A right, Left problem

Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, July 24th, 2018 - 78 comments
Categories: capitalism, class war, Deep stuff, Economy, greens, labour, Left, liberalism, national, nz first, political parties, Politics, social democracy - Tags: , ,

Throw out the name of a political party, and almost subconsciously, anyone with an interest in politics will immediately brand the party as either “left wing” or “right wing”. That would be fine if any given point on capitalism’s political spectrum was a point on a singular continuum. So, for example, if the entire political spectrum was simply shades of liberalism, then it could be useful enough to refer to a “right” and a “left”. And if the entire political spectrum was simply shades of social democracy, then again, a simple dichotomous labeling system of “left” and “right” would allow people to orientate where any political party stood in relation to any other. But politics within a capitalist context are comprised from a mix of two entwined but contending strands of political thought/theory, and one or the other tends to dominate at different points in time in such a way as to alter politics at a fairly fundamental level.

Up until the 70’s, and across the western world, the policies generally pursued by political parties were regarded as being social democratic in nature. In that setting, to refer to “left wing” was to point to a party that was more statist in nature than “right wing” parties. In short, “left wing” parties wanted to push social democracy further along statist lines while “right wing” parties wanted to hold back that trajectory.

Since the 1970s and the resurgence of liberal priorities (often enough referred to as “neo-liberalism”), the direction of travel for parliamentary politics has been towards greater market freedoms – the precise opposite direction of travel than that taken by social democracy. And the traditional labeling from the social democratic period of capitalist politics doesn’t transcribe to that change in environment very well – if at all.

Whereas it was Tory or National Parties that were conservative and seeking to dampen or hold back the push towards greater levels of statism during the period of social democracy, it is now the Labour Parties (for the most part) that play the conservative role of merely resisting or slowing the liberal or market orientated direction of travel that politics have taken (ie – since ‘84 in New Zealand and since the 70s elsewhere).

And that change in the respective positioning of political parties occasioned by the shift in the political ground from social democratic to liberal, can’t be adequately described or captured by reference to “right wing” and “left wing”.

To illustrate, using only the terms “left” and “right”, where would you say NZ First today sits in relation to the NZ Labour Party of 1973 – and/or 1984 – and/or 2018?

And where would the NZ Labour Party of those years sit in relation, each to the other?

Or where does the NZ Labour of 2018 sit in relation to Muldoon’s National Party of 1982?

Which of these things are more to “the left”, and which are more to “the right”? It’s not so easy to maintain a coherent picture of NZ’s political landscape through time using only designations of “left” and “right”. And that’s before throwing the likes of The Green Party into the mix.

I’d argue that we can only begin to make sense of political positions like those above, when we acknowledge that two entwined strands of politics (social democratic and liberal) always constitute politics under capitalism, and when we acknowledge the resulting change in what “conservative” means, depending on which one is more evident,

“Yesterday’s” NZ Labour Party (ie- pre 1984) was social democratic and pushing change in a statist direction. Today’s NZ Labour Party is liberal and merely resisting the trajectory of liberalism – ie, it’s conservative.

If NZ Labour had a social democratic platform (for example, like UK Labour with Corbyn as leader), then maybe using the term “left” could make sense insofar as the party had the belief that a socialist end point could be arrived at via the social democratic policies and settings that it was looking to pursue in spite of liberalism dominating the political environment. But that belief (that socialism can be arrived at by social democracy), contentious as it was, isn’t one that NZ Labour harbours. The NZ Labour Party has become – maybe irredeemably – conservatively liberal, as arguably evinced with its penchant for free trade deals, fiscal responsibility, private partnerships and an “independent” reserve bank. (As an aside – well, it’s not really an aside, it’s why I’ve used the term “irredeemably” above – how’s that demand for the properly empowered democratic participation of Labour Party members coming along…?)

If the idea of “left” is to have any currency or meaning at all in NZ mainstream or parliamentary political thought, then that “great leap backwards” to liberal policies and liberal macro economic settings that took place in ‘84 must be walked back and a social democratic or statist path taken in its stead.

Obviously, that’s not something that will just happen because people want it to happen, as a quick glance at the multiple resistances to Jeremy Corbyn and UK Labour’s attempt to return to social democratic roots shows. And the mere enactment of social democratic agendas definitely isn’t a panacea for the troubles NZ faces as a society, or for the problems facing humanity at the global or planetary level. But it is a damned sight better for a lot of people at the level of personal circumstance than anything liberalism can offer, and it encapsulates more potential hope for prospects at that planetary level than can ever be wrung from liberalism.

We need huge, perhaps unprecedented levels of change across multiple facets of our lives to happen very fast. Leaving the starting blocks would be a start in us ‘getting up to speed’. But before that, recognising the starting blocks, and positioning ourselves within them might be useful too. Lazily saying that something is “left” on the grounds that we’ve always said that thing is “left”, and then going home to put our feet up because “it’s all getting taken care of”… well, it isn’t getting us into position, is it?

78 comments on “A right, Left problem ”

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  1. Carolyn_Nth 1
    24 July 2018 at 1:43 pm

    It’s only a problem if you try to classify parties as left and right, rather than policies, values, and views.

