JD
OPINION
As the miasma thickens around the John Tamihere, Te Pāti Māori, collusion case I wondered how JT got those highly paid chief executive jobs at Waipareira and Whānau Ora, with his wife Awerangi similarly ensconced as CEO of both operations.
Then I read that he was an ex-Labour Party politician and cabinet minister, and all was revealed. The political nepotism, revolving door patronage, jobs-for-the-boys culture, which we tend to think only happens in less enlightened and more corrupt societies, also runs deep and wide across NZ.
And it’s not just the Tamiheres of course. There’s John’s old mate Willie Jackson, with his own fingers in this pie through his wife, Tania Rangiheuea, as CEO of Manukau Urban Maori Authority (MUMA), another shareholder in the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency and joint owner with Waipareira of radio stations and other investments.
Is it mere coincidence that Jackson was, and is, a Labour Party MP and cabinet minister? Probably not.
But there’s plenty more of it across the Pākehā slice of politics. The latest high-profile slide from politics into sinecure is Grant Robertson’s shift from his low-paid job as Labour’s finance minister, earning a paltry $300,000 per year, to his new role as vice-chancellor at Otago where he gets paid twice as much.
Then there’s National’s ex-finance minister Stephen Joyce, who is currently chairing a new “expert advisory panel”, pulling in $4000 per day in fees in addition to his lucrative earnings from his political lobbying and consulting firm.
Others? Simon Bridges, CEO of the Auckland Business Authority and new Waka Kotahi chair. Bill English: various company boards and government advisory roles. And Murray McCully the same. Roger Sowry (who?), too. The list goes on and on.
Some high-profile pollies have even managed to glide ever upwards into the rarified atmosphere of United Nations’ appointments (think Helen Clark and Jacinda), but at least we don’t pay for those big jollies out of the NZ taxpayers’ pocket, so that’s some consolation I suppose.
But what’s the point in detailing this litany of political perfidy? Simply this: we have to challenge this culture of nepotism, revolving-door patronage and jobs for the boys (and girls, of course – here’s looking at you Paula Bennett with your new Pharmac job) that allows a certain class of Kiwi to live their lives with their snouts forever in the public trough.
Wishful thinking, I suppose, to hope that politicians will ever vote to change things – turkeys and Christmas comes to mind – but the current state of affairs is something the MSM doesn’t investigate often enough (except in the case of the increasingly unpopular Tamihere, perhaps).
Consequently, it’s something the average Kiwi just accepts: that we have a political elite that are just as pervasive and detrimental to the concept of a fair society, as is the tribal elite that so disproportionately distributes the Treaty Settlement bounties across Maoridom.
At least we should disabuse ourselves of the notion that the altruistic, concerned and ‘honorable’ politician is a reality. They are all primarily self-serving egoists. Pretending it is otherwise, they enjoy the trappings of fame and prestige that goes with the job, and in most cases, for long afterwards. These trappings are the icing on the monetary cake (and go nicely with the marzipan filling of the parliamentary pensions they trough alongside their gold-plated ex-politico appointments).
The parliamentary website informs us that “The Honourable” and “The Right Honourable” are titles granted by the Crown to select MPs “in recognition of their service”.
When you look at the rewards they reap, it is patently obvious to whom that service was, and is, rendered.
Bah Humbug.
From
Disgruntled of Eskdale (JD)
