Thursday, October 29, 2009

ACT pisses me off

There. I said it. I am feeling really shitty because I had to leave a seagull with a broken wing lying helpless on the beach. I tried to right it but it just panicked. The tide is coming in and it'll drown but what the hell does one do? I'm not sure a badly broken wing can be fixed anyway. But it has reduced me to tears because I couldn't do anything about it and it looked at me as if I should be able to. Just beautiful and helpless.

Then I come home and read about stuff that just pisses me off. And at least I can do something about that. Or say something about it. This business of taking DNA from people who have not been convicted of a crime stinks. And ACT supported it. It should be utterly against the principle they claim to uphold and defend; that of individual freedom.

It is inconsistent with the Bill of Right's "provisions against unreasonable search and seizure." It turns on its head the time-honoured (with inestimable good reason) presumption of innocence.

And the Maori Party is right. It will disproportionately affect young Maori men. But that shouldn't be the reason that they voted against it. They should have, as ACT should have, voted against it because the state has no right to forcibly take DNA from someone who has not been proven to have violated anybody else's rights.

14 comments:

PM of NZ said...

So, Lindsay I take it you will be putting in a complaint to HR Comm as soon as the GG signs this one off?

Gooner said...

I agree Lindsay.

But there's votes, maybe 2 or 3, in being "tough on crime". It's all the rage.

Lorna Order has a lot to answer for.

Kiwiwit said...

What is this country coming to? Edmund Burke comes to mind: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I'm with the Maori Party on this - at least they have some backbone unlike ACT.

deleted said...

Again where ACT needs to grow some balls on these issues and stand up for the principles it was founded on.

Same thing goes with these new laws proposing warrentless searches.

Sus said...

Gooner's right: "tough on crime" is definitely the rage & has been for ages. Remember how Tony Blair was -- and I quote -- going to be "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime"? Well, I guess it sounded good!

(BTW, I think she's Laura Norder! Half-sister to LO?!) ;)

Adolf Fiinkensein said...

ACT annoys me or ACT makes me mad would have been so much more lady-like.

Oswald Bastable said...

Yes, but they pissed her off!

Me too- once crims are CONVICTED, THEN take their DNA.

Anonymous said...

I partly blame it on the stupid MMP system, which weakens government and makes coalition partners beg for any dismal bones. Act is a disappointment, but arn't they all. Even Labour backed this law, which surprises me even more. Go figure.

Manolo said...

ACT is getting infected with the Key syndrome: no balls, no guts, no principles, no spine.

A case of tainted by association (to the cowardly National Party).

Anonymous said...

Ok so what about the guy on Auckland Joseph Thomson. Hundreds of burgs, many rapes and undoubtedly plenty of DNA samples but none on a database that could be matched so he continued to offend and hurt women because no one could match his DNA.
We should also remember that family DNA matching is now possible so by looking at part matching on the database allows identification of probable matches.
Time is not that far away IMHO that there will be a bar code reader that looks at you and reads your DNA. Thought this would happen years ago because the basic idea of DNA and bar codes is the same. Might as well just get on with it for the sake of our communities. Far fetched some might say but I happen to think not.

More important is the collection and use of the data and that’s a never ending issue and has been since the first computer came to NZ.

Libertyscott said...

"he continued to offend and hurt women because no one could match his DNA."

No he offended and hurt women because he chose to do so, and the Police could not secure a conviction from the evidence available.

The job of the Police would be much simpler if it didn't need the inconvenience of search warrants, grounds for arrest and the like.

Just my opinion said...

That's what happens when you associate with the Nats too much, you start to lose your principles and forget what you stand for.

ACT will need to remedy this so it doesn't happen again :)

Unknown said...

I'm so over politicians. I don't even think I care about the perks anymore, I just wish they'd stop making law after complex ruddy law to bind up my life in. In fact the best use of my tax money would be for them to simply go to Parliament and eat their lunch, working their way toward coronaries, but do nothing else, because every thing they do strikes at my liberty.

Personally, I've got far more feeling for that poor bird: with you Lindsay, I would have been gutted over that.

Think I'm on a sugar low this morning. Back to work.

Anonymous said...

Cool post you got here. I'd like to read something more about this topic.
By the way check the design I've made myself Young escorts