Heather Roy's Diary
act-new-zealand
Fri Oct 12 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Heather Roy's Diary
Friday, 12 October 2007, 11:14 am
Press Release: ACT New Zealand
Risk: Reality Or Running From Shadows?
This week I was invited to speak to a special forum at Victoria
University, where the topic of discussion was: "the effect of
anti-terrorism laws on civil liberties and whether the right balance has
been struck". My speech can be found at
www.act.org.nz/civil\_liberties\_have\_we\_reached\_the\_right\_balance
The crux of the matter rests with the concept of risk: how likely is it
that we will be targeted by terrorists? What assessments have been made
to calculate the risk? And are the measures implemented adequate to
protect us, without unnecessarily hindering our movements and our
freedoms? My experiences show that the concept of risk is not widely
understood by the public at large.
In my former life as a physiotherapist, I ran a Cardiac Rehabilitation
programme for people who had suffered a heart attack or experienced severe
angina. Part of the programme included educational discussions around
smoking and diet. My job was to explain that smoking and a high-fat diet
meant that each patient was more likely to suffer further heart symptoms -
another heart attack or a worsening of angina. Most patients couldn't -
and a small minority wouldn't - grasp the concept and instead regaled the
group with stories of Great Uncle Tom, who smoked a pack a day from age 10
and lived to the ripe old age of 96 without ever taking a sick day.
This, they concluded, meant they could continue smoking without suffering
any ill effects. Likewise, we would discuss diet at great length; I would
outline the benefits of lowering one's cholesterol levels with a low-fat
diet rich in fruit and vegetables. I vividly remember one woman coming
back the next week armed with 'proof' that I was completely wrong: the 'NZ
Woman's Weekly' - that great bastion of medical science - was waved in
front of me; apparently chocolate had many beneficial properties that I
was overlooking, while pumpkin was a 'sweet' vegetable that definitely
should not be eaten. That day I discovered that it's very difficult to
argue with the 'Woman's Weekly'.
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Political commentator Colin James recently spoke to an ACT Conference. As
part of his speech he talked about risk. He asked our group several
questions:
* "Why do we put up with indignities at airports?"
* "Why is the world's most powerful nation also the most scared?
* "Why are we emulating these quivering wrecks?"
* "Why do we write rules that don't allow children to experiment and
experience cause and consequence?"
All are very good questions. Why do we put up with all of these things?
The simple answer is, of course, that we have to: if you don't comply with
the regulations around playground safety you receive a bad ERO report and
may ultimately loose your licence; if you don't subject your hand luggage
to the airport X-Ray machine examination and go through the metal detector
- parting with your knitting needles, tweezers and pocket knife along the
way - you can't board the plane. You have no choice, and we in ACT don't
like having no choice.
The broader answer is that we allow ourselves to be ordered around, and
allow laws to be put in place that do indeed restrict our freedoms. If
Judith Tizard can knit in Parliament, why can't I knit on a plane if I
want to? I have no intention of spearing the pilot to death and taking
control of the plane and nor, I believe, do any other Kiwis. Yet, we
meekly comply.
At this broader level we do have choices. We can elect politicians - of
both the local body and central government variety - who value freedom and
will vote against by-laws, regulations and bills that unnecessarily
restrict it.
Unfortunately more and more people are not exercising their right to
choose. The local body elections currently underway show a record low
turnout to date - possibly only around one third of eligible voters
returning their voting papers. If they think it doesn't matter, they're
very wrong.
Risk is a part of everyday life. Risk can't be eliminated completely - no
matter how hard the control freaks try - because life is an unpredictable
business. Frequently forgotten is the fact that our minds and bodies are
natural risk assessors, and are remarkably good at telling us when it's
not safe to do something. The secret, of course, is getting the balance
right.
Our forebears fought hard for our freedoms, many paying the ultimate
sacrifice with their lives. Today marks the 90th anniversary of the
Battle of Passchendaele. October 12 1917 was the most tragic day in New
Zealand's military history when, in just two hours, more than 2,800 men
were killed, wounded or listed as missing in action. These freedom
fighters did not risk their all to see our children wrapped in cotton
wool; our airports so risk averse that any possible weapon is confiscated
"just in case"; our civil liberties eroded bit by bit. They must be
looking down on us today in puzzlement, thinking we have allowed the
Muslim extremists to win.
Lest We Forget - The First Battle of Passchendaele (October 12 1917)
This morning I attended a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 90th
anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele.
Passchendale began the war as a small village in western Flanders, near
Belgium's border with France; by the end of the battle it had been reduced
to dust, such was the intensity of the shelling. The village was
unfortunate to end up on the front, at a strategically important point.
The offensive was aimed at reaching the coast and capturing German
submarine bases but, in the depressingly familiar pattern of World War I,
a small advance was made after enduring high casualties.
Passchendaele introduced a new enemy to the legion of things from which a
soldier can die - this time, mud was an enemy. Although no doubt an
irritant to soldiers since time immemorial, at Passchendaele mud became a
killer in its own right. The farmland around the town was re-claimed
swamp and required a system of dykes and pumps to remain viable farming
land.
With these dykes and pumps blown asunder by the first artillery
bombardment, the allied advance became literally bogged down and
ammunition had to be brought up by mule. Wooden planks were laid over the
mud to enable movement, but if a man in full kit stumbled into the mud he
was hard put to get out again.
Today we owe it to those who fought for our freedom to continue to fight
against tyranny, but often the fight does not need a war - in the 'war'
against terror we must be careful not to become authoritarians like those
we oppose. We must remain better than the Islamic fundamentalists, or we
concede them at least one victory.
ENDS
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