Election 2023: Chris Hipkins says smaller political parties should ‘be careful’ with their demands
The Prime Minister has fired a warning at smaller political parties, telling them to “be careful” with what bottom lines they make ahead of the general election or risk not being part of any governing arrangement at all.
The most important political lesson I’ve ever learned in NZ Politics is from the Laila Harre School of change.
Back when she was in Alliance, she had to force Labour to agree to maternity leave.
Can you remember and imagine that?
Having to force Labour to give maternity leave?
Laila teaches us that if we ever want the Labour Party to actually serve the people and not the vested interests of the Professional Managerial Class, then you need to smash Labour’s head against a wall, put a gun to their head and scream ‘do it’.
That’s the only way Labour will act in the interests of the people, if you force them to.
Look at the resistance Labour are digging in to stop any debate on Tax despite the IRD showing us NZ Capitalism is rigged!
There are 14 Billionaires in NZ + 3118 ultra-high net worth individuals, let’s start with them, then move onto the Banks, then the Property Speculators, the Climate Change polluters and big industry!
Labour’s acquiesce to the neoliberal economic straightjacket is the price they pay to remain in power because as we have seen they are beholden to the Professional Management Class and corporate lobbyists, the only way we get anything actually progressive out of them is if we force them.
Labour’s greatest fear is a Bernie Sanders type of left wing populism, as food inflation continues to burn working people, the Māori Party’s demand to remove GST from food and to tax the rich is terrifying the interests of the ultra wealthy and that is why we are seeing the kind of insane donations difference between Labour and National/ACT.
ACT and National have promised to give Landlords the power to evict and build a new prison empire, they have declared class war and yet Labour are refusing to fight back.
The difference between the Māori Party and the Greens in making these demands is that John Tamihere is the kind of hard arse that can force that change through while the Greens couldn’t organise a BBQ at a vegan kink munch.
The real possibility we are facing this election is a Labour led minority Government with a supply and confidence agreement with the Māori Party, the price of which will be a range of policies that will have an immediate material impact on poor peoples pockets.
After those policies are passed in the first 100 days, the Māori Party will go to the cross benches and if their demands on policy are too extreme for Chippy, then he can go to National instead.
There won’t be a ‘Coalition of Chaos’ because Labour can work with National if the Māori Party are on the cross benches, but before that we could get the greatest upgrades to our State since Michael Savage.
I’ve argued constantly that the Greens need to Hui with the Māori Party to agree on a shared platform of policy ideas that they can negotiate with Labour as a united front but the Greens are too busy bickering amongst themselves to take the idea up.
For the last time, can the Left start working together? A National ACT Government will serve up the most extreme right wing Government we have seen since Lange, there is too much at stake to allow that to happen while also being the first chance since MMP to progress truly transformative policy.
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Reactionaries will be lining up to spew their hate on this post Martyn.
Yes, see Free Peach above.
You are right that New Labour fears Old Labour the most. They would prefer to form a grand coalition with the Tories than make a deal with someone like Jeremy Corbyn or Bernie Sanders.
They would also re-use the anti-Corbyn playbook to destroy such a party. The entire corporate press would attack the party for years on end, using false claims. They would be declared to be “Russian agents”, “racists”, “conspiracy theorists”, “Chinese disinformation propagandists”, “domestic terrorists”, etc.
“The Greens need to Hui with the Māori Party”
Indeed.
Not really, the Greens are far to gutless these days to put down the gauntlet.
“The real possibility we are facing this election is a Labour led minority Government…”
The real possibility we are facing this election is an ACT led National Government that will change everything in NZ for the much much worse…
Cue the Left to jump in and reject that nonsense.
Er… where are they?
The smaller parties should flood Labour with our demands. We demand to know why we are supporting psychopathic military regimes abroad. Why we are contemplating the strip mining of seabeds. Why we spent fifty times more on some fad virus chase than on Treaty settlements. Flood them with questions about inequality, homelessness, dodgy Labour politicians. Democracy should be open and transparent, it should be uncomfortable. not this hollow safe space with some unelected leader threatening the population because his agenda is at risk.
Absolutely, make them squeal push them.
But Hipkins PM has been to London to see the King so he can speak with more authority now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Z5LpHuXVE
The egos of the leaders of Greens and TPM will not allow either of them to give any ground to the other on policy ..The leaders of both groups need to change before a joint voice can be agreed on .
Apart from a couple economic policies, the Maori party’s policies are all constitutional and race based policies that would be impossible for any government of a multicultural nation to implement and they said they’d sit in the cross benches if the labor party said no to any of them, which means a vote for the Maori party is a vote for two elections.
All national and act have to do is read out the Maori partys policies to pakeha and asians.
Hipkins is right to say smaller parties should be realistic and that if they are not they might not be able to in govt.
Almost none of the Maori partys policies are plausible by a party of govt other than gst off food and raising benefits, banning foreign ownership completely and their student loan policies, everything else is political suicide by a mainstream party.
“There are 14 Billionaires in NZ + 3118 ultra-high net worth individuals, let’s start with them, then move onto the Banks, then the Property Speculators, the Climate Change polluters and big industry!”
And how many would remain here if you actually did?
Who the fuck cares Andrew. Do you really think they contribute to those on the bread line? If you do, have I got a bridge to sell you.
Because the top 10% provide 24% of government tax revenue and the bottom three deciles provide negative revenue because their welfare is higher than their taxes.
A Labour and National grand coalition, cutting out the minor parties, I had not considered that. Labour would have to bring back Stu Nash and get rid of silly Willy, Wood and Robertson for that to happen.
What about Mark knuckles at Ground level Mitchell, Simon would be Pope O’Connor, and the Wood that doesn’t float Michael? Surely they need to take a long walk of a short pier.
Politics in New Zealand can be summed up precisely as a Henry Ford once said – “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.
We cycle two streams – one economically and one socially.
Which one do you want in October?
National do seem more socially bound now, so might do both? But with ACT they may not?
Labour do nothing economically long term – they are the ones giving out fish without teaching someone how to fish.
What’s weird is the amount of money in mental health and drug & alcohol rehabilitation not being used to its potential.
Can’t believe the silt in Hawkes Bay still – didn’t we have an auction in NZ recently with shite loads of diggers etc that the govt could have just purchased cheaply and sent with an Army mechanics team to Hawkes Bay? They are so in the stupid box at times.
I’m still pissy at the Dunedin Hospital build – this govt are axing 90 Million from it in a Medical School town. Long Term we could do greater numbers of graduates through the system using a newly developed Hospital with an incentive or process to keep them here longer. Again short sighted bullshite from Ayesha.
Ayesha Verrall is out of her depth as a politician – she doesn’t know how to fight for Dept funding with Grant Robertson.
Education – well that’s fked – Jan Tinetti needs to move on.
Be honest no matter who you are the case could be made for a better MP for Education in Erica Stanford and Shane Reti in Health.
Mark Mitchell with police & crime would be a better fit as well.
I feel if we look at people after policy in government the best to do the job might get our vote.
I’d keep Sepuloni in Social Development if I could and keep Peeni Henare on in his current portfolios.
Come October how will the nation vote?
Currently 35 Labour Mp’s do nothing which includes the whips – their development over 5.5 years has been a shocker. Making a small team do so much meant the load has never been shared greatly to achieve for NZ.
Who are the Greens?
I love Te Pati Maori’s demands, this is exactly what needs to happen. For me it will be Te Pati Maori all the way, they have some passion, some drive…..