Go Hard, Jacinda. More Importantly, Go Early!

By
Chris Trotter
-
108
2522

JACINDA ARDERN’S Covid-19 formula: “Go hard, go early” has proved a resounding success – at least in public health terms. Success on the economic front will not be so easy. The number of foes arrayed against her is formidable – all of them doing everything they can to erode the admiration she has won both at home and abroad for her handling of the crisis. That being the case, might it not be time for the Prime Minister to consider whether the slogan “Go hard, go early” has more than one application?

Waiting until 19 September to go to the polls, while constitutionally admirable, invites political disaster. Certainly, the National Opposition is convinced that electoral victory has become a simple waiting game. Waiting for the unemployment numbers to swell beyond anything experienced by any New Zealander under the age of 90. Waiting for upwards of a third of New Zealand’s small businesses to fail. Waiting for the levels of fear, anguish, resentment and despair to rise beyond the ability of even the most empathic of prime ministers to assuage.

And, while National is waiting, the mainstream news media will be doing everything it can to magnify the voters’ sorrows and incite their rage. The business community, still eager for every bit of assistance the Ardern-led government can be bullied into offering, will nevertheless damn it with faint praise: strongly suggesting that a considerably more competent alternative government is ready and waiting to put things (or should that be move things) right.

Yesterday (13/5/20) in a moving pre-Budget speech from the Beehive Theatrette, Jacinda told her compatriots: “New Zealand is about to enter a very tough winter.” The challenge she faces, politically as well as economically, is how to navigate the next four months so that they do not become “the winter of our discontent.”

The Prime Minister’s plan, as set out in her speech, is to pivot from health to economics without losing her “team of 5 million”.

- Sponsor Promotion -

First and foremost her government’s intention is to keep New Zealanders working. That, says Jacinda, cannot and will not mean embracing the grim doctrines of austerity: “[T]he notion that at this time of need we would make cuts to the essential services so many New Zealanders need more than ever is not only immoral, it is economically wrong.” These words offer not only reassurance to New Zealand’s most vulnerable citizens, but they also deliver a stinging slap to the faces of National and Act.

In her own words:

“Now more than ever we need our schools and hospitals, our public houses and roads and railways. We need our police and our nurses, and we need our welfare safety net. We will not let our team of 5 million fall when the times get tough, instead we will strengthen the blanket of support the Government can provide. We are rebuilding together, not apart.”

Stirring sentiments! But, as they say in the Ginsu ads: “Wait, there’s more!” The Prime Minister was not content to leave the electorate with nothing more than the standard government promises to single-handedly rescue the nation from its woes.

“In the coming month the Government will launch a comprehensive engagement programme that will pose a simple proposition – look what our team of 5 million achieved together in beating the virus, now what can we do together to get our economy moving again, to look after our people, and rebuild in a way that make things better than they were before. That will of course include the business community, but it will be broader too.

“If anything,” Jacinda continued, “the last few months have shown that united we are a formidable force. When we channel our energies into a goal collectively we are stronger for it. Prior to the virus we faced serious long term challenges – persistent inequality and poverty, the threat of climate change, the need to diversify the economy, low productivity, limited domestic manufacturing and an abundance of low paid jobs. Do we return to those settings or is now the time to find a better way?”

It is difficult to overstate the radicalism of the Prime Minister’s “simple proposition”. In effect, what she is saying is that the way out of the Covid-19-induced economic crisis must be determined by more than the usual business suspects. She is inviting everyone: from the corporate CEO to the hero on the supermarket check-out; from the bank economist to the welfare beneficiary; to have their say about the shape and purpose of their country’s “new normal”.

No prime minister in my lifetime has ever placed such an opportunity before the New Zealand people. We cannot afford to let it slip through our fingers. Jacinda’s offer must be taken up: by every union, every charity, every NGO, every church, and every citizen with a reason to want the New Zealand which emerges from this crisis to be better than the New Zealand that went into it. The Beehive needs to be bombarded with the submissions of the “democratic public” – that great choir of New Zealand’s better angels to which the nascent Labour Party first appealed for support more than a hundred years ago.

And we need to do it fast – as fast as we possibly can – so that Labour can compile the “people’s manifesto” with maximum speed. We must make sure that Jacinda and her colleagues can not only “go hard” for the progressive electorate’s support, but also, and much more importantly, “go early”.

