Monday, July 19, 2004
You won't hear this often
But My Right finds himself in the unusual position of actually enjoying one of the ramblings of self appointed important person, Damian Christie. As much as I hate to admit it the whole post is worth a read (once you get past the bit about the car, and the awful "I am Joe New Zealander and I love me rugby" twaddle) - but he does quite a nice take on the influence, and the Governments manipulation, of conscience votes;
If Lange's Labour Government will always be remembered for its drastic economic reforms, I wonder if Clark's will have the same legacy in the social sphere. Prostitution, civil unions, matrimonial property reforms, lesbians can be fathers too, no smoking in bars, (possibly) smacking – will history join the dots? Will Clark & Maharey be the Lange and Douglas of the 21st century?I particularly like the acknowledgement that tax is a major for liberals - bless you Damian, where there is understanding there is hope I suppose (yes, I am in this one for the long haul...)
If it's less obvious, perhaps it's because of the method by which some of the legislation is passed. In this regard, conscience votes has always seemed a bit odd to me. Why should economic issues be any less subject to ethical concerns than social ones? Taxation to a libertarian is as much a moral issue as GE is to a greenie, or gay marriage to a conservative.
So while Labour is responsible for the current wave of social reforms, the fact that even its own MPs are (in theory, at least) allowed to vote according to their consciences allows a degree of separation from the party proper. Labour didn't pass the bill, Parliament did. Douglas never had that luxury when it came to his reforms.
The full post is here - just don't tell him I sent you.
