Social development minister Paula Bennett made headlines in July when she released private information on two women who had criticised the governments welfare policies, opening up a furry of attacks on right-wing talkback radio and the blogosphere, one of the women even had to disconnect her phone line because of the threats and abuse she was receiving. Despite no action being taken by the prime minister on this occasion, the National Party was quick to distance itself from comments made by David Garrett, an MP from ACT, which has a confidence and supply agreement with National. Garrett told a group of prison offers making a submission to the Law and Order select committee that by opposing the governments private prison plans, they were hurting their job prospects.

Their attitude seems to have changed however, with corrections minister Judith Collins releasing information obviously intended to turn the public against the Corrections Association, the union which has been one of the biggest critics of the governments prison agenda. Collins claimed that union leaders were “living a jet-set lifestyle” on the taxpayer money as they received $127,000 in expenses from her department in one year. Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon told the New Zealand Herald that the money came from the Correction Department calling meetings and paying for the Corrections Association to come, and asked why Ms Collins had not released the chief executive’s or general manager’s expenses.

That way the government is targeting its critics could leave others afraid to speak out, when dissent is needed as the government is pushing through reforms not just in welfare and prisons, but also in education and issues relating to the environment, the latest being a proposal that could see national parks and marine reserves mined for minerals. Those who oppose these plans should not be intimidated by the dirty politics of Bennett, Garrett and Collins.