NRT: Confirmed: Bennett made it up

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, July 13th, 2012 - 10 comments
Categories: making shit up, welfare - Tags:

Last month, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett caused outrage when she suggested somehow banning child abusers from having children. The suspicion at the time was that this was a desperate and cynical attempt to distract the public from the government’s hypocritical and deeply unpopular plans to increase class sizes while sending their own kids to private schools. And now, thanks to FYI, the public OIA site, that interpretation looks to be the case.

Policy doesn’t appear form nowhere (at least, good policy doesn’t). There is a paper trail: aide memoires, briefing notes, position papers, leading up to Cabinet papers and a formal government decision. So what’s the paper trail on Bennett’s “policy”? There isn’t one. Ministry of Justice, who you would expect to be consulted due to the significant human rights issues involved, knows nothing about it. They “ha[ve] not been involved in developing policy on this issue and [do] not hold information relevant to your request”. As for MSD and its Reference Group on Vulnerable Children, they don’t know anything either:

I am able to advise that the Reference Group has not considered any policy that relates to preventing abusive parents having children. To date, the Ministry has not produced any in-depth advice on the relative merits or implications of specific options for adults who have seriously abused or killed young people who then go on to have more children. Your request is therefore refused under section 18(e) of the Official Information Act as no such information exists.

When the Ministries who should be developing a policy know nothing about it, its fair to conclude that the Minister made it up on the spot, and that at the time the government was not seriously considering it. They might be now that the Minister has spoken on talkback; if so, that’s a terrifying insight into how policy is developed under National.

10 comments on “NRT: Confirmed: Bennett made it up ”

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  1. ghostwhowalksnz 1
    13 July 2012 at 11:18 am

    Its just another example of ‘red meat’ tossed out for the dogs of talkback/ 7pm current affairs to snarl and growl over.

  2. Jim Nald 2
    13 July 2012 at 4:37 pm

    It is getting a bit wearying waiting for John Key’s promise of “higher standards” to materialise.

    But how about this for a John Key-like counterview:
    at this rate, the record of this Administration has been fast deteriorating and we can expect higher standards of disgrace.

    • aerobubble 2.1
      14 July 2012 at 9:50 am

      Just words. Key would not promise something he was going to deliver since everyone would believe him a smug bastard when he delivers and said he had promised to (and of course so would be held to all the other promises, it would be a PR nightmare to be caught actually delivering on a promise).

  3. Dr Terry 3
    13 July 2012 at 5:12 pm

    Bennett acting unilaterally is bad enough, but it is very much worse when she is acting under orders from the “Minister of Everything” (with possible exceptions for English and Joyce).

  4. fender 4
    13 July 2012 at 7:06 pm

    No great surprise that those who possess substantial hooves make up policy on the trot.

    Would like to know how it was able to climb the ladder (the one it removed after ascent) with those wrecking ball hooves.

    We might not be getting around Jetson style despite it being 2012, but surely we can keep idiots out of such an important role by now ffs.

  5. Socialist Paddy 5
    13 July 2012 at 9:00 pm

    I am not sure what is more disturbing, that Bennett actually pulled this shyte or that there is so much acceptance that it happened that only four people commented and no troll made an appearance.

    • mike e 5.1
      14 July 2012 at 10:41 am

      Where are all the jobs Bennett she should be sacked instantly.
      A nasty propaganda dominatrix.
      Unemployment rising sharply National BS targets
      20,000 less on benefits that should read more.

    • weka 5.2
      14 July 2012 at 12:10 pm

      For me, I didn’t comment because I’d had enough of the debate in threads here a few weeks ago. But I agree, this is an important post. The main thing I thought was how to get this into the MSM, who were quite happy to parrot Bennett’s bullshit at the time.

    • felix 5.3
      14 July 2012 at 12:46 pm

      Agreed SP, we just expect this govt to lie to our faces as a default.

  6. Populuxe1 6
    14 July 2012 at 11:04 pm

    Someone will drop a house on her too