There is a grim amusement in reading the panicked Professional Managerial Class suddenly realising their consultancies and bureaucratic Sim City rearrangement games alongside the activist woke middle class virtue signals have turned into political poison for the Left.
The Professional Managerial Class in Wellington didn’t sense a cost of living crisis because most are now on the property ladder and their well paid jobs inoculate them from the pain of the community.
We have a Parliament of Landlords and a self serving public service coupled with an identity politics woke-washed consultancy industry married together in one big polygamous non binary orgy of self interest.
When you go to the Emergency Department, you don’t give a fuck if the back room is centralised or run by Māori, you only care you will be seen in a short time, that you will be safe and eventually healed!
When the Government proudly tells us they have spent hundreds of millions on basic services, we all envision that as front line money, but it isn’t, it’s for these Bureaucratic Sim City games where wonks endlessly move the bureaucratic infrastructure around with no one representing the interests of the end user.
The Hamilton West byelection debate I hosted had an interesting moment, the Labour Party candidate was boasting about how much money had gone into Mental Health which had the audience roar back in divisive laughter because the experience of those in the community with mental health issues is that the service is in crisis.
Instead of directly challenging the inequalities of capitalism, the middle class activist base have pushed for identity politics representation über alles.
This has snookered the Left as we end up militantly championing esoteric issues like land rights for gay whales.
We are not focused on the material well being of people.
No struggling family trying to pay the bills are sitting around the kitchen table cancelling people for misusing pronouns.
We are not focusing on reducing the cost of living for our people by using new taxes against the actual rich of NZ society.
The demarcation of power in a liberal progressive democracy is between the 1% + their 9% enablers vs the 90% rest of us. Identity Politics however is focused solely on skin colour, gender and genitalia. If your starting point politically is all white men are evil, we aren’t going to the 51% democratic majority required to hold power.
Right now the Political Right are using deplorable race baiting tactics, bash the dirty filthy beneficiary rhetoric and get-tough-on-crime cheerleading to ride a wave of Covid contempt that has algorithmically manifested into a dark treacle of social media hatred that borders on domestic terrorism.
If the Left doesn’t articulate a new narrative to generate a circuit breaker we will find it difficult to explain to voters why they should actually vote for us in 2023.
I believe a National/ACT Government would represent the implementation of the most damaging conflict policies and amputation of the State we have ever seen in this country.
If you all honestly believe that Māori would not openly rebel if we simply cut the Ministry of Māori Affairs as ACT want, I don’t think you understand politics in NZ.
The 30 year neoliberal experiment in NZ cut the State back to the bone and the political project of the Right ever since is to tax-cut starve off revenue for the State so it can’t redistribute it in the first place.
What we saw with Covid is that you desperately need a State with capacity. So many of the problems we encountered was the shear slowness of an underfunded, under capacity public service.
With the economic recession, the geopolitical shockwaves and catastrophic climate change upon us, we must have a debate about the capacity of the State!
That is how the Left have to re frame 2023 – vote for the Right and get an amputation of the State, vote for the Left and build new capacity for the challenges ahead.
We need more Drs, more nurses, more teachers, more Police, more State houses, more infrastructure NOT LESS!
We need to debate for a bigger capacity State using the example Covid just gave us.
We need more Scientists, Drs, nurses, teachers, Police, more State houses and more infrastructure alongside policy that directly subsidises the cost of living like removing gst off food, free dental, free public transport, free food in schools and we will fund that extra increase through targeted new taxes to rebuild the capacity of the State.
The obviousness of our need for a Ministry of Works that actually builds shit is painfully clear to everyone by now.
We need to actually sell the 2023 election in those explicit terms – vote Right and amputate the State, vote Left and rebuild the capacity to actually face the challenges ahead.
These new taxes will be a sugar tax for free dental, a financial transaction tax to lower GST on everything, a bank windfall profit tax to build more State houses, a social media journalism tax.
Taxes aimed at speculators and the wealthy to fund services for the egalitarian country we want NZ to be.
Let’s have the courage to actually argue and win over our fellow citizens for solution based policy that actually builds the capacity to have the extra drs, nurses, firemen, police, and teachers.
Let’s champion policies that subsidise people’s cost of living by redistributing from the few to the many.
The voters of NZ are still waiting for the Transformative change we promised them in 2017.
