Editorial Tuesday February 3, 2015

Peter Jackson, editor, The Northland Age

Let's wait and see

NEW ZEALAND FIRST leader Winston Peters initially showed some modicum of restraint when Northland MP Mike Sabin announced his resignation from politics on Friday. Asked if he might contest the inevitable by-election, given that he is a son of the Mid North, he replied that this was not the Serengeti, where "we" gathered at the first sign of a weak animal. He might have been in a minority of one there.

The fact that Mr Sabin resigned because of personal issues that he believed would be best addressed outside Parliament suggests that his is a more realistic appraisal of how sharks are attracted by blood, if one might resort to another metaphor, but the reality is that we know virtually nothing. Until some fairly fundamental questions are answered it might be best to breathe through our noses for a while, and wait until we are better informed before leaping to any conclusions.

What we do know, courtesy of one of the Sunday papers, is that Mr Sabin has been the subject of a police investigation for at least some weeks. Neither the police nor the National Party, nor Mr Sabin himself, have confirmed that since it was published in December, but the lack of a denial from any quarter strongly suggests that it's true. But that's really about it. We don't know when the National Party, in Northland or head office, knew something was up. We don't know when the Prime Minister knew something was up. And quite frankly, most of us who aren't politicians probably don't care.

Given that whatever the allegation against Mr Sabin might be, it is serious enough for him to abandon his political career, it seems unlikely that the party had any inside knowledge, but even if it did, what's the issue? We don't have details of the alleged offence, and more importantly from a political point of view we don't know the vintage of the allegation. If it is historic, then questions might be asked within National regarding its candidate selection process, but that's a matter for the party. If anyone believes that whatever Mr Sabin might have done contrary to the law has affected his performance as Northland's MP since 2011 they haven't said so.

The questions that are now being asked by various politicians regarding how much the Prime Minister knew and when he knew it smack more of political opportunism than anything else. The fact that Mr Sabin, whatever happens from this point on, has departed in spectacular fashion obviously isn't enough for them. If they can drag the Prime Minister into it they will do so, for reasons of their own as opposed to best serving the people of Northland or New Zealand, or the integrity of the political system.

Meanwhile Mr Sabin is entitled to some consideration at this point, given that whatever is behind all this has cost him a political career that meant everything to him. That, perhaps, offers the strongest clue that where there is smoke there will be fire, but there is nothing to be gained by speculating. He will be judged, quite rightly, when whatever prompted the police investigation becomes public knowledge.

It would be fair to say though that he worked hard for his electorate and his party since he won the Northland candidacy in 2011. He had a realistic view of the challenges facing his electorate and its potential, and devised a plan that might yet continue delivering the progress that recent statistics suggest has been made over the last two years. Whatever he might have done to prematurely end his political career, he is entitled to recognition for that, although he won't be getting much from Labour leader Andrew Little.

His response on Friday was to promise a credible campaign in a by-election that he realistically assessed as unwinnable, despite the perceived fertility of the ground in Northland for political change. Mr Little noted that the region had issues, not least an unemployment rate that he reckoned was one of the highest in the world, and housing problems. It's good to know that he is so well informed about what ails us. And when he's finished questioning National Party figures about who knew what about Mr Sabin and when, he might like to tell us what the last three-term Labour government did about that.

Meanwhile Mr Sabin's elevation to chairman of Parliament's law and order select committee suggests that the party saw some talent in him. Whatever it is that he has been or is to be charged with, and whatever punishment might be imposed by the courts, he has paid a very high price already. The day might come when he is judged as deserving of that price, but in the meantime we should hold judgement.

It might also have been a good idea for some people to breathe through their noses for a while before exploding in fury over the remarks Man Booker-winning novelist Eleanor Catton reportedly made apropos the level of encouragement this country's politicians offer to the arts. It's possible that Ms Catton's scorn was fuelled by her failure to win the supreme prize at last year's NZ Post book awards, having already won one of the world's most prestigious awards in England, but whatever prompted her tantrum it was probably best ignored.

The vitriolic response from some quarters, some, including RadioLive host Sean Plunket, going as far as to label her a traitor, possibly went some way to vindicating her perception of this as a strange little country where tall poppies are not tolerated, and where people, or at least politicians, are obsessed with achieving the means of supporting the good life and are not interested in anything remotely cerebral. Mr Plunket then added a new element to the furore by referring to Ms Catton as an ungrateful hua.

Problem is, no one seems to know exactly what a hua is, which perhaps reduces its ability to give the intended offence somewhat. According to the Reed Essential Maori Dictionary a hua can be an egg, a fruit or product. It can also mean plentiful, profit and benefit. Perhaps Mr Plunket was describing Ms Catton as an ungrateful beneficiary of more than a little taxpayer largesse during her writing career, before and since her rise to stardom, although he apparently intended to belittle her as a woman/person who is annoying.

Whatever a hua might be, we shouldn't lose any sleep over someone who tells an apparently tiny audience of literati in India that New Zealand does not provide an especially benign environment for the artistic fraternity, even if that is arguably not so, and who doesn't seem to appreciate that her boorish homeland at least allows her to express her views freely without having to worry about being imprisoned, stoned or shot.

Perhaps the response to her comments says something about our innate dislike of ingrates, which Ms Catton is now widely perceived to be. Or for successful people who adopt airs and graces. Whatever, we shouldn't be so sensitive to criticism, and we shouldn't be so quick to shout down views that we don't agree with. Ms Catton, whose left wing politics might or might not be relevant, is entitled to speak her mind, as are we all, and those who believe she doesn't know what she's talking about might console themselves with the knowledge that her rant will be a nine-day wonder. Might be a while before she wins another NZ Post book award though.