NZ Politics Daily: 14 April (liberation)

Timing is everything they say and Labour’s Grant Robertson and blogger David Farrar’s launch of a non-partisan attack on the government’s abuse of urgency - Stop pushing laws through too quickly, say critics - was spot on, coming the same week that a number of major and controversial bills are to be rushed through. The Christchurch earthquake legislation no longer has unanimous support in Parliament and Derek Cheng covers the debate into just how absolute the powers are: Brownlee: I wouldn’t ‘fight a war’ with new powers. It will be a case of finding out after the fact, however, as Newstalk ZB reports that local Canterbury councils aren’t impressed with 24 hours notice to make submissions: Labour disgusted at rushed consultation. Labour’s Lianne Dalziel puts some of the blame for the need for such wide-ranging legislation on the Christchurch City Council’s failure to plan after the first September quake: Quake recovery bill needed because ‘council too slow’. Eric Crampton - Picking the high variance play - has a good summary of the powers the legislation confers.

While there is general agreement that the earthquake legislation required some urgency, the same cannot be said for the passing of the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. This was a quagmire for the last government and was, is and will be very controversial for many years to come. Toby Manhire from the Listener sums up the outrage in Blackout is back – an online roundup. As David Farrar points out in An own goal the government was managing the process comfortably until yesterday but the law will now be stained as undemocratic as well as draconian. As Martin Kay and Andrea Vance report on Stuff there is much suspicion out in the interwebs that MPs voting on this bill really do not understand the issues at stake - Controversial internet file-sharing law passed. Russell Brown has a measured response to the final legislation - The file sharing bill - while No Right Turn highlights how the bill represents a fundamental shift in the principles of justice in The return of guilt by accusation. [Continue reading below for a full list of the highlights of NZ Politics Daily]

Below are the internet links to all the NZ politics material from the last 24 hours that are either informative, insightful, interesting or influential. This list and the links are taken from a fuller document, NZ Politics Daily, which is emailed out, Monday to Friday, to various researchers, academics, journalists, MPs and so forth. The document is purely for research purposes only, and if you would like to be on the subscription list, please email: [email protected]

Bills under urgency

Claire Trevett (NZH): Stop pushing laws through too quickly, say critics

Derek Cheng (NZH): Bownlee: I wouldn’t ‘fight a war’ with new powers

NewstalkZB: Labour disgusted at rushed consultation

Glenn Conway (Press): Quake recovery bill needed because ‘council too slow’

NewstalkZB: Ngai Tahu backing CERA

Eric Crampton (Offsetting Behaviour): Picking the high variance play

Martin Kay and Andrea Vance (Stuff): Controversial internet file-sharing law passed

Toby Manhire (Listener): Blackout is back – an online roundup

David Farrar (Kiwiblog): An own goal

Russell Brown (Hard News): The file-sharing bill

No Right Turn: The return of guilt by accusation