Aucklands Sky tower, from which mind control signals are beamed out to the populace of New Zealand... Or not...
Spring is in full swing here; we are getting cold blustery weather, and expecting rain. This puts me on my second spring break this year, this one being two weeks long. So far my days have been spent riding, writing and reading. I have managed to get a bit done around the house, but have tried not to get too much done.
But enough about me, on to New Zealand. New Zealand is a parliamentary system, with a prime minister. Like the U.S. last year saw a shift in party control for New Zealand. Labor, the liberal party has been in control of parliament under Helen Clark for the last 12 years, but was voted out in the last election to be replaced by the National Party, New Zealand’s conservative party. While these two parties are the main parties, New Zealand has several other parties, and unlike the U.S. these parties have some influence despite there not being one of the two controlling parties.
While Helen Clark was prime minister, New Zealand became the first country in the world to have every major office held by a woman. Queen Elizabeth II as queen, Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright, Speaker of the House of Representatives Margret Wilson and Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias. But those days are gone, now the prime minister is John Key of National Party.
To say Labor is equivalent of the Democrats in the U.S. and National is equivalent to the Republicans would not be correct though. The center in New Zealand is much further to the left in New Zealand than it is in the states putting National more in line with the Democrats in the states, and Labor left of the Democrats. But again this isn’t completely accurate. Auckland is made up of Auckland central, and many suburbs. There is a plan to combine all these suburbs under a single governing body and call it the Auckland super city. This has been a project of National, a project that any self respecting Republican would scoff at… Governing from the local level is so much more efficient… Oddly enough, the argument made for the super city is “it would be more efficient.” Go figure.
When a law is passed that doesn’t meet the approval of the electorate, the people have the option to hold a referendum, sometimes to let the government know they are unhappy with the law, other times to have the law overturned. There have been two laws recently up for referendum, the anti-smacking referendum and a referendum to do away with Mixed Member Proportional representation (MMP).
Just before Labor left office, they put in place a law making it illegal to smack a child, and when they say smack, they mean any kind of physical punishment, generally spanking. Here they don’t call it spanking, spanking is something kinky people do to their lovers. Lovers are spanked, children are smacked on the bum.
The overwhelming majority of Kiwis find the no tolerance law well over the top. National has refused to overturn the law because it appears to be effective, there have been fewer incidences of child abuse, and the law is not being enforced for those parents disciplining their children. Why keep a law around that isn’t being enforced is anyone’s guess, but that is the official stance of National.
The referendum was nonbinding, so basically just letting the politicians know how the people felt, and the people voted overwhelmingly to have the law overturned. John Key has said he will not overturn the law, and that is his final word on the subject.
The other referendum at the moment is the push by Labor to overturn the MMP system. My understand is, and it could very well be wrong, with MMP control of parliament is distributed by the breakdown of the parties so no one party controls the entire agenda as opposed to a two party system like the one in the U.S. where the party that has the majority in congress has absolute control of legislation that goes through congress.
It was only recently the MMP system was established in New Zealand, and National fought it tooth and nail at the time. Now they are fighting tooth and nail to get it overturned. Regardless of the system in place, be it a parliamentary or Monarchy, politicians will be politicians… That isn’t a bad thing… Is it?
