Libertarianz Deputy Leader Richard McGrath said he was pleased to read a statement from Simon Upton dismissing speculation that he held any belief in the intrinsic nature of human rights. "This frank confession must come as a tremendous relief to Mr Upton and those close to him. For years he has lived a lie, pretending to favour the notion that people are born with rights which they can never lose. Unfortunately it seems this was never the case, but we can at least be pleased that he has come clean."

Dr McGrath was referring to a speech made by Mr Upton recently in Washington, in which he spurned the concept of inalienable rights to life, liberty and private property upon which the American constitution is based. "We are being effectively told by Mr Upton that in New Zealand, people's rights are arbitrary - to be altered at will by politicians such as himself."

"Mr Upton's record speaks for itself," added McGrath. "He is the person who presides over the rights-destroying Resource Management Act. As health minister he somehow dodged responsibility for the scandal that occurred when blood products were contaminated with hepatitis C. His actions suggest a total disregard for individual rights, and a belief that government can further dispossess New Zealanders of the few rights they still have."

Dr McGrath says Libertarianz by contrast bases its policy platform on a firm commitment to the inalienable nature of individual rights. "Such ideas may not seem important to people like Mr Upton," he said, "but without such a rock-solid base, it is now apparent that Upton and his National Party are little more than shallow two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs whose philosophical foundations rest in quicksand."

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>