It’s rainbows and sunshine as Labour has a new leader

Has Jacinda's aura of hope and optimism washed over the depressed and brutalised masses? The signs are there.

When Jacinda Ardern was born, a double rainbow appeared in the sky, a great comet tore across the heavens and the season miraculously changed from a bitter winter into a sweet spring.

And now, 37 years later, the hour of our deliverance is at hand. ‘‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned,’’ as the Good Book prophesied.

That’s my understanding, at least, after a week of listening to Radio New Zealand and watching television news reports about the new leader of the Opposition.

Since the fall of the House of Clark in 2008, this country has choked on a haze of greed and perfidy. The people have been laid too low by the noxious fumes to rouse themselves in defence of their homeland. But now it seems a ray of sunshine has penetrated the terrible smog at last. And, as it widens, the hour of our deliverance seems to be at hand.

And not a moment too soon. For nearly a decade, the Resistance has been fighting for survival against the armies of despair under worthy men named Goff, Shearer, Cunliffe and Little. Each of them did their best and fought the good fight. They were good soldiers.

But in our heart of hearts, we always knew that it was not their destiny to smite this odious Government. Their purpose was to hold the line against total collapse. They were placeholders, not the Chosen One to light our darkest hour.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

New Age spirituality articulates the idea that certain elevated beings walk among us. These people – sometimes called ‘‘light workers’’ – have a special ability to heal the world with their radiance. They elevate discourse beyond the vain and petty. They reach deep inside us all to bring forth a new spirit of comity and inspiration.

A week ago, I probably would have called this mumbo jumbo. It’s not that I don’t have a spiritual side. Quite the contrary. But I have always seen politics as the thankless business of governing by flawed men and women.

But that is no longer tenable. As the oracles of radio, television and print raised their voices in unison, the collective wisdom of their pronouncements gathered an overwhelming power. These hardened cynics, once world-wary chroniclers of sadness and incredulity, can see the world anew again.

And what of the little people? Has Jacinda’s aura of hope and optimism washed over the depressed and brutalised masses? The signs are there.

I use a social media platform called Twitter. Using this service gives me an unparalleled insight into the minds and hearts of the New Zealand electorate. The positive vibrations emanating from my Twitter app make plain that public life is on the verge of a new spiritual plane.

Even so, I must confess some residual doubts. That is to be expected, perhaps. After all, even the Apostle Thomas had difficulty believing that the resurrected Christ had appeared before the 10 apostles. When you have been downtrodden and oppressed as long as this country has been, the prospect of dashed hopes can seem more painful than the dull melancholy of resignation and acceptance.

And even as you read this, the forces of darkness plot the corruption of our chaste ecstasy. From their baroque mansions and towering offices, the slithering snakes and croaking toads of neoliberalism are conniving to poison our newfound hope and optimism.

We know what these agents of apathy will do. They will try to drag Jacinda down to their level. Like the Pharisees of old, they will try to force her to play by their unenlightened rules. They will demand that she debase her soaring vision with mundane questions about the mechanics of government and governing.

They will try to distract us from her crown of stars by questioning her as if she were an ordinary politician, rather than a great leader fated by providence to turn the tide of history against the Government’s proposed adjustments to marginal income tax rates.

They will try to sound reasonable. They will claim that we should reserve judgment for the time being. They will damn Jacinda with faint praise by saying that she is a talented and charismatic politician while undermining this wonderful moment by counselling a wait-andsee approach.

But we must steel ourselves against their wiles. We must not listen. These wonderful moments are too rare to allow them to be ruined by questioners and sceptics.

Have faith! Goodness prevails over evil, just as the dark of night must yield to the break of day. As the glow of Jacinda’s flame grows, it will illuminate the path ahead for the whole of New Zealand.

And who knows how far beyond?