There are two reasons this Labour Government has not been transformative in the way the progressive left demands and Jacinda promises.
The first reason is big bad Uncle Winston who always taps the breaks to keep his banjo plucking provincial rednecks happy when policy spooks his superstitious voting base and the second reason is because of Jacinda and Grant’s innate Labour Party caution.
I’m old enough to know that the only way you get Labour to be genuinely progressive is you push a gun to their head and force them to do it. I remember how hard Laila Harre had to fight Helen Clark just to get paid parental leave!
The only way to get Jacinda to be transformative is by snookering Labour into a majority Government so that they can’t blame Winston, but what if the progressive left put Labour into a majority Government position and Jacinda and Grant were STILL too timid to be transformative?
The good news is that moment of knowing will occur very early in the second term. If progressives don’t see Jacinda embark upon a truly transformative 100 day programme, we will know that Labour is not the political vehicle for the change we require.
In that scenario we can acknowledge we’ve given Jacinda a chance and if disappointed by their second term 100 day plan, can immediately begin to plot against Labour.
I argue that the current political spectrum in New Zealand can not radically adapt fast enough to adopt the changes we must make if we are to survive the climate crisis. It will require a radical Political Movement that elects a Party to implement direct political action.
As the climate crisis unfolds more and more people in fury will turn against the current political system too wedded to the economic profits margins of the polluters. It is just a matter of time before the NZ electorate rejects the limitations of the current political spectrum.
In 2023, for the first time in NZ history, Gen X + Gen Y + Millennials will be a larger voting block than the boomers.
2023 is our date for revolution comrades if Labour can’t take the gift of a majority Government and actually do something with that power.
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Too big a task to pick apart each of your reasons @ Martyn but its the reason that, as things stand, I will be voting Green this election after a lifetime of supporting Labour
There’s a kind of stubborn weakness in Labour at the moment, and one that’s still not prepared to deal with the ill effects of the neo-liberal religion and the banjo pluckers and a public service that in many cases is no longer fit for purpose.
Even though the Greens are what we would once have described as a ‘bit wet’, the same can be said of quite a few in Labour.
There’s enough now that’s happened (especially recently with Shane’s posteuring and constantly looking at himself in the mirror), for Labour to have stood on principle, pulled the plug and gone early.
If the promised lack of openness and transparency in a lot of cases didn’t do it; or the lack of getting public service reform underway in some of those particularly awful departments when there were/are reasons to have done so – even using established process; or getting angry at the Warehouse, but not Air New Zealand or Kiwirail; then it must be the two tier beneficiaries and treatment of immigrants who WE (this is US) brought here; AND the lack of doing something constructive with public service media and plurality.
The only thing that might change it is if the plug were pulled now, although announcement now is probably too late, but bad Winston, bad Shane doesn’t cut it and a lot of the shit isn’t down to them anyway.
If Kiwis do opt for gNats, then we probably deserve what we get and we better prepare ourselves for there being not much left and the continued trend towards dirty politics instead of that promised openness, kindness and transformation
Oh, plus there’s Oranga Tamariki, and the lack of progress on a gun register and probably a bit more that doesn’t immediately spring to mind.
What! A group of candidates/politicians who say one thing before an election and do something quite different (the opposite) once in office!
How unusual (not).
Agree, however this time round ( for me anyway ) it’s more to do with the extent to which its happened, and their lack of adequate bullshit detectors when dealing with institutions and the bureaucracy
OWT
Yes your comments are as wise as an OWL.
Chris Trotter said it all on his article today. We are gripped by the Rogernomics still today and the millennials are now mostly in charge and still carrying on with the ‘experiment’ until they themselves fall victim to the rot and ruin and greed that Rogernomics produces.
100% nailed it Martyn.
If a majority Labour Govt eventuates, then it’s last chance saloon for staunch Gen X voters who witnessed firsthand the duplicity of R. Douglas and friends.
