Cunliffe out to prove he's no prissy Green lackey

Jay Kuten PHOTO/FILE

I was initially mystified when David Cunliffe suddenly found deep-sea drilling attractive. Could some sort of DNA transfer have taken place between him and John Key? Or maybe both have had their brains taken over by Sarah Palin. She turned a Black Power cry, "Burn baby burn" from the LA riots of 1968 into the mantra of more ambitious right wingers determined to despoil the planet with "Drill baby drill".

There is a direct continuity between the black radicals of the 1960s and the white eco-terrorists of the past decade.

What were Cunliffe's motives? If he were an American politician it would be easy. As they said in Watergate, "follow the money".

In the US, with corporations declared to have free speech rights under the Constitution and money being declared as speech, the syllogism ends with the money - a lot of it - handed over to pay for the election. Election 2012 cost US$3,133,195,279 or $3,774,934,071. And the US gets the best government money can buy.

No such luck or evident corruption here. Don't need it. It's more nod, nod, wink, wink. Unless you happen to run for mayor of Auckland. First it's forgetful and forgettable John Banks, now Len Brown's hotel rooms. Such class acts really put Auckland on the map. Come to think of it, wasn't it Banksie who told us a certain local friend of his would do the same for Wanganui?

Cunliffe's motive? Not money. It's the need to poke the Greens in the eye to reassure folks that Labour won't be pushed around by the Greens. To be too closely identified with the Greens in this country is anathema to political ambition, and David Cunliffe is nothing if not ambitious. Yon David has that lean and hungry look.

It's not that the Greens are principally concerned with the environment. Lots of non-Green folks realise that (a) environmental concerns set New Zealand apart on the world stage and that - along with Hobbits - spell tourists; (b) quite a few people recognise that it's a small country on a small planet. A real environmental disaster here or elsewhere could wreak havoc with this country.

It's that the Greenies in this country are seen as effete, elite and, if male, are considered what Arnold Schwarzenegger called California legislators - girly men. Cunliffe is trying to show some bloke cred lest it look like he's too close to Russel Norman.

It didn't help the Greens' image that Sue Bradford put forward the legislation whose opponents called it (falsely) the anti-smacking bill. Though well-intentioned, the bill's mistake lies mainly in who proposed it. If an ex all-Black had sponsored it, Colin Craig would have nothing to brag about.

To set the record straight, the law merely amends one already on the books. Sec 59 of the Crimes Act used to allow a defence of "reasonable force for correction" even if "reasonable force" included a riding crop (in one case) or a rubber hose. The corrected Sec 59 doesn't absolutely preclude a parent smacking a child. That's not a crime, it's just deficiency of parenting skills.

Mr Key is famous for turning about face, as he's done on Winston. He's so skilled at getting his head around something previously opposed - like GST raises prior to election - that sometimes I feel an exorcism is called for.

While Key/Cunliffe shift ground so that latter goes for drilling, the local National MP, Chester Borrows, is either singing from the wrong hymnal or maybe on his vaca to Canada he stopped over in Colorado. I don't know how else to understand Chester's sudden lyrical take on environmentalism. (Chronicle, January 22) and his finally acknowledging that without respect for our environment we won't have an economy. Maybe he's secretly planning to become a Greenie.

With these politicians swivelling, shifting, rocking and rolling, it's hard to keep a steady footing. I'd recommend taking it all in with a few grains of salt and a healthy dose of scepticism.