FROM THE DARK AGES TO THE RENAISSANCE

A change is a good as a rest; so the saying goes. If that’s true, I hope readers of this Diary won’t accuse me – in the context of a three week gap in publication coupled with political events of late - of ‘double-dipping’ on my rest entitlement. Actually, I’ve been thinking.

My last diary was about ANZAC Day – something I held dear even before I joined the Army. Since then, we’ve found out that our highest Court (an institution I also hold dear) has ruled that it is OK to burn the New Zealand flag on ANZAC Day. We have witnessed the creation of a new liberal left political Party under Hone Harawira. We have seen a coup de main install Don Brash as leader of the ACT Party. The government has admitted that the economy, as evidenced by borrowing, is not just crippled – it is munted and rapidly moving towards ‘mega’ status.

The ‘Keep it 18’ campaign has shown us that, under MMP, cross-party cooperation is possible – albeit through the youth wings. The Police have reminded us that, if you catch a crook, dial 111 and then deliver them to the local Police station, you need to do it between 9pm and 6am if you don’t wish to be charged with kidnapping and assault.

It would be easy to mistake these and other recent events as being a draft script for a political version of the X-Files. Some of these events have prompted calls for the dispatch of MMP. Other commentators hail them as exactly the opposite, that they give meaning to MMP as the source for a truly representative Parliament. The referendum on November 26 will provide every Kiwi with the opportunity to have their say on the latter point.

While debates around topical events, words and actions rage; where is the wisdom to be drawn from our current circumstances? Undoubtedly, we have been here before and we will find ourselves in similar situations again in the future. To lead the country out of the current conditions does not require a fundamentally new approach. It does require knowledge of what has worked in the past and what aspects of history are no longer relevant. It requires a connectedness with ordinary Kiwis and the courage to stand up and say ‘follow me’. Finally, that group or person must convince the majority of Kiwis to do exactly that. That’s how Malone took Chunuk Bair. It’s that sort of leadership that we need now.

It does, however, require us to start with a vision of where we want our country to be in a generation or two. We need to define the legacy that we intend to leave our children and grandchildren. We simply cannot keep funding our present by borrowing against future taxes to be imposed upon our children. Neither can we delude ourselves by pretending that 2011 is a ‘green field’ on which we can start afresh without regard for our history as a nation.

The Dark Ages ended when small pockets of free thinkers began creating and exchanging new ideas in written, artistic and musical forms. Initially, many of these people met terrible fates but the genie could not be put back in the bottle. Tyrants were overthrown and the Renaissance that followed overtook and transformed the world by the sheer power of people’s insatiable desire for free will and recognition as an individual.

The dilemma, in 21st century language, for those who wish to see a similar change in this country, is simply that 0800 DARK AGES is a free call - 0900 RENAISSANCE costs a little.
Lest We Forget

May 14, 1870

The first game of Rugby played in New Zealand took place on 14 May 1870 in Nelson (at what is now known as the Botanic Reserve) between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club. The game was introduced by Charles John Monro, son of the then Speaker of the House, David Monro. He encountered the game while studying in London and on his return introduced the game at Nelson College in 1870.

New Zealand’s love affair with rugby is reaching fever pitch as we prepare to host the Rugby World Cup and it was disappointing this week to discover that over half of Rugby World Cup tickets are unsold. Although this is causing concern for the organisers they anticipate sales will pick up in the four months remaining before the first game kicks off. The lower than anticipated sales are due in part to the Christchurch earthquake and consequent rescheduling of eight games to provincial centres around the country. 130,000 tickets – valued at $20 million - for games that were to be played in Christchurch have been refunded.

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