Marc My Words… 20 October 2006
Political comment
By
Marc Alexander
Labour's modus operandi at odds with the public interest
The Helen Clark government seems to believe that freedom of speech is a wonderful thing - until the other guy talks too
much. Her response then proves the maxim that the weaker the argument the stronger the words should be. Or, at least,
legislate to gag opposition and carry on in secret. After a series of almost comical missteps such as 'paintergate',
'speedgate', and the laughable 'chewing-gum tax cut' due to kick in at the next Millennium celebrations, there have also
been a rather more sinister unraveling of policy initiatives that should scare anyone who places a value on our
increasingly vulnerable liberties.
Labour has choreographed a whole array of stratagems to deal with criticisms. The first line of defense is simply to say
it's not true, then, blame a previous administration. After three elections, it's hardly credible anymore. People have
short memories. They can't remember what they ate for breakfast two days' ago let alone what some government did or
didn't do six elections past. If all that fails then Labour buries the issue with an inquiry so circumscribed it
resembles a trussed chicken being asked to cross the road from a pre-heated oven. It contains the seeds of its own
uselessness.
That's what happened with Taito Phillip Field. Under normal circumstances Clark would have scraped him out of Parliament
in much the same way as if she had stepped in dog poop. Labour has taken no meaningful action against the MP for one
reason only: it is a vital seat that gives them a working majority. The last thing they want is for there to be a
by-election which would simply end up being a referendum on the government's dire performance.
The election overspend issue caught on like a bushfire that Labour strategists couldn't quell so easily. So instead of
the usual line of attack, labour got personal. The public was uncooperative and simply didn't' buy into it. Labour
looked like a child throwing a tantrum. There could be no airbrushing of the facts here. Labour was found out, labeled
corrupt and didn't like it. And like a spoilt brat, they started claiming that since everybody else was guilty too, it
wasn't really bad. One moronic MP even had a crack at making a distinction between 'unlawful' and 'illegal'. He looked
about at convincing as his argument.
The new Labour plan was now to accomplish two things: Trivialize the rules under which they got caught; and, rewrite the
law retrospectively to let them off the hook. The first they did by claiming that Christmas cards and calendars could be
considered subliminal electioneering and so were now out. So too telephone calls to get in touch with constituents. The
attempt is cynical hair-splitting to minimize what they've done. Its amateurish, embarrassing and assumes gross public
gullibility.
The second they did to absolve legal responsibility rather than the financial one of simply paying back the money. The
obfuscation by claiming they thought they were doing the right thing fooled no-one. Claiming ignorance, as any lawyer
will tell you, is no defense.
Where all this gets interesting, if ethically murkier, is how the Clark regime has gone on to attack a wider orbit than
their parliamentary opposition. It amounts to buying off votes through welfare payments (such as Working for Families)
and subsidies (like interest free student loans), and quelling dissent the old fashioned way by threatening to legislate
against it. The former has been spectacularly successful in terms of Labour remaining in power even if at the expense of
our nation's future. These artificially crafted dependencies will simply further erode individual and family resilience
creating a raft of problems in due course.
The latter, more menacing threats go directly to the heart of the basic principles of liberty and democracy. One of our
most foundational freedoms is the right to think and speak our mind. Unfortunately if to do so challenges what the
Labour apparatchiks think then they'll legislate the problem away. Take the charitable sector for example: the
government now wants the right to remove tax exempt status for those charities that are judged as being too political.
The mechanism to achieve this is by way of a government appointed seven-member Charities Commission. This is nothing
else than a jobs for the boys scheme with the benefit of political censorship.
In practice that means the sword of Damocles hangs over charitable organizations if they advocate - a function we
probably need more of. To expect, for example, an organization to relieve poverty, fight for victim's rights or even
cancer sufferers without freely campaigning for regulatory improvements makes a mockery of free speech. How can such
institutions effect change without advocacy? Valid dissent is necessary if we want public debate and change. To give the
government power, through the Commission, to restrict and punish such discussion is a direct challenge to our freedom.
And finally, the machinations of this government to get things done without people noticing is another dubious tactic.
Consider how the government took a cut of millions of dollars from compensation payments to former mental hospital
patients. Nearly a third of the payments supposed to go to victims of maltreatment at the Lake Alice psychiatric
hospital have been siphoned off to cover questionable legal fees. In a ruling last September Judge Tom Broadmore seemed
to hint that a group of the Wellington power elite including Helen Clark made a 'political' decision to scalp some of
the money. Allegedly the with-holding of these payments would never have been known if it were not for an accidental
admission to a former patient of the total compensation he was entitled to but having the amount reduced from the
original $115,000 to $80,000. The full story, (drawn to public attention by Deborah Hill Cone in The National Business
Review - Sept. 22, 2006), illustrates the shenanigans this government gets up to in attempted secrecy.
Faith in government cannot be had by changing law to absolve responsibility, being reckless with public money, advancing
legislation to shut down dissent, or secret unscrutinsed deals. Helen Clark's government has reached and gone well past
that point. If she were Chairman of a Board, the shareholders would be demanding her resignation. We voters should
demand no less.
ENDS