A broken sign

• A sign of our times. A marker in our regression from democracy to elected Autocracy.
• This sign was used by N.A.G. (Northern Action Group) to inform people coming North from Auckland that the Northern part of Rodney District is not Auckland, and so should not be included in the Super City. A fact which 80% of people in North Rodney who were asked, signed a petition to affirm.

The sign is broken.

• Symbolic of our trust in ministers of the crown who in early December said "wait until mid February its the best time" and then in mid February said "its too late, we have gone too far".
• Symbolic of an Associate Minister whose select committee listened and did the right thing and then apologised when told by his political masters who were not on the committee, that he was wrong.
• Symbolic of an Act of Parliament, (designed to manage the boundary change process with the people concerned, away from the interference of political ideology), which in this case has been legislated into obsolescence by the whim of Cabinet.
• Symbolic of the meaninglessness of facts in our Cabinets decision making processes.
• Symbolic of a machinery of government which has evolved to serve the pet projects of ministers and not the law making process required for building a nation with the equipment to be as competative in business as it is in sports.
• Symbolic of the hearts of people who want to protect something good from cultural genocide, and who will not lay down defeated.
• Symbolic of a cabinet that can not, or will not, produce evidence of the overwhelming support from North Rodney for the Northern Boundary.

Its a depressing sign.

• A sign we all need to "read".
• A sign we all need to understand.
• A sign we all need to act on. Many people will want to bid on this soon to be historic relic - send it to a "friend" or mailto:j.key@ministers.govt.nz, mailto:j.carter@ministers.govt.nz Get the full story and follow progress on http://www.nag.org.nz.