Posted September 12th, 2009

Why you should listen to Mr Goff, Prime Minister!

Labour leader Phil Goff admits:  “We made mistakes” (NZ Herald 11/9/09)  with its so-called nanny-state policies as he tries to win back voters. One of the big ‘nanny-state policies’ of course was the railroading through parliament of the unpopular ‘Anti-Smacking Bill’ requested by the United Nations in 2001, pushed through by Green MP Sue Bradford and opposed by a staggering majority of New Zealanders ever since.

Mr Goff and his Labour Party lost big in last year’s election as a result of this, as New Zealanders are fed up with the level of state intrusion in their everyday life, arrogant politicians “who know better” and majority views and values being trampled over with utter contempt by our elected representatives.  If you really want to study the level of the frustration and opposition of New Zealanders to this kind of politics, just look at the detail results of the referendum on the ‘Anti-Smacking Bill’ on the Election New Zealand website. The only electorates with a NO vote below 70% were Auckland Central 69.69% and Wellington Central 61.94% (hmmm?!) – most electorates had high 80s and early 90s as a NO-Vote percentage.

It’s a little bit late for Mr Goff to reflect on Labour’s sins now, but it should be a timely reminder for John Key that even the most arrogant politician consistently ignoring the wishes of the electorate will fall eventually and might have to eat humble pie.

The thing that bugs me most in the whole “Anti-Smacking Bill” episode is, that only 2 years ago, when in opposition, our now Prime Minister John Key condemned Labour’s stance and handling of the issue and articulated precisely what many people are feeling about how he is dealing with this issue now. If you haven’t seen John Key’s criticism of  Labour about the repeal of Section 59, which he called a “cynical abuse of power”, you can still read it on his blog: “The Labour Government has shown utter contempt for New Zealanders and the democratic process with its plan to railroad the anti-smacking bill through Parliament, says National Party Leader John Key……” Read the full article here.

It seems our politicians only come to their senses when in opposition. Prime Minister, you should listen to what Phil Goff is saying – and for a change, do the right thing while you have the opportunity!