New Zealand PM thrown out of parliament over Panama Papers debate

Mr Key was thrown out of Parliament today after he kept talking in a robust exchange about the Panama Papers despite the Speaker turning off his microphone and telling him to sit down.

It was the first time Mr Key has been ordered to leave by the Speaker since he became Prime Minister, although he had been kicked out three times as an Opposition MP, reported the NZ Herald.

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Green co-leader James Shaw had demanded Mr Key apologise for his claim that Greenpeace and Amnesty were implicated in the Panama Papers, when the charities had been used without their knowledge in sham trusts. Mr Little said Mr Key had lost control.

“It’s pretty shameful when the Prime Minister gets kicked out. The one person who we do need to know keeps his cool in Parliament is the Prime Minister. He lost it. He’s on the back foot on this issue, so his point of attack now is to distract, throw various dead cats on the table so you start talking about that and when that doesn’t work, start demeaning people.”

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, who was left to field a question to the PM from NZ First’s Ron Mark, defended Mr Key, saying his lapse was “accidental”.

“He was simply addressing the Greens vigorously and he just didn’t see the Speaker stand up. If he had seen it, he would have sat down because he was warned about it yesterday.”