*PRESS RELEASE*

*National Hero’s Widow Persecuted Over Wristwatch - Whose Property Is Safe Now?*

“If the wristwatch left to Lady Hillary is no longer hers to sell, then who in New Zealand is secure in their personal effects?” asked Libertarianz Party leader Richard McGrath.

He called for Chris Finlayson to immediately rescind the decision by the ministry for culture and heritage, which the Libertarianz Party would abolish instantly - along with many other government agencies, departments and ministries - if elected.

“This bullying big-government attitude is not what the people expected, having tossed out Helen Clark,” he added.

“Chris Finlayson, by his failure to block this egregious act of harassment of a private citizen, has effectively devalued - or abolished - private property rights in this country.”

“If relatively minor items such as a timepiece are subject to the predatory avarice of bureaucrats, what hope is there for items such as gold bullion, to which people worldwide are turning as central bankers busy themselves debasing paper currencies?” he asked.

“Will the gold that people hold - as hyperinflation looms on the horizon - be seized to help shore up our crumbling paper currency? In the wake of this appalling treatment of Lady Hillary, who can rule out further seizures of any private asset Chris Finlayson’s ministry takes a shine to?”

“The Libertarianz Party believes it is not the government’s concern what people choose to do with their own property. John Key’s Nationalisation Party clearly believes the government should own anything and everything it wants. These two views are incompatible.”

“Those who voted for the Nationalisation Party in 2008 should ask themselves the following: Is New Zealand really any better off than it was three years ago? In particular, has this administration stuck by the core values of national and personal security, individual freedom and choice, and limited government it promotes on its website?”

“Does the Nationalisation Party deserve your continuing support in the wake of this latest example of outrageous big-government bullying?” Richard McGrath said the Libertarianz Party, in contrast to all its opponents, will offer a policy platform at next year’s election that would enable a trimmed-down government to focus on a very small list of core functions.

“New Zealanders need to have confidence that their property is safe from arbitrary seizure by the state. Surely theft and extortion is wrong, whether done by individual criminals or by the government.”

Dr McGrath suggested that if they are to be consistent, the ministry for culture will also have to seize watches belonging to the widows and families of Everest-climber Rob Hall, World Cup winning All Black John Drake and double international Eric Tindall.

*ENDS*

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