I urge followers of this blog to read a recent post by retired District Court judge David Harvey, which has only just come to my attention (it was published last month). It's a cool, rational and very thorough analysis of the multi-pronged attack on free speech by a government that appears to regard legitimate dissent as a dangerous assault on the authority of the state.
6 comments:
Thanks for this excellent article Karl. "The mindset of the tyrant". But many New Zealanders are either ignorant or indifferent. I know one or two who actually believe the government is "the one source of truth". I see no end to it. And the Supreme Court has today prepared the way for the government to lower the voting age to 16 for the next election which will likely provide the Left with a perpetual majority. So there was a plan behind all those selfies with schoolchildren after all?
The history and analysis of Judge Harvey is concise and damning of Ardern. Rita Panahi's piece (link 5 in the article) shows what those outside NZ think of Ardern's speech to the UN but that scathing criticism is unreported in NZ by the bought media. It is such a travesty, a joke and a very sad contradiction that she is the ultimate purveyor of dis/misinformation (however defined) to NZers.
Unfortunately Judge Harvey's piece remains a 'so what' if his educated analysis is not disseminated and read widely by NZers. IMHO it is encumbent on all of us to distribute his analysis and make sure all those we know can have the opportunity to see/consider the danger we face from Ardern, her govt and her policies.
I very much doubt that a majority on our current MPs have any idea how pivotal the outcome will be if what Ardern is contriving comes to pass. I hope Labour wins the Hamilton West by-election as a result of split votes in the centre and right, as that may wake up Luxon and National to the fact they will not sleep walk into government and therefore must look to build a coalition of ideas now.
Birdman - How right Judge Harvey is in his sober assessment of Jacincda Ardern - but I do not agree with you that it will remain a 'so what' thing. His great article is just one more of the ever increasing number of damning criticisms of her (and her government's) legislative actions and behaviour over the last few years - and we have another whole year before our election. They can only drop further in the polls!!
Commenting on your remarks about the Hamilton by-election : No, I sincerely hope Labour loses - to Gaurav Sharma, who already has a lot of support in his electorate (or he would not have resigned to stand again). I have written to National and ACT (CC'ing to Sharma) that if they ask their respective voters to give their local vote to Sharma (and their party vote to their own party) we will gain an immediate anti-Labour MP in Parliament! Ideally those parties should have both refused to contest the seat. Tactical voting is a great possibility in our new MMP system.
In Sharma we have a fine candidate to become a member of NZ Parliament - fine in every way : Character - Intelligence - Personal Achievements - etc. It would be a win/win situation - would it not?.
Dear Karl
Thanks for posting my piece on the erosion of freedom of expression. Rather like waves on the shore the erosion is slow and insidious but is happening nonetheless. It is a matter of grave concern.
Thank you too to your commentators for their kind remarks.
I have written a few pieces on freedom of expression along with some comments on "hate speech" and the way that the law should approach it. All my posts can be found at https://theitcountreyjustice.wordpress.com/
If your readers are interested in some of my other pieces may I recommend
"Testing Expression" which sets guiidelines for the circumstances under which the State my interfere with freedom of expression. It argues that there must be an imminence of physical harm before that may happen.
It can be found here https://theitcountreyjustice.wordpress.com/2022/09/15/testing-expression/
"There's Something Happening Here" continues the theme developed in "Eroding Freedom of Expression". It looks at the way in which disinformation and freedom of expression are conflated and then goes on to examine the hysteria behind the TVNZ agitprop documentary "Web of Chaos" and is highly critical of the approach of the Disinformatiopn Project and the oblique threat that they provide to freedom of expression. It closes with some observations of the "surveillance society"advocated at the Conference on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism and the way that fear is being weaponised to engender "social cohesion" or blind conformity.
That piece can be found here
https://theitcountreyjustice.wordpress.com/2022/11/13/theres-something-happening-here/
The final and most recent piece is a "first impression" view of the proposals for the extension of groups who can claim the attention of the Human Rights Act. I call it a first impression because my legal training leadds me to be cautious. Only when we have the language of the Bill can we understand the full implications of what is proposed.
The piece is entitled "Religious "Hate Speech" under the Human Rights Act 1993" and can be found here
https://theitcountreyjustice.wordpress.com/2022/11/20/religious-hate-speech-under-the-human-rights-act-1993/
I should be more than happy if you want to link these pieces and I hope that your readers find them interesting and useful.
Kind regards
David Harvey LLB; MJur; PhD
What a pleasure to read a calmly reasoned essay from 'a beautiful mind'.
And I find myself banned from twitter 2 days ago for " hateful speech" when what I write in criticism of Ardern was "Stupid is as Stupid does"!! I have appealed but feel her bots here have decreed this as I can't imagine twitter staff in San Francisco wld take that viewpoint. Very disturbing of twitter!
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