Dragging us down in the dirt

Chris Northover Photo/File

Strangers to New Zealand might have noticed extraordinary happenings here lately and not be certain if they were having a bad dream and seeing the beginnings of the fabled zombie apocalypse - or if it was reality.

They would have seen a man acting and sounding like rabble rouser. He has whole halls full of young people chanting "F*** John Key" in a fervour rather too reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s. Then posting video of this on YouTube as a political advertisement.

They would also have seen a man release a book as part of what most people would recognise as a dirty politics campaign - and cynically call the book Dirty Politics: How attack politics is poisoning New Zealand's political environment - timed perfectly to ensure that his noise was the only sound heard.

I think our strangers would probably think it was the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. But the sad fact is that this is the reality of New Zealand in the 21st century.

Where else in the world would a convicted criminal gain legal access to the country, take a vindictive dislike to the prime minister of that country and then be able to found a political party intent on gaining membership of the parliament of that country with the stated intention of destroying the prime minister and his party?

That this man hasn't been laughed out of the country says rather too much about the tolerance of New Zealanders. Or are we simply naive?

The Advertising Standards Authority thankfully considers that the Internet-Mana Party YouTube election advertisement - which proudly showed the chanting youth - "offended against generally prevailing community standards and it should be withdrawn".

If anyone had any doubts about the wisdom of allowing teenagers the vote, perhaps those doubts are now vindicated. Academics and other manipulators know how easy it is to mislead the young - but, of course, they are all honourable people and wouldn't do such a thing, would they?

And as for the humourless man revelling in his own contribution to dirty politics, there is a saying that if you throw enough muck against a wall, some of it will stick.

But while we know that some believe that the means are justified by the end, doesn't Nicky Hager realise that the New Zealand public are tired of this type of "attack" politics? Isn't this constant brainless sniping what got the Labour Party into the lowly poll position it is in now?

We want to consider the ideas and policies of political parties in a fair and just manner - and not get distracted by sideshows.

Probably for that reason the polls don't show "game-changer" shifts as a result of the nastiness. But here's the rub - Hager knew that his book would cause a distraction from the political process whether he uncovered genuine "sins" or not.

Predictably the socialist media have made a feast of it - the left-wing cartoonists putting their own puerile bent on what was released. Anyone with a legitimate point to make would have their message drowned by the white noise of this tittle-tattle angst of school-yard nastiness.

Surely to take such action - guaranteed to hijack the democratic process during the course of a national election - is sheer arrogance.

It's concerning when you think about what's happening - one party trying to unseat our government out of spite, while someone else tries to hijack the political process to his own seemingly paranoid ends.

Perhaps the zombie apocalypse isn't that far away - mind you don't get bitten by the fat one.

Chris Northover is a Wanganui-based former corporate lawyer who has worked in the fields of aviation, tourism, health and the environment.