Te Radar: Philanthropy a Field where modesty is king

Taito Phillip Field clearly believes that charity begins at home. His home. Which is now nicely painted. And freshly tiled.

It is therefore outrageous that his philanthropy in aiding would-be migrants is being abused in such a squalid manner by all and sundry.

Clearly aware of the stress created by an immigrant's frustrating quest to gain a work permit, Field shows his charity by shouting the luckless chap a trip to a sunny South Pacific island where he is permitted to work. For Field.

Knowing of Field's modesty about his benevolent activity, the men involved apparently refused to speak to the Government inquiry, as no doubt they didn't wish to embarrass Field by regaling us with tales of his generosity.

Clearly the munificent MP's actions were so gratefully received by the men that they freely (literally) gave of their time and skills to help the humble civil servant in the upkeep of some of his many houses.

Some vulgar people have alleged that Field simply exploited the men at slave labour rates for his personal benefit. But is it a crime not to pay market rates, or simply good business practice?

If Field did manage to employ these folk at the stated rate, he should be immediately appointed to monitor and negotiate all Government contracts, for, given the excellent deal he negotiated, he could no doubt strike many more and save the nation a fortune.

The irony of the argument about Field's charity is that Labour, and Trevor Mallard in particular, now have the unbridled audacity to criticise others for their philanthropy, in this case the National Party, who have proposed encouraging their members to become involved with charities.

Using charities for political gain was a cynical and desperate approach to getting political support, squawked Mallard. Bollocks.

All involvement with charity is inherently cynical in and of itself. After all, giving to charity is an inherently selfish action. Sure, the givers may think they are being purely altruistic, but there is no denying it makes them feel better about themselves. This is not a bad thing.

Anything that motivates people to help others is good. Just ask Sir Bob Geldof.

He flounced in last week to snarl that we as a nation were pathetic and a disgrace as he lambasted us for our tightwaddedness for not doing our bit in donating aid, which we do at well below the 0.7 per cent of our gross national income recommended by the UN.

However, given the poverty apparently contained within these shores, it would be selfish of us to allow the world's poverty-stricken people aid that we do not allow our own.

Oddly, Geldof was somewhat reluctant to declare how much of his not insubstantial income he personally donates.

Perhaps Bob should have a little korero with Taito Phillip Field about dipping his hand into his pocket to help the less well off. After all, he seems to be an expert.