Many rightly point out Labour ought to have lost the support of workers long ago, but in Jacinda and Grant there are glowing embers of hope (admittedly forced to glow by the pandemic) that, given the right circumstances, will turn into the long overdue and necessary bonfire of neoliberalism and corporatocracy.
Without the overturning of that now thoroughly discredited and utterly failed destructive economic philosophy, we stand as much chance of successfully contending with catastrophic climate change as a box of tissue paper absorbing a tsunami.
Anyone who thinks the global world order will still exist at the end of this year is either grossly uninformed or utterly deluded.
The US is in now in the final phase of terminal collapse, having been on the path to collapse since the late 1990s, when Bill Clinton promoted deregulation of the banking sector. The numerous interventions by the Fed (money printing and rigging of markets, leading to ludicrous price/earnings ratios based on share by-backs and fake projections) and the invasions of numerous sovereign nations on the basis of false pretexts kept the military-industrial-complex staggering on until the Covdiot Trump wielded the final blows via short-term self-serving policies that have provided the perfect breeding ground for Covid-19. The 6% drop in the Dow reported this morning (NZ time) is just the beginning of the widespread financial meltdown that must follow on from the economic-social meltdown that is occurring in the disunited states. The only good news is that ‘the authorities’ have proven powerless to impose dysfunctional policies any longer. It’s gratifying to read about the widespread defacing and pulling down of statues that were erected long ago to glorify the exploits of war criminals and slave traders etc.
Whether the US will still exist as the US at the end of this year (even exist as the US in September) is open to debate. The retail sector is breaking down; the fracking sector is breaking down; the international trade system is breaking down; the food supply system is breaking down. The reign of the US dollar as global reserve currency is coming to an end.
If all that were not enough, most of South America is in Covid-19 crisis, with Brazil a basket case and with no strategy or capacity to bring matters under control; much the same for most of Africa, India, Bangladesh etc. I am somewhat surprised how badly Russia has done in controlling Covid-19, while Sweden has very much regretted the ‘no rules’ policy that has led to a surge in hospitalisations and deaths there. Despite pleas for opening up, Europe has not beaten Covid-19, and nor has Australia.
China has made it abundantly clear that it is not going to be pushed around by America or any of America’s vassal states. Even without the political aspect, China has monstrous problems in terms of lost markets for consumeristic crap and what to do with the hundreds of millions of people previous employed converting raw materials into consumeristic crap.
Then there is the environmental meltdown, which is projected to manifest in an unusually high number of devastating hurricanes this year.
The tiny (and rapidly declining) sector of the world population that can afford to travel isn’t allowed to and doesn’t want to. The meltdown of the financial markets will generate widespread fear amongst those with fiat assets that can vanish at the stroke of a computer key.
So, what I am saying is that whoever forms the next government (and it sure looks like it will be Jacinda) will HAVE TO BE TRANSFORMATIVE whether they want to or not because little we had before is coming back and most of it will disappear.
It [the Great Turning] been coming for a long time and the vast majority of people just don’t get it. Industrial Civilisation was a very short term aberration in the grand scheme of things and is in the failure mode that is a natural consequence of centuries looting and polluting the natural world and over-dependence on fossil fuels and electricity.
Our job is the minimise the impact of the crash, not attempt to revive a ‘corpse’. That means doing lots of unfashionable and unglamorous things like growing vegetables and cycling, and forgetting about skiing holidays and corporatised sport. The transition will be too hard for many, I suspect.
I read your comments and in a perfect World that is the way we should go forward and try to improve instead of trying to replicate the errors we all made leading up to this meltdown. However when you see people lining up at 2 in the morning for a McDonalds and the best the climate aware parties in power can do to is build roads (badly ) I know we have a long way to go .
As a frequent traveller I am being bombarded with special offers for cruises in 2021 and flights to Europe
. On a political point how is it with the impotance of the effect on the enviroment we make as we move on from this point why are the Greens doing so badly in the polls.I am not aware of any friends who would vote Green so would be interested to know .Are they better as a loud voice in opposition than a small voice in power
As a previous Green voter I have watched in dismay election after election as they achieve little for the environment. I will be voting TOP as there evidence based costed policy makes sense. The not left not right position rather what’s best resonates.
