New Life and A New Government

Aside from the pretentious title, this blog post does serve to breathe new life into this dying website. While my blog was on the verge of death, I have attempted to resurrect it for the following reason:

The domain name is just too good.

For a blog, this is the best possible domain name I could have wished for. Best of all, I haven’t paid a cent for it because I am in fact, poor. The discussion topic alas, is not about the meta of this blog and its existent or lack thereof. In fact, what we are here to discuss is the latest government in everyone’s favourite country New Zealand.

In a dramatic turn of events, the current Labour government, buoyed by what was largely seen as a strong and competent strategy for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and a opposition that flailed and flumbered its way to election day, swept to the greatest victory seen in MMP history.

It may be hard to see what is so historic about the win. Back in the pre-MMP era where we only had to parties, a single majority party government was the norm. Yet, MMP with its support of minor parties meant that to gain a single majority, one party had to command the votes of nearly half the population. And that is in the face of not one other opponent, but multiple.

Somehow, Labour managed to do it, winning 49.0% of the vote on election night, surpassing the prior National victory and giving them not just a majority, but a solid majority of 64 seats. There is no doubt that Labour will form the next government regardless of what happens. But just thinking about it, doesn’t it make you understand the historic nature of such a victory? There are so many other parties: National, ACT, Greens, NZ First and all the conspiracy parties, yet 1 in 2 voters chose to tick the Labour box.

Perhaps it was the rally around the flag effect that resulted in such a victory, or maybe it was the National party tearing itself apart with scandal after scandal when New Zealand has proved that they think the words “strong and stable government” actually mean something. (I personally want a weak and wobbly government). Whatever the reasons are a discussion for another post, but here let’s focus on the makeup of the next government.

Labour has entered into some discussion with the Greens about a potential role in the next administration. What role they should play and what they will is, at this point, unknown. Some believe the Greens will help hold Labour to account on progressive issues of housing, health and the environment, while others believe the Greens to be literally the worst thing in the world.

The Greens have about two choices: 1) in some capacity, be in the government or 2) stand in opposition.

I personally think the Greens will have a much better chance of achieving their goals if they are standing in the opposition rather than in government. First of all, the Greens have no leverage over the Labour party. They are not needed to command the confidence of the House of Representatives and they are certainly not needed to fill the cabinet positions.

Second, Labour are hardly going to appease the Greens on issues of a minimum guaranteed income of $325 a week or a wealth tax for those with assets totalling more than $1 million. Within government, the Greens will have no choice but to roll over and do whatever Labour tells them. On the opposition benches however, they are free to scream, yell and roll around to every single media outlet in the country telling them why the Labour party are so trash. That indeed is more likely to be effective.

However, if Labour does offer the Greens a role, I would expect that they would take it up. The illusion of being able to do work is in some ways more comforting than having to fight tooth and nail for every single thing that you want, even if it could be more effective.

In conclusion the best course of action for this country is a Labour majority government, where the Greens are somewhere wailing with National and ACT on the other side. It is a shame that nothing will be passed without Labour’s support unlike the last government where we saw the Greens and National work together to pass certain members bill, but it is what it is. There are of course, many other questions to answer as we see out the next political term, but those are all topics for another blog post. (Hopefully tomorrow, or at least more frequently than none at all.)