Opinion by Rupert Pye
In 2017 former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer wrote a startling blog post expressing concern about the state of democracy in New Zealand. It surely should have been headline news but it wasn’t. Which raises a large question mark about the media’s competency and sense of responsibility. His statement was made during the National Government, led by John Key.
Palmer had very good reason to be concerned about that government. One act by the government was totally unprecedented. Almost eleven years ago, on April Fools’ Day 2010, Nick Smith, then Minister for the Environment, induced the government to sack the democratically elected Environment Canterbury (ECan) council and replaced it with state commissioners by passing the ECan Act.
The move outraged the Law Society Rule of Law Committee which denounced the ECan Act as repugnant to the Rule of Law. Most were appalled.
Dictatorship?
Here are other issues relating to the outdoors and environment.
In April 2016 Nick Smith also removed the right of local councils to consider and hear submissions on 1080 poison aerial drops and put the final say with central government which became solely responsible for 1080 poison and pest control methods – with no reference to the public.
This policy and the ECan takeover were dictatorial state control from a National government.
At the time, Waikato Regional Councillor Clyde Graf told Radio NZ the change withdrew the ability of the community to engage in the consent process, and stopped local government from being able to manage their own pest control.
In effect, the public’s right to comment was abolished.
Kangaroo Court
There was the 2004 ERMA review of 1080 was essentially a “kangaroo court” with submitters restricted to only five minutes. It was a token gesture to consultation – lip service only.
The National government was voted out in 2017, but the new coalition government of Labour, Greens and NZ First continued the government trend of diminishing democracy.
Firearm law changes following the Christchurch March 15, 2019 mosque tragedy, were rushed through in just a few days. Over 12,000 submissions were considered in just two days – defying credibility.
Then just the last week, the Labour government pushed the the Maori Wards Bill though its final reading in Parliament in just a few days. There was virtually no meaningful government instigated public debate.
Democracy is being eroded and harder to find.
Brazen Hijack
Jordan Williams executive director of the Taxpayers’ Union said “This law is a brazen attempt to hijack local democracy, and the use of Parliamentary urgency betrays of the promise of open and transparent government.”
Even if you ignore the issues, whether it be the firearm laws, 1080, ECan or Maori wards, what is important and so very alarming is the erosion bordering on abandoning democracy.
Some columnists have examined the erosion of democracy. A number have identified complacency by the public or in other words apathy. There is deep concern that most New Zealanders are oblivious. They think New Zealand has a strong democracy and therefore don’t focus enough attention on the need for protections against undemocratic behaviour and corruption.
People’s Apathy
Respected writer and columnist Karl du Fresne looked at complacency, said recently: “One thing we do very well in this country, besides rugby, is evasion of responsibility. We get reports and inquiries, hollow apologies and hand-wringing … and then it’s back to business as usual”.
He found there is a glaring “accountability deficit” throughout New Zealand.
The Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand (CORANZ) raised red flags last year that parliament’s select committee democratic process was being undermined to the detriment of the public giving submissions. Current CORANZ Chairman Andi Cockroft made an oral submission to a select committee dealing with the Resource Management Act (RMA).
After being beforehand, granted 15 minutes speaking time the chairman interrupted Andi Cockroft’s submission after five minutes and said the committee had heard enough thereby cutting the oral presentation short by ten minutes. It was another insult to democracy.
Making submissions has become a joke
The five minutes now regularly accorded to submitters by select committees is in strong contrast to years ago when select committees listened to an oral submission for half an hour, an hour or more.
Tony Orman, who has over decades made several submissions to select committees, wrote on the CORANZ website some months ago, saying “the public believe Parliament is the place of democracy – where you could get a fair hearing from elected representatives based on a historical and moral constitution of honour, truth and justice. It is not a charade.”
But he is wrong, it is a charade -– more than a bad joke.
Little wonder the public rate politicians, political parties and governments as among the most untrustworthy.
Is apathy by people and failure to hold politicians to account a major obstacle to retaining democracy?
The scamdemic has enabled the greatest power grab since the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd in October 1917. Democracy, such as it was, is all but dead and buried in New Zealand. Better get used to the feeling of that boot stamping on your face forever.
Get rid of this MMP scam & have REAL elected politicians in Wellywood answerable to NZ’ers.
That’d sort most of our challenges out!!!
We support MMP as it does result in a more representative Parliament than was the case before 1996. Now that’s the case, we also support getting rid of the Maori seats.
Governments get away with whittling away at democracy because of the apathetic majority. Shame on that majority of people – indifferent souls too scared to speak up.
