The Left should applaud the slaying of the TPP
cheering Lange’s enlightened (and reluctant) anti-nuclear stand that we didn’t notice Roger Douglas quietly and efficiently dismantling the welfare state.
Can you have progressive Obama-like social policy yet not leave all the financial decisions up to the bailed-out wolves of Wall Street? Absolutely, and that is the conversation New Zealanders need to have this election year.
Surely we can have a New Zealand that boldly puts its own interests first, restricts foreign ownership and regulates financial institutions, yet at the same time welcomes migrants and refugees, and promotes progressive social policy.
But will we get it from our major parties? Both National and Labour still essentially support the free market, as has every New Zealand government since 1984. Yet English’s recent actions – such as his newfound support for gay marriage, last week’s rise in the minimum wage, his removal of the privatising Judith Collins from the Corrections portfolio, and his speech in te reo Maori at Ratana – shows that he is moving his government slightly to the liberal Left.
Meanwhile, Andrew Little’s actions – with his scrapping of Labour’s capital gains tax policy, his lukewarm criticism of the 90-day employment rule, and his focus on police numbers – points to him moving Labour slightly to the conservative Right.
The Greens believe far less in market forces than Labour, but their pre-nup MOU means they will have to swallow some dead free-market rats if they ever share power.
So with two centrist yet economically and socially liberal major parties on offer, many voters will see this year’s election as a choice between Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-D-minus. That’s why, though it is unfair to compare Winston Peters to Donald Trump, we will all be watching the actions of the NZ First leader with great interest.