Nicky Hager and Judith Collins and their ‘mates’ have ensured this could not happen: ‘dirty politics’ has derailed sane debate. The election campaign is as immature as it could possibly be, raising the question whether the country is getting value for money out of the rabble on the hill in Wellington.
If we halved the number of politicians would the nation be any worse off?
Predictably the debate on issues agriculture has gone feral, most parties, except National, opposing the legal and democratic attempt by Shanghai Pengxin to buy Lochinver Station. Not to mention the Stephenson family’s right to sell their asset to the highest bidder.
Worse, the Greens’ are trying to use the possible sale as a scare tactic about over the expansion of the dairy industry. Co-leader Russel Norman, before he set off on a stage-managed canoe trip down the Mohaka River (about 30km from Lochinver) couldn’t resist pointing to a couple of beef animals and saying ‘cows in the river’. Naturally the townie journalists were unquestioning of the Aussie. That area never was nor could be dairy country.
Ian Proudfoot, KPMG, rightly criticises the way this election campaign has unfolded. Serious debate on the environment has descended into trite sound bites. The issues of science strategy and funding have not surfaced and the debate on foreign investment again is derailed and essentially a race issue.
This is without doubt one of two this country has seen in 50 years. The odds on a sane outcome on September 20 are worse than winning Lotto.
