Mike Heine Is A Member Of Prebble's Rebels

There has been quite a bit going on this week in the wonderful and wacky world of politics. Lot’s of interesting events. However I’ve been busy doing my exams, so forgive me if I don’t know any of them. Therefore this issue of On The Right is more of a ‘random thoughts’ edition, in which I get a whole lot of miscellaneous stuff off my chest. Enjoy…

Ruth Dyson

Okay, despite being otherwise occupied, you would have to have been drugged and dumped in a large hole in Siberia to have not heard about Ruth Dyson.
I was thinking of writing about how stupid she was for rubbishing Norm Hewitt’s heroic NPC final display. However, she then went on to do something even braver – drive drunk down the streets of Wellington.

While she did the honourable thing by immediately resigning, this was no doubt made a lot easier by Helen Clark’s assurance that she’ll be back as a Minister pretty soon. The fact that Dyson is merely on probation, while Dover Samuels is on the outer for something he didn’t even do, is very unfair. I have a lot more confidence in Samuel’s ability to do his job than I do in Dyson, and I bet I’m not alone.
Why did she drink a bottle of wine in her office while working anyway? The three most likely theories, from my point of view, are:

a. She was (still) drowning her sorrows after Canterbury’s NPC loss.
b. She was trying to find enough Dutch courage to confront Hewitt personally and tell him off for being such a terrible role model.
But most likely…
c. The re-nationalisation of ACC policy doesn’t make any sense until you’ve had a few.

Whatever the reason, Dyson is looking rather hypocritical right now, and until she apologises to Norm Hewitt she will continue to do so. In short, hearing Ruth Dyson preach about responsibility is like hearing Barry White sing about celibacy.

Something for everyone, no matter what your political beliefs…

I received an email recently with a rather unique outlook on life. The sender reckoned that criticising political parties is a terrible thing to do. To quote this person, “I don’t think it is anyone’s place to make slanderous allegations against any political party, much less members of those parties”. The email goes on to say that politicians are in Parliament solely to give something back to their nation. To oppose their policies makes us “critical” and “self-righteous” and we should instead “try and understand, abide by, and see the reason for those policies”.

I mentioned this here because in all my time following politics, I have never heard anything like this. It is an extraordinary thing to believe politicians and governments are beyond repute. They are mere mortals, much like the rest of us, and are capable of making mistakes, being arrogant, and acting in their own self-interest.

People criticise the New Right policies of the last fifteen years, and while I don’t agree with the criticisms I do not deny the right of people to make them. Just as I will continue to attack the current government’s policy direction. To say that our MPs are beyond refute is like saying we should scrap democracy, refuse our right to free speech and leave everything to the politicians. Let’s see how well that goes…

Just a quick question:

Shouldn’t Sandra Lee also resign for using the word ‘holocaust’ against Helen Clark’s orders?

Why I’m not buying New Zealand made

A few months ago, a man representing an anonymous (like I really want to be sued) telecommunications company turned up at my flat and offered me a deal which included cheaper toll call prices than Telecom. This sounded good, so I accepted.
After the first month on this, I get the bill and indeed it was cheaper. I was pleased. Until the next phone bill arrived and showed, without any prior notice, a one hundred percent increase in my toll rates! At five dollars compared to Telecom’s three, I immediately switched back.
To make things worse, at the bottom of the phone bill was this phrase:

“WE ARE PROUD TO BE 100 PERCENT NEW ZEALAND OWNED AND OPERATED.”
And people wonder why overseas-owned Telecom is making such a high profit.

See, she ain’t so bad

While swapping political stories with some friends last night, one of them told us about the time she sat next to then Finance Minister Ruth Richardson on a plane. Rather than being antisocial and ignoring her as she could have, Richardson gave my friend her supply of aeroplane lollies.
Just as they are not to be idolised, politicians are also not exactly blood relatives of Satan. For those that believe they are, think of this story and remember that even the most hated politicians are capable of kindness.

While I’m in this uncharacteristically kind and generous mood, let me finish up by wishing all students the best of luck with their exams. And remember, if you fail it does not mean you’re unintelligent. I mean, look at the Labour caucus – most of them are University graduates…

Feedback...heimi369@student.otago.ac.nz

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