    The ‘right’ and ‘left’ parties in the US are really just 2 right wing parties, with some lefties supporting the Dems cause limited choice.

    • Bill 1.1
      24 July 2018 at 2:36 pm

      It’s only a problem if you try to classify parties as left and right..

      Yup. We agree on that front.

      I’d go a tad further though, and suggest that (broadly speaking) policies, values and views can be categorised and to a degree predicted by any over-arching political allegiance to either social democracy or liberalism.

      The US has two liberal orientated parties (Sanders tried to usurp that to a degree). The UK had two liberal parties (Corbyn seems to have successfully usurped that and re-orientated UK Labour in a social democratic direction)
      NZ has had some social democratic parties these past years (The Progressives, Alliance and NZF) sitting alongside liberal parties (NZ Labour, National, ACT etc), and some attempts to re-orientate NZ Labour (Cunliffe).

      Scotland’s kind of enviable. Two major social democratic parties in the shape of the SNP and a resurgent Labour 🙂

  2. Siobhan 2
    24 July 2018 at 2:01 pm

    I think this ‘confusion’ has only, rather conveniently, developed more recently as the traditional ‘Left’ Parties have started moving away from supporting the poor and the workers, in favour of policies that are more ‘Middle Class Aspirational’.

    But there is still that little prick of conscience, a guilt that maybe they are not advocating strongly enough given the massive destruction and transferal of wealth wrought in the name of Capitalism and Neoliberalism and Market driven policies.

    So rather than being labeled, more accurately as ‘Centrist’, the Liberal parties waltz around babbling about how its not ‘Right’ or ‘Left’ anymore..its all about paradigms-or-something. And being ‘pragmatic’. Maybe topped off with a little sprinkling of ‘Hope’.

    and they wonder why the people who should vote, the people who need help urgently, the people most at the mercy of Government policy, don’t bother turning up on election day.

    • Gosman 2.1
      24 July 2018 at 2:11 pm

      Except parties that are more ‘traditional’ left such as Mana don’t attract much in the way of a supporter base either so people can’t be crying out for those sorts of policies in NZ.

    • Carolyn_Nth 2.2
      24 July 2018 at 2:20 pm

      Yep. And also the mainstream media and some of social media reinforce that, which muddies the waters for a lot of the population, and contributes to a few decades of demonising social democrat and socialist policies, views and positions.

      • Gosman 2.2.1
        24 July 2018 at 2:30 pm

        That is the default fall back position of lefties who cannot understand why more of the electorate doesn’t support traditional left wing politics. It is all the MSM and the prevailing “Culture” which is to blame and nothing to do with the fact the policies themselves might be suspect to many.

        • Stuart Munro 2.2.1.1
          24 July 2018 at 3:32 pm

          Yes it’s all a fantasy – the MSM has no influence.

          Which is why the despicable right invest so heavily in it, as they strive to stifle every move away from the sociopathy and dysfunction that characterizes their misgovernance.

          • Gosman 2.2.1.1.1
            24 July 2018 at 3:36 pm

            Did I state the MSM had NO influence? Of course there is a degree of influence from MSM. However it is massively overblown by the likes of people such as yourself.

            • Stuart Munro 2.2.1.1.1.1
              24 July 2018 at 3:50 pm

              Actually the influence of the MSM is difficult to quantify, which means it’s hard to tell how effective it is in any given period.

              But the expectations of the Left, of a rational, balanced and informative media run counter to the needs of the extreme right.

              A well-informed populace will halt the Right’s anti-social plans for self-enrichment and prevent them socializing such things as environmental costs. That’s the last thing the rabid Right want, they want to pollute until the last other lifeform is dead.

              They’re determined to be the last dinosaurs.

              • Gosman …
                24 July 2018 at 4:45 pm

                The left always think that until they get in power and then they start misinforming the public as much as any. You just have to see people trying to blame economic issues of left wing countries on made up ideas such as “Sanctions”. It is as much “Fake News” as anything Fox News promotes.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  24 July 2018 at 6:05 pm

                  The ignorance of the far Right is only exceeded by the vehemence with which they promote their nonsense – for they know if they let the mask slip for even a moment all their stupid games are over.

                  As the vermin responsible for imposing the Rogergnomics bullshit on NZ that has set our country back a generation, a reasonable person might expect a degree of hesitance from the perpetrators. That responsible caution one sees in science professionals, who are concerned with possible consequences.

                  But not from you – you’ll deny your culpability all the way to the block. As outcomes decline however, you’re going to find New Zealanders less susceptible to your blithe assurances and casual lies. A generational shift is coming that is likely to oblige the parasites to work for living for a change.

                  • Bill …
                    24 July 2018 at 6:30 pm

                    As the vermin responsible for imposing the Rogergnomics bullshit on NZ …

                    That was a NZ Labour Party government, right? A party that was thought of as “left” at the time and that is still thought of as “left” today.

                    So what happened?

