Nasty stuff

Judith Tizard, on Don Brash's speech, speaking to Paul Holmes on NewstalkZB, "The idea of a man who is married to a migrant attacking migrants really does worry me."

What did Don Brash say?

"Looking ahead, we will be devoting particular attention to three more issues.

The first of these is immigration, not least because it is intimately connected to economic policy. Indeed, immigration has been thought of by many people as being relevant only to the economy. How do we fill gaps in the workforce? What level of gross immigration is needed to offset the steady outflow of New Zealanders? How do we ensure there are enough people of working age to ensure that older New Zealanders are cared for in their old age?

But just as importantly, how do we do this while retaining the common values that bind us together as a nation? New Zealand is a liberal, tolerant and secular society, a society that embraces the Western Enlightenment ideals of personal liberty, private property and rationality as the basis of decision-making. These are values so central to our society that we hardly even think about them. Immigration can add greatly to our society, but it also has the potential to undermine the glue that holds our society together.

Our current immigration policies have evolved without serious public discussion or debate, and we will be giving careful consideration to this issue through the coming year."

But so starts the ugly spin and all the people who won't bother to read the speech will believe what they hear from Labour mouth-pieces like Judith Tizard.

Update. Let's not forget the conspiratorial Greens. According to the NZ Herald, Green MP Keith Locke described the immigration comments as a "coded attack on non-white migrants" and with Mr Peters muzzled, Dr Brash was trying to fill his shoes.