Neil Holm

Recently the Attorney General in NSW made a vigororous response to an statement by Justice Michael Kirby.  I used the response to make some further comments to the Attorney General and the Leader of the Opposition in NSW:

 

The Hon. John Hatzistergos,

Attorney General

GPO Box 5341,

Sydney NSW 2001

Dear Minister

RE: Your response to Justice Kirby

I was interested to read your response to the recent comments by Justice Kirby as reported in The Weekend Australian, November 22-23 2008, p. 5.

 

While I do not have strong views on the charter of rights or the tenure of judges, I do have strong views on the democratic process in New South Wales.  I long for a state where “democratically elected politicians” exhibit in parliament “the capacity, the mandate, the authority, the skill and the experience” to “reflect the values of the community and distil those into legislation.” 

 

It seems a long time since we have seen quality of this kind in the NSW parliament and, given the behaviour of the current government and opposition, it will be a long time before we see it again.  The Government goes from crisis to crisis and achieves little.  Members are more worried about losing their seats than ensuring that the mini-budget delivered the best outcomes for the state.

 

The Opposition is more concerned about remaining a “small target” and being re-elected than contributing to the development of quality policy, quality argumentation in parliament, and ensuring that the Government is kept on its toes with the aim of producing quality legislation. 

 

If any politicians in this state have any sense of the “values of the community”, they would know that the community is deeply unhappy about the political process in this state and that most of us feel that few politicians approach the standards that you have described.

 

Mr Hatzistergos, we need a strong and effective democratic process and I encourage you to commit positively to the policy debate and to contribute constructively to the development of sound legislation in NSW.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Neil Holm

 

 

Mr Barry O’Farrell,

Parliament House,

Macquarie Street,

SYDNEY NSW 2000

 

Dear Mr O’Farrell

RE: Michael Duffy’s Column in SMH (November 22-23 2008, p.35)

 

I was interested to read your response to the recent interviews by Michael Duffy.

 

While I do not hold a brief for the Government or the Attorney General, I do have strong views on the democratic process in New South Wales. 

 

I long for a state of the kind described by the Attorney General in his response to the recent comments by Justice Kirby as reported in The Weekend Australian, November 22-23 2008, p. 5:  a state where “democratically elected politicians” exhibit in parliament “the capacity, the mandate, the authority, the skill and the experience” to “reflect the values of the community and distil those into legislation.” 

 

It seems a long time since we have seen quality of this kind in the NSW parliament and, given the behaviour of the current government and opposition, it will be a long time before we see it again.  The Government goes from crisis to crisis and achieves little.   Government members are more worried about losing their seats than ensuring that the mini-budget delivered the best outcomes for the state

 

I am concerned that the Opposition seems more concerned about remaining a “small target” and being re-elected than contributing to the development of quality policy, quality argumentation in parliament, and ensuring that the Government is kept on its toes with the aim of producing quality legislation. 

 

If any politicians in this state have any sense of the “values of the community”, they would know that the community is deeply unhappy about the political process in this state and that most of us feel that few politicians come near the standards that we desire. 

 

Mr O’Farrell, we need a strong and effective opposition and I encourage you to commit positively to the policy debate and to contribute constructively to the development of sound legislation in NSW.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Neil Holm