It is not often I refer to Stuff as a source of integrity but I will make an exception this morning. There is an excellent opinion piece by Damien Grant headed, PM’s abuse of power during lockdown a warning to us all. It is a must-read. I have lifted a couple of quotes to whet your appetite.
“Those in power should be treated with inherent suspicion and the more power they wield, the greater that suspicion should be”.
“Despite this lack of legal authority, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used her bully pulpit to issue a slew of orders that were outside her remit. Parliament had deliberately kept that power out of our elected representatives and placed it into the hands of competent medical officials”.
The tide of media adoration is receding. During the last month of the second wave of the pandemic, the Government’s interventions were exposed as shambolic and illegal, but worst of all they were blatantly dishonest in their reportage. But less we forget, the “Teflon princess” now has another diversion to sway the attention away from yet another exposure of her incompetence. The Brenton Tarrant trial.
I watched with scepticism as Tarrant was flown to Christchurch on a New Zealand Defence Force C-130 Hercules aircraft. Why? Well, we have the world media present and the drama would have been diminished somewhat if they only slapped him in handcuffs and transported him by the conventional approach afforded to other prisoners. Then two military all-terrain vehicles rolled past. Wow! But wait, there’s more! Armed police stood guard and surrounding roads, Tuam and Lichfield streets were blocked off. Christchurch is all but in lockdown.
The stage was set. The international media were at the ready, and guess what? Ardern was at her “bully pulpit” yesterday announcing her decision regarding the level restrictions. She could have told us last Friday of course but the international media were not all in the country at that time. She has ensured that she will again become the centre of attraction on two fronts. The hero of the pandemic and the Christchurch massacre. It is just a pity that the censoring of the trial reportage wasn’t extended to the Ardern reportage.
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