My hope this week is for a peaceful inauguration of new US President Joe Biden.
It matters because America is the oldest, largest and most powerful democracy in the world.
It is so important after the thuggery of last week when Trump supporters rampaged through Congress attempting to overturn their Election outcome.
We need to learn from America’s problems.
Their politics has become too partisan and tribal between Republicans and Democrats.
The US media are too politically aligned, feeding the divisions.
National and Labour need to test and challenge each other’s policies and ideas but we cannot let these differences overwhelm our common purpose of making New Zealand a better country.
We need to be vocal in our support of democracy and freedom of speech on the world stage.
China’s recent action in Hong Kong and with the Uighur people and Russia’s poisoning and the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny are wrong and we must say so.
Social media have become incredibly powerful.
The good is the ease of access to information and enabling more people to participate.
The risk is the spread of misinformation and its misuse.
We need to be vigilant in protecting freedom of speech, but find a way to reduce the harm.
The closest our politics has had to brand Trump has been Winston Peters.
His draconian electoral law changes enabling party leaders to dismiss MP’s needs to be repealed.
I have a Members Bill before the Justice Select committee to do just this and am working hard to secure cross party support for its passage this year.
Democracy is not perfect and we need to be constantly seeking ways to improve it.
America needs reminding of the wise words of former Republican President Abraham Lincoln – that Government must be of the people, by the people and for the people.
