Bill Dalton

It is a matter of record that I have real concerns about the formation of an “Auckland Super-City”. The current situation is clearly untenable and therefore change is required. But to move from an extremely fragmented system to one where all the power is concentrated into so few hands, seems to me to be almost undemocratic. It is going from one extreme to another and generally that is anything but positive.

Regular listeners will have often heard me say, that if I led a political party, it would be the SMG – the sensible middle ground party. The party where common sense prevails. It is my view that there is not too much common sense or sensible middle ground in Rodney Hide’s proposals for Auckland’s governance.

And neither is there any sense in the attitude of the Maori Party. I watched Hone Harawira on Q&A on Sunday morning – the most inappropriately scheduled programme on New Zealand TV - and frankly I was disgusted. This fellow clearly has no interest in a united New Zealand where we are one people – albeit from different racial backgrounds.

Whilst I have very real reservations about the “Auckland Super City” - if it is to happen - I can see no justification for seats being allocated on a racial basis. Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world – many of those Polynesians are Maori. Surely the answer is for Maori to stand worthy candidates and to rally support behind those candidates to ensure they are elected.

That, Mr Harawira, is democracy.

I have long been a supporter of the sensible settlement of Maori grievances. Where land was illegally confiscated, Maori should be compensated. Where there has been injustice – justice must prevail

But surely we have moved beyond the situation where we have to reserve seats on a city council representing one of the most multi-racial cities in the world, for members of any one race.

When we think of the senseless murder of Len Snee and the serious wounding of his two colleagues, it is hard to see positives.  And yet, as with everything in life, there are positives that become obvious.

The first thing that became obvious was that Napier is a wonderful caring community.  Individuals opened their homes to friends – hoteliers and moteliers offered beds to those shut out of their homes and agencies such as civil defence and the Salvation Army sprung immediately into action.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Bruce and Gill Wilton who put Shirley and I up for the night.

The other real positive to come out of this tragedy is the huge demonstration of support for our police personnel.

By the very nature of their job, policemen and women spend a lot of their time dealing with the less desirable members of our community.  Many of these low-lifes have no respect for the police and it becomes very easy for police personnel to see the world as being full of scumbags who hate the police.

Events of the last two weeks have allowed us to demonstrate to the members of our police force, that we admire and appreciate the job that they do and that the great majority of citizens have tremendous respect for them.

I don’t know if you saw the letter to the editor in the Hawke’s Bay Today on Monday night from Glen Miller – brother of injured policeman Bruce.  It was a fantastic letter and if you didn’t read it – get a copy of Monday night’s paper and do so.  The paper should print it again.  It makes you feel good to be a member of the human race.

So no matter what happens in our lives there are always some positives to be found.

We can only hope that we do not have to face such tragic circumstances again, but if we do – we will do so in the knowledge that our police force can handle any situation and that our community will pitch in and do what is required.

I for one take great comfort from that.

On this, the morning of Len Snee’s funeral, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the Snee family – especially to Joe who is a great friend of my son Mac. Mac and a number of Joe’s friends are flying in to be with Joe and the family at this time and I think that is just neat – that is what friendship and respect is all about.

And of course our thoughts are with those who were so badly injured and their families. We can only hope that their prospects brighten.

The police did an amazing job of resolving the situation on the hill with no further loss of life and no further serious injuries. And of course they weren’t without their critics. 

I was in Christchurch on Monday morning and the letters to the editor of The Press, included one from Waimarie and another from RD6 Christchurch. These fellows were expertly able to decide from rural Canterbury just where the police went wrong – how they could have handled the situation so much better and how the situation could have been resolved so much sooner.

In Napier we had some of the top policemen in New Zealand. We had the Special Tactics Group – the SAS of the police. We had the Armed Offenders Squad – a highly trained group of professionals. We had a specialist team from the army. We had psychologists and specialist negotiators. And yet scores of people from one end of the country to the other thought they knew a better way of handling the situation. They had no knowledge of the difficulty of access to the site – no knowledge of the background of the offender – no knowledge of what the police were being told by the offender and his associates and yet – they knew it all.

I wonder how keen these self styled experts would have been, for the police to throw caution to the wind and storm the building as they were suggesting, if their eldest son was an Armed Offenders Squad Officer in the front line.

Have you ever attended a funeral and listened to the minister or celebrant – who probably didn’t know the deceased at all – waxing lyrical about what a wonderful person dear old John was.  They never quite tell the truth do they!

And it’s like that with Michael Cullen.  Now at the end of his parliamentary career we are told that he had an amazing wit, he was sartorially elegant and that in the house he was wonderfully eloquent.

All these things are good to be remembered by but what about the finances of the county.  Rightly or wrongly we remember Nordy’s Black Budget, Muldoon’s think big, Douglas’ reforms of the economy without which New Zealand would be out the back door economically.  

And what will we remember Michael Cullen for?  Being a witty smart-arse who wore flash suits.
 
Cullen held the financial reigns in this country for 9 years – 8 of which were some of the most buoyant economic years we have known.  At a time when we should have been broadening the productive sector, the tax base, Cullen paid off debt and used the funds to build up an enormous army of civil servants.  I use the term army because the IRD alone musters more troops than the whole New Zealand army!

Clark and Cullen are gone and Phil Goff, one of the brightest politicians in the house, though no charismatic leader is in the hot seat. 

And he has had a cabinet reshuffle and brought Labour’s bovver boy Trevor Mallard back to the front bench.  I would have thought May was a good month for Mallard to keep his head down.

Some of the Labour members who have gained promotion I’ve never heard of.  Clearly due to lack of depth in the Labour party they are having to promote list MPs who are there because they brought the best scones for supper at the local branch meetings.

National faces incredibly difficult times – some of the most difficult times ever experienced for a government.  All I ask of them is that they be open and honest.  Take the people with you.

The last thing New Zealand needs now is to find out that another Government is not telling us the truth.