When National add their voice, the debate must be over.
National make some great calls from time to time, it’s not often – but it happens, and when National start looking more compassionate than Labour, you know the debate must be over. Making Don look friendlier than Helen isn’t difficult (especially first thing in the morning) but doing it over warm and fuzzy issues like turfing foreigners back to unfriendly countries seriously endangers Labour’s core electorate of warm and fuzzy voters.
Dr Lockwood Smith has popped up and embarrassed Labour by lending his support to Iranian Hossein Yadegary. Hossein has been in prison since 2004 because he has refused to sign an application for an Iranian passport. He converted to Christianity and fears that he will get persecuted by Iran, which doesn’t have the best of histories when it comes to sane approaches to other peoples choice of God.
Dr Smith pointed out that two Labour ministers had supported Hossein in their capacity as Auckland MPs – Phil Goff and current Immigration Minister David Cunliffe. Which makes their current stand of ‘sign the forms and bugger off or your in prison forever’ slightly hypercritical.
Dr Smith uncovered a letter sent by Mr Cunliffe to then-Associate Immigration Minister Damien O'Connor in 2004 which argued Mr Yadegary could expect "severe repression in Iran" if he returned. Dr Smith said Mr O'Connor had been prepared to remove barriers to allow a tiler, Sunan Siriwan - who similarly had applications for refugee status rejected - to apply for a work permit because of labour shortages, after a representation by MP Taito Phillip Field. A similar dispensation should be made for Mr Yadegary, he said.
NZ Herald
For National to win the next election, they have to convince urban liberals to vote for them, their launch of ‘we really, really, really care about the environment’ policy is a step in that direction, but this case also allows National to seem reasonable and fair over an issue that is effectively about compassion. Labour should be very worried about this tide change.
posted by Bomber @ 10:10 am
5 comments
5 Comments:
Agree absolutely. Labour ought to be ashamed of themselves as they obviously don't seem too worried that Iran has the ability to impose the death penalty for the 'crime' of converting to Christianity from Islam...
I always thought that Labour was the lesser of the two evils - until they saw fit to shaft their long-time, loyal supporters for political gain with the Foreshore and Seabed Act.
This latest callous hypocrisy from Labour is yet another nail in an already well-sealed coffin.
So you'll be voting National with two ticks then Richard?
Vote Libertarianz! More freedom, less government.
As our glorious leader remarks in the latest issue of Liberty, Labour have "come a long way from representing the downtrodden and oppressed to behaving like feudal lords, clinging at any cost to power for power's sake."
The current Labour government is morally bankrupt. A National government would struggle to set a worse example.
I think National could set a much worse example in a very short space of time - mark my words - if National go ahead with their anti-maori agenda there will be civil war in this country
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