                    There was a wholesale disavowal of social democratic priorities in favour of liberal ones. And for a while, the NZ Labour Party was more avowedly liberal than the National Party – while Winston Peters, to this day, has remained in that conservative social democratic position that his old National Party used to occupy when NZ Labour were social democratic and pushing down along the road of statism.

                    “Left” and “right” can’t adequately explain or capture those shifts or phenomena – making reference to “social democracy” and “liberalism” does.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      24 July 2018 at 7:08 pm

                      “There was a wholesale disavowal of social democratic priorities in favour of liberal ones.”

                      I’d characterize it more as the Left being conned, than disavowing their core values per se. There was a narrative (neo-liberalism) that stated that the superior efficiency of private sector values would enable governments to deliver more from a finite pool of resources.

                      Thirty years on the only positive outcome is a healthy skepticism for the professional pretentions of the private sector, and probably, an increased preference for a properly resourced public sector.

                    • te reo putake …
                      24 July 2018 at 7:52 pm

                      In 1984, the voting public had a choice between Muldoon’s failing Zimbabwean model or the far more appealing social progress promised by Labour. It’s easily forgotten that the Lange government promoted nuclear free NZ and made significant progress in sexual law reform. For a lot of people, that was progress worth voting for and getting rid of Muldoon was the icing on the cake. Socially, Labour were definitely left.

                      Most left leaning folk who voted for them in 1984 were focussed on the social improvements and the vague promises of an end to the stagnation of the Muldoon era and they pretty much ignored the finer details of what Douglas had planned for the economy.

                      In 1987, Labour almost won Remuera because the rich twigged to what what Douglas was doing and voted according to their class interests. Three years later, the majority of voters shunned Labour and voted Tory because Bolger promised the country he’d back away from the Douglas reforms. That was bullshit, as it turned out.

                      In short, it’s only half the story to think of the Douglas reforms when talking about 1984. It’s a bit more complex than that because economics isn’t every voters primary driver.

                    • Bill …
                      24 July 2018 at 9:36 pm

                      it’s only half the story to think of the Douglas [economic] reforms when talking about 1984. It’s a bit more complex than that because economics isn’t every voters primary driver.

                      Fair comment. But the economic framework is what every government hangs policy from. And “left” and “right” doesn’t tell us anything about the likely policy prescriptions of a government, precisely because those terms are deaf, dumb and blind on what the economic framework is or may be.

                      That, and “left” arguably only makes sense when the political direction of travel is, or claims, to be headed towards socialism as a destination.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      24 July 2018 at 11:12 pm

                      @TRP

                      I think Muldoon partly got an undeservedly bad rap for his economics – given the oil crisis some of his think big made sense. But, for all that he was a relatively decent nationalist, he had the soul of a dictator – democratic or participatory processes really weren’t his thing, he alienated the unions just before he needed to cut a deal with them for example.

                      Rogergnomics was a big deal not just because of what occurred under Lange, but because abandoning the tense détente that had restrained the worst impulses of the rabid right locked in two decades of rightward drift without even the shadow of a public mandate or any real social or economic benefits.

    • Bill 2.3
      24 July 2018 at 2:40 pm

      Mostly agree. But I don’t think there’s anything particularly “centrist” about a party that ascribes to liberalism. Those reluctant or somewhat hesitant in their belief, or the execution of liberal policies – eg, NZ Labour – are basically just being conservative. (Not a bad thing given what we’re talking about)

    • Siobhan 2.4
      24 July 2018 at 3:10 pm

      I forgot this link to the Democratic Socialists of America, who to some extent question the ‘Left Wing’ label, but instead push the concept of ‘The New Left Wing’. (my caps) which seems remarkably sensible.

      “In fact, the most important difference between the documents is neither strategy nor program,mission nor vision, but rather expectation. The founding document called for carrying out a strategy and program that were already the mainstays of mass liberalism, but moving this broad liberal coalition considerably to the left. DSA’s new document points in another direction, toward the founding of a new progressive movement…a next Left. That is because the political momentum of mass liberalism is depleted. If we once positioned ourselves as the left wing of the possible, there is now no “possible” to be the left wing of. Of course, considerable opposition has arisen in response to the program of the conservative and corporate elites. But, that opposition confronts a profound crisis of leadership, particularly at the national level.”

      https://www.dsausa.org/where_we_stand

  3. roy cartland 3
    24 July 2018 at 2:02 pm

    Broadly, I understood the terms to mean:

    Left: cares about most people, at the expense of a few people having huge wealth.

    Right: cares about oneself, and the right to compete for extreme wealth at the the expense of everybody and everything else.

    Left: advocates fairness, limits unfairness

    Right: encourages unfairness

    • Gosman 3.1
      24 July 2018 at 2:14 pm

      Why would people who support the right agree with the definition you give? Nobody I personally know supports unfairness yet they still vote for right leaning political parties.

      • roy cartland 3.1.1
        24 July 2018 at 2:37 pm

        Really? Isn’t that what the whole purpose of ‘individual responsibility’ is about? Look after yourself, the rest can look after themselves?

        • Gosman 3.1.1.1
          24 July 2018 at 2:42 pm

          Not at all. The right has no problem with the concept of group responsibility. Indeed that is why they form groups to fight for their views.