108 COMMENTS

  1. Ardern’s government offers us a “simple proposition”, while Bridges’ would present more of a “modest proposal”.

    • “modest proposal” from the Mt Perelin Society. Look it up .douglarse and richardson were flag bearing members. key attended bilderberg by invitation joining the arch parasites

      • Here’s what people are looking for to explain the theft of the NZ commons. Exposes ‘Big Roger’ and his little neo liberal games as it pertains to the NZ experience.

        newrightfight.co.nz › pageA
        Who are the New Right? – New Right Fightnewrightfight.co.nz › pageA

  3. The undying optimism of the left. Whatever we may hope for and envision for NZ as Labour and left leaning voters there is only about 25-30% of the electorate that will support a radical new economic approach. This was shown by Corbyn in the UK and Sanders in the US Democratic primary. Where large numbers of ordinary voters (predominantly old because the young don’t turn up to vote) dutifully voted against their own economic interests to protect the status quo.
    Those in the working and middle classes who keep their jobs in NZ will want a return to the status quo ASAP. Low taxation, low wages, subsidies for asset owners (rental subsidies, business loans) and an unnecessarily cruel Welfare system – high unemployment will provide the necessary drivers for all of these. The opportunity to lay off staff and drive down wages will be at the top of the agenda for NZ’s investment community and business owners. NZ’s aspiration obsessed voters will do what they’re told as they nod their heads in agreement to talk radio and NZ Herald articles.

    • I strongly doubt it. Wages cannot get any lower than they are currently regards the cost of living. People will be expecting a far better deal than that which we’ve had to endure for the past 35 years.

      The borders are now effectively closed with less cheap immigrant labour pouring in on a seasonal basis, – which means that NZ workers also now have the freedom to choose , especially in the rural sector… which also means rural employers in the agriculture / horticulture must up their game if they don’t want to go under…

      The same also apply’s to urban industrialists.

      The vise-like grip these disgusting neo liberal capitalist monopolistic opportunists have had on the NZ working public for the past 35 years has been wrenched from them and is now under perusal. It is time for them to start paying their way, start paying their taxes and start paying realistic wages and salary’s.

      And those Australian opportunistic banks who have bled this country dry for so long and caused a housing crisis in this country ?

      Their turn is coming as well.

  4. There is no way that PM Ardern will bring the election forward : (a) Given that she appears to be a woman of integrity, I doubt that she would compromise herself in such a fashion (b) She is too astute a politician to be unaware that this could be regarded as utilising the pandemic for political purposes (c) She is going to be too busy.

    With the onset of winter, and moving into level two, spikes in coronavirus cases are almost inevitable. The medical profession and the police are acutely aware of this. Hopefully everyone is.

    Successfully containing the initial outbreaks has allowed the medicos and the hospitals to move into a greater degree of preparedness than may have been possible sooner, given the dreadful rundown state of so many health facilities after so many years of deliberate underfunding with the National govt pursuing a policy of privacy by stealth. This still does not mean that we will ever return to the previous status quo, and
    that major future change or shock may not happen. There is no such reality as, “after the virus.”

    But yes, it does give the people an opportunity to tell the government what societal change is necessary to benefit the whole community – and planet earth – rather than merely benefit the myopic few, and if the few are fretful then that is nothing more than the self-indulgence of the dilettante – there are far more important issues on the road ahead.

    • L0L ! , – Then you can thank your lucky stars I’m not your PM !- not only would I be ruthless enough to call an early election to capitalize on popularity , – I’d have all those grubby little Milton Freidmann sycophants in court by lunchtime and in the lock up by 2pm for treason! That ONLY after commandeering all their ill gotten gains from the last 35 years they stole from the NZ commons!

      No apologies, btw.

  5. Roll on September. I’ve never voted for the right in my entire life but in my view this govt makes a mockery of democracy. Something I simply wont accept.

    • The government’s handling of the pandemic seemed to have something like 80 to 90 percent support. This seems to indicate a very democratic state of affairs.

      • mikesh,

        100%

        Our democracy is working as it should despite the protestations of the vested interest anti-Ardern brigade. Who will they have replace this Government? Simon Bridges? Yea right.

  6. Nice fluffy article Chris Trotter but I didn’t see anything remotely like change in the wind. All I heard was GROWTH and AUSTERITY and BACK TO NORMAL. Peter Bradleys horrible comments above I have to agree with, as much as it disgusts me. I think Peter wrote them with some relish but I could be wrong.

  7. We haven’t heard from Jane Kelsey for a while. Where are you Jane?
    It would be good to know what the framework imposed by international trade agreements is that we have either to work within or break.
    Then for my submission I would suggest the most important action will be to reestablish control of our currency and our banking system. The government needs to control much more closely where new money is issued and for what purpose. Obviously creating funding for housing for a start.
    In fact I don’t think theres any need to go into any detail. If the constraints imposed by international trade agreements can be ignored the simple needs of the people of New Zealand and the resources we have to respond to them are obvious to all. It is purely a question of having the courage to take back control of the economy and make it work for everyone and resisting the propaganda we have been sold for the last35 years that only the market and international corporations and finance can run things properly. That idea has run it’s course . The International corporations and financial institutions now require an impoverished public sector to save them from extinction but they have grown “too big to fail”. Well the truth is they have grown too big for the rest of society to save them and the rest of society working through their elected representatives needs to start looking after itself just as we have done through the lockdown.
    D J S

  8. As to the election timing ,Jacinda is going the be the Prime Minister afterwards whenever it happens and whatever motley crew is she has to drag along with her .

