Mike's Minute: My thoughts on Ginny and Mark

It's one of life's oddity's when it comes to things playing out publicly, that what might have exploded one day, doesn’t on another.  The tragedy of Efeso Collins quite rightly became yesterday's political story, and in doing so, saved Ginny Anderson from greater scrutiny and, perhaps, embarrassment.  The house was paused after speeches. Mark Mitchell quite rightly didn’t want to talk about it given the focus on Collins' passing.  But what he did say was she had texted him to say she had overstepped the line. Chris Hipkins said she had overstepped the line.  He also said she had apologised, which she hadn't. Saying you overstepped the line and saying sorry are two different things.  Your reaction has been forthright and voluminous.  There is no doubt Mitchell deserves a heartfelt apology. What unfolded on this programme yesterday was gobsmacking.  It was an innocent conversation about past work, as a result of the Grant Robertson resignation and whether MPs should bring more real-world experience to the house and therefore running the country.  Anderson raised Mitchell's past security work and company, and if she had kept her head, that would have been that.  But it wasn’t.  It was like something snapped and she passed the point of no return.  Live radio, or live broadcasting of any sort, especially unscripted, is hard. You have to keep your wits about you, you have to know when enough is enough, or indeed when it isn't enough and push a little further.  We all make mistakes. Many, many a time I have sat here thinking "how close to the line am I here?"  What Anderson did was personal. Not just personal, but ill-informed too. Once she crossed the line it got brutal and was an unbridled attack of jaw-dropping proportions.  A saving grace is they are both politicians who live in an, at times, ugly business.  But that doesn’t make yesterday right, or excusable, or even close to it.  The ball is in Mark's court. If he wants an apology, he should get one. I'm sure he could find a lawyer or two who would be more than happy to pursue matters elsewhere.  The best and most obvious thing Ginny could do is unreservedly say sorry. Accept it was a moment of madness, it was completely uncalled for and reflected badly on her and her party.  I'm looking forward to this Wednesday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.