If the Political Left have all finished squabbling over who the biggest victim is and cancelling people for crimes against middle class dogma, could we get back to winning the election and being actually transformative?
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So why is noone listening?
You mean as in ‘why is noone in the political class not listening’?. ‘Cos they STILL aren’r!
Government is just not working for the average Joe and Jane. (It is primarily working for itself using your – this “WE” team of 5 million – using “WE/OUR” money)
And a really really really big part of it rests with the upper muddle/senior management ranks of what is inaptly described as the ‘Public Service’.
Unfortunately, even the best of Labour Munsters have been captured.
Ekshully, my award to the most likely candidate who is beginning to realise all is not well in the state of the current junta and its relationship with its administrators and advisors would have to go to Michael Wood.
And then hopefully the rest of them might wake up and realise that starting immediately, they’ll need an H2 type bovver boy. Keiran McNulty springs to mind
Is that Michael “river of filth” Wood?
What makes you think Woods on it?
Because he’s twigged to what a complete load of incompetent, managerialist bullshit artists some of the senior and muddle management ‘officials’ at MBIE are.
And @Bob the first – exactly the kind of bovver boy we might need then if public servants refuse to actually serve the public. Neo-kindness hasn’t seemed to work so far
Interesting ONce.
How do you know Michael Wood Twigged about MBIE?
Geniune question
A few things @ Anker
such as U turns on policy advice (some of it dressed up as “best practice” that isn’t/wasn’t), but also because we tend to forget that some dash cams – such as those in taxis and Uber cars also record audio. Some things can’t be ‘unheard’.
The Ministry for Everything (MBIE’s) record in a number of areas isn’t that pretty. Hopefully it isn’t just Wood who is beginning to twig.
Bit of a bugger you asked because I wouldn’t be surprised if MBIE managerialists issued underling and senior staff reminders as to discretion.
What about the bully boy Sharma he’s looking for a job, perfect fit for National.
Will the adult left please stand up
That would be the new workers Now party
How completely out of touch was Georgie Dansey to think the big budget announcement for mental health actually meant that money going into mental health? Where has she been?? Where?
Labour badly needs a top down overhaul from the way they select candidates to the policies they promote, to the MP’s. It’s way too be late for this election and depending how poorly they go in 2023 it may be too late altogether. But they badly need to get away from middle class academic liberal wine and cheese evenings, (leave that to the Greens), and get real working people on board, the kind of people who work, pay bills, drive cars, have kids, meat and 3 veg humans. Ordinary kiwis!
From what I’ve seen from this lot, all the selection of people not on merit but on gender, cultural grounds type navel gazing honed in campus debates has resulted in the most useless impractical government I’ve ever seen. And it’s not surprising!
I hear what you’re saying but I do not hold out much hope for this current iteration of Labour!
Well said XRAY I no nothing about Labour selection but the Hamilton election showed the quality candidates National can put up . There has been a change at HO and Luxon has shown those standing for the party will not be embarrassed. At the next election in 2023 expect some quality candidates to stand . I believe many would be Labour candidates will hold back as on present form they are in for a well deserved pasting.
There is a place for academic advice and some of its people @XRAY. Rule of thumb – the best of them have chosen to exit, or have been ‘dis/mis’placed or would prefer not to be there under current the market the market principles.
I’m not holding out any hope either for the Labour Party to get its shit together in time for ’23. It COULD surprise, but I doubt it. For that to happen, they’d have to wake up any realise who are their worst enemies.
Some of them though have already convinced themselves that if and, more likely WHEN it all turns to shit, they’ll have a place either here, or offshore where mortgages can be paid, egos can be stroked, and there’ll be some cosy little pozzie on a board or in marketing where they can continue to display their brand.
Menwhile, the natives will have become really really really restless
“…middle class academic liberal wine and cheese evenings”
🙂 🙂 🙂
Or behind the scenes donation bribe dinners where you can get two Indians or one Chinese
With drag queens for entertainment Andrew
Yes he most useless impractical Govt ever
I agree, National were.
Sorry Bert I should have made it clearer.
This Labour Govt is the most useless impratical Govt ever.
