Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill: Blog Reaction
It may not be politic to say this, but the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill is a constitutional outrage.
A quick read show that it grants extreme Executive power – unbridled and effectively unchecked – in a way that has the
potential to undermine our very democratic foundations. More>>
At the risk of voicing a commonplace sentiment, Canterbury's earthquake and its aftermath was A Bad Thing to have
happen. Furthermore, the response to date of government both local and central has been admirable...
Yet even so, the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill rushed through the House and into law in but a single
day gives me a case of the screaming collywobbles. More>>
I haven't time to prepare a post of my usual consideration (or length), before the House of Representatives passes the
Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill through all stages under extreme urgency, but I felt impelled to say
something before it passed, rather than after. The in-depth analysis will hopefully follow from many quarters in the
coming days – probably not from me in any organised form – but I will perhaps start with a couple of questions:
1. why does the Government – without first going to Parliament – need the power to unilaterally decide that murder isn't
a crime in Auckland to assist with the reconstruction of Christchurch?
2. why, if the Government did decide that murder shouldn't be a crime in Auckland, should this obviously and stupidly
unreasonable decision not be able to be over-turned by a Court? More>>
Earlier tonight, in a unanimous vote, Parliament made us a dictatorship. While Parliament still exists, it is
meaningless. We are now under the rule of a single tyrant: Gerry Brownlee, the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake
Recovery.
Oh, not in practice, of course. But in form. The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill, passed unanimously
less than an hour ago, gives Brownlee the power to repeal or modify practically any law on our statute book, without
even having to refer to Cabinet, let alone Parliament. More>>
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