Clayton Mitchell Wins My Coveted Political Troll Of The Week Award

Meet Clayton Mitchell. One of the rising stars of NZ First's 2014 intake, he's recently become a bit annoyed - as I have - about the extent to which both National and Labour are (badly) imitating our policies ... without giving us any of the credit.

However, innovative man that he is, yesterday in Question Time he hit upon a solution.

He hand-delivered each of John Key and Andrew Little sign-up forms to become members of New Zealand First.

Now personally, I'd feel a little odious sharing a political party with John Key ... but then again, perhaps it's better to think of it not as "I'm locked in here with him" but rather "he's locked in here with ME!"

I am therefore tentatively supportive of this bid to re-nationalize the Prime Minister.

Perhaps he'll pick up some morals, principles and values while he's with us, and then we can release him back into the wild.

Unfortunately, however, the Prime Minister wasn't playing ball.

As you can see from the above screenshot, he's acknowledged that National does, in fact, borrow our policies from time to time ... but then proved his ignorance and irascibility by asking us if we're in favour of wasting $26 million dollars on a flag-change (we're not); and more worryingly, labeling the flag-change as a "progressive" move.

I'm not surprised in the slightest that the Prime Minister doesn't know what the word "progressive" means. It certainly shows in his party's approach to taxation. And, as somebody on my wall pointed out, changing the flag is less a step forward than it is "running on the spot, at best"

In any case, Clayton's point is clear.

On everything from opposition to the TPPA's excesses to free doctor's visits for under-13s ... New Zealand First did it first; with Labour and National respectively adopting each stance from well in our slipstream.

While Mitchell does have a point when he claims that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", I've nevertheless always believed that inferior workmanship on a copy is something of an insult to the originator.

Still, as long as democratic politics exists as a co-operative enterprise, other parties supporting our policies is something that ought to be welcomed rather than eschewed out of hand.

Just provided they acknowledge whom it is that they're supporting ... while also refraining from watering down our good ideas to meaningless exercises in symbolic concern.

Rather like a flag-change, in fact.