It's not about Rodney Hide

New Labour MP, Shane Jone's treatment of Rodney Hide's letter of complaint is worthy of more than the flippancy Jane Clifton accords it in today's DomPost. I always read Jane Clifton. She's more astute and talented than most journalists. And given the undeniable antipathy some people feel towards Rodney Hide it's a piece of writing that won't go unappreciated.

But it's not about Rodney. This issue is about not just avoidance of process but a voluble contempt for it. Going before a select committee is tough. Members who don't like the content of your submission make it abundantly clear in a variety of ways. From direct personal attack through to an exaggerated display of boredom or indifference.

But I go knowing what to expect. Nobody can make me go - unlike Mr Fraser.

So there needs to be some constraints on the behaviour of committee members and submitters. If the chairman himself steps beyond the limits, and what Shane Jones said about Ian Fraser was extremely denigrating and highly public, then we have a problem.

Jane Clifton suggests that "ripping up" Rodney's letter of complaint is the way most New Zealanders deal with politics. She is probably right. And the more evidence they see of a process that is presided over by people who are a law unto themselves, the more they will keep well away.