NRT: Dictatorship in Canterbury, dictatorship in Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, October 14th, 2015 - 9 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, accountability, democracy under attack, farming, sustainability, water - Tags: , , ,

I/S at No Right Turn writes:

Dictatorship in Canterbury, dictatorship in Parliament

National’s Environment Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Bill, which extends the Canterbury dictatorship through a mixed elected / appointed council, is currently being debated in the House. But as if continuing to deny Cantabrians a full democracy isn’t bad enough, National is also trying to manipulate the Parliamentary process to prevent them from having a say on the bill which does it:

The Government has radically reduced the amount of time for public submissions on their controversial ECan bill, says Labour’s Environment spokesperson Megan Woods.

“This is just absurd stuff from the government. They’re using a sneaky tactic to rob Cantabrians of their right to have their say on a bill that’s about robbing them of their right to have their say on how their region is governed.

“Their shortened timeline could mean that instead of the usual six weeks, Cantabrians get just one week to submit their views on the bill.

“The government knows that what they are doing with ECan is deeply unpopular in Canterbury. They are trying to shorten debate so that people in Canterbury don’t hear about what they are doing.

This is simply wrong. The bill isn’t being rammed through under all-stages urgency, and there is absolutely no justification for a quicker timetable. Instead, it simply seems like a transparent attempt to stifle criticism and curtial democratic rights. Worse, with a one-week turnaround, it is likely that the submissions process will mirror that of the Key / Kitteridge Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill, a total farce where committee members did not have time to even read the submissions. Submitting under such a process simply lends it (and the pre-determined outcome) legitimacy; rather than doing that, Cantabrians would be better off protecting outside the select committee hearings to make it clear they reject this insult to democracy.

9 comments on “NRT: Dictatorship in Canterbury, dictatorship in Parliament ”

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  1. dukeofurl 1
    14 October 2015 at 9:30 am

    THis must mean that the Commissioners appointed all those years ago havent been able to do their job.

    They must be sacked immediately and replaced with…. all elected members.

  2. Mark 2
    14 October 2015 at 9:43 am

    The bill to extend the life of those arseholes running Ecan could have been defeated in Parliament last night but the Maori Party true to form showed their tory colours and supported the water thieves and got the bill over the line. I think Hone may got his description of how the National Party sees them just right.

  3. tc 3
    14 October 2015 at 10:07 am

    MP and ACT are divisions of national there to assist with the swindle and why nats wouldn’t have a bar of changing MMP.

  4. vto 4
    14 October 2015 at 10:54 am

    The farmers have quite simply stolen the water resource of Canterbury.

  5. Draco T Bastard 5
    14 October 2015 at 1:06 pm

    Can’t say that I’m surprised to hear that National still thinks that Cantabrians shouldn’t be allowed to govern themselves despite them promising to return such power to the people over the years. Also not surprised to learn that they’re gaming the system so as to ensure their preferred outcome.

    But these actions are the actions of a corrupt and venal government.

  7. Brendon Harre -Left wing Liberal 7
    14 October 2015 at 8:33 pm

    The government has too much to hide and too much to lose from an independent body that can ask difficult questions. If National lose Canterbury then they lose the next election. So they do not want people to think too deeply about stories like this.

    https://medium.com/making-christchurch/1-billion-fletcher-crown-housing-development-christchurch-cbd-78f2590fb0e6 (sorry about the length, but the full story needed to be told)

    Certainly they don’t want the 99% who are not directly benefiting from the degeneration of waterways to be asking awkward questions.

    Really this is a bad sign for the government. It shows how defensive they are. That they cannot openly talk to 1/2 a million Cantabrians and let them participate in their plans for the province.

  8. Smilin 8
    15 October 2015 at 11:16 pm

    Any day now anyway now we shall be released
    The cowboy culture is doing well in the Nationalcorp it would appear
    What inside knowledge does the govt have on the future of Canterbury that is the need to continue to suspend the people’s right to democracy
    Are Key and Brownlee building a monument to themselves or are they being directed by the US state that has existed in Canterbury since the 60s
    Is it their desire to cover the area in cows and drain the water of the rivers and artesian supply to such an extent that the eco balance will never recover
    Dont they know that water balance is vital to the survival of the whole region because of its geographical extremes plus the growing effects of global warming
    This govt is an eco terrorist