          Have you ever spoken to a right leaning person about their political views Roy or do you base your opinion on what you think they believe?

          • roy cartland 3.1.1.1.1
            24 July 2018 at 3:11 pm

            Of course I have. But I know that what people would like to think of themselves and their actual behaviour is often inconsistent. I’m like that myself, in ways.

            It is true that I’m trying to understand the terms themselves, not the holders of them.

            • Gosman 3.1.1.1.1.1
              24 July 2018 at 3:11 pm

              Did you ask them why they supported the political parties that they did?

              • roy cartland …
                24 July 2018 at 3:21 pm

                Yes, and excluding the tribalism (I’ve always gone blue), it’s broadly the winners and losers argument. Everyone could have what I have if they wanted, and since they don’t [meaning can’t], I’ll take it. No one owns the water – I’ll take it all, sell it, and spoil it if I like.

                • Gosman …
                  24 July 2018 at 3:42 pm

                  Then you haven’t really been discussing right leaning politics with anyone sensible. It would be like me stating that left wing people are all obsessed with the politics of envy who want to screw over the wealthy based on the views of Draco and similar minds.

                  • roy cartland …
                    24 July 2018 at 3:49 pm

                    It’s true I look for evidence in actions more than people’s opinions on themselves, but feel free to enlighten. What is Left/Right?

                    • Gosman …
                      24 July 2018 at 3:53 pm

                      As far as I can tell it is that those who think there is a more centralised (or at least non private sector) approach to dealing with issues are on the Left and those that support a more private sector approach to the same issues are on the Right. There are cross overs of course but the common differences seems to be that the Right wants to use private means whereas the Left wants to use public means.

                    • roy cartland …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:17 pm

                      Right, I think we’re on different axes. You’re referring more to a authoritarian-private axis, me the collective good-individual good one.

                    • Gosman …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:31 pm

                      No, we are on the same axis. I believe that the private sector solutions provide better outcomes for society than public sector solutions. Hence my motivation as a right winger is not primarily driven by my own self interest (which you were trying to argue was the difference).

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    24 July 2018 at 4:42 pm

                    It would be like me stating that left wing people are all obsessed with the politics of envy who want to screw over the wealthy based on the views of Draco and similar minds.

                    I’m not envious. I’m furious that these fuckers are allowed to screw over everyone else to cater to their greed which is destroying our society and life on Earth.

            • Gosman 3.1.1.1.1.2
              24 July 2018 at 3:15 pm

              Do the NRA believe in collective strength or are they only champions of individuality?

              • roy cartland …
                24 July 2018 at 3:25 pm

                I don’t know any, do they represent fairness?

                • Gosman …
                  24 July 2018 at 3:39 pm

                  I believe they think they represent fairness for people. They believe they enable people to protect themselves and therefore make society safer. You are entitled to disagree of course but that is where politics comes in.

                  • roy cartland …
                    24 July 2018 at 3:53 pm

                    Thanks for the permission, I think I will. I think NRA are more likely to represent the right of the individual to have a gun for any reason, over the safety of everyone else. That’s not fair.

                    Similarly I would say the right, at least in practise, supports the individual’s right to have a superyacht even if it means legions of poor and degradation of the environment (which it surely does).

                    In this respect, I think both ultimately support unfairness, no matter what they would like to think about themselves.

                    • Gosman …
                      24 July 2018 at 3:56 pm

                      Why would owning a Super Yacht lead to more poor people?

                    • roy cartland …
                      24 July 2018 at 3:59 pm

                      Because you can’t be rich in a vacuum, someone has to do the work in order to enable it.

                    • Gosman …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:04 pm

                      And that makes them poor how?

                    • roy cartland …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:11 pm

                      Resources, money and labour being used for the benefit of the yacht-owner rather than the collective good. Resources are finite, at least at this point in history. The more some has, the less there are for the rest.

                    • Bill …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:15 pm

                      ffs Gosman, don’t you think it’s time to stop splattering inanities up and down through the threads today?

                      Rich person has successfully taken advantage of the market’s propensity to mis-allocate resources. That mis – allocation (through concentrating wealth) means that relative poverty rises. So, y’know, “country x” having 300 more billionaires this year is a bad thing if your concern is for the general well being or standard of living for the general population in “country x”.

                      Great if you reckon that you too might be of the 1% some day (though hint – 1% of people is always only ever going to be 1% of people, and the nature of wealth is such that it tends to be “locked in”)

                    • Gosman …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:43 pm

                      And this is where we disagree. I don’t think having one billionaire or even 100 billionaires harms the rest of us at all. Bill Gates wealth has little direct negative impact on me or even on the wealth of other Americans.

                    • roy cartland …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:47 pm

                      Then would it be even better if we were all billionaires?

                    • Gosman …
                      24 July 2018 at 4:55 pm

                      Considering the average Joe or Joanne has a level of wealth and lifestyle that the richest Billionaire 125 years ago could only dream of then you are not wrong.

                    • KJT …
                      24 July 2018 at 7:41 pm

                      Tell that to the average Jo in Northland.

