Time for some breathing space to fit in more life
‘‘Never give in,’’ Winston Churchill once said, ‘‘never give in, never, never, never.’’ Well, I am giving in. I have been writing Firing Line every week since late 2013. Before then, I had a monthly gig. By my reckoning, I have had just the one week off – around the time of the birth of our third son.
It is a lot of words. I never appreciated quite how much until I looked at the newspaper clippings my grandmother collected.
I regret to inform my regular detractors I have not been axed and nor was I about to be, at least as far as I am aware. I know they would have enjoyed that. However, the fact is I am simply tired and I need time to recharge the batteries.
Politics is an arena in which there are no permanent victories. Nothing is ever settled for long and even the most decisive wins only ever afford you the briefest of breathing spaces. For the most part, everybody involved in politics is on attack and defence simultaneously at all times.
Staying current requires being on top of dozens of issues – which is often exhausting.
All the while, the world marches on.
‘‘Life moves pretty fast,’’ as one contemporary philosopher once said. ‘‘If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’’
And while I have loved, and continue to love, writing this column, I have been missing rather too much of life lately.
Writing takes time. And unless you are lucky and good enough to be able to pay all the bills doing it, the demands of a regular deadline push and pull against the claims of career, health and family. It is often the last of these that suffers most.
My boys are growing up way too fast. I need a few weekends bouncing on the tramp with them instead of sitting at a desk wondering what to make of the associate transport minister refusing to release a letter sent to the transport minister.
I need some time where, when I am begged to come along to the pool on a Sunday afternoon, I can unhesitatingly say yes.
It is not that politics is not important.
The question of who has power in society and how they wield it is at the heart of citizenship.
Partisan squabbles that seem small often implicate important principles that need to be publicly explored. That is what columnists are for.
While I need to be free of continuous deadlines for the time being, I hope to continue contributing to the public square where it is useful. On the offchance any editors are reading this, I am easy enough to find. I would like to hope my perspective is enough of a known quantity by now.
That was kind of my aim in taking up Firing Line in the first place. It is no secret the ranks of mainstream media are dominated by liberals in their various Left-wing, centrist and, occasionally, Right-wing forms. Which is not to say that journalists as a whole strive for anything less than fair and objective coverage – which is something I have come to appreciate through dealing with various editors and reporters over the years. But it has always frustrated me that, where space is allowed for the non-liberal view, it usually seems the angriest, least reasonable voices dominate.
Lately, for example, broadcasters have been giving an awful lot of time to spokespeople for the so-called New Conservative Party. This fringe organisation received 6253 votes at the last election. It has no real prospect of breaking into Parliament. By contrast, the Opportunities Party won more than 10 times as many votes. How often are its people interviewed on TV?
The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party also outpolled the New Conservatives but, despite cannabis reform being a live political issue, its spokespeople rarely seem to be the designated go-to for the legalisation movement.
Between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of New Zealanders are conservative in their disposition.
They are not, as a rule, bigots, know-nothings or uncompromising libertarians. When their more measured views are not properly and credibly articulated in the business of news, liberals let themselves off the hook.
In the years of my tenure here, I have looked to write on the issues of the day from a reasonable and moderate conservative perspective. All I can say is that I have tried. Now, I am going to stop trying so much. Something has to give. This is it.
So goodbye. For a while anyway. Perhaps longer. Whether you liked or hated it, thank you for reading. And – have a great life.
Liam Hehir was a Stuff columnist from Manawatu¯ . He can be contacted at Hehircolumns@hotmail.com
I have looked to write on the issues of the day from a reasonable and moderate conservative perspective.