It was an expression that she and Health Minister Simeon Brown would have cause to contemplate this week after Anglican and Catholic priests appeared uninvited at their electorate offices.
Mr Brown’s clerical callers departed after a few hours but Ms Willis’ were made of sterner stuff, chaining themselves to the outside of her office for a bladder-testing 32 hours.
The stunt was a carefully orchestrated attempt to raise awareness of the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Not that Mr Brown and Ms Willis need any reminding of it.
Quite apart from their being savvy and world-aware consumers of news, everywhere a government minister goes these days they will almost certainly be dogged by keffiyeh-wearing, Palestinian flag-waving demonstraters making the exact same point as this week’s pious protesters.
However, the moral suasion that the clergy have is well in excess of that of the average student protester. It is much harder to ignore usually meek men and women of God than it is to pass by strident activists.
Ms Willis, sniffily, refused to meet with the protesters, saying that she did not wish to set a precedent for people who might wish for five minutes of her time to copy.
She has a point, but one which ignores the nature of this unusual protest. Casually popping by for a couple of minutes after the watching media had gone home might have been a human and helpful thing to have done.
That said, the government is not fond of anything which draws attention to its vacillating, hesitant stance on Palestinian recognition.
But that is as far as each man will go, excusing their not making a more unequivocal statement by saying Cabinet is still considering the issue.
This is pure sophistry. Mr Peters is due to make a keynote speech at the United Nations next week, and he will not be ad-libbing this country’s views on the Palestinian conflict while at the podium.
Cabinet is done pondering this, and minds were likely made up months ago — even if a formal vote has not yet been taken.
Although it seems likely that New Zealand will fall into lockstep with the many other like-minded countries which have recently announced, with no such prevarication, that they will recognise a Palestinian state, this will be a carefully crafted statement devised to try to cause as little offence as possible, both at home and abroad.
Given the significance that such state recognition has in the context of both domestic and international politics, and also the convention of foreign policy being relatively bi-partisan, the government’s pussyfooting and lack of transparency on Palestine has frustrated many.
Opposition parties have called for a full debate on this issue, and they have a point. While New Zealand is a small country, if it does join the likes of France, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada in recognising Palestine it is a signficant step and one which the House of Representatives should discuss.
The government has firmly condemned the ongoing atrocities in Gaza, as it did the horrific October 7 attacks by Hamas which were the catalyst for this latest instalment of a decades-long conflict.
However, many New Zealanders wish for firmer censure and stronger action from their government.
While not everyone is at a wanting to chain themselves to Nicola Willis’ office level of exasperation, the horror show from Gaza seen nightly on the television news has convinced many undecided and uncommitted people that Israel’s actions are purely and simply wrong and that New Zealand’s voice needs to be raised more loudly on this issue.
Yes, there are trade and diplomatic considerations which the government needs to bear in mind. But there is the weighing up of what is right and what is wrong, and many New Zealanders consder that their government is underplaying an appalling wrong.
