The S-Files

Strong Opinions Now Welcome

Contra Celsum is pleased to announce that Paula Bennett, Minister of Social Development has been nominated for an S-Award.

Citation:

Paula Bennett has appointed Christine Rankin to the Families Commission. There has been the expected eructation of disapproval from the chattering classes. This alone would tell us that there is likely to be some merit in the appointment.

First, let us gloss the tiresome ideological burps. Phil Goff was reported to be astounded at the appointment, and accused Rankin of being a "controversial and divisive figure". Apparently in Goff's lexicon this makes Rankin unfit to serve on the Families Commission, but not the far more controversial and divisive Helen Clarke and Michael Cullen unfit to serve in their respective new posts. Sauce for the goose, Phil. Apparently, controversial and divisive figures are welcome only if they have opinions with which Goff agrees.

And then there was this from Sue Bradford. "Ms Rankin's appointment seems like a deliberate move that will divide the commission. This amounts to a form of political sabotage," Ms Bradford said.

Bradford alleges that the members of the Families Commission support the Bradford/Clark anti-smacking law. Yet polls consistently show that eighty percent of the population opposes the law. This would imply that the current members of the Commission have already been carefully and deliberately politically screened and are woefully out of touch with reality. No wonder Bradford alleges that Rankin's appointment is political sabotage. It undermines the deliberate suborning of the Commission to the Left.

But enough of the chattering classes. Their empty fulminations are alluded to here only to highlight the contrast with Paula Bennett, who has acted with higher principle. According to The Herald:

Ms Bennett said she had argued for the appointment.

"I think we were pretty strong in putting her forward, and she certainly presented well," she told reporters.

"I think Christine has some pretty strong views on things, I think she will bring those views to the commission and as a consequence the decisions that come out of it will be fairly robust."

Contrary views are welcome to be heard, apparently. This is healthy for the country. It also means that the grey men, the hollow men who sit on the innumerable interfering government boards of vain social engineering may well be due for a shake up.

John Armstrong's take is as follows:

Injecting a more conservative flavour into the commission's work suggests Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is seeking alternative sources of advice than just that coming from her ministry's officials - in the same way that Sir Geoffrey Palmer's Law Commission became a think tank for Helen Clark when she wanted advice on justice and sentencing matters.

Outflanking the ideologically loaded and politicised bureaucracy? It definitely has to be done.

But why not simply dismember the Commission entirely? Well, apparently that was part of the price of Peter Dunne's support for the Government. It is part of post-election coalition negotiations. the Families Commission is Dunne's sacred cow. So, is Dunne happy? On the contrary,

"Ms Rankin is simply the wrong person to be appointed to a body of this type. She is divisive and controversial and her appointment will be disruptive to the ongoing work of the commission," Mr Dunne said.

"The fact that her appointment was bitterly contested within the Cabinet, together with her fall from grace under the previous government, shows she does not enjoy sufficiently widespread political support to make her appointment tenable."

Ms Rankin should decline the appointment, he said.

"Her taking up this role will seriously undermine the credibility of the Families Commission."

If Dunne is squealing like the proverbial stuck pig, Bennett must have struck the coup de grace. Apparently, 80 percent of the population agreeing with you does not constitute sufficient political support in Dunne's strange coseted Byzantine world. He also has spent too long inside the Beltway.

But let us hope that he is correct at least in this: that Rankin will be "disruptive to the ongoing work of the Commission". Someone needs to remind them what an actual family is and how it best functions, and if that is disruptive, so be it.

Paula Bennett, Minister of Social Development--S-Award Class I for actions in the course of public duty that have been Smart, Sound, and Salutary.