+100…good stuff…interesting reading Afewknowthetruth
AFKTT
“The transition will be too hard for many, I suspect.”
And much too hard for most to imagine so they stick to BAU as their only reference.
It takes a lot of research and reading to sort out a picture of possibilities without clinging to straws.
Community resilience or the strength of community is the most likely key to local survival but that means preparation rather than wait and see.
Community strength is not a hierarchical ordering of wealth but based on what can be and is contributed.
Ideas and well founded knowledge are most important and in short supply.
Food supply from the land is basic and distribution networks come a close second .
Both of those come after some sort of cooperative social organisation within a community.
“Until you change the way money works, you change nothing.” -Mike Ruppert
And as long as the banks are in control of the system, and as long as Treasury and the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment continue to use GDP and promote GDP growth we are fucked, I’m afraid.
Pretty good AFKTT
Neoliberalism was always the most inappropriate system imaginable once the world could not be regarded as an infinite resource. And treating banking and money creation as if it were just another industry to be deregulated was the coup de gras .
Just as you say the next government will be transformative by necessity , probably not by design; design will amount to how well or badly they grapple with the changes that a failure of the financial system present .
But it looks like it could be on us before the election. The drop in the Dow this morning after it’s unhinged recovery to record levels based inescapably on the money printing QE all looking for somewhere to settle , (anywhere but where it is needed, ) . Has that money printing suddenly stopped? I didn’t think it was going to. It can’t if the system is to continue. When it stops the world stops. Market forces went out of the picture a decade ago.
D J S
D J S
@ Afewknowthetruth.
I think you’re dead right.
We must purge ourselves of the greedy bankster and in so doing we must remember that they will not go quietly.
Speaking broadly: The bankster got into roger douglas’s blood stream then he wriggled into Labour and it was while within Labour that [they] took hold of our economy and, as a consequence, fucked us up.
The reason why we’re so anxious and concerned about how we live our lives on several resource rich islands and in such luxuriously few numbers is because [it’s] all just too big and too horrible to countenance for us and the curative measures we could, indeed must, take are just so incomprehensibly complex and Machiavellian to even begin to think about ‘fixing’, for the want of a better word.
That’s why, politicians.
We need politicians to kiss it better, no matter what ghastly thing it is that needs kissing.
Our politicians, the ones well paid and currently ‘in’ must start kissing some quite odious things.
Firstly, they must kiss us. I’m gorgeous, so kissing me would be a pleasure. However, the unlovely, the unloved, the homeless and the addicted and wretchedly impoverished, all victims of corporate greed, lies, swindlings and meddlings in things that are not theirs and bankster arrogance need some serious smooching. Immediately.
The measure of any democratic and progressive society is in how the politic manages those most at risk.
And until the no doubt blessed relief of c-19 came along, Labour was doing a pretty shit job of the kissings.
A Jiff’d, Bleached and rinsed off new Labour would admit to its past crimes of both humanity and finance. Labour threw AO/NZ under a pretty shit bus and it needs to fix that.
Labour? You need to fix that. You need to admit that you were sabotaged from within those 36 years ago. We can forgive you. No one’s perfect so you’ve got to come clean.
You know who they were/are and you must now go after them and drag them outside for a good fucking public kissing.
They only things that can make politicians invincible are the truth, honesty and good intentions. And you can afford those things for Gods sake! We pay you thousands ! So do your fucking job!
Get those poor bastards off the streets. Make it easy and dignified for our at risk parents to feed their kids and for the sake of the dear sweet baby Jesus get interior decorators to give those hideous, vile WINZ offices a make over. Think burn down then re build.
And sack all the frumpish, cruel, sneering kiwi staff. Replace them with immigrants. People with a more sophisticated understanding of a basic level of kindness.
