Overview:
OPINION
Jim Cable
Adrian Rurawhe’s summer reading list perfect for political nerds
Does your break involve reading or watching or anything?
‘‘Yes, I’ve got three books waiting. The first is Kawai by Monty Soutar, he’s a historian, Maori professor. He wrote Nga Tama Toa, about Maori in the Second World War, and Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E! about the First World War. ‘‘This is his first novel, Kawai, I haven’t read it yet but it was released a month or two ago. I’m really looking forward to reading that, because I’m pretty sure it will be historically correct.
‘‘I’ve also bought Yes, Minister by Christopher Finlayson. I’ve heard that’s a good read, but it might be good for a bit of a laugh. He’s a character and very witty. I imagine he’s chosen the name Yes, Minister for a reason.
‘‘Then there’s a completely nerdy one, I don’t even want to admit it. It’s one about democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand by Geoffrey Palmer and his granddaughter, Gwen.
‘‘The main reason I want to read this is to see if it’s something I can recommend to people, to learn about democracy in New Zealand.”
Page 8, DomPost – 4 January 2023
Compared with his predecessor, Adrian Rurawhe, Speaker of NZ Parliament, seems a fair and even personality – so I found it curious that when it came to matters of democracy he’d choose to swot up on Geoffrey Palmer’s perspectives.
Palmer? Who as a university professor autocratically derided students in his lectures? Palmer? Who sought National’s candidacy in Nelson for the ’75 election but pulled back on discovering he couldn’t be appointed candidate without contesting selection?
Palmer? Who wanted MMP for NZ’s electoral system and stacked his Royal Commission with judges who’d secure his wants?
Palmer? Who underhandedly devised the phoney concept “Treaty principles” and answered Richard Prebble’s question in Cabinet as to what the term meant with, “Don’t worry, it’s meaningless.”
Palmer? Who implemented the “meaningless” term “Treaty principles” to initiate the totally unjustifiable and – after 47 years, still not concluded – the 3rd round of Treaty “settlements.”
Many have constantly proclaimed and sought to posture the tenets of “democracy” – but as upheld by fact-denying, advantage-attaining manipulation, Palmer’s practical record on democracy is something else. Along with Kentucky Fried kakapo, it simply isn’t bankable.