Leading Like A Flatfish

One of the problems parties in MMP coalition governments have come election time, is to try to show that they are the same but different in order to lure votes from a coalition partner, and I think it is worth considering the controversy over Peters telling Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan to “go back to your own country”, where people supposedly “lie like a flatfish,” in that light.

Yes, you can see Peter’s racist remarks as the ramblings of a bewildered old man, but over his many years in parliament Peters has proved himself a master of populist politics. He knows what he’s doing.

Like all such politicians the strategy is to pick a deeply divisive issue and use it to lure as many disgruntled voters as possible into your tent in order to get back into power. And the divisive issue Peters has settled on is immigration.The current poor state of our economy is because of too much immigration.

Well, that of course is bullshit.

It’s the economics of austerity that Peters has supported and which is causing the rise in unemployment and the exodus of thousands of New Zealanders to find a better life overseas that is the problem.

But I digress.

Back to Peters and Luxon.

Luxon should have fired Peters as Foreign Minister for depicting China as a country where people “lie like flatfish”. But he hasn’t.

Why?

Because NZ First’s votes are essential to keeping Luxon’s Government in power.

So what does Luxon do ? He says Peters should apologise, but nevertheless retains confidence in him, will not remove him from the foreign affairs portfolio and refuses to say whether Peters has met the professional standards required by the Cabinet Manual.

Luxon has thereby has not only revealed how weak and unprincipled he is as a leader, but proved he is not so very different from Peters by attempting to win votes from this bad situation.

Luxon’s argument that Peters made his comments as leader of New Zealand First during a general debate in Parliament, rather than in his role as Foreign Minister is nonsense.

Section 2.56 of the Cabinet Manual says that, in their ministerial, political and personal roles and “at all times”, ministers must uphold the highest ethical and behavioural standards and are ultimately accountable to the Prime Minister.

In other words a minister is a minister is a minister.

And as Foreign Affairs Minister Peters has blatantly insulted the people of our largest trading partner. That’s about as bad as it gets for some who holds the warrant of Foreign Affairs Minister

If Luxon had any guts he would have fired Peters, and if the Coalition fell apart he could have rightly been able to point to Peters as the cause and gained votes and maybe win a bit of respect as a result.

But no .

Instead, Luxon has wimpishly stated that if voters disapprove of what Peters has said they should give their party vote to National.

Really?

Vote for him as a leader when he has proved he will not do what is morally right just to stay Prime Minister?

Not me!

How about you?

PS. Oh..and by the way, spare a thought for the flatfish!

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