Political deception can engage the highest ideals of worth such as Operation Mincemeat during WW11 where the allies needed to deceive Nazi Germany that they intended to land an invasion force in Greece. Deception and diversion were essential for success back in the days of conflict.
That should never be so in our domestic political world yet the motives and timing of inquiry into matters of public (dis) interest appear to have all the elements of a political illusion. The review of the “3 waters” legislation was yet another process which allowed for very little public scrutiny at the select committee hearings as local government dominated the process. Public opinion was deftly deflected away from showing huge opposition to this particular issue.
The review
of Electoral Law was a form of political deception. This particular review
panel spent two years on what appears to be an “inhouse” review. The terms of reference were such that most political
parties would not agree to the terms of reference which begs the question of
why this review was commissioned in the first place.
The terms
of reference of the electoral reform inquiry were of course determined by the current
government. This interim report back has
been presented just a few short months away from the Government’s own electoral
D Day. National, Act and NZ first and
even Labour reacted in some degree of unison against the recommendations with
the obvious exception of the Greens who see significant electoral advantage in
youthful idealism. The Greens were very likely to have persuaded the Labour
Government to hold such a review as part of a political trade-off. The review was therefore a form of political
deception right from the start - designed to advantage the Greens and deflect
the voting public thoughts away from the real issues which most certainly are
not electoral. Just how lowering the
voting age to sixteen (which is an arbitrary figure not backed by data) will
magically lift the wellbeing of us all through being more inclusive of younger experiences
of life is unclear. It is reasonable to even
suggest that 15 is a more inclusive age to receive the right to vote. Perhaps
even 14 would ensure even greater inclusivity from a very early stage. Perhaps
the same logic should apply to lowering the drinking age from 18 to 16. Those who suggest such reforms really do need to
be taken into intensive care for an extended period - if there were any beds
available. As a mere 36% of eligible
voters cast their preference at the last Local Government election it is
difficult to see how 16-year-olds will assist in solving the problem of voter
disinterest when so many 18-year-olds don’t bother to vote.
In lowering
the party vote threshold to 3.5%, the Electoral Review sees advantage in more
representation in Parliament of those fringe parties and policy. The reality is that 96.5% of the voters
disapprove of these parties. Recent
history shows that we risk fringe parties or even just one doing backroom deals
to hold the major party to ransom. The country’s wellbeing is dependent on good
judgment not good will. Diversity in representation does not apply on the
sports field so why in parliament or a council is it such an issue.
Representation
in Parliament is widespread as all existing political parties will have MPs who
hold a wide range of values. The very
real threat of these electorally insignificant parties is their banding
together to block vote and is highly likely as politics can make for some
rather strange bedfellows as the lure of power will always entice a few rats to
swim towards a sinking ship as Winston Churchill once observed. Our Parliament
is secular (non-religious) yet there exist those religious groupings who would
dispense with such an important requirement to impose their own value system.
As for the
recommendation of a 4-year term of Government, history has shown that a government
can in reality get a 6 or 9-year term with policies which resonate with the
voters. In recent times National’s John Key lead for 6 years with Labour’s
Helen Clarke before him with 9 consecutive years. There really isn’t a problem.
The party with the most votes should always get to form the next Government
even if they have to rely on some unfortunate, unstable amalgam of the
unintended. The terms of reference did
not allow consideration of this sensible option. Why was such an important issue not part of
the terms of reference or was it yet again political deception?
Many
parents would say that it’s better to let our younger citizens gain some
knowledge, wisdom and judgement before engaging in the weighty issues of the
day. The problems we hear of, headlined daily, are clearly health, education,
crime waves and the many causes of increased welfare and state dependency. Successive Governments have studiously
avoided the need to even start to transform our wider social and financial
economy. The answer is to be found at
Otago University.
The
stunningly successful Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study
(“Dunedin Study”) out of Otago University has identified how to alleviate
socio/economic problems before they start, yet no political party has ever
suggested that this study should form the basis of our welfare policy - as it
definitely should. For 50 years, data
has been collated to find the cause and solutions for social decline. One
aspect of this Dunedin Study - into anti-social behaviour - is now the most
cited and influential study in the history of criminology. Why then do we do not review the suitability
of implementing this internationally applauded study rather than an academic
review of electoral law that nobody other than a few 16 years olds are
interested in. The public are being deliberately deceived by the continuous
political calls for simply throwing more and more money at increasingly complex
social problems.
To quote
the extraordinary Thomas Sowell “Since this is an era when many people are
concerned about fairness and social justice, what is your fair share of what
somebody else has worked for?”
Political
deceptions increase in direct proportion to the loss of our democracy as politicians
are generally the most reluctant defenders of our democracy and freedoms.
Gerry Eckhoff is a former councillor on the Otago Regional Council and MP.
4 comments:
Or maybe it is a little more than just deception. As the little dictator who once caused chaos in Europe in the 1920's to 1940's once said
"the receptive capability of the masses is limited, their understanding small. On the other hand they have a great power of forgetting." Or simply , "when you lie tell big lies....in the primitive simplicity of their minds they fall victims to the big lie more readily than to the small lie."
from "Blitzkrieg", Len Deighton
When contemplating the insanity of much political action the thought springs to mind…do those in authority exercise power, or is power an entity that exercises them? And that raises very profound thoughts on whether power itself falls on the ‘good’ or ‘evil’ side of the ledger. Hint; consider the last 3 years.
RJM
The notion that the three year parliamentary term is long enough because it generally results in six or nine years in office is flawed. During a three year term the first six months are not very productive as the incoming government finds its feet and the last six months are lost to electioneering. This suggests only 60% effectiveness. Whereas, for a four year term, potential effectiveness jumps to 75%. In both cases those numbers are on the high side as they do not reflect the extensive Parliamentary holidays each year.
Having 50 years of teaching teenagers behind me I can assure you 16 year olds are not ready to exercise a vote sensibly. They are driven by peer group pressure and a party that captured their mass interest would gain their vote regardless of its suitability to be supported. It has been suggested that the young tend to the Left and cannot see the whole picture without long observation over some years, indeed, many never see the whole picture. It is no coincidence that the party pressing for lowering the voting age is a party of the Left.
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