( Sorry. Once I start I can’t stop. It’s a thing. )
Afewknowthetruth
I stand in line to support your logic on where NZ and the world is going; and time to prepare for ‘another deep depression’ like 1929 now coupled with climate chaos.
One of your best rants ever, CB
Martyn they won’t – deep down you know this is the case. Despite what is discussed over Grey Lynn dinner tables it’s got nothing to do with intentions nor with ideology and everything to do with staying in power. It’s the same reason Key didn’t dismantle working for families and interest-free student loans. Trust me, he wanted to however politically it COULD have cost him the election. This is the same reason why the government won’t be trans formative.
Politics in NZ is a short term sprint for 3 years and the whether its red or blue 90% of the strategy is to keep the status quo, push all the problems under the carpet and bribe the swinging middle. The next 3 years will be all about corporate and middle class welfare as this government learns the hard way business and shareholder risk, particularly at the top end of town is anything but altruistic.
The excuse will be the ensuring economic carnage that is starting to occur right now. Politics on both sides in western nations has morphed into a consensus position taking the worst parts of socialism and neo-liberalism mashing them together in a sh*t sandwich of incompetence and inefficiency. Why the bad parts you might ask? This can be explained in 2 words – self interest.
So don’t expect a capital gains tax, large increases in welfare payments nor free education – it won’t happen as all the government’s time and money will be spent on pandering to the self-centered, childish middle who will continue to expect everything for free and look to blame anyone and everyone so their sudden loss of income and lifestyle. And yes a lot of that middle is genX, genY and millennials – they don’t care much about ideology as long as they are kept happy and given trinkets…..
Tick
You are in denial if you really believe Winston is what is stopping Labour being transformative!
Labour is still the same neoliberal labour but instead of austerity they are promoting pre election term generosity, which is very popular.
Also the border is still closed so those that seek to help dirty politics, and the recent large overseas community that can vote in NZ but don’t actually work or live here from Asia and thus are not polled as yet, (against the Kiwis born in NZ and living in OZ and Europe who can’t afford to work in NZ and have big student loans, so traditionally vote Green and tend to do so for years) haven’t been able to arrive for the Natz as yet.
What I love (sarcasm) about the woke is their absolute lack of irony…
aka white, middle class woke, who every second blog is about how terrible white people are, how racist everyone is (who is white), happy to spread Covid based on attending black lives matter protests, think everyone should speak Te Reo, but apparently hate NZ First… whose leaders are of Maori descent… Winston Peters https://ethnicelebs.com/winston-peters Fletcher Tabuteau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_Tabuteau Shane Jones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Jones Ron Mark https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/biography/ron-mark (poor guy was a Maori ward of the state apparently)
But, but, but, woke, Jacinda is white and so is Grant Robertson….
There is a disconnect between hating the Natz because they are white, while loving Labour leaders and not noticing they are white, while hating NZ First who appear to be Maori….
I don’t believe in judging people based on their ethnicity, race, gender or anything else, but can’t help wondering about the woke brigade logic, that blog about Natz white ethnicity daily, while the next day, blog about how amazing Jacinda is? Can we get off the race based politics for a mo, and actually talk policy…
Sadly race has become yet another visual signalling of the shallow media and marketing industries and a massive tool of the right and neoliberalism to lower wages and conditions and democracy, while any attempts to get off the phenotype into actual real policy helping real people based on need, is just too hard…
good one Save NZ
+100…well said saveNZ…
Google and its b.s ….
@ savenz…. howzat !
https://youtu.be/zL5EDb8Fyf4?t=1
Something about that feeling of being caught out , snapped as it were, and your ability to catch em out…keep it up !
Or perhaps the “neoliberal banjo pluckers” are already in government, they are called Labour . And in fact are very happy with their direction and policy settings.
The take-away, is that the masses don’t appear to want Labour to be transformative.
