Category: Constitutional Reform
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”.- Martin Luther King
In his iconic book “Free to Choose”, Milton Friedman explained the strategy used by many governments when they want to pass legislation that will benefit a minority of citizens at the expense of the majority: “When a special interest seeks benefits through highly visible legislation, it must not only clothe its appeal in the rhetoric of the general interest, it must persuade a significant segment of disinterested persons that its appeal has merit. Legislation recognised as naked self-interest will seldom be adopted”.
Opinion Piece by Prof. Roger Bowden The new Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill brings to mind the old saying ‘marry in haste, repent at leisure’. The problem is that it’s the National and Maori parties that joined in unholy matrimony, and it’s the rest of us will do the repenting. For this is a Bill hastily cobbled together and it shows.
“A discussion document released today said the Government preferred to declare the foreshore to be public domain, but reassert the right of Maori to seek modified customary title through the courts. Mr Key said the public domain concept was a pragmatic way to heal a ‘weeping sore’, but if there was not wide support then the current law could remain in place. The intent here is to put this issue to bed in a satisfactory way to the bulk of New Zealanders...” - NZ Press Association, March 31 2010
Something very suspicious is happening. The Prime Minister and Attorney-General insist that their proposed new foreshore and seabed law will allow free public access, and accuse Dr Hugh Barr, of the Coastal Coalition, of telling ‘untruths’ when he disagrees. But when the Attorney-General says that he will nevertheless propose amending the bill in order to make things 100% clear, the Maori Party threatens to abandon its support for the bill, Hone Harawira calling ACT’s leader ‘a little fat redneck’. Why might Maori be angry, if things were only to be made clearer, and nothing were actually to change?
What is freedom of expression? Without freedom to offend, it ceases to exist, wrote Salman Rushdie.
Democracy is said to be government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. It is meant to protect individual freedom and liberty, since the government’s powers derive from citizens themselves - either through their elected representatives or directly through public referenda. But the system breaks down when those elected representatives in government develop ‘tin ears’, putting the demands of their party – and the bureaucracy – ahead of the public interest.
Bilderberg. Whether you believe it’s part of a sinister conspiracy which will lead inexorably to one world government or whether you think it’s just an innocent high-level talking shop, there’s one thing that can’t be denied: it knows which way the wind is blowing.
If you want New Zealand to remain a democracy rather than slowly reverting to a tribal aristocracy, please read on. And as you do, think about your children and grandchildren, and whether you want them to inherit one country or two. Then decide for yourself, who’s telling the truth and what you want to do.
Public submissions on the government’s Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill may now be made until the 19th of November. Then, after those who wish to speak to their submissions have done so, the select committee hearing the submissions will have to report back to parliament towards the end of February. Presumably this overrides the Prime Minister’s statement that the new bill would be passed into law by Christmas.
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