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Nats' 'PC eradication' triggers debate
27 October 2005
The National Party's appointment of a "political correctness eradicator" has triggered a debate about minority rights in New Zealand.
MP Wayne Mapp has been given the job of fighting for the silent majority against what National sees as the insidious "PC" agendas of some government organisations.
The position has been created by party leader Don Brash, who announced his shadow cabinet yesterday.
Dr Mapp said today the Human Rights Commission was at the top of his agenda.
"Here's an organisation that has a set of values pretty much divorced from the main stream," he said.
"It sets out a way of thinking we're all expected to follow and then it backs it up with a whole series of coercive powers."
National ha
s frequently complained in Parliament about the attention the Government pays to minorities and Maori rights,
saying everyone should be treated equally.
Dr Mapp said the fundamental problem was giving power to minorities through state institutions.
"You can't have organisations that have both prosecution powers and advocacy roles...it's this prescribed way of thinking that's really got peoples' goat," he said on National Radio.
Dr Mapp said the Waitangi Tribunal was another organisation that needed fixing.
"It's a mixture of re-making our history and also making determinations on settlement claims...it should stick to claims," he said.
Author Alan Duff said he was sick of hearing about minority rights.
"Is someone going to stand up and say 'who bloody well cares about the rights of minorities'," he said.
"How about the rights of the majority, the rights of children. Who cares about gays?"<b
r><b
r>Canterbury University associate professor of philosophy Dennis Dutton said political correctness closed down debate.
"I think today in New Zealand it's really a matter of making people
, young and old, feel uncomfortable about questioning the claims of anybody who claims they are a victim class," he said.
"Somebody has got their hand out, they want something from the taxpayer, and we're to be made to feel uncomfortable about even questioning this."
Labour's transsexual MP Georgina Beyer, who has described herself in the past as someone who represents "just about everything that's PC", disagreed with them.
"Fear is what will come back into people," she said.
"Are we going to go back to the horrid days of the past...we do have a right to try to attain equality. For the most part, we have succeeded in New Zealand."
Skara Brae,
madkins
Nats' 'PC eradication' triggers debate
27 October 2005
The National Party's appointment of a "political correctness eradicator" has triggered a debate about minority rights in New Zealand.
MP Wayne Mapp has been given the job of fighting for the silent majority against what National sees as the insidious "PC" agendas of some government organisations.
The position has been created by party leader Don Brash, who announced his shadow cabinet yesterday.
Dr Mapp said today the Human Rights Commission was at the top of his agenda.
"Here's an organisation that has a set of values pretty much divorced from the main stream," he said.
"It sets out a way of thinking we're all expected to follow and then it backs it up with a whole series of coercive powers."
National ha
s frequently complained in Parliament about the attention the Government pays to minorities and Maori rights,
saying everyone should be treated equally.
Dr Mapp said the fundamental problem was giving power to minorities through state institutions.
"You can't have organisations that have both prosecution powers and advocacy roles...it's this prescribed way of thinking that's really got peoples' goat," he said on National Radio.
Dr Mapp said the Waitangi Tribunal was another organisation that needed fixing.
"It's a mixture of re-making our history and also making determinations on settlement claims...it should stick to claims," he said.
Author Alan Duff said he was sick of hearing about minority rights.
"Is someone going to stand up and say 'who bloody well cares about the rights of minorities'," he said.
"How about the rights of the majority, the rights of children. Who cares about gays?"<b
r><b
r>Canterbury University associate professor of philosophy Dennis Dutton said political correctness closed down debate.
"I think today in New Zealand it's really a matter of making people
, young and old, feel uncomfortable about questioning the claims of anybody who claims they are a victim class," he said.
"Somebody has got their hand out, they want something from the taxpayer, and we're to be made to feel uncomfortable about even questioning this."
Labour's transsexual MP Georgina Beyer, who has described herself in the past as someone who represents "just about everything that's PC", disagreed with them.
"Fear is what will come back into people," she said.
"Are we going to go back to the horrid days of the past...we do have a right to try to attain equality. For the most part, we have succeeded in New Zealand."
Skara Brae,
madkins