Time to hit the streets again?

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Criticism of the government’s recent legislative record is widespread with the Human Rights Commission launching a principled attack on the GCSB legislation last week and in turn copping an arrogant and abusive outburst from Prime Minister John Key who went so far as to threaten the Commission’s government funding.

 

Then yesterday’s New Zealand Herald had anthropologist and author Anne Salmond delivering an impassioned plea for New Zealanders to stand up for our democratic freedoms. It’s a must read.

 

She starts with this:

In 2007, John Key, then Leader of the Opposition, gave a powerful speech to the New Zealand Press Club against the Electoral Finance Bill. He declared: “Here in New Zealand we often take our democratic freedoms for granted. We think they will always be there. We have a Bill of Rights which is supposed to protect our right to freedom of expression. What on earth could go wrong?”

I have a different view. I believe what Thomas Jefferson said – that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. There are times when we have to stand up for our rights, and the rights of our neighbours and friends, and indeed the rights of people we totally disagree with, or else these rights will begin to erode away.

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I agree with these sentiments, absolutely. New Zealanders must stand up for their democratic rights when they are threatened, or they’ll lose them.

Who could have imagined that in 2013, this same political leader would be presiding over an assault upon the democratic rights of New Zealanders?

Then goes on to outline specific threats to democracy from John Key’s government as outlined in a recent Law Society report to the United Nations which criticised:

  • ·         Use of regulations to override parliament
  • ·         Denying citizens the right to legal representation
  • ·         Cancelling citizens right to appeal to the courts to uphold their rights under the law.
  • ·         Use of Supplementary Order Papers to pass laws without parliamentary scrutiny
  • ·         Using urgency to further avoid parliamentary scrutiny of legislation
  • ·         Passing bills which have been formally declared to be in breach of the Human Rights Act

She also attacks the passing of laws at the request of foreign corporations – Warner Brothers, Sky City and the big oil companies. She describes these deals as “legislation for sale” which have no democratic mandate.

Included also is a savage attack on the GCSB bill which she says “trumps all other recent breaches of democratic freedoms in New Zealand” with its sweeping powers to spy on New Zealanders.

She concludes:

When governments go feral, citizens of all political persuasions and from all backgrounds must stand up and demand that their representatives in Parliament – from whatever political party – do their job, and uphold democratic freedoms in New Zealand.

and

A quiet, obedient, and docile population; a culture of passivity and apathy; a meek acceptance of what politicians say and do – these things are not consistent with democracy.

A big chuck of New Zealanders would agree wholeheartedly.

I think it’s time to hit the streets again in defence of democracy and push back hard against the Key government’s corporate agenda for New Zealand.

What do you think?

11 COMMENTS

  1. Ae marika. Kei te tautoko. Kua tae ki te wa. Kaua tatou e tukua kia mate a whare, engari kia mate a ururoa.

    Definitely. The time has come. We can’t just take it passively. Fight like a shark.

    A tena, mahi atu. Just do it.

  2. Ae marika. Kei te tautoko. Kua tae ki te wa. Kaua tatou e tukua kia mate a whare, engari kia mate a ururoa.

    Definitely. The time has come. We can’t just take it passively. Fight like a shark.

  3. I’m all for more resistance, ban the S.I.S and G.C.S.B I say. Don’t the police already have enough power with warrants?

    Mana should lead the way on policy around this John, the Ureweras, never again! And asylum for Eric Snowden in Aotearoa.

  4. It’s not clear from the quotation in the article, but the eloquent phrase about an obedient and docile population is actually from Key’s 2007 speech: http://johnkey.co.nz/archives/214-SPEECH-National-Press-Club.html

    Sleepy Kiwis’ casual surrender of democracy is the chilling confirmation of this truism. We’re turning Key’s words from a prophetic warning to a Machiavellian political strategy. And we’ll reap what we sow.

  5. Go on then. How many were there the last time? Somewhere in the vicinity of 500 odd in both Wellington and Auckland. Not sure those sort of numbers will worry the Government much.

  6. I wish we could rerun ’81 John but marches are sadly small.
    A squad in Wellington during ’81 was 500, now we think that is a great overall turn out.

    If we march we must get 2000 in Wellington alone, like the 1977 anti SIS march we held.
    we can’t do nothing.

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