Even NAtional supporters are concerned abuot the
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/nine-year-itch-what-alfred-ngaro-revealed-about-the-national-government/
How any politician could stand up in a forum attended by note-taking journalists and boast about threatening, say, a Maori partnership
school or the Salvation Army and still remain a minister is beyond me.
His backside should have had a smouldering imprint of Prime Minister
Bill English’s boot on it. Instead, he was mildly rebuked and an
internal audit made of funding that he had not yet granted or denied
during the five months he had held the voluntary sector portfolio.
I have met Ngaro. He is a charming fellow who, I would have thought,
has enough brainpower not to commit an act of political suicide. His
words were bound to create a public perception that the National
Government is running a protection racket. (“Nice organisation you’ve
got there, buddy. Be a shame if anything happened to it.”)
Worse, his outburst implies that other non-governmental organisations
that haven’t complained must be compliant sycophants, staying quiet to
keep the cash coming in.
The fact that the country’s public radio service, Radio New Zealand,
which has been known to broadcast the occasional excoriating critique
of the Government’s performance, has had its funding frozen (and
therefore, in effect, cut) since 2008 could be seen as reinforcing the
view that Ngaro wasn’t just running off at the mouth, but rather that
he had spilled the beans on how the state controls its critics.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The article points to other examples of the decline of the government
from the site:
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/oppositional-behaviour-the-nats-looting-of-other-parties-policies-is-complete/
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/politicians-aren-t-talking-to-us-this-election-year-but-to-winston-peters/
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/willie-jackson-refuses-to-be-silenced-by-alfred-ngaro-threat/
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