Columns by Mike Crowl, from the Dunedin Star Midweeker, Dunedin, New Zealand

Column Eight - July 27th, 1994

Actual-Factual

Some explanation is required in relation to this column: Mr Shadbolt, who is blessed with a grin as wide as the main street of Invercargill, was Mayor of that city at that time - and still is.  Winston Peters was the leader of the NZ Party at that time - and still is, and his party still survives.   He has continued to be involved with apparent conspiracy matters throughout his career.   I would
probably have different things to say about both these men ten years on...

I'm not surprised there was outrage in Invercargill at Tim Shadbolt's sudden move towards political candidacy. Can he stay still? Only the day before he'd been talking about his popularity with other centres, with both Waitakere and Whakatane being interested in his promotional 'talents.' This sort of action gives the impression that when expediency calls, certain toothy-grinned bodies jump. Fran Wilde jumped in reverse a couple of years ago, dropping her constituency for a mayoralty - and even wondered whether she might hold both positions for a time. I see in the latest report that in the event of winning Selwyn, Tim thinks he can job-share the mayoralty as well. Am I a bit idealistic? When you take on a job for a term, you have some sort of obligation to see that term out, even if it means your political career doesn't fly forward quite so fast. The other side of the matter is that behaviour of the Shadbolt and Wilde kind tends to make us feel they're not serious about what they're doing. Serious about promotion, perhaps, but not serious about service. Mr Shadbolt sees his act not as desertion, but as 'spontaneous adventurism and opportunism.' That's fine, but creative people in public positions need to balance their off the top of the head approach with responsibility. Shadbolt (I keep typing Shadblot, which might yet prove to be more appropriate) may find he's cooked his goose by joining up with a party whose leader is increasingly putting himself out in the rough somewhere. I suspect the New Zealand Party is on its last legs, anyway. I used to think Winston Peters had some political value. His constant dredging up of seemingly scurrilous deeds appeared to be a worthwhile enterprise. I puzzled over the suspense with which he teased out every item on his agenda, but assumed that was because he was making as much political play as possible out of what he knew. The latest North and South, however, has a lengthy article on Winston Peters, in which the writer, David McLoughlin, finds it difficult to say anything very positive about this politician. At first I read the article sceptically, but the facts as laid out made it evident that Mr Peters either sees hair-brained conspiracy at every turn or is merely mongering in a most unuseful manner. Mr McLoughlin more than once compares Mr Peters to Joe McCarthy, the American senator from the 19150s who made himself famous by accusing all and sundry if being covert communists intending to undermine American society. Mr McCarthy proved to be making accusations with no basis in fact, and he ruined a number of people's careers in the process. Many of Mr Peters' accusations appear to have no basis in fact either, which is more than disturbing. What is he up to then? Is he under some conspiracy theory delusion? Where is all the documentation he claims to have which will prove that an increasing number of public figures are conspiring to defraud New Zealanders of millions of dollars? Does it actually exist? For a number of years the polls supported Mr Peters and saw him as a possible candidate for prime minister. His charming smile and ability to have an answer for every question made him a figure of considerable charisma. Now I doubt that there are many who would consider him for any such position at all. In the end an appearance of truth is no substitute for verifiable truth. More and more he seems to be committing political suicide. The problem for Mr Shadbolt, in joining him, is that he may be committing political suicide too.

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