              • Tricledrown …
                24 July 2018 at 4:31 pm

                Gossipman Butima and the NRA the backlash of business and young people is exposing the NRA’s corruption.
                Gun manufacturers are going bankrupt.
                The flow of arms to the Mexican Cartels has been stifled.
                The pale stale male hierarchy is coming to an end with a bang.
                The arrogance of their leadership is motivating those who are against the born to rule buffoons.

      • Gabby 3.1.2
        24 July 2018 at 6:30 pm

        They’re great pretenders gozzers.

    • Bill 3.2
      24 July 2018 at 2:43 pm

      And those ethical or moral definitions of left and right fit rather well with notions of social democracy and liberalism (statist and market driven policies), but can’t speak to the overarching ideology that informs or limits, either the execution of those ethics, or their translation into policy.

      • roy cartland 3.2.1
        24 July 2018 at 3:57 pm

        Agreed, I’m trying to understand the terms themselves. Conflating the what and the how complicates the discussion I realise (as I’m finding with Gosman above).

  4. marty mars 4
    24 July 2018 at 2:27 pm

    The whakapapa of the left is why I’m proud to be left wing. Too many people want to push their square peg into a round hole and they blame the hole.

  5. Cemetery Jones 5
    24 July 2018 at 4:23 pm

    It is becoming an increasingly irrelevant way of framing politics. Not yet completely irrelevant, but well on the way. Brendan O’Neill’s latest on Ash Sekar vs. Piers Morgan as an example

    https://twitter.com/spikedonline/status/1021017144551706625

    • Bill 5.1
      24 July 2018 at 4:58 pm

      That’s a fun read. And yes, Corbyn belongs to the camp of (to quote) soft social democrats, boring state socialists

      But a movement to that state of affairs as a stepping stone or point of departure is worth conditional support in my book.

      The “trick” would be in avoiding what happened last time social democracy was actually being practiced by political parties in power – that is, to prevent it becoming rooted/ seen as an end in itself – to challenge it and keep it moving until, when it can’t accommodate demands any more, it gets rolled aside to rot off into the ground alongside whatever other abandoned “bad political ideas” there might be.

  6. SPC 6
    24 July 2018 at 4:43 pm

    The New Zealand Labour Party caucus is increasingly like the US Democrat Party, except in that what it is protecting is sometimes what the Democrats aspire to – such as universal health care. In that Sanders is not really left.

    The war against the (secular) left in western democratic politics has largely been won and anyone seeking to return the left to political governance is now seen as a risk to the orthodoxy of the current world order.

    As for Corbyn, he is only leftward in that he is Labour unreconciled to going along with the Blairite build on the Thatcher regime base. Which of course was in lockstep with US leadership.

  7. Molly 7
    24 July 2018 at 6:21 pm

    It is notable that even on the Standard, a political blog, a lot of comments are trying to ‘agree’ or ‘define’ what political terms like – left, right, liberal, conservative etc mean. If the definition is not shared by all commenters, the threads often go off on a tangent.

    Billy Bragg, said that the old terms such as “socialism” etc, take too long to explain before having discussions about politics. He suggests using terms such as “compassionate society”. He refers to very few agreeing on what socialism is, but even his granny understands what he means when he says – I want a compassionate society.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 7.1
      24 July 2018 at 8:00 pm

      I like that idea! A good expression that everyone can understand – and is actually what progressive politics is all about.

      We often aren’t as effective as the right wingers when it comes to ‘sound bites’ or one-liners, but “compassionate society” is fantastic.

    • Ed1 7.2
      24 July 2018 at 8:28 pm

      I have always quite liked the political compass:
      https://www.politicalcompass.org

      Years ago this was discussed on the usenet group nz.general, with David Farrar described his personal position. (Look in his introduction to himself on Kiwiblog) . It does not seem to cover some of the modern issues such as the tradeoffs between egalitarianism and crony capitalism, or of the tradeoff between sovereignity and trade arrangements – some of those who protested against the TPP and variants also thought that the UK should have stayed in the EU.
      I suspect the Nats dislike the Political Compass because it shows National as being close to an extreme, and close to the Republican party – but the website has now left out the graphs for USA parties . . .
      Perhaps there is no single answer – see also
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goRiEPXsD3I or
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78q_79VYWI or
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u3UCz0TM5Q

      If anyone has a better (but still simplistic) analysis I am sure many would be interested!

    • gsays 7.3
      25 July 2018 at 10:12 am

      You are right Molly, changing the term will often portray the vibe without the listener/reader getting caught up in their ideas about something.

      My favourite is God. Replace the ‘G’ word with consciousness, love, awareness- and the conversation can continue without reference to a sky fairy.

  8. DS 8
    24 July 2018 at 6:36 pm

    Left-Right isn’t a great categorisation, but it’s OK as short-hand. My bigger complaint is that people today have a bit of trouble wrapping their heads around “economically left, socially centre,” or variations thereof – what would be termed the Old Left.

    (Then there’s the fun of explaining the difference between Old Left and Old Right. New Zealand First are Old Right, in the Muldoonian tradition – they’re economically interventionist, socially conservative… and actually don’t like unions very much).

