MP’S dog whistle is history, reinvented
Tug on the thread of history and the past soon unravels. The thought occurred to me while reading a historian commenting on what the Black Lives Matter movement might mean.
Remember America’s much-revered Declaration of Independence, the author urged. And in particular, remember those who signed it: All men. All white. And some owned slaves.
Does that make a nonsense of America’s founding document? Or does it just mean that the declaration is a document for some of America, both now and then? Another time, another set of values and belief systems.
One should not commit the historical sin of ‘‘presentism’’ and decide such a thing as the declaration has little value and less meaning because of the limitations of those who signed it.
But the past doesn’t go away, nor does it repeat. What it does do is be reinvented.
So we are treated in 2020 to the unedifying spectacle of a rural National Party Mpblowing his dog whistle as hard as he could about the ‘‘threat’’ of people who don’t look like us, or him anyway, flooding into his green and pleasant part of the country, to maybe spread a deadly disease.
India, Pakistan and Korea were the places he said he had in mind as the sources. Spot the similarity.
Oddly, no mention of Americans, where the coronavirus outbreak is setting world records.
It’s all Labour’s fault, of course, because it can’t manage our borders properly. Just look at David Clark – or the late David Clark, rather.
For now, the party’s gone and replaced Dr Clark (theology) with Education Minister Chris Hipkins. Dr Megan Woods (New Zealand history), minister of various things, is also part of the lineup.
Does the health portfolio need a doctor in charge to do the business properly?
National evidently believes so, because Todd Muller has just promoted Dr (the real deal) Shane Reti to understudy party health spokesman Michael Woodhouse, who is busy roaming the mean streets of Auckland, talking to the homeless about where they’ve been sleeping lately.
Anyway, going back to Dr Reti. That’s the diversity box ticked as well. You can hear the applause from Te Puna.
Poor old Muller. Only been in the job for five minutes and already another firestorm to put out.
National Party leaders must sometimes look with envy across the ditch, where there’s a separate small party in coalition with the governing conservatives so that the main party is fenced off from the far-right loons, most of whom live in the boondocks where racism is ingested with the tea and scones.
What this country needs then – or National does, anyway – is a Country Party, which would be its voting fodder chum in Parliament, but which could be told to keep their gumboots off the shag pile if its people misbehaved.
In the absence of such a friend, National is always going to be at risk of some Mpgalloping down from the hills to blather something outlandish. Like saying to Simon Bridges, ‘‘You can’t have foreign affairs,’’ then a few days later giving the job to him.
But that was the leader, so that’s all right then. The question is, what did Gerry Brownlee do? Maybe we’ll have to wait for the book to find out.
It could be isolation fever, or just the spectre of an election looming, but our politicians are behaving strangely, even for them. It is a job forwhich a person does need to possess singular attributes.
Why, for instance, did the Pmlumber Hipkins with health? Are they that short of talent? There would be some who would undoubtedly agree with that. Or is it a cunning plan beyond the ken of we ordinary mortals?
Here we are, in the midst of a raging pandemic – well, most of the rest of the world is – and first, the health minister jumps, then the education minister gets health added to his workload.
Not much happening on the education front, then? Apart from the absence of all those gold-plated international students, whose lack of presence is visiting havoc on the finances of our universities.
That was a double whammy from the PM– pussyfooting around with the holiday-loving Clark, then giving his job to Hipkins, who is already a pretty busy guy, or doing a passable imitation of someone who is. All this with an election coming down the tracks, so close now you can see the headlight on the train.
There are several things that could yet save Labour, though. One is National’s new leader.
Another is the warm afterglow of how the Jacinda and Ashley show handled the pandemic, before Clark was told to get on his bike. Sorry, resigned.
Our man in Palmerston North, Iain Lees-galloway, must be ever so glad he was given immigration all those years ago. Bet he can’t wait for a second stint in the job.