Debate destroyed by abuse

WHEN politicians respond to criticism by resorting to name-calling, it reflects not only on the thinness of their skins, but also of the intellectual paucity of the policies they are defending.

In the United States, those who, like me, were critical of the rationale for invading Iraq - the shaky proof of weapons of mass destruction and the improbable alliance of secular Saddam and fundamentalist Al Qaeda - were called "traitors" and worse.

Criticism of the Bush administration's tactics - terminating employment of 300,000 armed men of the Iraqi army - brought the charge that we were "Bush haters".

Here in Whanganui, remnants of the old Vision Party, Bob Walker and councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan, have done themselves no great service by resorting to the personal and insulting in response to serious discussion of their past and present policy decisions.

Just as with their right-wing counterparts in the US, the attempt to discredit valid criticism by using psychobabble to denigrate won't wash. It actually provides further evidence of their reviving the ghosts of the policies of the former mayor. Called to account under the Code of Conduct by four citizens (myself included) for his shock-jock antics, Michael Laws resorted to calling his critics "nutters".

I continue to be open to robust, civil debate as long as it remains personally respectful. Thus far I'm tempering my innate optimism.

Ms Baker-Hogan walked out of the council meeting rather than permit discussion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). Her apology to the citizens seems half-hearted as she believes still that the issue does not belong before council. Perhaps.

Her point is, itself, debatable and could have been debated at council were citizens allowed to bring their concerns. What isn't debatable was the procedural device she used to prevent citizens from being heard. It was another distraction from democratic process which meant that the focus was on her and not on the issues that citizens wanted to discuss.

Particularly now, we need to have a debate before council as the US Congress is a hair's breadth away from granting President Barack Obama fast-track authority. That authority converts the process from a normal congressional one with debate and amendments to a parliamentary one with foregone conclusions.

Citizens need the forum of the Wanganui District Council to express their views about the implications of the TPPA and its potential effect on farming practice, on worker safety regulation, on environmental issues and on healthcare.

As our closest representative body, the district council can give voice to the national government in reflection of our concerns. It costs little but the potential benefit, as an example to the nation, is priceless.

Ms Baker-Hogan's argument that the TPPA is a national issue and better reserved for Parliament's consideration is one that she ought to have used during her tenure on the 2009 district council.

That council, in which she served, enacted the disastrous gang-patch bylaw and cost the city $1,261,209.35 directly in legal fees and an estimated $10 million in lost economic activity. And a falsely premised reputation of Whanganui as a "gang city".

Ms Baker-Hogan has a decision to make if she wants to be taken seriously in her pursuit of the mayoralty - she needs to decide whether to accept genuine responsibility for past decisions. She needs to desist from repeating the tactics of Michael Laws, including the drawing attention to herself at the cost of the democratic process. She needs to articulate a clear, positive, practical set of policies that address the issues facing our city now and for its future.

Failing those options, she needs at least to stop that stirring of negativity which only serves to irritate her colleagues and then climb aboard and pull her weight with the others on the team to move the city forward under the present mayor.

Jay Kuten is an American-trained forensic psychiatrist who emigrated to New Zealand for the fly fishing. He spent 40 years comforting the afflicted and intends to spend the rest afflicting the comfortable.