O’connor: Labour Party ‘natural choice for me’
Former Police Association boss Greg O’connor has denied charges of being ‘‘a Right-wing fascist’’ and has come out in favour of legalising medicinal cannabis.
O’connor, Labour’s candidate for the Ohariu electorate in Wellington, made the comments on the Labour-aligned blog The Standard. They come after critics - including The Daily Blog’s Martyn Bradbury - slammed him for his stance on arming frontline cops. Bradbury said O’connor’s appointment was Labour’s ‘‘final mutation into National lite’’.
However, Bradbury said the appointment was also a ‘‘smart move by Little and his everbroadening church’’ as it would give poor, working-class and migrant communities the sense their fear of crime was being addressed.
O’connor, who was the president of the Police Association for more than 20 years, said the comments made for ‘‘interesting reading’’. ’’The theme running through much of the discussion seems to be that I’m a Right-wing fascist who makes [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong-un look like some sort of pinko liberal pacifist.’’
However, Labour was ‘‘the natural choice for me as a political party’’ and he was not a ‘‘Kiwi Putin intent on world (or even Ohariu) domination’’, he said.
‘‘As a long-term cop, and father of a special needs son, I have spent my life around people who, by accident of birth or circumstances, struggle to get by.’’
In his post on The Standard, O’connor came out in favour of pharmaceutical medicinal marijuana, labelling it a ‘‘no-brainer’’.
Doctors could already prescribe morphine-based products and could therefore be trusted with cannabis-based products, he said.
He also addressed the issue of arming frontline police, saying it was inevitable unless New Zealand ‘‘got on top of the illegal gun situation’’. If nothing changed, there was likely to be a ‘‘serious and preventable public loss of life’’ due to a shooting, he said.
O’connor recently said he did not personally agree with arming police, but pursued the remit on behalf of Police Association members.
‘‘My personal priority is to use any influence I have to make sure that we stop the flow of firearms to those who should never have them, while at the same time protecting the rights of legitimate users. That would negate the need for arming.’’ - Fairfax NZ