Earlier this year I attended the (yawn worthy) one day match beween the Blackcaps and England at Eden Park and was bemused by jibes from Blackcaps supporters directed at the English fielders. When they started yelling that the guy closest to us on the boundary was "throwing like a girl" I felt compelled to ask loudly what was so wrong with that. The Barmy Army were only too happy to join me in calling them out, and the taunts returned to the fantastically obscure.

The problem is that assault and racism are minor flaws that NZ society can empathize with. Questioning a politician elected by us to serve us? Not when he's got such a likable persona.