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Anthony Willy
"I swear that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty Her heirs and successors, according to law, in the office of Judge and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of New Zealand, without fear or favour, affection or ill will. So help me God." This is the Oath of Office taken by all Judges.
Personal freedom, the right to live one’s life free from the interference of others is the natural bedrock of all human beings. Over the millennia it has been something more honoured in the breach than the observance, but as mankind emerged from societies whose economies were reliant on slavery and serfdom the assertion of personal freedom became unstoppable.
A variation on the conventional socialist mantra of tax and spend has surfaced in the run up to the forthcoming election it is: cheat and tax. What it involves is to deny that a Labour/Greens/ Maori Party government if elected has any plan to raise taxes but will devolve the whole question to a panel of experts. They will then make the decisions on behalf of the government.
The New Zealand First Party has promised that if it is invited into a coalition government following the general election on the 23 September one of it's not negotiable policies will be to require the prospective coalition partner to agree to two binding referenda: One asking whether to retain the Maori seats, the other whether the number of Members of Parliament should be reduced to 100.
Until the passing of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2017 the business of territorial local authorities was conducted by the elected representatives of the citizens living in the particular area. That is no longer the case.
This question of charging for the use of fresh water has recently appeared in the news media and on the political radar apparently generated by opposition to proposals to export fresh water so before turning to the question of the charging for fresh water it is convenient to dispose of the controversy surrounding the export of water. It is a red herring.
I have decided to chance my arm on predicting what will happen in 2017. Before doing so however a word about the media, pollsters, elites, and experts, because overwhelmingly the public’s views on matters of public interest are conditioned by these entities.
It seems to be the season for tinkering with our constitutional arrangements. We have the “The report of Makiki Mai Aotearoa The “independent working group on constitutional transformation” and we have Sir Geoffrey Palmer, and his acolyte’s proposed written constitution for New Zealand
Earlier this year cabinet considered a paper on the future allocation of fresh water. One aspect is the recognition of rights and interests in water on a race basis, which will be available only to those persons claiming some Maori blood.
The recent referendum on the whether or not Britain should leave the EU has captured the imagination of those with an interest in public affairs. It is being cited as a part of a pattern of international events, including the rise of Donald Trump in United States, and the failure of the Liberal Coalition to secure an election night majority in Australia.
