We are often told that there is no corruption in New Zealand, and that our public service and electoral system are robust and free from manipulation and conflicts of interest.
These events should spark some consideration of the wisdom of contracting out the powers of government. A career public servant whose whole life and future well being depends on the institution of government would immediately, instinctively and without hesitation see that in copying census forms for non-government purposes he or she was crossing a red line and jeopardizing their own future.
Someone working for a contractor which has interests of its own quite separate from the interests of government may have a different view. In fact the first reaction may be to think "Does this serve the interests of my employer?". If that person had wisdom, that is to say if that person was capable of taking a wide and long view, then he or she would say "No, it would actually be unethical and illegal and therefore contrary to my employer's long-term interests and so I should not do this". But, unfortunately, a significant proportion of us would say "It seems to be in the interests of my employer to copy these forms, so that is what I should do".
It would be idle to suggest that this principle applies only to census workers. It applies to every other sphere of government including those personnel who are seconded to the New Zealand military and intelligence services by foreign states.
This incident may be only the tip of the iceberg in which the interests of government are subverted by contracting or seconding agencies, and the primary blame for the situation lies with government itself.
Bruce’s otherwise excellent text overlooks a key issue: these democratic lapses will ultimately harm the underprivileged, those with low trust in government. If they distrust the next census, the government will collect poor-quality data, undermining policies meant to support our indigenous communities. Ironically, well-intentioned governance exemptions may backfire, leaving good-willing (virtue signaling?) decisionmakers surprised at the unintended consequences.
Thank you for this update/clarification and an explanation of what is left to be examined in this situation. It may indeed result in a by-election depending on the final outcome. p.s. I still question and flinch at the use of the word "elites" in the NZ context; think it's used to frame class warfare, a "them against us" narrative that isn't useful or positive. No billionaire oligarchs deconstructing the government here just yet, thankfully.
The 11,000 New Zealanders who were awarded vaccine exemptions during Covid are probably a good example of the elites in NZ. Were you "elite" enough to get a covid vaccine exemption ?
no. And even if I were to accept your definition of these individuals as an "elite," they no longer exist as one since that's over and done with, thankfully. I don't believe "elites" exist in New Zealand as classes or castes as they do elsewhere internationally, and trying to promote that this is the case fosters division.
I couldnt find one person who received an apology for being given a Covid vaccination that was promised to stop infection and transmission. You know you are not one of the elite when being wrong doesnt even warrant an apology to anyone. You can defend your right to be treated like cattle, if it makes you feel better, but I am still waiting for an apology.
Just to say that I find this misuse of data by the type of characters that resort to intimidating dances in parliament very unsurprising. No surprise either to hear of public service departments engaging in "loose" contractual procedures particularly where Maori entities are involved. No way to fix this kind of thing without a clean out of the public service and preferably also of parliament.
For a start, in the public service replace senior executives with those focused more on efficient delivery, less on woke ideals, whilst in parliament get rid of Maori electorates/seats and ban those who misbehave significantly in the house.
That is the Reichstag fire ploy. Use one criminal incident as the pretext to implement far reaching constitutional changes that target a particular section of society and lay the groundwork for a totalitarian society.
If only it was one incident. Apart from this one being illegal and caught out it's the tip of the iceberg when it comes to malpractice. For example three waters. What a racist, nepotistic rort that was. An MSM scandal that it wasn't more of a scandal.
Did you really need to ask? In my view typically but not exclusively (it's a fuzzy set) or exhaustively, intersectional politics, DEI, CRT, Climate Alarmism.
Depending upon the ultimate findings , we I think, need a by election in this seat.
These events should spark some consideration of the wisdom of contracting out the powers of government. A career public servant whose whole life and future well being depends on the institution of government would immediately, instinctively and without hesitation see that in copying census forms for non-government purposes he or she was crossing a red line and jeopardizing their own future.
Someone working for a contractor which has interests of its own quite separate from the interests of government may have a different view. In fact the first reaction may be to think "Does this serve the interests of my employer?". If that person had wisdom, that is to say if that person was capable of taking a wide and long view, then he or she would say "No, it would actually be unethical and illegal and therefore contrary to my employer's long-term interests and so I should not do this". But, unfortunately, a significant proportion of us would say "It seems to be in the interests of my employer to copy these forms, so that is what I should do".
It would be idle to suggest that this principle applies only to census workers. It applies to every other sphere of government including those personnel who are seconded to the New Zealand military and intelligence services by foreign states.
This incident may be only the tip of the iceberg in which the interests of government are subverted by contracting or seconding agencies, and the primary blame for the situation lies with government itself.
Bruce’s otherwise excellent text overlooks a key issue: these democratic lapses will ultimately harm the underprivileged, those with low trust in government. If they distrust the next census, the government will collect poor-quality data, undermining policies meant to support our indigenous communities. Ironically, well-intentioned governance exemptions may backfire, leaving good-willing (virtue signaling?) decisionmakers surprised at the unintended consequences.
The reality is TPM and John Tamihere believe they are not bound by Pakeha concepts of Conflict of interest, confidentiality, or electoral integrity.
The guardrails need to be strengthened and there need to be real consequences if they are breached
At the very least if the other investigations find TPM used the census data there need to be a bye election
Thank you for this update/clarification and an explanation of what is left to be examined in this situation. It may indeed result in a by-election depending on the final outcome. p.s. I still question and flinch at the use of the word "elites" in the NZ context; think it's used to frame class warfare, a "them against us" narrative that isn't useful or positive. No billionaire oligarchs deconstructing the government here just yet, thankfully.
The 11,000 New Zealanders who were awarded vaccine exemptions during Covid are probably a good example of the elites in NZ. Were you "elite" enough to get a covid vaccine exemption ?
no. And even if I were to accept your definition of these individuals as an "elite," they no longer exist as one since that's over and done with, thankfully. I don't believe "elites" exist in New Zealand as classes or castes as they do elsewhere internationally, and trying to promote that this is the case fosters division.
I couldnt find one person who received an apology for being given a Covid vaccination that was promised to stop infection and transmission. You know you are not one of the elite when being wrong doesnt even warrant an apology to anyone. You can defend your right to be treated like cattle, if it makes you feel better, but I am still waiting for an apology.
Nope.
Just to say that I find this misuse of data by the type of characters that resort to intimidating dances in parliament very unsurprising. No surprise either to hear of public service departments engaging in "loose" contractual procedures particularly where Maori entities are involved. No way to fix this kind of thing without a clean out of the public service and preferably also of parliament.
What do you mean by "cleanout"? How would that be done?
For a start, in the public service replace senior executives with those focused more on efficient delivery, less on woke ideals, whilst in parliament get rid of Maori electorates/seats and ban those who misbehave significantly in the house.
That is the Reichstag fire ploy. Use one criminal incident as the pretext to implement far reaching constitutional changes that target a particular section of society and lay the groundwork for a totalitarian society.
If only it was one incident. Apart from this one being illegal and caught out it's the tip of the iceberg when it comes to malpractice. For example three waters. What a racist, nepotistic rort that was. An MSM scandal that it wasn't more of a scandal.
What are "woke" ideals?
Did you really need to ask? In my view typically but not exclusively (it's a fuzzy set) or exhaustively, intersectional politics, DEI, CRT, Climate Alarmism.
Other parties use the likes of facebook to access and target swing voters in marginal seats, what's the difference?
The census form has a privacy guarantee printed on it. That’s the difference and it’s a very big one.