Another spurious "outrage": SPARC

David Farrar over at Kiwiblog has posted today contrasting what the government is doing to support community sports versus what the National party would do.

Exec Summary: National are trying to make the present government look bad for already doing what National says it will do.

The supporting details:

The government is castigated for spending $11.5m over 5 years on "a web site".

Farrar says National would spend this money much better:

"National is saying we’ll take that money and spend it directly on funding and facilities for kid’s sports."

and Farrar quotes this extract as an "interesting comparison":

One big cost for example is the Sparc website. This year Sparc will spend $5.5 million on its website. And between 2006 and 2010, Sparc will spend $11.5 million on its website. That’s enough to give almost $6,000 worth of sporting equipment to every primary school in New Zealand. Or to buy a decent cricket set for every family in Waitakere City.

The conclusion we might draw from this is that it is CRAZY to spend $11.5m on a website instead of buying kids bats and balls and getting them out there to play. Reactions on Kiwiblog in the comments make it clear this IS the comparison being responded to. One can almost hear the sound of a thousand knees jerking.

"Why waste money on a web site for kids to gaze at when the REAL problem is getting them off their arses?"

As usual, the truth is much more interesting. The SPARC web site isn't for kids to gaze at instead of getting outside. SPARC is actually "Sport and Recreation New Zealand". Their role:

"At SPARC (Sport & Recreation New Zealand) we're dedicated to getting New Zealanders moving. That means everything from supporting elite athletes to getting out into local communities and encouraging people to get active."

The web site itself offers information and support to people interested in getting involved in supporting and organising activities promoting health and fitness in their communities. There is skills advice for coaches, organisational advice for setting up sports clubs, and a lot of other information and materials for enabling anyone in the community who wants to get involved in doing something, but doesn't know where to start.

For example, under "active Communities" the site explains how to make a proposal for funding and who to make it to. It's community driven. Local people know what's best. The site's approach is not to dictate anything to anyone, but rather to provide an opportunity for people and communities to learn how to improve things for themselves.

National would have us believe this is a waste of money.

I simply can't agree. SPARC are already providing funding to communities for activities and for sports for kids. The very same thing National says they will do if they are the government.

National's statements on this must be based on the negative approach dictated by their Crosby/Textor campaign advisors.They are trying to make the present government look bad for already doing what National says it will do. The success of the tactic relies on the average person not actually checking to see if the claim is valid. In this case, National's claim is clearly not valid. But you have to look for yourself to see that.

How does it make you feel knowing they want to trick you into voting for them using strategies that assume you're lazy and ignorant? That you aren't curious, don't know and won't make any effort to find out.

I think that's just not good enough. This "outrage" gets the "stupid people" label. It's up to you whether that applies to you for being fooled by tactics like this without questioning them or to National for employing them.