Nick Smith – #Rua
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“Tens of thousands of New Zealanders have had to wade through ACC claims. A fair chunk of those will have had to fight for one thing or another. They don’t get to email their old pal the minister for help, or take their case to several Cabinet ministers, or get meetings with senior managers, or lobby board members.
Pullar shouldn’t have received any special assistance or access just because she’s well-connected. And clearly she did. Indeed, I reckon that happens quite a lot in this small country and it’s not good.” – Tim Watkin, ‘Pundit’
Indeed.
One salient point of Ms Pullar having to pull strings with various Ministers of the Crown is that in itself is indicative that matters are seriously amiss with ACC.
If National supporters like Bronwyn Pullar are finding it tough to deal with ACC, they need to reconsider their ideology and not skirt around the effects of National’s hard-line policies which are affecting the Corporation’s customer-relations and impacting on clients.
One of the hopes of ordinary folk is that those who vote for the government-of-the-day (in this case, National) experience/suffer the consequences of their Party’s policies. That makes everyone sit up and take notice.
For a National supporter to attempt to avoid the consequences of National’s policies is not on. They need to “take the hits” like the rest of us.
Perhaps when sufficient numbers of National supporters/voters experience the impact of National’s right-wing policies, they may think twice when next casting their votes on Election Day.
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(Note: I take no pleasure in Smith’s errors of judgement. God knows I’ve made a couple of big mistakes in my past. It would be churlish of me not to wish him well for his personal future, and for his family.)
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Frankly Speaking... 
You’re way more mangnanimous than me Frank.
http://cleanairkapiti.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/the-demise-of-nick-smith-minister-for-air-pollution/
I thought he did a really shit job as environment minister and he sold us all out big time with that inexplicable delay to the cleaner air enforcement starting date.
His action (no doubt a decision shared with cabinet) will result in the loss of many, many Kiwi lives. Charles Chauvel got it right when he attacked Smith in Parliament for the gutless decision and the 635 avoidable deaths that he hasn’t avoided.
While I generally wish everyone well, I can only wish that Nick Smith ponders what he just cost the country.
You would expect any rational person encountering it that tough in dealing with any organisation to rethink their approach but this is an example where the people are using the problems to reinforce their ideology. I believe the core issue here is that Nick Smith made an error of judgement, that while on the scale of things it may be debatable as to whether the punishment fitted the crime, it is a behaviour that has come to define current NZ politics and further highlight that it’s broken.
Alongside the disdain our Government continues to show for the people in the mindless hacking and slashing of our society (particularly in the most vulnerable); in attacks on our freedoms and naturally lawful rights; in the deceipt, manipulation of parliamentary process, and lies, Nick Smith’s behaviour reinforces the midset that has seeped into New Zealand’s “ruling class”: the rules don’t apply to them.
Yeah, that’s me, Mathew, I find it hard to take pleasure in his downfall.
But don’t get me wrong – I’ll criticise and oppose Smith and his Party and their rightwing policies. In that regard, the whole mess with ACC, Smith, and Ms Pullar is indicative of everything that’s wrong with National and their destructive, anti-social policies.
And National’s supporters and their Party apparatchiks certainly shouldn’t be able to avoid the consequences of their actions. How often do we warn National’s groupies that one day their policies will come back to haunt them?
Yup, it has.
Indeed, Spacemonkey. I would add a few more names to that; Pullar, Boag, Collins, and —? This is yet to play out and I suspect there will be a few more names to be added.
Oh the irony, if this government is brought down by one of their own apparatchiks; dealing with a government body that they themselves have undermined through their minimisation of State services; and because of infighting between various Tories. In a dog-eat-dog world of the Free Market, we’re seeing what happens when the “ruling class” turn in on each other, to scramble to survive. It is a nasty, grubby sight.
Gotta agree with Mathew . your way to soft on these pricks Frank. Toughen up mate. You wouldn’t be half as charitable if it was your ass they were putting the boot in!!