Strike two

Act New Zealand leader Rodney Hide is quite correct when he suggests, apropos his colleague David Garrett, that they both belong to a house of representatives - not a choir of angels.

We do need people from all walks at the high table of government, the better to represent the habitues of life's many and varied pathways.

Mr Hide is also right to point out we have all made mistakes in our lives, and it would be unreasonable to continue to punish a person for long-distant indiscretions; further, that people are capable of "turning their lives around" as Mr Garrett has apparently done.

Indeed, a case could be made that the furore which has erupted as a result of revelations concerning the past misdemeanours and criminal convictions of Mr Garrett is a sideshow and a "beat-up" - a case now being forcefully prosecuted by Mr Hide.

But that case is weak. The matter is of considerable public interest for a number of overlapping reasons.

First, there is the question of the actual convictions and the implications of the way in which they have come to light; there is the issue of judgement on the part of both Mr Garrett and Mr Hide; there is what might be labelled the cumulative effect of Act's recent reversals; and there is the "political" dimension.

Mr Garrett is the law and order spokesman for the Act party. He has spearheaded the coalition's punitive "three strikes" legislation.

On Monday this week, he admitted he had a criminal conviction for assault dating from a 2002 nightclub incident in Tonga. Different accounts have been aired as to what happened on this occasion - as a result of which Mr Garrett received a broken jaw and a $10 fine. He has maintained that he has, ever since, been attempting to appeal the case, but has been unable to secure a hearing.

On Wednesday, he admitted he had, as a 26-year-old in 1984, stolen the identity of a dead child to procure a false passport. The crime came to light in 2005 when, as part of an investigation into passport fraud committed by two Israeli citizens thought to have been Mossad spies, others were prosecuted. Mr Garrett was discharged without conviction and granted permanent name suppression.

A lawyer for the Sensible Sentencing Trust, he informed Mr Hide of these transgressions prior to the 2008 general election. Mr Hide may now be wishing they had contrived a way in which similarly to inform the general voting public - particularly in light of Mr Garrett's high-profile law and order role.