PM to assess Samoan tsunami damage firsthand
Prime Minister John Key will return to New Zealand earlier than expected in order to fly to tsunami-hit Samoa.This would be entirely appropriate if a tsunami had hit, say, Tauranga - then we'd expect the Prime Minister to turn up, simply as a visible sign that the government was Doing Something. But Samoa is another country. It's been independent since 1962. Condolences and commitments to aid are appropriate. Turning up in person to "see the extent of the damage [your]self" - as if you owned the place - is not. I mean, you don't see the President of the US jumping the border to gawp every time there's a natural disaster in Mexico, or the President of France popping over to Italy every time there's an earthquake there...Mr Key, who has been holidaying in the United States, will return to Auckland on Saturday and then fly out to Samoa a few hours later.
“While officials have kept me regularly informed, it is important I see the extent of the damage myself.
But I guess where we see a disaster and people to be helped, Key sees a PR opportunity, a chance to get some photos of him with homeless victims to polish that "compassionate conservative" image (meanwhile, we'll just shuffle those cuts to the aid budget under the carpet). It's a tawdry display of disaster tourism, and it speaks volumes about what sort of person he really is.