And before you go acusing me of anything, Up till two weeks ago, I was a member of the Labour Party and have voted Labour all my life
I’m not accusing you of anything but up to 2 weeks ago I believed in Santa Claus. Not sure impratical is a word but the last National Govt was the most useless impractical Govt ever, just ask the health sector, the teachers, the would be home owners and anyone earning the minimum wage. Now go away and think about that when you rejoin the Labour party membership.
Well actually I decide when I do or don’t connect with this blog Bert.
Actually for me it has been a very serious decision resigning from Labour.
I no longer trust them and believe they are ideologically driven
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man or woman in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of an envious socialist Govt to steal their wealth & redistribute it so everyone achieves equity at the ever-reducing lowest common denominator.”
– apologies to Jane Austen
As for Maori Affairs getting the chop, I am sure that will never happen. AFAIK, Maori Affairs have been around since the 1950’s (maybe earlier?) and no-one will remove it. i doubt David Seymour does either and tacking that onto the list was more dog whistling for the far right vote.
I don’t think many on the right actually want to vote for Act but they are terrified by Luxon’s wishy washiness and feel he can’t be trusted to repeal 3 Waters or to limit co Governance. They foresee all conservation land being given to Maori and for all NZers to lose free usage of the parks and waters (Giving how TU is going, I can see why). Take a trip to the daily Kiwi blog forum and you will see comments about this there.
And please not turn out the light and leave the room. Please stay around, inspire others, and carry the debate forward to recuperative action is undertaken, before the undertakers come for the good and the bad together.
Of you mean good people leaving Aotearoa.
So. Many Good Families left my 9yolds class this year to Oz.
All hardworking, many highly qualified, all want something better…
The left? What left? Is there any of ‘The Left’ left?
This is the ‘frame’ which is wrong, and it has become a straightjacket of lies.
If Savage & Atlee are the modern Left in Post-Depression politics, and Sir Hollyoake & MacMillan are the modern moderate Right, then what remains?
Blairite/Clintonite Labour, the Tories and the rest are all far to the right of Hollyoake.
The litmus test is Rogernomics. Does a politician oppose the Douglas Economic Policy Package (deindustrialization, the abolition of Full Employment Policy, mass privatisation)? Do they oppose the Birch Acts (the abolition of universal trade union representation and the award system)?
Tell me: is there a single MP that would reverse those attacks on working class people, and at least return their common prosperity and political power to where it was in 1983?
Good luck finding anyone except a corporate donor or lobbyist who actually supports any of it.
The ‘Spirit of Savage’ is only dead because no press baron allows anyone to read about it. They are simply told to vote for one of two, barely distinguishable, right wing candidates — and anyone who complains is an ‘agent of Putin’, a ‘domestic extremist’, a ‘conspiracy theorist’.
The Empire of Lies is real.
Kristoff R…you may want to look at the Workers Now party. If you google them, you will find them.
über alles, not uber allas. I have told you before, Martyn.
You spoil your effect by making it easy for enemies to laugh at you for invoking the old term ‘alas’, mistakenly.
It’s like schoolkids – no matter how small and insignificant the teacher’s mistake is, the kiddies will laugh all the more for it if they want to find fault.
If you persist, you risk cancellation!
Well said Bomber!
Can say whatever they like who’d believe them… the only delivery has been a huge wealth transfer to the landlord class and huge support for the um consultant industry.
Actual shit that helps the hoi polloi not so much.
Labour is firmly in thrall to the we know what you need better than you chardonnay socialists who are safely encamped in their Grey Lynn villas and Mangawhai Beach houses. Most of whom benefiting from government largesse and could happily work from home during covid.
Well nothing less than that steaming pile above from the usual tory suspects could have been expected I guess.
But–humour us here please sheepshaggers for just a moment–name even one thing that would make any working class person better off for voting Baldrick…exactly…and there is the problem. There are any number of issues that NZ Labour can be attacked on, and I have done my share of that on TDB, but…like Trump in the USA, NZ Natzos have no intention whatsoever of sharing the wealth or increasing the power and size of the state.
Lower taxes against the working man.
