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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Fat. Twitchy. Sweaty. Breathless.
Sad. Destroyed. David Benson-Pope now has the appearance of a man who might
well suffer a myocardial infarction on nationwide television if he once again
has to face down a sustained Opposition attack in Parliament's Question Time. The destruction of the hapless
Cabinet minister - over three days of concerted political bullying - is a
shocking travesty of natural justice. It is ugly stuff - reminiscent of
a Soviet show trial. Hearsay trotted out months after a
police investigation into Benson-Pope's behaviour was presented as new
allegations. But most of the scuttlebutt was in
the 1000- page report the police released last year with the decision not to
pursue criminal charges against Benson-Pope for allegedly stuffing a tennis
ball in a pupil's mouth. The fact is that no one bothered
to pounce on the details in the report until Investigate magazine decided to
put new icing on an old cake by running the allegations, unattributed at that
time, that Benson-Pope burst into the girls' shower room at a school camp. That National jumped into the fray
should not surprise. Its front bench - determined to
protect their own political butts against the 23 newcomers, mostly talented,
on its side - knows it needs to ratchet up some political scalps of its own. It also knows Prime Minister Helen
Clark's predilection for rolling out the political tumbril herself when any
of her ministers falls over. But the Opposition also needs to
demonstrate itself as surging in debate and focused where it matters: on the
real issues that face this country. It must not take leave of its
collective senses in an effort to compete against New Zealand's blogosphere
in the demolition game against one minister by firing parliamentary
allegations - which are unfounded on the so-called evidence presented in this
week's McCarthyist attack - that Benson-Pope is a "pervert". Judith Collins - a lawyer herself
- lost all sense of proportion when she fired that particular allegation
across the House. Try that in front of a real Court
of Justice - instead of within our very own parliamentary Star Chamber - and
see what short shrift you would get from a High Court judge for your
prosecutory efforts. What is lacking in this affair is
real corroboratory evidence. Neither Collins nor Bill English -
who at least examined the systemic issues involved - could back up that
particular sally. Some former pupils of Bayfield
High have since come forward to say there was no way the ex-teacher would
have seen them in a state of undress. At the very least somebody -
anybody - please present a line-of-sight diagram to show if it was even
physically possible in the first place. I find it astonishing that National leader Don Brash - one of a big
swag of New Zealand notables who signed a petition for an inquiry into the
Peter Ellis affair - should put his name to such an inquisition. Brash, after all - and a number of notable editors - thought the
allegations that a Christchurch creche was basically a paedophile cesspit
verged on the Salem witch trial hysteria. Like Ellis, Benson-Pope is physically unattractive. If he looked
anything like the handsome male teacher from my own school days who, shortly
after everybody packed off to university, set up shop with an attractive
former pupil, I suspect the furore would have been much less frenzied. There is an issue also over
whether Brash himself could have withstood such personal scrutiny through a
hindsight mirror. Would a board of directors today
be quite so tolerant of a managing director who decided to have a fling with
a subordinate, leading to the destruction of both their marriages? I personally think it's their own
business. But some boards wouldn't. Do we really want our Parliament -
and our news media, for that matter - to descend into a British-style of
public life where people of substance will not put themselves forward for
politics for fear that even the most minor skeletons in their cage will be
publicly rattled? It may sell newspapers and make
for compulsive television viewing but it is destructive. While National was plumbing the
political depths it was not turning its attention to the issues that matter:
our declining trade figures, the Government's attempt to turn around business
confidence without implementing the policies that will really help - the new
savings scheme, the blowout in the Auckland roading situation, the crumbling
power system. All of these are issues that
matter. We all know Clark's decision to
stand by Benson-Pope is born of expediency and self-regard for political
longevity - her own. Her "take no prisoners"
style is well known. But she had no difficulty, and
neither did some National MPs, rubbing shoulders in Auckland with former
United States President Bill Clinton, whose own proven sexual transgressions
have long been swept behind him. There will be enormous hurdles, of
course, if Clark does allow Benson-Pope the chance to rebuild his credibility
as a Cabinet minister. But National demeans itself by
making him the target of impeachment games. He's just not worth it. |
