Maxim Institute - real issues - No 249

Maxim Institute - real issues - No 249 19 April 2007 www.maxim.org.nz

A speed bump for State funding Send the 'neighbours from Hell' to the 'sin-bin'? Youth justice in the spotlight

IN THE NEWS US Supreme Court upholds ban on partial-birth abortion Bill to ban party pills launched Petition for referendum on smacking half-way there

A SPEED BUMP FOR STATE FUNDING

The Government's plan to reform New Zealand's electoral laws seems to have hit a speed bump, with Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen conceding this week that proposals for State funding of political parties are likely to be dead on arrival. United Future, New Zealand First and the Maori Party have all expressed misgivings. This should be welcome news to all who believe that MPs and political parties should be accountable to, and in touch with, the population at large.

Political parties are community organisations; coalitions of interest which advocate for policies, issues and the addressing of discontents. As such, they are organic outgrowths of the communities they spring from; they are shaped by the community and should be responsive to it. When political parties begin to develop identities apart from the people and the causes they represent, and become rigid institutions in their own right, the political process becomes less flexible and less responsive. It is important that all our political parties are as close as possible to the people and to the communities who made them, so that the flow of ideas and political debate is not stifled, and the MPs have every incentive to listen to the concerns of those who elected them.

When State funding is introduced or increased, political parties cease to be dependent on their members for funding, and as a result they are insulated from the people. Politicians no longer have the incentive to listen to the grass roots, because they don't need your $20 note or your support to pitch their policies. According to the New Zealand Herald, the Government's initial plan would have seen political campaigns being funded from the public purse at around $2 a vote up to 20 percent of their total party vote, and $1 a vote between 20 percent and a capped 30 percent.

Funding models like this mean that unpopular policy, rigid unresponsiveness or bad management can only be punished indirectly—in the voting booth, and up to three years later. The direct feedback loop between the party and the populace is at best weakened, and at worst severed, by State funding. Political parties, rather than being flexible conveniences for the promotion of coalitions and ideas, become institutions in themselves and new political parties find it hard to compete. Many have said that our electoral laws could do with an overhaul, but State funding of politicians is a bridge too far.

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SEND THE 'NEIGHBOURS FROM HELL' TO THE 'SIN-BIN'?

New proposals from the British Government have highlighted again the vital links between social order, self-control and freedom. British Labour has been attacking the rise of 'anti-social behaviour' in Britain over the past months, with the launch of the Respect Action Plan by Tony Blair in January. New proposals recently released by the Home Office deal with 'problem families'; those who are being disruptive and engaging in anti-social behaviour. Around 1500 such families per year would be targeted by 53 intensive intervention programmes.

At the most intensive level, the most disruptive families are put into what the Times labelled a 'State sin-bin': a State-run residential unit. Newspapers reported that 'sin-binned' families will be monitored to ensure that parenting tasks are performed, treatment options taken up, unsuitable visitors banned and curfews and school attendance enforced. If families refuse to accept help they risk a range of sanctions, including parenting orders and eviction.

The Respect Action Plan, of which intensive family intervention is a part, is British Labour's attempt to deal with what Tony Blair calls the loosening of 'civic and family bonds' and the decline of respect in British life. Other components of the plan include implementing talking closed-circuit television cameras, which bark orders at those caught on camera acting anti-socially, and more parenting and policing programmes.

While many would agree with much of the Respect Action Plan, elements of it throw into stark relief the collapse of community, and the implications that can have for freedom. If families, neighbours, communities and civil society do not fulfil their proper functions of growing good people and imbuing a sense of responsibility, then an ordered freedom is impossible; more and more government intervention is inevitable. In this case, the loosening of 'family and civic bonds' which promote character and conscience has led to the breakdown of the social fabric. That ends in British Labour's shouting TV cameras, and State compulsion. If we do not rule ourselves, force will rule us, and we will lose our freedom.

Read more about the Respect Action Plan

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YOUTH JUSTICE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Ministry of Social Development has just released a new discussion document, Safeguarding Our Children. The feedback received on the document will form the basis of proposals for legislation to update the current law affecting children and young people. Whilst much of the document concerns technical matters, it also includes a look at possible changes to the youth justice system.

There are two objectives at the heart of New Zealand's youth justice system: 'Ensuring that where children or young persons commit offences they are held responsible and . . . they are dealt with in a way that acknowledges their needs and that will give them the opportunity to develop in responsible, beneficial, and socially acceptable ways.' The document suggests several ways in which these objectives could be better met, including extending consultation with victims and tightening up family group conferences.

Significantly the discussion document points out that, 'Many youth justice practitioners were interested in exploring options that addressed the underlying causes of youth offending.' It goes on to suggest that greater use of community-based programmes could be helpful in achieving this goal. At Maxim Institute's Forum on Social Justice in March this year, Principal Youth Court Judge, Andrew Becroft, discussed the need for young people to be connected into community. He said that being networked into sport and other community activities helps provide a 'protective factor' because it 'builds resilience'. Family breakdown and truancy and expulsion leave children vulnerable to the norms and pressures of their peers. It is imperative that we address the question of how to keep young people connected into community and this discussion paper provides an opportunity for the public to consider this challenge. The deadline for providing feedback to the Ministry of Social Development is 1 June 2007.

Read Safeguarding Our Children and see how to provide feedback on it to the Ministry of Social Development

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IN THE NEWS

US SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION

This week the United States Supreme Court upheld the ban on the controversial practice of partial birth abortion. The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, passed by Congress in 2003, was accepted by a 5-4 majority of the Court. New Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito voted with the majority. This is a remarkable milestone for America, which previously allowed the abortion of full-term babies, under the guise of recognising women's rights. President Bush said that this legislation reflects 'compassion and humanity' and a 'culture of life', and that by affirming it, the Supreme Court is recognising the importance of 'protecting human dignity and upholding the sanctity of life.'

BILL TO BAN PARTY PILLS LAUNCHED

Otago MP, Jacqui Dean, has launched a new Private Member's Bill aimed at banning so-called 'party pills' by classifying them as a class C drug like cannabis. Her Misuse of Drugs (Prohibition of BZP) Amendment Bill was launched in Invercargill this week, with Mrs Dean telling the Southland Times that the pills are 'dangerous', that 'they are designed to mimic the effects of . . . harder drugs' and that their advertising and marketing is attractive to younger age groups.

Read the Southland Times report

PETITION FOR REFERENDUM ON SMACKING HALF-WAY THERE

A petition for a referendum launched in response to the so-called 'Anti-smacking Bill' has reached the half-way point in its progress towards the 300,000 signatures needed to force a Citizens' Initiated Referendum at the 2008 election. Former United Future MP and co-ordinator of the petition, Larry Baldock, announced that 150,745 signatures had so far been received for the petition which seeks a referendum on the question: 'Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?'

Read Mr Baldock's press release

TALKING POINT

'Respect is a way of describing the very possibility of life in a community. It is about the consideration that others are due. It is about the duty I have to respect the rights that you hold dear. And vice-versa. It is about our reciprocal belonging to a society, the covenant that we have with one another.'

Tony Blair, Respect Action Plan Launch, January 2007

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