Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Canterbury Earthquake Bill: Blog Reaction
Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill: Blog Reaction
Dean
Knight: Canterbury Earthquake Response And Recovery
Bill: Constitutionally Outrageous
It may not be
politic to say this, but the Canterbury Earthquake Response
and Recovery Bill is a constitutional outrage. A quick read
show that it grants extreme Executive power – unbridled
and effectively unchecked – in a way that has the
potential to undermine our very democratic foundations. More>>
ALSO:
- LAWS 179: Elephants and the law: Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill: some examples
- LAWS 179: Elephants and the law: Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill: The Law Commission's blueprint on emergency powers
- LAWS 179: Elephants and the law: Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill: a democratically consistent alternative
Andrew
Geddis: The Law Of Necessity
At the risk of voicing a commonplace sentiment, Canterbury's earthquake and its aftermath was A Bad Thing to have happen. Furthermore, the response to date of government both local and central has been admirable...
Yet even so, the Canterbury
Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill rushed through the
House and into law in but a single day gives me a case of
the screaming collywobbles. More>>
ALSO:
Graeme
Edgeler: He is Henry the Eighth, he is
I
haven't time to prepare a post of my usual consideration (or
length), before the House of Representatives passes the
Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill through all
stages under extreme urgency, but I felt impelled to say
something before it passed, rather than after. The in-depth
analysis will hopefully follow from many quarters in the
coming days – probably not from me in any organised form
– but I will perhaps start with a couple of
questions:
1. why does the Government – without first
going to Parliament – need the power to unilaterally
decide that murder isn't a crime in Auckland to assist with
the reconstruction of Christchurch?
2. why, if the
Government did decide that murder shouldn't be a crime in
Auckland, should this obviously and stupidly unreasonable
decision not be able to be over-turned by a Court? More>>
No
Right Turn: We Are Now (in Theory) A
Dictatorship
Earlier tonight, in a unanimous vote, Parliament made us a dictatorship. While Parliament still exists, it is meaningless. We are now under the rule of a single tyrant: Gerry Brownlee, the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery.
Oh, not in practice, of course. But in form. The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill, passed unanimously less than an hour ago, gives Brownlee the power to repeal or modify practically any law on our statute book, without even having to refer to Cabinet, let alone Parliament. More>>
Offsetting Behaviour: Emergency Powers
INTERIOR: CORUSCANT, MAIN SENATE CHAMBER - EVENINGWELLINGTON, THE BEEHIVE - AFTERNOON
JAR JAR GERRY BROWNLEE stands in his pod before the chamber, as it floats in the middle of the taking up a
vast space.
JAR JAR: BROWNLEE: In response to the direct threat tothe Republic Christchurch mesa propose that the SenateParliament give immediately emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor Governor in Council
... More>>
ALSO:
Let me add my voice to the flabbergasted reactions of some constitutional experts to the Earthquake Response and Recovery Act. It reads like a far-fetched doom-laden Public Law exam problem. And now it’s law. We’ve just appointed three Ministers as Kings. More>>
Scoop
Scoop Independent News
Scoop is NZ's largest independent news source; respected widely in media, political, business and academic circles for being the place on the internet for publishing "what was really said", and for the quality of its analysis of issues.
Gordon Campbell: On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
Peter Dunne: Newshub And TVNZ Tip Of Media Iceberg
Harry Finch: Austerity – For And Against
Gordon Campbell: On Winston Peters’ Pathetic Speech At The UN
Binoy Kampmark: Flicker Of Hope, Biden’s Throwaway Lines On Assange
Media Matters NZ: Here We Go Again