Sorry to hear Mike Sabin is quitting but let’s look on the bright side for law and order

 

And if we can’t find a stretch of clean water – too bad.

Alf has been hugely heartened by the opportunity which opened today for him to replace Mike Sabin as chairman of the select committee that deals with law and order matters. It’s a great chance to promote a harder stance on crime and criminals.

Sabin, of course, has been at the centre of reports he is being investigated by police over an alleged assault.

Alf would have thought an alleged assault is easily investigated. He is bothered at having to suppose that, if there has been such an investigation, the matter of who did what to whom has taken a helluva long time to sort out.

Trouble is, Mike became awfully circumspect about the the matter and The Boss’s silence hasn’t helped stem the flow of conjecture and rumour.

Here’s what the Northern Advocate was reporting on Wednesday. 

Northland MP Mike Sabin, 46, has gone to ground since reports emerged late last year that he was under investigation by police after a complaint had been laid against him.

Neither Mr Sabin, Prime Minister John Key nor the police have confirmed the reports.

Actually,  The Boss had us believe all is well and Mike is getting on with the job of being a hard-working National MP.

This morning, Mr Key said he was comfortable with Mr Sabin holding the role of chairman of the law and order select committee.

“As I speak to you today, I’m very happy for him to continue in the position he does,” Mr Key told Radio New Zealand this morning.

Mr Sabin was a “fully functioning member of the caucus”, he said.

He refused to comment on the allegations or whether he had been made aware of a police investigation.

Describing Mike as a fully functioning member of the caucus perhaps is more than The Boss could honestly have said about Alf, on occasions when the Member for Eketahuna North had spent a bit too much time in Bellamys.

The Northern Advocate went on to say it understood Mike would be present at Te Tii Marae on Waitangi Day alongside his party colleagues.

Yesterday Mr Key said he would be surprised if Mr Sabin was not present, as he is the local MP for Northland.

“I would be [surprised], but just wait and see. It’ll be my expectation that all members who have indicated to the whips that they’re going would be there,” he said.

“I don’t know if he has indicated to whips if he is going or not.”

National’s senior whip Tim Macindoe expects Mr Sabin to attend.

But Alf was somewhat surprised yesterday to learn that The Boss might not have inquired too deeply into what was happening to Mike.

  Prime Minister John Key said he hasn’t spoken to under fire Northland MP Mike Sabin and wouldn’t comment on reports of a police investigation into a complaint made against him.

Mr Key was in Mount Wellington, Auckland today to formally open the Community of Refuge Trust housing development.

He addressed media after taking a look around some of the one-bedroom apartments and speaking to tenants in the development.

He said he hadn’t spoken to Mr Sabin in the past week.

“I’m not in a position where I’d want to make any comments on that,” he said.

He said he expected Mr Sabin would be at Waitangi celebrations next week and the press conference was brought to a close.

Maybe not.

Here’s the latest news:

Mike Sabin has resigned as a member of Parliament.

The Northland MP, who was also the chairman of the law and order select committee, said he had decided to resign “due to personal issues that were best dealt with outside Parliament”.

There have been reports Mr Sabin was being investigated by police over assault-related allegations, although neither Mr Sabin, the police nor Prime Minister John Key would confirm that.

Prime Minister John Key said he “acknowledged” the resignation of Mr Sabin for personal reasons and was getting advice on the possible date for a by-election.

Bugger me, Alf muttered to Mrs Grumble.

A fully functioning MP doesn’t necessarily keep fully functioning for too long nowadays

Alf intends jockeying for position to become the next chairman of the law and order select committee.  He fancies bringing back the birch for bashers, the rope for killers and bloody long jail terms for other felons.

He has always fancied the ducking stool for nags and scolds, too.

Oh, and he will want to be rid of this restorative justice thing that has become awfully fashionable among the namby-pamby set.