Musings and learnings on taxation decisions from the all-knowing:
On conclusions of the Tax Working Group which finalised in 2019 – the Chartered Accountants – Australia & New Zealand – report said on Personal Income Tax:
Depending on Governments objectives two recommendations are made:
To improve the incomes of very low income households the group considers the welfare transfer system to be the best method of achieving this
If the objective is to improve the incomes of certain groups of low to middle income earners, the group prefers increasing the lowest personal tax threshold, rather than creating a tax-free threshold, to produce the most targeted results (We could discuss how those on low incomes disadvantaged by slightly higher taxes could be usefully compensated.)
https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/member-services/technical/tax/tax-in-focus/tax-working-group-final-report-key-recommendations
https://taxworkinggroup.govt.nz/resources/tax-working-group-delivers-final-report.html 21/2/19
Group Chair Sir Michael Cullen says our system has many strengths but there is a clear weakness caused by our inconsistent treatment of capital gains.
“New Zealanders earning just salary and wages are taxed on their full income but we have several situations where you can earn income from gains on assets and not be taxed at all.
“All members of the Group agree that more income from capital gains should be taxed from the sale of residential rental properties. The majority of us on the Group, by a margin of 8-3, support going further and broadening that approach to include all land and buildings, business assets, intangible property and shares.
Lowering personal income tax
The Group has investigated a range of reductions in personal income tax. Its preferred approach is allowing New Zealanders to earn more at the lowest tax rate of 10.5%. This would reduce income inequality, benefit all full-time workers, and support those transitioning into work…
Supporting businesses
The Group sees the current approach to the taxation of business as largely sound and sees no case to reduce the tax rate or introduce a progressive scale for companies. However, it is recommending measures to help businesses to grow, be more productive and lower what they spend complying with our tax rules. (It is notable that business is to be dealt an even light hand from micro to mega-meta apparently.)
Musings and learnings on taxation decisions from the all-knowing and what has been acted upon by those with the power and authority to make sensible and good taxation changes:…..
This could be the beginning of a fascinating series that will hit the heights of the historical fiction honour lists. So will someone please just spell out in a few paras what did happen, for those of us with short or or faulty memories. Please. Perhaps a review and updated version Martyn of a taxation post from the past or a new one showing the latest levers and buttons and syringes, with footnotes to the promises and recommendations of the past.
Yes Tiger, same protagonists different day, same pile of excrement.
I disagree. Compared with other western countries the wealth of our most prominent politicians is modest. There would be some exceptions of course.
National Act coalition government will be a disaster for this country.
History will not forgive the Ardern Government if they deliver us up a National Act administration because they were too gutless to take the transformative measures that could have won them the election..
COST OF LIVING CRISIS! COST OF LIVING CRISIS! COST OF LIVING CRISIS!
EVEN JUST ONE TRANSFORMATIVE MEASURE TO ADDRESS THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS WILL KEEP THE NACTS OUT
Prime Minister Ardern will lose the next election because the
‘caring’ Prime Minister and her Finance Minister refuse to address the cost of living crisis.
TVNZ News tonight December 28, 2022
GPs concerned over elderly struggling with cost of food
By Abbey Wakefield, 1News Reporter
|
…..From November 2021 – November 2022, data from Statistics NZ shows that fruit and vegetable prices increased by 20%.
There was also a 12% price rise for meat, poultry and fish too.
“We know that those who are over 65 have seen their food costs increase at an even higher proportion than the average consumer. Over the last year, Stats NZ data suggests that superannuitant’s food costs have increased by 8.4%. That’s against an 8.1% increase across the entire population,” Brad Olsen said.
The medical sector’s biggest worry is the risk of older people suffering from malnutrition.,
Mal-nu-fucking-trition. What the Fuck!
In New Zealand?
If Ardern and Robertson are to survive past the next election they need to remove GST from food. They have no choice. Do this and win. Do nothing and lose. Simple as that.
Removing GST off food will lower food costs for the elderly, (and everyone else) by 15%
“Identity Politics however is focused solely on skin colour, gender and genitalia.”
Missed out which race one is classified as, one’s ancestors and bloodline, and which tribe. And religion, don’t forget religion. Some religions are better than others. Probably.
“more Scientists, Drs, nurses, teachers, Police, more State houses and more infrastructure”.
Last I heard that was National Party goals too.
Except of course more state houses.
Decriminalising (if not legalising) cannabis would be the easiest way to set the narrative in the new year.
It would be a hugely popular move, winning back the attention of the many many thousands of working people (tradies included) who enjoy a a quiet puff.
