Free Press: ACT’s regular bulletin

David vs Jacinda
In this week’s Sunday-Star Times shoot out, David argues that government as regulator moves too slow for people to take advantage of technological advances, citing Uber, e-cigarettes, and AirBnB as technologies that have caught the Government napping. The column is now online here.

Making the Point
Tech expert Ian Apperley spoke at ACT’s Wellington region conference this weekend where he pointed out that technological change happens within a year or two. Two years ago Uber was nowhere, now it is upending the taxi market in city after city. The government’s regulations are struggling to keep up even when the Transport Minister, Simon Bridges, wants them to.

Auckland Tech Gathering
If you missed the Wellington conference, ACT’s Auckland region conference is taking place in just under three weeks. It will feature Apperley and also leading health software CEO Tom Bowden. You can register here.

Parliament is Back
Your property has been safe for four weeks, as Parliament has been in recess since early July. It is amazing what happens when people get to vote for their own holidays. This week Parliament will be sitting again, luckily ACT will be there, standing up for property rights among other things.

The Order Paper
The order paper contains nothing to write home about, however Wednesday is a private members’ day with several bills looking to be dispatched from first reading. That means more bills will be drawn from the ballot. Free Press has its fingers crossed for David Seymour’s End of Life Choice Bill (to legalise assisted dying/euthanasia) to be drawn in the coming weeks.

The Bain Schemozzle
Amy Adams has managed to deliver the worst of all worlds. David Bain is not to be compensated, but has been paid $925,000 basically to go away. Politics has triumphed over justice. Free Press has no opinion on whether he ‘did it,’ but we do have a view on the role of the state.

Extraordinary Powers
The state can apprehend you and lock you up for years. When ordinary citizens do this it is called kidnapping, but we allow the state to do it if it follows due process. The process is that you can be incarcerated if the state has acquired a conviction in an open court. Bain served 13 years but his conviction was quashed by the Privy Council and he was later acquitted in a New Zealand court.

Justice
Justice Minister Amy Adams now has a choice. The Claytons’ compensation awarded to Bain has undermined justice, she must now change the cabinet guidelines so that compensation is depoliticised. The process should not involve shopping for a favourable report from difference judges, but rather the idea that if you’re held without due process you should be compensated.

ends

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