A speaker accused of insulting New Zealand First's Winston Peters and shane jones during the annual political pilgrimage to Rātana is being investigated by the government department he works for.
Statistics New Zealand has confirmed it is looking into “a potential conflict [of interest] of a Stats NZ employee who spoke at Rātana Pā”.
In his address last Wednesday, Rua condemned deputy Peters and Cabinet minister Jones as taurekareka (slaves) for the Crown and said Jones had turned his back on Māori.
This is clearly unacceptable. You could make a case for a public servants, in a private capacity, to be allowed to raise concerns about government policy at a meeting or hui. But to think you can call Ministers slaves is clearly unacceptable.
This needs to be taken extremely seriously. In the United States we have seen a distressing fall in confidence in important institutions such as the legal system, the electoral system., the public service etc. If authorities want to avoid the same happening in New Zealand, they have to be rigorous in ensuring public servants do not act in a manner which undermines neutrality.
The same goes for all those public servants leaking cabinet papers. i've never seen so many leaks, presumably by public servants, trying to take down a Minister. Again, the authorities need to be finding those responsible, and taking action.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
7 comments:
David, I hate to say this, and I'm generalizing, plus this is only my opinion. The reason this occurs is generally the quality of ppl working in govt. Let's face it if they were actually any good they would be in private sector.
Sooooo, a lower quality of person, with other like minded individuals and management that has expanded their numbers by 30% over the previous 6 years with more like minded radicals at the good ppls expense, it really is little wonder this is occurring. This govt will understand and probably realise what they are up against.
Why the double negative in the first half of the title?
DO check grammar and syntax before submitting.........
The reason it occurs is that so many govt employees are (hopefully were, after Seymour)) selected and promoted for their pro maoriness. baltant bias and irrational outspokeness comes with thatas te ao/tikanga.
Barend at 10:56 am
Why the double negative in the first half of the title?
DO check grammar and syntax before submitting.........
I saw this before on Kiwiblog. I just could not understand the meaning. A double negative is misleading / confusing. I'm glad you pointed it out. I thought perhaps an exclamation mark after the No then a new sentence. But I'm only guessing.
Hi TJS. He was probably tossing up between "No public servant should abuse....." and "Public servants shouldn't abuse....." and then submitted the piece before he had made up his mind.
BV
Barend - is this more important than the message David is trying to convey>
Hi Anonymous. I have long been an editor for academic books and journals and admittedly tend to be nitpicky about such things as grammar and syntax. Sloppiness in such matters makes me question the writer's credibility. After all, if you can't be bothered making sure your writing obeys the basic rules of English composition, you might not have been bothered to get your data and the ensuing argument right either.
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