When the government passed its latest Canterbury Enabling Act, which gave Gerry Brownlee dictatorial power for five years, they tried to reassure us that there were checks and balances. For example, diktats by Brownlee would be reviewed by an independent panel, though he could ignore them and sign stuff anyway. Now we've seen just how much of a joke this "review mechanism" is with the government's announcement that it is appointing Jenny Shipley to the panel.
Yes, that's right. Faced with a demand for independent oversight, they instead appointed a complete party hack, to rubberstamp whatever Brownlee comes up with. Some "oversight".
But I guess that's what happens when you approach everything with a "jobs for the boys" attitude...
