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Otago Daily Times
April 11 2002
Peter Ellis
by Godfrey Bell, Auckland
I congratulate Ishbel
Macdonald and her friends on taking the stance not to vote Labour if the
Minister of Justice does not read Lynley Hood's A City Possessed. His refusal
to do so is both extraordinary and alarming. Lynley Hood's book is unsettling
for New Zealanders and we look to the minister to take the opportunity to
share the grave concerns it raises.
The book cannot be dismissed. The editorial in the respected New Zealand Law
Journal states that "one of Lynley Hood's achievements as a non-lawyer
is an astute criticism of the shortcomings of the various methods available
to review criminal convictions". I have yet to hear a plausible reason
from the Minister of Justice explaining why he should not read the book.
Perhaps he simply cannot be bothered to? Little wonder Ishbel Macdonald is a
disillusioned labour voter.
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