Parliament had another visitor on Tuesday, embattled Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay turned up to work after a month off the radar. But unlike UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson's visit, there were no photo ops or interviews.
Mr Barclay slipped into Parliament under the cover of darkness this morning, after being AWOL for 34 days. What's he been doing? He won't say.
He snuck into National's caucus meeting, shielded by Minister Judith Collins, and Prime Minister Bill English was left to take the hit for him.
Asked what reports Mr English had on the work Mr Barclay has done over the last few weeks, he only had this to say: "That's up to him. He's the local MP for another few weeks."
Mr Barclay's only been seen publicly a few times since he resigned, despite still being on Parliament's payroll.
Here's what the taxpayer has been spending on Mr Barclay annually:
While he avoided journalists, he couldn't avoid the opposition in the house. There were questions from New Zealand First's Winston Peters and Labour's Chris Hipkins.
Prime Minister Bill English, again taking the hit for Mr Barclay, shot down the questions saying that he no ministerial responsibility for the matter, that he had no comment, that the matter had been dealt with.
Winston Peters hinting in the house he's got more to have proof of how deeply Mr English was involved. "Why was he in such frequent communication with Glenys Dickson late at night and early in the morning?" he asked.
This scandal will plague the Government for the next four weeks until Parliament rises for the election. During that time, Todd Barclay will likely be in the safety of his office.
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