Category: imported_weekly
With the closing days of the colourful US Presidential race upon us, New Zealand’s 2008 general election campaign has, in comparison, been particularly dull.
One in six New Zealanders now live abroad, including an estimated 24 percent of our skilled workforce. This is the highest proportion of any country in the OECD. According to the Government Statistician, in the year to September, long-term departures from New Zealand reached 82,254, the greatest number since 1979. Of those, 42,316 Kiwis headed to Australia, the highest number in over twenty years.[1]
If it wasn’t for the fact that the general election is just around the corner, new home owners would be forced to install government approved showers that plumbers say deliver little more than a dribble of water. This is on top of government approved hot water cylinders - modified for heat pumps and solar panels - that cost $500 more than standard models.[1] For these nanny state interventions we have MMP and the Green Party to blame.
National has released their long-awaited tax policy, political parties are launching their election campaigns, and in 27-days time we will be asked to vote in the 2008 General Election. But this is no ordinary election.
Those who still believe that Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” maps out the best path forward for mankind are now claiming that the current economic woes on Wall Street have been caused by the failure of capitalism and the free market.
Last week's designation of a Select Committee room of Parliament as the Rainbow Room shows just how far the human rights movement in New Zealand has marched over the last sixty years. Standing alongside other Select Committee rooms dedicated to Maori, Pacific Islanders, Asians and women, the Rainbow Room was dedicated by the Speaker to recognise gay, lesbian and trans-gender New Zealanders and the paths they have taken to full citizenship with equal rights.[1]
In the year to August, 33,300 Kiwis packed their bags for Australia, the highest figure since 1989. That includes 2,900 in August alone. One particularly worrying aspect is that so many of those leaving New Zealand are young: 86 percent are under the age of 45 and the majority are under the age of 30.[1]
On Saturday November 8th Helen Clark will be asking voters for their support as she attempts to win an election that would elevate her to the rarefied ranks of four-term New Zealand Prime Ministers alongside Richard Seddon, William Massey and Keith Holyoake. During the address in which she announced the election date, Helen Clark explained that the 2008 general election will be about “trust” - whether the public can trust a Labour Government led by her, or a National Government led by John Key.
In this politically correct world that we now live, it is important to hear again the words of Voltaire which echo the essence of free speech – “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. Increasingly our right to free expression is being eroded by the apparent rights of others who disagree with what we say.
I cannot remember a time when Parliament - our country’s highest governing institution – has been brought into such disrepute. And the Parliamentarians have only themselves to blame.
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