There’s a very old saying; “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” and I wonder if our Minister of Foreign Affairs has heard that saying.
The Minister in January 2021 expressed her concerns about China’s latest efforts to stifle pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The five Eyes Allies; United States of America; United Kingdom; Canada and Australia at the same time issued a statement saying:
The National Security Law “has curtailed the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong,” the statement from the four allies said, adding that it was clearly being used “to eliminate dissent and opposing political views”.
“We call on the Hong Kong and Chinese central authorities to respect the legally guaranteed rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong without fear of arrest and detention,” the statement said.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has steadily eroded the freedoms that Hong Kong is meant to enjoy until 2047, under the 1997 handover agreement between China and the U.K. But it has dramatically stepped up its efforts to control the territory since the latest round of pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs stated:
“New Zealand has serious concerns about the situation in Hong Kong.
Her statement in January said: “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply concerned by the recent arrest of a number of pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong. This represents another effort to erode the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and further undermine the one country two systems framework.”
Yet here in New Zealand, for most of this year, she has been trying with all possible means at her disposal as Minister of Local Government, to enforce her proposed Three Waters Reforms on the Local Councils throughout New Zealand.
Surely this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
On one hand she is complaining about a nation state interfering with citizens democratic rights, yet on the other hand she is using her position as Minister of Local Government and her proposal for Three Waters to do exactly the same thing: remove some of our democratic rights!
Three Waters will not only remove some of our democratic rights but it also promotes race based legislation that is the same as Apartheid, a system that is anathema to the whole of the free world (maybe with the exception of New Zealand).
When 95% of the individual councils throughout New Zealand reject your proposal and then you state that even in the face of such opposition you will legislate to ensure it is enacted, surely this can only be seen as removing the democratic rights of the people of New Zealand.
And there have recently been many other decisions from this current Labour government that have had the effect of removing democracy and replacing it with a raced based system of government ruled by a tribal elite which is representative of only 12.6% of the population (according to the latest census results from 2018).
Whilst I personally believe that China is wrong to pass the new National Security Law so as to use it “to eliminate dissent and opposing political views, I also believe that the Minister should look to try and show the lead with democracy in action.
She has talked the talk, now she should walk the talk instead of carrying on with the universally decried Three Waters Proposal and the others which have steadily eroded the freedoms that New Zealand is meant to enjoy and removed democratic rights from New Zealanders.
Looking at the results from the recent polling which show the current Labour government’s approval ratings dropping I would suggest that the Minister of Local Government has thrown a few too many stones and has managed to break some of the windows in her own glass house.
Andy Loader