Winston Churchill said of the Nazis: “They’re afraid of words.” And they were. So are all bigots and tyrants and their followers.
Words are the elixir of democracy. Think freely, talk freely, meet freely in groups, contest ideas, argue cases in court: that is how peace is made and kept.
John Key National leader is becoming a fait accompli in the media and in many people’s minds. But is he in fact an accomplished leader in waiting?
No one quite knows yet.
And no one would need to know yet if Don Brash had been tracking onward and upward to Prime Minister.
But he hasn’t been and isn’t. So the question National MPs didn’t want to have to ask themselves is on the table: who shall replace Brash (in due course), when, how and with whom as deputy?
Here are two news stories from the past few days, one from this country and one from Australia, which deal with plugging labour force gaps.
The local story was the extension of the seasonal work permit pilot scheme for foreigners to work in horticulture. The Australian story credited John Howard’s baby bonus with lifting the birth rate.
Between March 1 and last Friday Judith Collins became a kinder, gentler person.
On March 1 in Parliament she called David Benson-Pope a “pervert”, a savage accusation for which there was no evidence — damaging to Benson-Pope and damaging to his family, which includes teenagers.
On Friday on Radio New Zealand Collins waxed emotional about the damage to Don Brash’s family from the outing of his run-of-the-mill affair. “I am not going personally to attack people’s families, no matter what the error,” she said.
In the week when great minds pondered anew whether the Al Qaeda attack on the Twin Towers five years ago changed the world, what did Clayton Cosgrove do? He called for Statistics New Zealand’s operation manual.
Swift action from the Minister of Statistics was apparently needed to save the nation from staff tea-making rules which made media mirth.
Helen Clark’s government is fond of strategies. But is it strategic?
Look at its new-spending in the 2006 Budget: of the $2.2 billion new operating spending, mostly on health, education and “working families”, $25 million goes to research, science and technology (RS&T).
Fixing up old people certainly gives them higher quality of life. But it says nothing about how today’s young are to have the higher incomes to pay for the care of the old of the future.
The government has reformulated the George Washington legend. It goes like this:
There was no cherry tree and no axe and I wasn’t there. Move on. Alright, there was a cherry tree and an axe. Move on. OK, I was there but not strictly as an axe-person. Move on. Anyway killing a cherry tree isn’t a crime. Move on. Well, if someone thinks there is a crime, go to the police. Move on.
It’s a free country, isn’t it? We can believe what we like and, within certain limits, say what we want.
So what’s the problem with women in burquas? Tough-talking National MP Bob Clarkson wants them out of this country. National MP Chris Finlayson, Blue Liberals organiser, said he agreed with every word Clarkson said. Is this the liberal National party of Ralph Hanan and Sir John Marshall?
Gerry Brownlee has had another go at the “bloated” public service. You can bet bureaucrats will be a target in the 2008 election. But has he got his aim right?
The Treasury has documented the expansion he complains of: more bums on seats requiring more offices; doubts about the return on taxpayers’ outlay.
Would we have made such a fuss if it had been Elizabeth R who died last week? Most likely not. That speaks volumes about who we are and who we are not.
It tells us we are no longer British. The Queen of New Zealand is a remote figure, a figment of heritage. She is our formal head of state but Dame Silvia Cartwright has been our real head of state and just as regal.