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Monday, October 21, 2024

Mike's Minute: A win for common sense


A very good victory on Friday for common sense.

The Solicitor-General fell on her sword over the instructions to the prosecution service promoting race.

It was Monday, this time last week we raised it because it seemed scandalous.

How did this happen? How does a Government so explicitly state the race card is no longer being played in policy settings, and yet the Solicitor-General is saying what she is to the police, having been advised by a radical-sounding Maori group, drummed up out of Andrew Little's famously well-catered justice gab-fest a couple of years back.

By Tuesday the media are still asleep at the wheel and no one has touched it. We raise it with the Prime Minister, who forgot his backbone, played the independence card and couldn’t really do what he needed to do, which was close it down.

By Wednesday David Seymour wonders aloud on the tiles at Parliament why, when surrounded by the press gallery, he hasn’t been asked about it, given the question line was around the Tui billboards.

By late Wednesday, into Thursday, the media, bless them, has finally been stirred, or embarrassed, into some sort of action.

The NZ Herald tries an op-ed sort of piece, quite rightly asking a few questions around how the Solicitor-General got herself in this mess, given her experience. Radio NZ bumbles out of its slumber and gives it some coverage. Even TV3 finally slaps together a little something for their 6 o'clock effort.

On Friday Judith Collins, as Attorney-General, turns up on ZB and says what the Prime Minister should have said - it's not on.

By Friday afternoon, a very good time for a press release, the Solicitor-General says it came out all wrong, it shouldn’t have happened and sorry about it.



So - a win!

But here is the issue for the Government.

1) You can't promise policy and approach if you can't deliver.

2) They clearly have a major issue with the public service and pushback, so they need to do something about it.

Rightly or wrongly, the Government are the Government, and they make the rules.

They won the election, rightly or wrongly, in no small part because of their race direction policies. There is an expectation from voters they get delivered.

But although this has been a win, it should not have had to have been the fight it was.

Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

If she hasn't resigned, she has not fallen upon her sword.

Anonymous said...

The Attorney General in Una Jagose and was appointed by National Government Minister Christopher Finlayson in 2016. The Attorney General is a powerful role which includes being chief executive of the Crown Law Office. That Office comprises swathes of lawyers employed to represent the New Zealand State, including criminal prosecutors.

Until 2016, Jagose acted as Director of New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau, New Zealand’s most power spy agency.

The race components of the Guidelines come with all the dishonest Gaslighting that characterizes much Wokery. Jagose instructs prosecutors to criminally charge Māori less than non- Māori – to address alleged past injustices and honor Te Tiriti - but in the same breath asserts that “This does not promote different treatment based on ethnicity.”

Jagose has paid special tribute to a charity called Ināia Tonu Nei for that outfit’s help in guiding the Guidelines. Their website indicates one of their aims is to "decolonise the (in)justice system."

An apology isn't enough. She needs to be removed from any high-ranking taxpayer-funded position.

Richard Brown said...

So she has said she will “revise” her instructions. That’s not falling on her sword, she needs to resign immediately.

anonymous said...

Each and every one of these incidents - which are increasing - is very damaging for Luxon.

Anonymous said...

Mike we all know how biased the media is. We need great people like yourself to highlight these still unbelievable racist policies to get the country back on track. Shame on her. Someone need to tell her the importance of credibility and once it's lost its very very difficult to get it back. Just ask the labour party , greens and maori party