Let Luxon , Peters and Seymour argue among themselves for the 30% who disagree.
Also introduce a tax free threshold similar to Oz and adjust low to middle income tax brackets.
The US Democrats responded to working class voters supporting Trump by declaring them to be deplorables. UK Labour responded to working class voters supporting Johnson by declaring them to be racists and xenophobes. NZ Labour will be similarly patronising when working class voters reject thought control by elite urban “progressives” who think pronoun policing and more use of te reo Maori in weather forecasts is what will make the lives of ordinary folk better.
Finally a balanced piece of journalism to the paid for right wing main stream media.
A reminder of actually how well Labour did during the year.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130872334/morgan-godfery-topperforming-minister-but-you-wouldnt-know-it#comments
So who is this ‘The Left’ that Martyn talks about? As he says, it’s not Labour.
Perhaps NZ First or the Maori Party. I couldn’t find out anything about the Maori Party on the web last election. The most obvious leftist policy is the anti-immigration policy as after all, who profits from mass migration. Home owners? Only if they sell up and move to a cheaper foreign country. As far as I can see the banksters are the only ones to profit..
The lack of investment in the people is the most obvious failure of the last 40 years. The current and presumably previous govts have spent gazillions on consultants and so on. A lot less could have been spent on bonded training programmes similar to what existed in the 50s-70s era giving us the teachers, nurses and other skilled workers that provide the basis for a modern developed economy. effectively, the 1980s on neo-liberals threw out the baby with the bath water. The 1984 Labour govt was the first post WW2 generation of politicians, they had never seen the consequences of an economic breakdown and did not recognise the security offered by the supposedly inefficient built in redundancy aspects of both govt and industry. Just in time only works when it works, when it doesn’t all bets are off (well except for the bank bail-outs etc..).
Cheers
James
James, while I am sympathetic to a low immigration policy for cultural reasons, the fact remains where given our horrible demographic profile will the young workers come from given we have had a below replacement birth rate for years. Without immigration not enough of them exist to work and pay taxes to support the wave of baby boomer retirements. Not of the parties are prepared to have a grown up conversation about the tough situation that we are in.
This is an example of how we need to change the culture in NZ and the rigid thinking and unreasonable expectations of being able to swan around at the country’s expense and choose whether to support our country or live off it like the upper class in Brit.
If everyone who receives social welfare puts in a few hours a week and the able-bodied sign up for a Manpower Force that allows extra money on top of the pension or super being received with no deductions, if they work part-time say 15-20 hours a week, and commit themselves to turning out to help at certain times, a lot of the retired will enjoy still being involved in commerce or agriculture though not having to work their butts off.
The low wage/high cost accommodation scenario that many NZs are suffering under is as destabilising as the situation of not having enough low wage immigrants. We just have to adjust our economy to suit the people who live here, and put an end to the elderly thinking they can sit around grumbling at not getting everything they want while they do little to help others were they can. At present the total of elderly are a net dead weight.
And I am elderly and know what is going on and what is fair. I have discussed this further in the Open Mike for 29/12 with links and interesting video TedTalk to get the ideas across.
GW, means testing the pension is the best place to start. The largest benefit in dollar terms is the pension, which is freely given to millionaires and the poor alike. Completely nonsensical and a rip off of today’s working classes.
Totally agree Sinic and I am also elderly and know what is going on and what is fair.
N.Z.F are right-nationalists that resemble ‘M.A.G.A’. The M.P are Black Nationalists, but still to the right of Hollyoake/MacMillan (i.e. to the right of a Wet Tory, so still the modern ‘Right’ not ‘Left’).
Supporting the abolition of the Full Employment Policy, and instead allowing dumping of cheap foreign labour (to drive down wages) isn’t ‘The Left’, either.
Is anybody talking about trying to raise birth rates by increasing family wage income, and building state nurseries and after-school centres (i.e. an actual left wing policy)?
The Alliance Party finally ceased all publications this year, and its leader has disappeared from public view.
Matt Robson, who would have been Jim Anderton’s successor in the Progressives, is no longer being put up as a candidate by anyone.
‘The Left’ is dead!
I decided to not vote for labour when they stopped being Socialist and stopped mentioning the ” Working Class” i.e. Since they got into power this time. I was an original labour supporter from 1984 but I guess that socialism values of Lange no longer exist.
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