The Christchurch Civic Creche Case
	News Reports Index
	2003 Sept
	The Independent September 17, 2003 Govt exploits our lack of a constitution New Zealand desperately needs a constitutional debate. by Brendon Harr New Zealanders voted for MMP because they wanted governance based on public debate and consensus. But it hasn't worked out because the minority Labour government at every opportunity gathers power for the executive (Prime Minister and Cabinet), while limiting the power of others, including the voters. Labour has taken cronyism to new levels in the public sector; it wants to appoint the judges. It breaks electoral conventions, like not governing for the full term. It didn't trust the voters to sort out Duynhoven's mistake, preferring to manipulate Parliament instead. It ignores the public's plea for an independent review of the sexual abuse hysteria and Peter Ellis' conviction. Labour continues the trend of the executive failing to provide needed infrastructure for New Zealand's regions and communities. There is no chance Giuliani-type local politicians will sort out New Zealand's cities because the executive jealously guards its power. Labour dictates to the rest of us that tangata whenua have constitutional status, that the Treaty of Waitangi is a founding document and that there is a constitutional partnership between Crown and Maori when the voters have never ratified these constitutional concepts. All of this occurs because New Zealand has no constitution; New Zealanders are protected only by malleable conventions and not by guaranteed freedoms; there is no sharing of power between an Upper and Lower House; and voters don't elect a president with the powers of a Governor-General. Unlike our fellow colonial nations, New Zealand has no state or provincial governments with guaranteed rights. New Zealanders seem unconcerned about their lack of constitutional institutions but economists like Professor Kasper from Australia and Waikato's Professor Enderwick indicate New Zealand's lack of "constitutional backbone" is the major reason New Zealand lags behind the Western world.