The Limits of Parliamentary Politics
Earlier this year, when Christopher Luxon ruled out working with Te Pāti Māori after the election, he justified his position by saying, “we believe in one person, one vote. We believe that we are all equal citizens and equal under the law.” Despite the alarming lack of awareness from a Leader of the Opposition – […]
What Happened to Fair Pay Agreements?
Labour’s 2017 election manifesto commitment to introduce industry-wide Fair Pay Agreements was, arguably, the party’s most radical policy. The idea was to set national terms and conditions for groups of unorganised, low-paid workers – cleaners, security guards and the like – which would put an end to the race to the bottom by the employers. […]
A Nasty Right Wing
In the 2023 election, the National Party faces a situation that it hasn’t faced in its 87-year history: a serious challenger to their right. Under David Seymour’s leadership the ACT Party has grown consistently in strength. No longer content with being a minor party, ACT leader David Seymour stated to the New Zealand Herald in […]
Te Pāti Māori
On the morning of Saturday, 10 July 2004, I caught the train from Wellington out to Kāpiti, walked from the station to Highway 1 and stuck out my thumb. A couple of months earlier, I had marched the final leg of the 40,000-strong hīkoi opposing the Labour Government’s confiscation of the foreshore and seabed, and […]
Keep National Out, and Build a Socialist Alternative
What a contrast between the politics we need and the politics on offer this election! The world is being ravaged by forest fires and devastating floods, and yet all the parliamentary parties’ plans for climate change are so slow, and so timid. They will not confront the vested interests – in farming, roading and building […]
Labour: Stop Pretending and Actually Fund Tertiary Education!
Aotearoa’s universities are under threat. In October 2022, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) vice-chancellor Damon Salesa announced an intent to cut 170 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff across a range of academic areas (Morton, 2022). 90 staff accepted voluntary redundancy before AUT was knocked back by the Employment Relations Authority, forcing the university to commence […]
Inflation Crisis: This is Class War
The jury is out on whether in Aotearoa, and around the world, an economic recession will be the sequel to the period of high inflation we are experiencing at present. Monetarist economic orthodoxy is being deployed by the government to engineer an economic slowdown. In Aotearoa Gross Domestic Product shrank fractionally in this year’s March […]
Education in Crisis
Photo Credit: John Tregonning Introduction After 30 years of neoliberal cuts and running education like a business, the chickens have come home to roost. Secondary and tertiary students are looking around wondering whether their courses will be offered next year, or whether they will have a teacher or lecturer in front of their classroom or […]
Fired Up for Workers’ Rights
Since February socialists have been following the activity of Fired Up Stilettos (FUS), a group of dancers who have been “kicking up a FUS” ever since they were unfairly sacked from Calendar Girls strip club in Wellington. Braving the possible repercussions, FUS have been blowing the whistle on unscrupulous practices in adult entertainment and agitating […]
Labour and Greens’ Inaction on Climate Change
Image: Forestry slash and flooding near Gisborne. Photo courtesy of Gisborne City Council. The Labour Party and the Green Party have had a Cooperation Agreement for the current Parliament. Under the agreement the Greens got two ministers, both outside Cabinet. James Shaw continued as Minister of Climate Change, a post he held in the 2017-2020 […]