    • Carolyn_Nth 8.1
      24 July 2018 at 7:10 pm

      Those terms “old” and “new” left and right really refer to political parties inter-related to the factions that get most support in the mainstream media.

      On the left, there always were anti-racist and feminist and gay liberation elements since 19th-20th century. But the organised labour movement and Labour Parties tended to be dominated by white males. Women, Māori, Pacific and other people of colour had a long struggle to get their issues treated equally with those most supported by many of the more dominant white men.

      On the right, Conservatives and the Nats, were pretty much always socially conservative, capitalist, patriarchal and imperialist. In the 70s-80s, there was the rise of a mix of neo-cons and neo-liberals in response to widespread successes of social movements – especially in the US. In the UK in the 60s and 70s there was a great deal of success with working class politics, as well as with social movements. NZ probably sits somewhere between the 2.

      Neo-liberals have tended to achieve the more successful philosophy/rhetoric in recent decades (small government, free trade, etc), while the neo-cons (anti-abortion, anti-feminist, anti-LGBT as with the Bushes and Regan eras in the US) took a bit of a back seat- but continued to exist in an uneasy alliance with the neoliberals – think Blinglish in NZ.

      Since the GFC, the neoliberal ethos has been fragile. Recently we have been seeing a rise in neo-conservatism as seen with neo-nazis and a toxic form of masculinity (Trump era), nationalism, with a touch of white supremacy.

      The “left wing” parties had swallowed a big part of the neoliberal pill, but still have a strong element of old style social conservatism.

      Meanwhile, away from organised party politics, there always have been a range of left-right wing views, which are recognisable by those who study it – and can be roughly mapped onto a spectrum – yes a useful shorthand, DS.

      Popular public views, though, have been influenced by all the party political shifts, spin and corporate media cheerleading.

      • Dennis Frank 8.1.1
        25 July 2018 at 10:50 am

        Your overview seems accurate & complements Bill’s useful essay well. I keep hoping for the left to evolve but almost half a century of nothing so far. Conceptual, I mean. They did adopt non-violence eventually after so many leftist guerilla warfare movements petered out. Nicaragua showed revolution can still succeed but peaceful coexistence is better.

        No leftist intellectual has even attempted to produce a general theory of identity politics as far as I can see. Yet they seem to tacitly concede that an ideology to replace Marxist class-identification is required. My diagnosis is that sectarianism operates as a collective mind-set to prevent perception of common ground. That’s why the left has taken so long to copy the Greens’ praxis of consensus politics. That’s why I support our current govt in its attempt to prove that the left has now institutionalised this learning.

        • Carolyn_Nth 8.1.1.1
          25 July 2018 at 11:49 am

          Thanks, Dennis.

          I think there are academics and others who have attempted theories of social and economic justice. (I now dislike the term “identity politics” because of the way it is used as a derogatory term by some).

          Political economy (associated with Marx) includes a mix of material realities and class identification – ie there’s an element of “identity politics” in Marx’s analysis. He said that when the working class moved into urban factories, they would share their individual experiences and thus become aware of their shared exploitation and oppression.

          The Labour movement really took off in the UK in the late 19th century, when urban workers began to identify as working class.

          Manuel Castells is a major social theorist”- often called a post-Marxist. He began as a Marxist, but later embraced social movements (feminism, environmental movements) in his theories).

          Also, there’s Naomi Klein and bell hooks. And those are just a couple of theorists i know who come to mind at the moment. I suspect there are more.

          Maybe a large number of people need to be prepared too accept a theory that embraces anti-capitalism and social justice across all dimensions – ethnicity, gender, sexuality, able-bodiedness, etc., before such a theory will gain widespread traction?

          It’s probably more that no one theorist has been accepted across the left as providing the way forward….?

          • Dennis Frank 8.1.1.1.1
            25 July 2018 at 12:53 pm

            I do have Castells’ Rise of the Network Society but haven’t read it. “The Information Age trilogy is his précis: “Our societies are increasingly structured around the bipolar opposition of the Net and the Self”;[10] the “Net” denotes the network organisations replacing vertically integrated hierarchies as the dominant form of social organization, the Self denotes the practices a person uses in reaffirming social identity and meaning in a continually changing cultural landscape.” [from that Wikipedia page]

            To translate this academic-speak into everyday lingo, he’s defining the Self as a social construct rather than personal identity, and empasising the bipolar relation of this social self has to the internet and its component groups. A generic theory of political psychology could then be developed on the basis that any person interacting with a political group online forms a political persona as an organic consequence of their interaction. Multiple such interactions constellate this persona, and multiple political online contexts for their participation deepen it.

            To use myself as an example, my participation in this forum oscillates according to the topic context and which of my two selves gets motivated. If the topic is values or ideals motivating, my inner leftist-sympathiser self tends to respond. If the topic motivates my identity and social self, my centrist political praxis kicks in. A lifetime spent in alternative circles makes both selves extremely deep-rooted for me (comfortably so). I suspect most commentators here lack practical political experience to call on, but I’d be interested if you or other readers are likewise able to differentiate personal & political selves.

