For Solidarity: Maintain lockdown to save lives
Support essential workers! Give them PPE! Beware Slackening the Fight against COVID-19 The lockdown against the spread of COVID-19 is, among other things, a piece of class struggle. Workers socially distancing themselves and limiting their exposure to essential workers (keeping supermarket shopping to an absolute minimum and following distancing guidelines) are acting together to save […]
COVID-19 and the Crisis: a socialist response
Shomi Yoon gave this talk to a national meeting of the International Socialists discussing our organisation’s response to this emergency on April 3. At this stage, we’ve had one person pass from Covid-19 in New Zealand. The number of confirmed and probable cases is 868.Community transmission remains minimal at 1%. We won’t know whether the […]
The Ghosts of Waters Three
This year Aotearoa has been visited by the ghosts of waters three. The ghost of water-supply haunts the whole of Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island), Rēkohu (Wharekauri/Chatham Islands) and parts of Te Waipounamu (South Island). Te Tai Tokerau (Northland), Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and Waikato, in particular have been in drought for quite some time and are […]
The State of Emergency: Musings on the Capitalist State
Today the Ardern government formally declared the State of National Emergency and the Epidemic Notice that we were told to expect as we enter the Level 4 lockdown. The government will have the powers to use the police and the armed forces to enforce the lockdown. Parliament has been adjourned for nearly five weeks. In […]
At last: Action against COVID-19
At the Prime Minister’s press conference today announcing Level 4 lockdown Jacinda Ardern said, “If community transmission takes off in New Zealand the number of cases will double every five days. If that happens unchecked our health system will be inundated and tens of thousands of New Zealanders will die.” Ardern reminded the media that […]
Labour’s COVID-19 response package: Not enough for workers
When the Labour-led Coalition Government revealed its first fiscal response package to the COVID-19 pandemic I was, at first, jubilant. The pessimist in me had been expecting austerity, expecting cuts and sell offs. This package is definitely not that. $12.1 billion in spending and 4% of GDP – great! But as the afternoon continued and […]
Shut it Down! – A social response to COVID-19
Firstly, it has been inspiring to see the messages of solidarity and the networks that have sprung up around the country to support those in isolation. This solidarity is essential at any crisis – but more so now that our society will likely have to shut down, as it already has in many other countries. […]
Inadequate Action against COVID-19: Govt Must Put People before Profit
Around the world capitalist governments (there are no others, unfortunately) have criminally permitted COVID-19 to spread and cause needless deaths. From the political harassment of Li Wenliang by the Chinese Stalinist police state to the present day, governments have behaved appallingly. Why? Because they have sought to limit the impact of responses to COVID-19 on the business of […]
Why Hasn’t Labour Delivered?
On 19 September the Labour Party faces the hurdle of being elected into government for another term of office. Having the advantages of incumbency, re-election should be a cake-walk. One would think that all Labour needs to do is to deliver improvements in the standard of living of the working-class majority to ensure popularity. One […]
Students in the Degree Factory: Alienation and Mental Health
Mental health is in crisis across the world. This is felt acutely in New Zealand too. The Mental Health Commissioner reported that nearly half of New Zealanders will live with mental illness and/or addiction at some point during their lifetime. This is a rate of nearly one-in-five New Zealanders who live with mental illness or […]
