialogue in the land of the long white cloud.

David just bumped into a blast from our mutual past. However, I'll save some of this story for later in the month, following our unofficial reunion in Wellington.

As part of a cheeky two-some, David and I got up to a number of antics in our naive political youth, fueled no doubt by our membership of Young Nats. The most colourful and now infamous event occurred around '93. We were arrested after claiming that a certain rouge politician of the time, Michael Laws was murdered. We put out a Police press release with a long list of possible suspects in the "murder". Yeah, it was a silly joke, but you really had to be there.

Our regular games were well-known around the press gallery for such pranks and although there was suspicion of the origins, we always closely guarded our identity.

Following national media coverage, and a court appearance sporting our party ties, we were both made to pay for our "crime", even though a number of senior politicians helped defend us. We were lauded as heroes in making fun of Michael Laws, who enraged most in the House. Michael is now mayor of Wanganui, a provincial town in the North Island.

To this day, a wonderful tribute hangs in the famous Backbencher pub across the road from Parliament, honouring our good work. The unveiling ceremony bought out pollys from all sides of the fence, including the arresting officer!

I'm looking forward to the 15th anniversary celebrations next year.