            • Carolyn_Nth 8.1.1.1.1.1
              25 July 2018 at 1:25 pm

              Yes. The individual, social and political selves interact and are intertwined and yes, they do become naturalised and not totally seperable. And the context will bring one or other aspect to the fore.

              The problem with a lot of the “identity politics” detractors are that they assume the “identity” is about the individual self, and not a group identification. they tend to associate it with individualism.

              Social movements, and class based ones, are about a shared sense of socially and economically/materially defined parts of the self. i.e. a collective identity.

              There’s an element of it that is institutionalised (patriarchy, imperialism, ‘racial’ inequalities). They are a material reality, experienced by people in their everyday activities. So it is not only class inequalities that have a material (economic) reality.

              e.g.For most women there are material realities like menstruation, fertility, etc, that they share with most other women, and not with most men. These have an impact on our lives in ways that are subject to repressive treatment in a patriarchy.

              For many Maori and Pacific people, they are more likely to be treated badly by our criminal justice system, etc.

              I have read all of one or two of Castells’ triology, a few years back, and some of his other writings. He uses two examples of the way forward politically: the feminist movement and the environmental movement. This is because they are international, and there need to be global movements to connect the oppressed and to deal with problems the world faces in a positive way. And, according to his theme, they are networked movements.

              Castells also favours local politics over national/federal ones. This is because they are closer to grass roots, and thus more likely to be democratic.

              He is against the reactive nationalisms that have developed in recent decades. So these two linked approaches (global networks and grass roots democracy) aim to circumvent reactive nationalisms.

  9. Pat 9
    24 July 2018 at 7:19 pm

    Both parties pre and post 1984 have largely adopted the economic thinking of the dominant economies of their time,,,although Muldoon went down fighting. I think it may be accurate to suggest that even the first Labour government wasnt entirely contrarian due to the great conflict of ideas at the time. So the political class (in NZs case at least) dont seek to row against the tide in terms of predominant economic thought and are unlikely to do so now….until such time as at least one of the major economies does so.

  10. peterlepaysan 10
    24 July 2018 at 9:47 pm

    “left and right” have become meaningless perjoratives that define the utterers persuasions. Like all perjoratives they are not very useful in meaningful discussion.

    I am old enough to remember when “socialism” was being discussed. One could put three self avowed socialists in a discussion group and wind up with at least 7 different meanings.

    I have always lacked the courage to enter the discussion on “communism”, that made discussions on socialism kindergarten stuff. Communists and socialists rubbed shoulders uneasily, but often over a beer.

    “neo-lib” is often used in a perjorative fashion as well. Some wear the tag with pride, some use it as a badge of shame.

    Maybe we should discuss issues rather than name calling.

    Am I being too radical and extreme?

  11. Anne 11
    24 July 2018 at 10:15 pm

    Am I being too radical and extreme?
    No.

    I’ve always despised political ‘isms’ for the reason you have given. They mean different things to different people. I use the neoliberal tag but usually in conjunction with ‘market forces’ as a clear reference to my thinking.

  12. adam 12
    25 July 2018 at 1:27 am

    But is it though.

    I mean really apart from the members of the beige mafia muddying the waters and forcing people away from politics – are the definitions really broken?

    I think many people are confused about liberalism as an ideology, and its place as the dominant ideology. As an ideology it wants to limit the debate, just look at the people here who fully support liberalism in one form or another, they are forever trying to shut down people.

    Political economic was the original term for what we call today economics. I think we need to get back to that term, becasue it shows there is a divided in how people think an economy should work. It shows there is a left and right divide, and in NZ there is virtually no left when we are forced to think about it in political economic terms. We have no left in parliament, and no left operating outside of parliament. All we have in NZ is a whole lot of left leaning liberals and a whole lot of right leaning liberals.

    • Gosman 12.1
      25 July 2018 at 2:53 am

      “As an ideology it wants to limit the debate, just look at the people here who fully support liberalism in one form or another, they are forever trying to shut down people.”

      Where is there an example of that?

  13. R.P Mcmurphy 13
    25 July 2018 at 3:38 am

    hah. the real problem is industrial capitalism that will not stop till it has completely exhausted all resources and fucked the whole world. Adam Smith wrote in his essay on the ‘the theory of moral sentiments’ published before ‘the wealth of nations’ that what gives human beings the most psychological satisfaction is command over labour. an assertion supported by bronislaw malinowski in his analysis of the ‘big man’ in melanesian society’s. In other words some people just want to be the boss and th emoney is just a tool for them to use in becoming top dog. this trope has lead to the almost complete destruction of forests and oceans and rivers and will ensure that while we all have all the goods we think we might need and more that counterintuitively we are headed on the path to destruction instead of a glorious future. right and left are both going to have to suck that one up sooner or later.

    • Gosman 13.1
      25 July 2018 at 8:43 am

      There a an element on both sides of the political divide but which seems to be more prevalent on the left of Apocalyptic reasoning. This is a good example of it.

