Whose Money Is Really Phoney, Sorry, Funny?

The Rt. Hon. Winston Peters spoke at Milford Baptist church on 2 August, 2004. The full text can be seen HERE.

The subject of his address, ' The Sounds Of Silence In Parliament', doubtless brought thoughts of ''I wish'' and ''If only Lord, if only'' to the minds of those who are subjected not only to the cold winds of Wellington but also to the incessant blasts of hot air emanating from the Beehive. I wondered if, since Mr. Peters was speaking in a church, he got his inspiration for “The Sounds Of Silence In Parliament,” from the bible, in particular Proverbs 17:28-“Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is esteemed a person of understanding.”

Mr. Peters, in his address, proceeds to “bash Brash,” along with the main stream media (few could argue with him about that) and the new Maori party, all of which activities are “meat and drink” for politicians. I would just like to take this opportunity to let Mr. Peters know that, as far as “newspapers” are concerned, there is at least one publication that is still 100% New Zealand owned and has a “contributor” who is trying to provide information to enable people to make up their minds.

It is not so much the lack of information being provided, it is the apathy of the people. Fiona Vessey, of the Far North District Council, is quoted this week saying that “council staff have been seeking answers to the question of what would happen if there were insufficient candidates, but they expect last minute nominations to yield a full field.” How about that for civic apathy? The irony is, of course, that there are probably individuals among the “disenfranchised” in New Zealand who are ready and willing, but unable, to stand for public office, due to their “residency status.” “No Taxation Without Representation” is a story for a different time.

The expression “different strokes for different folks” probably applies when people read things, like Mr. Peters’ speech, and for me there were 2 strokes.

The first, during the “Brash bashing,” was “He (Don Brash) stood for National in the eighties- and was twice defeated by Social credit’s Gary Knapp who stood on a platform of creating funny money.”

The second was “There is another topic bubbling away that receives little critical analysis and that is the approach to race relations in this country. No other issue has the potential-if mishandled- to so severely and permanently damage New Zealand’s future. We know that because it has, and is, and promises to be badly handled.”

Readers may now be wondering, OK, what is the connection, if any?

First of all, Mr. Peters conveniently “forgets” or “omits” to mention that Gary Knapp increased his number of votes, over Don Brash, from 8,061, in the by-election, to 11,568 in the 1981 General Election and that Social Credit, in that General Election, gained 20.55% of the national vote. The 20.55% gained them just 2 seats under the then “first past the post system” whereas had the present MMP system been in operation, they would have secured approximately 21 seats. I suppose a bit of “Socred” bashing and a disparaging remark about “funny money” all helps Mr. Peters (he hopes) to get a few extra votes at election time.

Secondly the words “race relations” should be replaced by “debt.” It is fair to say that no political party in New Zealand is “mishandling” debt, they are not handling it at all, it is racing away unfettered, while people, such as the dreadful, sorry, dreadlocks Green MP, Nandor Tanzcos, champion of “the pot user,” wrings his hands and blames successive governments for student debt.

Is not the Green Party a supporter of the current Labour Government?

“The only winners are the foreign owned banks who are creaming the interest payments,” said Nandor!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what was his first clue? What about the interest payments on the Government National Debt, Nandor, or don’t they count? There is not a single political party, with representatives in Parliament, that is proposing an alternative to the present debt money system, not even Mr. Peters, despite his comments about “funny money.”

The existing debt money system seems to me, at least, to be a very funny system, when you have international Shylocks holding a (supposedly) sovereign nation in modern day slavery, and representatives of the IMF (International Misery Factory) invading new Zealand’s financial system with not a word spoken against it by any politician! Mr. Peters, maybe, should change his party’s name from “New Zealand First” to “Debt First” or “Bankers First.”

Mr. Peters says of/to the National Party, “Let me ask you some questions.”

I would like to ask Mr. Peters just one question, “how does/would New Zealand First propose to solve the debt problem in New Zealand?”

This is an opinion piece by Geoff Waterhouse and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor. Bouquets or brickbats may be sent to otherside532@yahoo.co.nz

© Scoop Media