Government Speech

This is a speech I wrote and presented a few weeks ago concerning the current National government's method of deception and some current affairs exemplifying these functions.

Politics. I know, I know, when I merely utter that word about half of you will drift off into a bored mental sleep, your eyes still open to the world, not taking anything in. But, funnily enough, this seems a perfect metaphor for the general public of New Zealand , which in turn, landed us in this political mire back in 2008. Mire? you may ask yourself confusedly - Is there some sort of predicament I don’t know about? Well, sure, yes, there is. On so many levels, this government of ours has succeeded in becoming so inadequate as a representative of people, of the same people who gave them the power to become so corrupt. This is the true essence of our government; which has destroyed the fundamental foundations of democracy itself, leaving the majestic structure of the Beehive to topple into the mass grave of corruption.

Ever since 2008, when the National Party was voted into government, their leader, John Key has exploitatively persuaded a majority of New Zealanders to vote for policy some consider detrimental to many and to the betterment for few, exclusive individuals. But why do we keep falling for this? Why is John Key such a good, trustworthy prime minister? I’d like to call John Key and The National Party ‘Masters of Deception,’ to put it simply and more or less politely. Well, the ‘Masters of Deception,’ in 2008, gained a solid 45% of the entire vote, joining with United Future, The Act Party and the Maori Party to form a coalition, following suit in 2011 and 2014 to win around 47% of the vote, Labour however winning around 25%. Their ability to have such a consistent turnout may adhere to the Party’s ability to follow John Key on his comfortable status on policy, strongly affiliating them with being capable, understanding diplomats. Now in their third term, they’ve taken us through ordeals as the Teapot Tapes, where Key refused to publicise his 2011 election plans concerning John Banks, the then Act Party candidate for Epsom. His government have promised, and procrastinated, to take out the bodies of the twenty-nine men killed in the Pike River Mine. But most of all, they have made a mockery of the Christchurch rebuild, with the government planning a new convention centre for hundreds of millions of dollars even when only 10% of the rebuild had been completed, as of September 2014. Key, himself, has pulled waitress’ hair, taken selfies in Hawaii, but overall, as nobody takes any notice, produces corruption in the blink of an eye, creating the ever so blatant lies he is (but really isn’t to some) renowned for. Take the GCSB, for instance. In 2013, it was revealed that the Government Communications Security Bureau gathered information on Kim Dotcom and 88 other New Zealand residents although John Key stated that “[the spying] was illegal.” Following this the government ironically amended the underlying GCSB Act 2003 to fit the Bureau’s new purpose to be able to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of the military, SIS or police, taking away a vital faucet of our freedom as citizens. These failures of duty cannot seem to stick to his reputation, as if people have an uncontrollable urge to ignore the bad and focus on the good; though if something which has such a governance over our lives is not just, our job as citizens is to simply point out the negative.

The government’s power to persuade New Zealanders to dismissively vote for them allows them to enact policy also dismissively agreed on by the majority of the general public. The National Party, with the most security and power to legislate in parliament, plus the bonus personality factor of John Key’s relatability as the everyman, creates noticeable diversions to distract from real policy. This enables them to to pass convoluted bills differing from legislation originally presented, due to people’s false belief in executive assurance. Recently the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement talks have received a serious lack of attention from New Zealanders. These secret negotiations taken out by 12 major powers on the pacific rim have almost reached a resolution, without taking into consideration the opinions of outnumbering, general, working New Zealanders, who are exempt from commenting. And the number and frequency of unbearable consequences starting to leak out of the media pretty well explain why the few attentive citizens have such a feeling of angst for the consequences of this abomination of international legislation. But not to worry, Trade Minister Tim Groser assured us he was ‘comfortable’ about where we were on investor-state disputes, where, theoretically, companies will be able to sue the government if they are to interfere with the creation of profits. In Australia, tobacco companies have laid legal charges over plain packaging laws, which deter smokers to constantly buy cigarettes because of warnings explained, meaning companies will lose millions in revenue. If the TPPA is to become law, companies will have the same rights as citizens, and will be able to override our sovereignty, so the amount of money the government has to spend decreases, depending on the decision of the case. As the government chuck themselves under the bus, they gently pull a paper bag over the public’s eyes, confusing us as they sneakily coincide the change of the cloyingly monarchical flag with the signing of the TPPA, conjuring a diversion inclusive of people’s ideas, perhaps unimportant to the cause, as the flag is destined to become a logo, an ultimate legacy of John Key’s ‘honourable’ leadership.

When confronted with an issue publicly recognised as the government’s fault, executives holding leadership use crude but effective tactics to blame parties with no visible connection to the dispute, not wanting to tarnish the popularity god, John Key. The use of language and expression of ideas when questioned by the media blatantly outlines strategic purpose to persuade listeners to believe so-called ‘facts,’ which yet again serve as another distraction from issues of importance. Some of you may have heard of the Saudi sheep ordeal, where Murray McCully, Minister of Foreign Affairs, helped set up a farm in the Saudi Arabian Desert, as well as donate 900 sheep and four million dollars of taxpayer money to a Mister Al Khalaf, of the Awassi NZ Land Holdings Group for what some consider a bribe and others, compensation. McCully supposedly spent millions of dollars to settle a ‘long running dispute,’ so that Al Khalaf would eventually support a Free Trade Deal between The Gulf States and New Zealand, without informing other officials of his true actions, in comparison to dressing it as something completely different. In answer to reasonably enraged inquiries, John Key, on National Radio, defended his colleague by repeatedly raising the argument that Labour was to blame for instating their 2003 ban on sheep exports to Saudi Arabia, but really, if you break a law which, in foresight, was created to eliminate something economically unviable, it is National’s problem. Anyway, he did get his way in that the ‘facts - It’s Labour’s fault’ were expressed as a main argument, The New Zealand Herald cottoning on to report them, technically doing their job, but not doing it terribly well. This allowed for many New Zealanders to believe that National were untouchable in this situation, however Labour were in the red. The point that should be made is that specific individuals, as part of the governmental enterprise, should not be able to just begin spending taxpayer money on something not as important as child poverty, or climate change, for instance. McCully should have been sacked by now, but John Key turned into a ‘broken record’ on national radio to save his colleague from the scornful remarks of understandably furious commentators.

In closing, I hope this compilation of lies, ordeals, and bad behaviour of this government will at least try to sway you in your perceptions of their actions as ‘masters of deception.’ True, they are good at what they do, but not honestly or ethically, for that matter. It’s not OK for you or I to just turn off to ignore what will effect your future, my future and your children’s future. Go to sleep New Zealand. Wake up classmates. Wake up.