BRYCE EDWARDS: The vested interests shaping National Party policies

 

• Bryce Edwards writes –

As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise.

One of the key individuals of influence in National is former Cabinet Minister and now businessman, Steven Joyce. His continued sway with National and various business interests is a useful case study in how New Zealand politics works.

LINDSAY MITCHELL: A conundrum for those pushing racist dogma

• Lindsay Mitchell writes –

The heavily promoted narrative, which has ramped up over the last six years, is that Maori somehow have special vulnerabilities which arise from outside forces they cannot control; that contemporary society fails to meet their needs. They are not receptive to messages and opportunities in the same way as other races because the trauma of colonisation carried from one generation to the next.

We are told, whether it’s health or education, Maori cannot be reached, or cannot access, or cannot receive current ‘best practice’ because it is couched in racism. Until our institutions look through a Maori worldview lens, inequity and injustice will continue. Progress will be impossible. These are the circumstances that New Zealand’s academic institutions and public agencies have accepted, embraced and acted on.

So I have a conundrum for them.

CHRIS TROTTER: The greater of two evils

Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.

 

• Chris Trotter writes –

THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected on the strength of its manifesto. In the usual course of events, most voters don’t pay all that much attention to what the opposition parties are offering.

Providing they present policies which convey at least the appearance of coherence, the electorate generally refrains from asking too many questions. After all, what they’re seeking is the defeat and humiliation of the party/parties which have so recklessly squandered their trust – and their faith. If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.

“Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when the Māori Party offends

Buzz from the Beehive

 Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive.

At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website.

But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope of winning media attention, and winning lots of headline when they are buzzing about racism.

Alas, the mainstream media are subsidised by the state on terms which require them to endorse the government’s interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi and policies which flow from this, spreading “partnership” and “co-governance”.

Garrick Tremain’s view…

CHRIS TROTTER: Losing the Left

• Chris Trotter writes –

IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the whole of society.

While some may argue that New Zealanders have not had a genuine left-wing party to vote for since the Labour Party abandoned its goal of “socialising the means of production, distribution and exchange” in 1951, it is more common to date the loss of a recognisably left-wing electoral alternative to Labour’s embrace of the “free market” in 1984.

Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalition?

Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon.

But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots?

The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too familiar  with his and Labour’s record  in government. He has had key portfolios, Education, State Services, Covid and Police, among others, hardly distinguishing himself in any of them.

Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a divided society

Buzz from the Beehive

 Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”.

The ministers were dishing out money from this fund, which makes no attempt to camouflage its divisive purpose.  It’s the Government’s ‘Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund’.

When government programmes unabashedly distinguish “Maori” from “public” components of the community, it is hard to see how social unity is among the Hipkins Cabinet’s considerations.

MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?

The D&W analysis

• Michael Grimshaw writes – 

Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.

Known for their incisive sociopolitical analysis and insights, D&W have carved out a niche as one of the go-to firms when political leaders falter or fail to make a necessary impact.

FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?

Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD.

• JC writes- 

Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former.

This week Luxon declared his position, which was if Winston is needed he will pick up the phone. A couple of scenarios emanate from this statement. The first is, that depending on the size of the  National/ACT majority, Winston might come in for consideration anyway. Winston could well be used as a form of insurance policy to ensure that policies get passed with good majorities.