“Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group”
June 28, 2020
By NZB3
In July 2018 Chester Borrows, former National MP, started opening up publicly, quite out of the blue, all about past Maori injustice. It was a confessional moment that made headlines. Something fishy was going on. When an old used-politics salesman or academic starts randomly sounding off like then it’s not actually news at all. It’s part of a job interview process.
As with the likes of Dan Reddiex and Ayesha Verrall, Cester Borrows was indeed hamming up his public persona to please some behind-the-scenes board. It was a performance. They pretend to be talking to us but really they’re trying to show their prospective employer that they know how to work people and are willing to stick their necks out in public.
“Anyway, last week year Chester apparently became inspired and socialised at Parihaka. Now he’s reciting the usual made-up stories…”
“Perhaps Borrows in this piece is interviewing for a seat on some commission or trust or other?”- 1881: Wait A Minute Chester!; AHNZ
Moments after Chester’s Parihaka Road-to-Damascus moment, he was announced as top man in charge of Labour 6.0 ‘awareness conversation’ with a budget of $1,600,000+ (It’s pathetic to see someone so desperate for political power that he will pick up or drop any cause to pursue it. )
“The Government spent $1.63 million on its criminal justice summit, including almost $1 million on consultants….Justice Minister Andrew Little said the cost was higher than he expected, and higher than the initial draft budget of about $700,000.”- Newsroom
“Masters of Ceremony- $26,592 Facilitating the two days as well as flights, accommodation and expenses.”- Justice.gov
Now Chester’s “Safe and Effective Justice” gig is winding down. The helmsman of this Labour quango hopes his lasting achievement could at the very least be that he has influenced the election results. Apart from that he has little to say for all this time and money expended!
“When asked for his highlights, aside from starting the reform discussion…Borrows also believed the debate was maturing and moving in the right direction, but the proof would come on election day…Post-election, he hoped more work would be done.”
That sounds slightly corrupt, Chestser. You could at least have pretended to have done something in the last 24 months. And, if your contribution on behalf of Labour 6.0 really is resting on the hopes of being an influence on the General Election then does that $1,600,000+ need to be marked against Labour’s campaign budget? Someone inform the Electoral Commission!
Chester and his master admit to having done zip. All that we heard of Borrows during the past 24 months is that his drivers licence has been suspended¹ because he was going somewhere in a big hurry. To the bank to collect his pay cheque?
Anarchist Opinion
Let’s all be a bit more sceptical of The State next time, shall we? Especially those of us who really care about Safe and Effective Justice. Those people who cared about that Social Justice issue, who voted Labour because of it, have simply been pacified by a Government that didn’t want to act on their election promises. Labour wanted their votes but has found a way to put their protests at the lack of action on ice for 24 months and it only cost them $1,600,000 or so to do it².
“”And we will sit with a number of others who have said these things in the past, and have just been consigned to history over the past 35 years,” says Chester Borrows, the man tasked with facilitating the national discussion on justice sector reform.”- Newsroom
Some of the six loudest protesters have been hushed by being on the Advisory Group themselves under Chief Wrangler Burrows. These six, in turn, wrangle their organisations and their close friends/associates who could not speak against Labour’s broken promises without stepping on their friend’s feet. Besides, to object now might blow their chance to be on a pre$tigiou$ Advisory Group themselves some day or be one of the 700 invited to the big summit.
With Chester’s help, a few catered lamingtons ($65,800,) and a nice purple-pink-Maori-looking logo, Labour 6.0 have managed to avoid actually walking over another of their policy platforms. The Social Justice chickens have been fed for another term thanks to Ringmaster Burrows. If you’re one of those 700 or more people then look beyond your bribe and know that you’ve been played. The values you care about have been used by politicians to scam you for an entire term. For politicians, for all Governments, this is simply business as usual.
I know Statism, and having your name tag on a lanyards, being invited to important-feeling summits etc is very seductive. But ask yourself, oh Criminal Justice advocate, what do you really care about? Do you really care about Justice, penal reform, and the thousands of members of our community stuffed into a growing number of Government cages? Or will you let Andrew Little and his goon trade that from you in exchange for a recycled paper bag with goodies in it?
Follow up question: Did Chester’s Summit come with a biro pen, memo pad, a USB stick with the Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora logo on it? What’s in a Government Loot Bag these days? Please take a photo and send it in, I’d love to see what you got at that September 2019 conference if you haven’t thrown it out yet.
Anarchist scepticism is never misplaced.
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1 Chester ‘big foot’ Borrows – excess demerits sees former MP’s licence suspended; NZ Herald
2 Note: The $1.6 million was only for the 3-day summit. Even more money will have been spent buying off Chester and the other six, their expenses, and their branding and website,…
Note: “Labour put a stake in the ground, refusing to build the ‘mega-prison’, and instead promised to do criminal justice differently.” writes Newsroom. But why would Labour 6.0 honour a contract created by National 5.0? Anarchists know that these deals belong to the regime, not ‘The Government’. The Government does not exist.
Image ref. Shane Cowlishaw; Newsroom
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