Silly Laws and Law makers!

The Hauraki District Council, it has been reported, has given up on the Sale and Supply of Liquor Act. It had become too costly to defend their position. It is another example of legislation that is not fit for purpose! It was badly conceived, badly drafted and is virtually inoperable.

Legislation on the fly doesn’t work. It became apparent that under the Sale and Supply of Liquor Act’s initial draft that Mini Bars in rooms would need to be closed between 4.00 am and 8.00 am. That would have worked! When this was pointed out to the Politicians they said we had to make it work; fortunately saner heads prevailed. Of course we had the debacle of the Rugby World Cup, special amendments had to be made to the Act so that we weren’t criminalising ordinary people who wanted to go and join with others in a Bar to watch the games live. To listen to the doomsayers who opposed the amendments, the social and moral fabric of our society was at risk; “Yeah right”! The question is why this had to happen at all, good legislation doesn’t need to be amended so soon after its enactment!

We now have the Australians sending home their unwanted New Zealanders (and keeping and claiming the one’s they like) and we have to have special legislation to cope with these people. I know there are some real dangerous idiots amongst them but if they have done their time do we punish them again because our “Mates” have sent them from their home to here. I am not up with the law here but isn’t that a bit wrong.

Even if they have further constraints to their sentence (probation etc.), isn’t there already an understanding between the courts and the police of the two countries on protocols where this has happened in the past. Tell me it isn’t so that there is no communication and agreement between these organisations already.

My old boss used to point me at Sir George Laking’s (ex Ombudsman) rules on good legislation. Legislation had to pass 4 rules to be considered good; 1 It needed to be understandable, 2 it need to accessible, 3 it needed to be fair and 4 it needed to be enforceable.

We seem to be getting legislation driven by popularity polls, blatant self-interest or expediency and as a result we are getting confused law makers, confused enforcers and a confused public.

We are creating laws for the wrong reasons, we are trying to right social ills by law and we are making it more and more difficult for the general public to not commit “criminal” acts. We are finding ways to support self-interest (Health and Safety law; confusing and expensive and easy to avoid [Pike River]) and pandering to vocal, media supported celebrities i.e. Red Peaks.

The role of Government is to Govern. It is to protect the public good and to ensure that the best interests of the people are served. Governments own nothing they are the elected custodians of the assets of the people.

We are a long way from that currently and we need to start addressing the balance and it would be good if they started applying George Laking’s rules to the laws that they are enacting.

Guantanamo in the Indian Ocean

It would seem to me that one of the tenets of a civilised society is that the rule of law is observed. People should not be detained without due process.

I understand in the current climate that terrorism is an issue, as are illegal immigrants and Australia must take steps to protect itself.

I do suggest that if this is done without appropriate thought then unintended outcomes will occur. I suspect there is a level of hysteria attached to the perceived threats and as a consequence a sledgehammer has been used to remedy a perceived threat.

I realise that there are some real reprobates amongst those being held on Christmas Island but where is the line drawn? I am not sure they would send back Russell Crowe or Tony Abbott’s wife but they too are eligible for deportation back to New Zealand if they transgress. They are eligible for incarceration on Christmas Island too; they were both born in New Zealand!

Australia has always had an affinity with the United States and maybe it is a matter of envy that the Americans have Guantanamo Bay so they need something equivalent, I’m not sure and I am being a bit facetious.

Australia has always embraced the ANZAC spirit, the special relationship, I suspect that they have misplaced the truism that the NZ in ANZAC stands for New Zealand, brother in arms and allies.

The current situation on Christmas Island is shabby but Australia’s treatment of New Zealanders in Australia has been getting shabbier and shabbier for some time and this current scenario is just another example of a deteriorating relationship.

I suspect that Australia is starting to feel the effects of populist politicians over a number of decades and they are playing to another populist policy to identify a scapegoat for their current and self-generated issues.

I wonder if they will now extradite Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor for their threat to Australian cricketing supremacy?

Sexism and racism or any other ism for that matter.

I have never understood why as a leader you would limit your choices. If you are confident in your leadership skills then you ensure that you choose those that best suit the needs of the situation. It seems odd to me that issues related to the sex of the person should be a contributing factor.

It is so hard to get the right person in the right role. You must look at things dispassionately assess the skills, personality and fit, where the ism’s fit in this process I don’t know. Often who we don’t use says more about ourselves than it does about the candidates.

Prejudice is insidious it creeps in around the edges; it is a by-product of our upbringing. We are conditioned to hold a lens of own experiences to all activities and unless we critically evaluate what we see and how we react we are always going to repeat learned behaviours

.

Some are better equipped than others to do the introspection but unless it is done we will always react the same way to the same stimulus. Back to isms we can’t let our own prejudices limit our ability to get the right people in the right roles. Female, Male, Gay, different religions, races, cultures whatever it shouldn’t matter let’s try and get it right.

Flagging the debate

We have all 6 flags currently flying on the flag poles at our Golf club. I will admit to indifference until I saw them all flying!

What is a flag? In my view it is a country logo on fabric. Like all good logos it needs to be distinctive. It needs to be distinctive enough to be protected. A solid brand image is required that clearly identifies our uniqueness.

I have accepted our flag as a symbol of our nationality and gloried when it is flown but if I looked from outside what does it tell me? Again, in my view, it says we are a little Britain in the middle of the Southern seas! In this respect our flag says the same thing as the Australian flag and is not that different to Fiji.

Now that I have seen the flags flying I think the flag that is Red, White and Blue with the Southern Cross and the fern looks superb. I could quite happily identify with that flag and wear it proudly where ever I went.

Could I draw it accurately, no! I can’t draw the Stars and Stripes or the German flag either but I could get a close approximation. I like the Canadian flag because it states who they are and I suspect that change wasn’t without angst. I don’t think you would see any Canadian wanting to change back to the old flag.

I have been captured by the debate and I have made my choice Red, White and Blue for me.