John MacDonald: Small Budget details shines light on MPs' hypocrisy

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

I think I can safely say that every politician who’s been banging on about the Budget since yesterday afternoon is a complete hypocrite. And I reckon you will think the same.

The story starts with something that happened before Budget Day yesterday.

In fact, it was one of the first things Police Minister Ginny Anderson fronted after she got the job.

And it was to do with an issue that was hot then and is still hot now - retail crime. So we’re talking ram raids on shops, armed hold ups, smash and grab burglaries. All of that appalling stuff that goes on day-in, day-out.

The stuff that terrifies the hell out of people in shops - the owners, the managers and the staff.

So last month, Police Minister Ginny Anderson announced a top-up in funding for the Government’s Retail Crime Prevention Programme.

But last night, I was going through all the stuff on the Government’s Budget website and found some details about security spending. This isn’t security for retailers I’m talking about, it’s security for MPs.

Specifically, security for MPs at their homes, offices and at Parliament. And it was highlighted in yesterday’s Budget because the Government’s putting more money into it.

Now, to be clear, I don’t think politicians should have to fend for themselves when it comes to security because - as you and I know - the world is more crazy than it used to be and there seems to be no shortage of people who have it in for politicians.

And, at the risk of sounding like Grant Robertson, this is not just something that New Zealand is affected by. It’s a global thing.

But it has always amazed me how accessible our politicians are. Or, in other words, how haphazard we seem to be at times when it comes to keeping politicians safe from muppets who have got a bee in their bonnet and can’t control themselves.

But the hypocrisy of it all. Before Budget Day, the Government announced it was putting $15 million into retail crime prevention. For things like fog cannons, bollards and security systems. $15 million to try and stop something that has become a complete scourge on society.

Guess how much was in yesterday’s Budget for MP’s security? $14 million.

So, after all the nodding and serious faces from the Government about being committed to stopping retail crime, it’s spending nearly as much on security for MPs at their homes, offices and at Parliament, as it’s spending to try and stop ram raids and other retail crimes.

And have you heard any one of the 120 MPs in this country say that that is nutbar? Of course not. They’ve said a lot about a lot of things. But nothing about that. Which is why I think every one of them is a complete hypocrite.

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