Thursday, April 28, 2011

Don Brash, defender of the poor and downtrodden

It is fantastic to see that Don Brash is trying to get back into politics with today’s coup of the ACT Party leadership.

Don Brash said in his brief press conference his objectives were to “raise the income levels of all New Zealanders” while making sure that “all New Zealanders are treated equally under the law”. Finally a man in politics who is going to fight for the lower class, to stand up for the marginalised, to speak out for the lower socio-economic groups in NZ. Don Brash is the defender of the poor and downtrodden, a friend to the beneficiary, a campaigner for those in need.

Don Brash is correct, New Zealanders are treated unequally under the law. One 21 year study that looked into this found that Maori offenders were between 2.1 and 2.6 times more likely to get a conviction than a non-Maori offender where there socio-economic standing and repeat offending were similar. Dr. Brash will make sure that Maori offenders are treated the same as non-Maori.

If you have a look at convictions in NZ, 66% of apprehensions of European New Zealanders are resolved by prosecution, whereas 76% of apprehensions of Pacific People end the same way. Pacific People are being treated unfairly under NZ law, Don Brash will be the champion of the Pacific People to make sure they are treated the same under the law.

If you look at the lowest socio-economic groups in NZ, statistics show that they are much more likely to plead guilty to a crime. It is believed that largely this is because they do not have access to the resources to fund a defence campaign as someone in the highest socio-economic group. Don Brash will be a spokesperson for the poor, helping them get equal treatment in NZ courts to the richest people in the country.

If you look at any part of our judicial system, where the wealthy and famous have an advantage then Don Brash will make sure the poorest, least educated and unknown get the same advantages as he wants to ensure that “all New Zealanders are treated equally under the law”. The wealthy get more diversion, more name suppression and more home detention than the rest…not on Dr. Brash’s watch!

And finally, Dr. Brash will be a friend to pensioners and beneficiaries as well as those on the minimum wage. His statement that he intends to “raise the income levels of all New Zealanders” leaves us with only one logical conclusion. That Don Brash will be raising the pension, raising benefits and increasing the minimum wage.

Welcome back to politics Dr. Brash, a man who will passionately work for the marginalised of our beautiful country.

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, it's always, throughout history, been proven that the best way to help workers on low wages is to raise the minimum wage.

    Yeah right! It's better to lower it or remove it completely. That way, there's less or no barrier for employers to hire more staff, this helps the businesses, helps the economy, unemployment goes down and wages go up.

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  2. Ahahaha Pat you are a funny, funny man!

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  3. I know you're being sarcastic, but i'm in ACT and I hope we DO address all those things.

    Pensions are indexed to average wages, so raising incomes will raise pensions.

    Benefits are only required if you don't have enough income, so increasing income will help beneficiaries (unless you think it's better for beneficiaries to stay on the benefit rather than get a job).

    Minimum wage has nothing to do with how much people are paid. People who earn a business more than the minimum wage will get a job anyway, people who don't won't. We're going to raise wages by making New Zealand a better place to live and work, not by simply passing a law.

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  4. Great post, Pat!

    Mike, I couldn't resist responding to your comment.

    http://frank-ritchie.com/post/5152382940/does-reducing-or-removing-a-minimum-wage-help-workers

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