    D J S

    • Indeed, however, motley crews can be a good thing,…so many times in history has an objective been achieved by a so called ‘ragtag and motley crew’… NZ SAS and the NZ Desert Rat components come to mind.

  9. ‘She is inviting everyone: from the corporate CEO to the hero on the supermarket check-out; from the bank economist to the welfare beneficiary; to have their say about the shape and purpose of their country’s “new normal”.

    I am reminded of people like Copernicus (What! The Earth going round the Sun! Don’t be ridiculous; everyone knows the Sun goes round the Earth!), Galileo -died under house arrest after challenging the incorrect thinking of the day

    Galileo was found “vehemently suspect of heresy” (though he was never formally charged with heresy, relieving him of facing corporal punishment[97]), namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was required to “abjure, curse and detest” those opinions.[98][99][100][101]
    He was sentenced to formal imprisonment at the pleasure of the Inquisition.[102] On the following day, this was commuted to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life.[103]
    His offending Dialogue was banned; and in an action not announced at the trial, publication of any of his works was forbidden, including any he might write in the future.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei

    and particularly Semmelweis

    ‘Despite various publications of results where hand washing reduced mortality to below 1%, Semmelweis’s observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. Semmelweis could offer no acceptable scientific explanation for his findings, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it. In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis supposedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleague. He died a mere 14 days later, at the age of 47, after being beaten by the guards, from a gangrenous wound on his right hand which might have been caused by the beating. Semmelweis’s practice earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory, and Joseph Lister, acting on the French microbiologist’s research, practised and operated using hygienic methods, with great success.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis

    In other words, you can be the ONLY person who is right amongst thousands, even millions who are wrong, and yet your ideas will be rejected because they do not conform to the mantra of the times you live in.

    Thus, we can safely bet that, whatever evidence is presented to demonstrate that the current economic system is leading to absolute disaster, and has no long term future, Jacinda will implement policies that will appease those who shout loudest or want to maintain dysfunctional arrangement a long as possible while making everything that matters in the long run (over-urbanisation, over-consumption, Planetary Overheating, Ocean Acidification, loss of biodiversity etc.,) worse.

    For the record, the only strategies that have ANY HOPE of keeping the Earth habitable for humans beyond a few decades are powerdown (using substantially less energy per capita), permaculture (low-energy-input food production based on recycling and retention of nutrients) and population reduction [via limiting births rather than actually killing people].

    I’m not holding my breath for any of those to be implemented because they are ‘heretical’ ideas and do not provide profits for corporations and banks.

  10. The PM will be know for her anguish and hand wringing and her earrings.
    Sure she is great in a crisis but frankly, housing, child poverty, beneficaries, the working poor…. these are the real crises.

  12. With Police not enforcing Level 4 and 3 rules, now not even Level 2 rules, who believes the govt?

    • Police DID enforce Level 4 and 3 rules, the question really is,… who can believe the Opposition? All they’ve done is rant and rave from the sidelines and been as impotent as brewers droop. We need a HARD govt, not a soft flaccid one in these times…

  15. … uprooting GDPeacounters, Growth Fetishists, Political Jubilants of the Status Quo…

    There are times with good reasons one may best foster leadership through a collective; the poet, the physician, the farmer, the scientist, the philosopher, the craftsman… and all the other twelve.

    An intellectual cadre with mature experience of life in its many colours and diversity.

    A communicative outreach with guidance on a single theme: system change for climate resilience.

    Profound reflection and guarded action.

    Ecological, socialist, historical, radical and civilian affinity.

    Organization is everything.

    …..voting for what exactly? No time to loose.

    https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/04/28/1910114117
    Future of human climate niche.

  16. A very robust and interesting thread. Thank you all. Jacinda knows the right words. Unless she gets to the financial roots of the global melt down, she is a potential Don Quixote. Australian banks extract how many billions from NZ annually, 6 billion? With a 3x multiplier effect, that could be 15 – 20 billion p.a. When do you hear any NZ government make this point and encourage our own Kiwibank to grow? If she is to prevail, she needs to identify, and ‘correct’ the neo liberals in her own team. Quite the opposite to my present observation, where the corporates are whispering in her earinged ears. Is this media lunch break?

Comments are closed.