Entry 122, on 2005-02-02 at 12:52:06 (Rating 4, Politics)
The leader of the opposition in New Zealand, Don Brash, recently demoted one of his best MPs because she dared to suggest that some of his comments about welfare reform were too extreme. While I don't agree with most of what Katherine Rich says, I do recognise her as an intelligent and thoughtful person who should be able to comment on issues within her portfolio area without fear of undue punishment.
Right-wing governments in New Zealand of the past have had their tough politicians and associated terms to describe their destructive tactics. For example, there was "Rogernomics" which described the catastrophic restructuring of Roger Douglas, then "Ruthanasia" which used to describe the destruction wrought by Ruth Richardson. I now suggest the term "Brashing" (rhymes with "bashing") to describe the bully tactics of the esteemed Don Brash!
First, he indulges in a bit of Maori brashing with his Orewa speech last year, and follows that up by brashing his own MP, Georgina te Heuheu, for her comments on that speech. This year he (predictably) follows it up with brashing of another weak group, welfare recipients (there's always good political ammunition there), and now he's brashing his own MP again! At least they aren't an underprivileged group, I guess - quite the opposite in fact.
So a first term MP, Judith Collins, has been given the welfare portfolio instead, and she promises to get tough on beneficiaries. Its a bit like the politics in George Orwell's 1984 isn't it: in that novel the ministry of truth was in charge of propaganda, in the National party the welfare ministry is in charge of brashing welfare beneficiaries.
Of course National assures us that the last thing they want to do is punish children and disadvantaged women (they're nice people really) then they threaten to cut their benefits. I would have thought that just might be seen as causing harm to the children, and certainly looks like a form of punishment. Makes about as much sense as other right wing policies, I suppose.
Comment 1 (11) by Anonymous on 2005-02-16 at 22:21:05:
Ha! Very funny. I think Don needs to do a lot more brashing in this country.
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