George Orwell was so correct in his prediction. Shame too on PMs and politicians of the last several governments, (Shipley, Bolger, Clark etc). It started with the 4th Labour government (David Lange’s) which was dictatorial. Remember sale of public assets to corporate cobbers without asking the owners, i.e. the people?
Also shame on the pathetic media who have forsaken the skills of investigative journalism.
Great opinion piece and question from Rupert Pye.
Apathy is certainly part of the reason democracy has been so severely eroded since the mid eighty’s. Citizens need to make the effort to be involved in the process by which representatives are chosen and held accountable for their actions.
Modern communication technology, the digital revolution, the internet, satellites and fibre optic cables have been exploited by big organisations so that enormous power is concentrated in the hands of big corporate and big government. The key players have become to big for their boots as the old saying goes. Government at all levels behave like corporates, like limited liability companies, so individuals within them can avoid accountability and responsibility. Citizens need to catch the foxes who have cunningly infiltrated our chicken houses and replace them with representatives who practice democracy. Our present representatives simply preach democracy before joining the corporates and exploiting us. Actions speak louder than words.
It appears to me to be a world wide issue with Democracy.
We have become complacent with it.
Ahhh, those politicians.!!!! Yea, the ones we vote in to represent us then we bitch and moan about how useless they are.
The premise itself makes us the stupid ones.
I may have hit the nail on the head. We are stupid by giving them the power to screw us.
Education.
Do we have a course in political awareness and consequences.
No, that would not be in the politicians interests to have an alert public.
I’m thinking the world is numbing to democracy.
The problem I see with our current structure of democracy is that greedy little imp called capitalism.
If we went back in time to Greece and the white and black pebbles. There would be lobbyists hounding each person in line with lucrative offers.
The pebble counters would have the same influence.
And the winner would be the one paid by the capitalist that hired all the lobbyists.
In our fright for freedom we have lost our vigilance.
The trick the politicians are all onto is simple.
Become the bank.
Waikanae Watch and the Erosion of Democracy.
It is interesting that the Waikanae Watch article opened with the statement, ‘In 2017 the former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer wrote a startling blog post expressing concern about the state of democracy in New Zealand.’
It was Geoffrey Palmer who played a significant part in introducing amendments by Acts of Parliament to the Treaty of Waitangi, which have totally distorted the Treaty’s original intention. It was not part of his election brief. By giving advantages to a minority group against the interests of the majority, he has done much to erode race relations in New Zealand. It was a dictatorial act, but was sanctioned by parliament, subverting democracy.
That said, Sir Geoffrey and subsequent governments have done no more – and no less – than other supposedly democratic governments elsewhere in the West. Elected politicians in office, backed by an obedient parliamentary majority, become dictators.
Autocratic leaders – outside the West – do as they think best; Presidents Xi and Kim Jong Un immediately come to mind but there are many more. Democratic leaders cannot be so blatant, so they adopt subversion; in other words they cheat.
To achieve office they have to present the electorate with an attractive list of promises for the nation’s welfare. When, elected, they may or may not fulfil their electoral pledges, but thereafter they pursue their own, or their coalition colleagues’, espoused causes – read ‘hidden agenda’.
The article lists in detail many such abuses but the most obvious is, in the name of freedom of speech, the introduction of legislation whereby freedom of speech is circumscribed by the code of political correctness, and truth must be denied.
New Zealand democracy is lacking in one necessary and fundamental feature – there is a complete absence of checks and balances, with all power wielded by the Cabinet. As has happened several times, when a cabal have control of the Cabinet, a subservient party allow them control of Parliament and thus of the country. Most countries, and indeed most states as well in federal nations, have a second chamber, separately elected, of people hopefully having integrity and independence. Then legislation can be freely debated without party whips, providing the vital check on absolute power. A second requirement for a functioning democracy is freedom of local government from control of central government. The article refers to Geoffrey Palmer as if he is, in some way, a champion for democracy. But he was Deputy Prime Minister in the destructive Lange-Douglas government. They removed the right to call for a poll to challenge forced amalgamation of local bodies. And, more to the point, he disagrees with any need for a second chamber (in response to my comment at a public meeting). He likes an all-powerful Cabinet, a crippled democracy.
The erosion of democracy is happening worldwide. It doesn’t matter which party you choose as they are just playing gsmes to make it appear as if there’s democracy.
But they are puppets controlled by the elite that has the ultimate goal of controlling the world. This is why you see the erosion of democracy. They are just doing it slowly to make sure people don’t wake up. The media has become the propaganda channel with the ultimate goal of keeping people unaware of what’s happening. You need to watch the movie “fall of the cabal'”. Look for one world order and agenda 2030. It is all connected to the covid plandemic and explains why the media is one sided.