Last time Labour were transformative was 1984… and Rogernomics… people prefer no transformation than negative transformation to the masses…
I did a thoughtful piece that just vanished when I pressed the wrong button. Probably it would never have achieved anything so why worry. But if we keep thinking maybe we’ll come up with something. Poor old Labour, they pulled their pants down in 1984 and a dog ran away with them then, never to be traced. And we might as well listen to Badjelly the Witch and hope that though Labour has been pecked on the bum, Jim the Eagle will fly in and save us. We are into dreams and schemes, thinking rationally hasn’t been working for a long time.
And I will attempt the rational thing and find out how to save stuff on Firefox as this vanishing this has happened before.
The Wage Slave Labour Party is not Left, and neither is most of TDB…
Oh, so inside of your head Martyn Bradbury is right wing. What have you seen in the real world that would force you to imagine such things?
So what? Im so far right you can hear my heels clicking. Funny thing is when I meet a far left person it seems like my reflection.
+100
@Wiking – brilliant comment
I’m sure you’ve got a following @ Castro, and probably well-read, but it’d be really good if you could take your hand off your cock for half a minute. You’re a fucking big part of the problem rather than any sort of solution.
And if you could let us know what you want for Christmas that’d be quite nice as well. I’m sure between us ‘yall, we could even equip you from head to to with a legit uniform.
How about some healthy, affordable housing and three rounds with Roger Douglas, Santa?
Yes, sure, Martyn Bradbury, a question as old as the Labour party…
There is plenty of historical experience with labour / social democratic style of parties allover the world.
Spoiler share 85%. Face it: NZ Labour will hardly become transformative.
Because it is against her organic DNA.
Mentally, NZ Labour is a child of the global industrialization process. This is probably not the best presumption for successful climate adaptation and resilience policies.
Note.
Labour parties / social democratic parties are political compromises already. Further compromising such compromise will only generate counteraction by the party-internal antipodes.
Without a radical party at her left such constellation of a political party may always tend to assimilate with capital forces.
So what?
A consistent and pro-active eco-socialist platform can be able to influence the status quo and to provide enough groundswell for floating the tanker.
And?
“In search for a radical parliamentary wing for constructive collaboration with extra-parliamentary community organizations, especially in rural areas.”
Face it:
NZ Labour can hardly become transformative.
Or could she, a little bit, perhaps?
A Party with Socialists in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ETiAJWtlvM
So far our non first past the post,has only aided the old school farm fence in their ability to not win out right,but with one serious right wing revolutionary party that in thinking minds could only be labled as facist,the act national patsy party.So it will amaze me if Labour,outright wins the coming election.
Some media chasp just mentioned Labour was held back by NZ 1st. First time it occurred to me. But then I remembered the Labour talkers made the case for starving the starving. Or, for campaigners , the brown.
She who is the current queen of politics and her cohort are never ever going to be transformational and Winston isn’t to blame for that. They don’t have the balls frankly and what is more they don’t want transformation. But they will use Winston as the block for this.
They all believe in capitalism as it stands!
NZ is about to open her borders to masses of US refugees. I predict this will occur right after the election…at that point it won’t matter how progressive they are because the onslaught of new residents will keep them in power longer.
The theory and analysis is right, however the underlying problem is the people who’re in parliament. They’re lightweight wokesters. The progeny of Roger Douglas and Third Way believers.
The party no longer allows “people” of action into the party anymore. Thats why this lot are a lameduck party.
If they get lucky and cross the line in September, doesn’t mean that they’ll be government, that’ll be up to Winston!
No more lesser evil voting for me. Neo-Labour have figureheads weaned on neo-liberal milk. They don’t have the intellect, guts, and will to become progressives.
Chris Trotter has just bewailed not sticking by friend-of-the rich Labour back in the day to provide a wider mind for now. The successful modern Labour Party players don’t gnash their teeth about anything. Crassness doesn’t have a conscience, and also, happily, works best in day to day politics. Let alone Trotter’s article saying there will be no benefit increases without the neediest organising. Shiza!
We did nothing wrong, we aren’t wrong, on the contrary.
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