New Zealand Labour, supported by the Greens, and Māori Party, have passed “plain language” legislation, which will require all branches of government to employ language compliance officers.
The “plain language” bill was approved by the NZ parliament on Wednesday and comes into effect once the legislation receives Royal assent.
Advocates of the new law defended the bill arguing, in sum, that a bigger bureaucracy was better for democracy.
The language compliance legislation’s author, Rachel Boyack, Labour member for Nelson, told parliament, “New Zealand is at its best when we can all understand and easily participate in our democracy.”
“When Government agencies are explaining services, benefits, or how to comply with requirements,” Boyack said, “they should use plain language and avoid jargon. Plain language that the intended reader can easily understand after one reading is the aim of this bill.”
Jurist explained, the “plain language” law demands “all reporting agencies appoint plain language officers.”
These are compliance officers employed by respective departments to essentially police the use of language.
Apologizing for local councils being exempt from the law, the member for Nelson asserted that “plain language officers” were allegedly there to benefit “people who have English as their second language.”
The Guardian, Golem-giddy over the one-ring-to-rule-them-all law, gushed over the Ardern government’s assertions, and declared that the “plain language law” would “make for a more inclusive democracy.”
Inspiration for the language compliance law came from an Obama-era legislation in the United States known as the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
Insinuating that her law was more about helping the government than helping the people, Boyack said, “when that legislation was introduced [by Obama in the U.S], the compliance for people to pay things like taxes, and fines actually went up because information was presented in a clearer way for people to understand.”
While the overall legislation looks harmless, the New Zealand National, and ACT Parties pointed out that the law was a “solution looking for a problem.”
As was summed up by Radio New Zealand, they rightly opposed the bill, calling the language compliance law “costly, pointless, unnecessary,” warning that “plain language police” was a “step towards a future where ‘woke’ language-police from the liberal clerics control everything we say.”
Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported that Boyack laughed off the opposing viewpoints, with The Guardian, and, the RNZ, taking the opportunity to mock both the NZ National and ACT parties, as well as the English language.
The difference between the U.S and N.Z “plain language” laws couldn’t be plainer.
First, for all of his (mostly second term) faults, Obama, unlike Ardern, never declared his government to be the public’s, quote — “single source of truth” — unquote.
Secondly, while the U.S legislation requires mandatory compliance reporting, the U.S law does not specify, or command the creation of a “plain language police force.”
Readers will recall that the language compliance law coincides with news the Ardern government’s ban of two independent Australian journalists from entering New Zealand to report on anti-C-19 mandate protests in August, was politically motivated.
When questioned at the time, the “single source of truth” Prime Minister, lied, telling reporters she “had no awareness of the ban” until it popped up in reports online.
FOI documents released this week indicated the high probability that Ardern was well aware of the protests, and as such, who was planning to attend them.
While we can all applaud government attempts to reduce verbosity, increasing the bureaucracy to do so, is stupid.
More red tape does not serve the interests of the public, it serves the interests of the parties involved while hindering the delivery of essential services.
The danger of a “plain language police force” is on the same level as the danger of “COVID marshals.”
They become smug, self-important puppets of the state, armed with carte blanche power to enforce any political narrative Ardern, and her NZ Social-lust associates want.
Control the language, as the saying goes, and you can control the argument. Control the argument, and any fight from there on in is nolo contendere– no contest.
Language compliance laws pave the way for forced speech to replace free speech, with woke jargon concocted in leftist hell, like the soulless slogans “parent 1, parent 2,” “equity,” and “chest-feeding.”
‘Brevity is the soul of wit’ cheers on sharp relief, but as the entirety of Hamlet warns, the devil is in the details.
Caveat emptor!
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