NZ Politics: Heatley’s Demise – No Substitute For Political Experience
March 10th, 2010
When National campaigned in 2008 there was the usual emphasis on law and order issues. Almost all political parties compete to present themselves as tougher than each other on crime. Usually this just feeds into more prisons, longer prison sentences, along with promises – rarely fulfilled – of more police on the beat. This sort of thing goes back at least to 1972 and Norman Kirk’s promises to take the bikes off the bikies, (which didn’t happen either).
National in Govt is attacking on a broader front. Yes, of course there are going to be more prisons. There’s a much more pronounced anti-drug campaign under way, with – unusually – the PM the most vocal spokesman for it. The Law Commission’s recent report on drugs, which suggested some decriminalisation, could not have been less attuned to the Govt’s priorities. Justice Minister Simon Power didn’t quite hold the thing at the tips of his fingers and ceremoniously set fire to it, but he might as well have done.
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Meanwhile the driving age is probably being raised; the amount of alcohol drivers can drink is probably being reduced. At the same time a different crackdown is under way on students. Those who are enrolling at tertiary institutions and slacking around are going to be given short shrift. It’s all a war on wastage, of different kinds. The idea is the level of Kiwi Slackerdom we have grown used to over the past generation isn’t any more sustainable than our current debt levels. So, if you’re a young person intent on a good time, you’d better confine yourself to online games on your mobile phone – if the network hasn’t crashed again.
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Duncan Cotterill