A Self-Made Saint

Doing Good On a Grand Scale

It seems as if the NZ Labour Party is going to go soft on crime.  It's understandable and makes sense if you happen to be one of those folk who believe that all evil is environmental.  It has long been part of the West's "Enlightenment" to believe and teach that all human beings are born innocent, and without sin.  Evil is resident within society.  When evil acts are done by individuals it is due to "society" poisoning the pure hearts of sinless, immaculate people.

Kelvin Davis, possibly New Zealand's next Deputy Prime Minister, is just such a guy.  Whatever the problem, it's society's fault.  If you sit on the Opposition benches of Parliament, when society is at fault, it really is code for placing the blame on the "gummint".  In the world-view of Davis, if the gummint were to sprinkle some more pixie-dust around the place--money extracted from citizens--crime would pretty much cease to exist.

Our nearest neighbour, Australia is running a tough policy in that country with respect to New Zealanders living in Australia who demonstrate they are of "bad character".  They are ejecting them back to New Zealand, and dumping them on our airport tarmacs.  They are most unwelcome, but little can be done about it from New Zealand's perspective.  Kevin Davis has been fulminating about the outcome: many of these involuntary importees end up going back to a life of crime in New Zealand.

Almost a third of Kiwis deported from Australia in the last two years have reoffended, according to police figures.  The figures showed 218 of the 660 sent home by the Australian Government between January 1 2015 and January 19 this year had gone on to break the law here.  Collectively they have committed 877 offences.

Labour Corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis tonight had a simple response to the figures.  "I told you so. This was always going to happen."  Deportees were arriving home traumatised - from being in detention centres, being separated from their families and finding themselves "dumped" in a country where some had few connections or prospects - and they were not being adequately supported, Davis said.  Some of those deported have not lived in New Zealand since they were children.  [NZ Herald]

The Australian "solution" appears harsh.  It would probably serve us well to have an integration programme that resembles something like the effort that is gone through in this country to integrate refugees into New Zealand society, with appropriate adjustments.  This is not something that New Zealand planned or asked for.  It has just been forcibly dumped upon us.

Davis's solutions, however, smack of idealistic Enlightenment twaddle.  Set these Aussie criminals up in a nice external environment and, hey presto, the nascent Force will become strong in each one and they will turn away from the Dark Side and go on to be warriors for the Light.

The historical pattern of all such naive do-gooders is that, when they get a chance to empty out the jails, the crime rates go up--substantially.  Then the Davis's of this world get miffed.  Why are these ingrates doing?  Don't they realise that we are the Good Guys, and we have done them a favour.  How dare they repay us by going on to commit more crime.  They say that there is no fury like a Do-Gooder spurned.  Overnight they change from fawning nanny to merciless avenger.  New Zealand would not be well served by such Enlightenment bi-polarism.

But the stage is set.  Our latter day self-made saint has declared that if elected to government, Kelvin Davis, Minister of Corrections, will put things to right.  He is reported as being committed to reducing New Zealand's prison population by 30%, if Labour is elected to govern.  Go, you good thing, go.