Brian Holden: Govt glee humiliating hoons

After four years, the car crushing law has finally been kicked into gear with Police Minister Anne Tolley pushing the button to squash the pride and joy of the law's first victim. Jolly good - and until hoons finally get the message, let the crushing continue.

How bizarre though, to allow the owner to first remove all the fittings, such as boom boxes and mag wheels.

After seeing the car undergoing its radical change in shape, I strongly suspect that the engine was removed as well, leaving not much left to destroy.

Currently awaiting sentence on his fourth strike, the owner of the now flattened Datsun Laurel is reported to have been "humiliated", which is proof that the crushing law is having some effect.

This little monster should never be allowed to own a set of wheels again. But did the crushers need to make such a celebration about it, with Ms Tolley doing a victory pose on the pancaked car in her stilettos in front of the press?

Quoted to have said that she was "so looking forward to it", I half expected a bottle of champagne to be uncorked when I saw the historic moment on the TV news. Once again, the authorities have pushed things too far.

In this case, despite having shown some nous with boy racers, they have needlessly driven a wedge between youth and themselves.

I'm all for car crushing, but because it's such a controversial and terminal act, the celebratory nature, including the glee on the faces of those who push the button, should be kept to a minimum.

Want to waste a whole heap of money on preparing for something that's never likely to happen?

Then take an example from the Government who blew $200,000 on running an exercise on how to deal with a boatload of Sri Lankan asylum seekers should they inadvertently end up on our shores.

The exercise involved 380 staff from 18 government agencies including medics, Customs, Immigration officers and police. Despite the scenario being make-believe, the huge cost of nearly a quarter of a million dollars certainly wasn't.

You have to ask. Why on earth would a boatload of exhausted asylum seekers from Sri Lanka or Indonesia choose to bypass Australia and sail a further few thousand kilometres to New Zealand?

They just wouldn't - unless they were hopelessly lost.

In fact, a Tampa refugee has told MPs that New Zealand is not a destination for boat people and that even creating a bill which aimed to discourage people-smugglers was simply solving a non-existent problem.

Mohammad Ali Amiri tells of the poor condition of refugee boats which leave Southeast Asia and the impossibility of travelling 7000km to our shores near the bottom of the world.

"Mass arrival in NZ doesn't exist because of the distance. No one can travel that distance in an ordinary boat."

So really, when one considers the odds of us being the destination of asylum seeker boat people, the so-called brains of our country have once again needlessly frittered away more of our money.

Noticed how much more compact the telephone directory is this year? Unfortunately though, the print font size has been reduced accordingly and can only be read through youthful eyes - those of the generation who don't use the phone book anyway.

The rest of us will have to squint through our reading glasses. Galling for me too, is that my Yellow Pages listing has also been reduced in size, despite having to pay the same as last year.