      • Anne 13.1.1
        25 July 2018 at 11:24 am

        Heres a good example of pending Apocalypse from the Guardian:

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/natural-disasters

        Have a look down the ‘page’ and see all the deadly wild fires currently raging across the Northern Hemisphere… Britain, parts of Europe, Greece, Sweden (as far north as the Arctic Circle) and America.

        If it hadn’t been for the blindingly dumb attempt by right-wingers to turn Climate Change into an ideological/political issue, we would have all the steps now in place to at least avert the worst of the pending disaster. Perhaps these wild fires would still have occurred but not on anything like the same scale, and they are going to become bigger and more frequent in the years to come.

  14. gsays 14
    25 July 2018 at 10:03 am

    Great post thanks Bill.
    A couple of things occur to me.
    When the national party was formed, it didn’t stand FOR something, but was intended to stand against something.

    I suppose the social influences in our politics takes second fiddle to the role of the state in politics.

    I had a wry smile at gosmans “approach to dealing with issues “, as opposed to how society is organised.
    As if the responsibility of education, health care, defence, police and administering the social safety net were trite.

    There seems to be a habit here on TS of slurring folk of being ‘right wing’ when volatile subjects are being discussed e.g. 9/11, abortion, euthanasia.

    The climate reminds me of the early 80’s, the rise alternative comedy and the pureness of your lefty credentials.
    There was a lot of change needed (anyone for another mother-in-law joke?), but there was and now is more scorn poured on those not quite with the agenda as opposed to identifying the real oppressors.

  15. Dennis Frank 15
    25 July 2018 at 10:14 am

    I’ve got a book somewhere in my library called “Beyond Left and Right”, published 1968, still haven’t got around to reading it due to feeling that the title says it all really. Sixties rebels knew both were part of the problem, so we had to co-create the solution by navigating through the middle way: thus the Greens `neither left nor right, but in front’. It’s an integral stance. Takes the best of both.

    Political psychology seems a discipline devoid of intellectual content. A while back I printed out the intro to Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology, sat down with a highlighter poised to identify all the key points but finished reading it without a single usage. Co-authored by three professors of political science (one including psychology). So it’s a field of endeavour waiting for folks to plough, plant & harvest therein. A focus on group psychodynamics, stakeholder relations & incentive structures would be the way to design a suitable new infrastructure for political economy.

    Best to identify the left and right as attractors – that suck people into their orbits like gravitational attractors do. Chaos theory developed in the eighties on the basis of attractors defining the trajectories of complex systems, so they can be described via maths as well as physics. Creativity emerges in nature at the boundary of influence: in a binary attractor dipole the region where the competing forces balance creates the basis for the middle way. Thus Odysseus had to sail midway between Scylla and Charybdis to avoid his ship getting sucked into the vortex on one side and the reef on the other.

    • Gosman 15.1
      25 July 2018 at 10:29 am

      Most of what you wrote is far too abstract to digest .I am curious about this point though :

      “Sixties rebels knew both were part of the problem, so we had to co-create the solution by navigating through the middle way: thus the Greens `neither left nor right, but in front’. It’s an integral stance. Takes the best of both.”

      How is this any different to Bill Clinton’s and Tony Blair’s theory of “Triangulation” and the “Third way”?

      • Dennis Frank 15.1.1
        25 July 2018 at 11:19 am

        I took it as a lame attempt to fake the reinvention of the left that their situation required. Those guys probably thought they were doing good, of course. When you’re a creature of the establishment you don’t bite the hand that feeds you, so they could never give the people they represented a real share in power and economy. Authenticity was out of the question. Same for Obama.

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    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • 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, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    7 days ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 week ago

  • Always Be Campaigning
    The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Youth justice programme expands to break cycle of offending
    The successful ‘Circuit Breaker’ fast track programme designed to stop repeat youth offending was launched in two new locations today by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis. The programme, first piloted in West and South Auckland in December last year, is aimed at children aged 10-13 who commit serious offending or continue ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago

  • Major milestone with 20,000 employers using Apprenticeship Boost
    The Government’s Apprenticeship Boost initiative has now supported 20,000 employers to help keep on and train up apprentices, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced in Christchurch today. Almost 62,000 apprentices have been supported to start and keep training for a trade since the initiative was introduced in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Government supporting wood processing jobs and more diverse industry
    The Government is supporting non-pine tree sawmilling and backing further job creation in sawmills in Rotorua and Whangarei, Forestry Minister Peeni Henare said.   “The Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan identified the need to add more diversity to our productions forests, wood products and markets,” Peeni Henare said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Government backing Canterbury’s future in aerospace industry
    The Government is helping Canterbury’s aerospace industry take off with further infrastructure support for the Tāwhaki Aerospace Centre at Kaitorete, Infrastructure Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “Today I can confirm we will provide a $5.4 million grant to the Tāwhaki Joint Venture to fund a sealed runway and hangar ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Updated forestry regulations increase council controls and require large slash removal
    Local councils will have more power to decide where new commercial forests – including carbon forests – are located, to reduce impacts on communities and the environment, Environment Minister David Parker said today. “New national standards give councils greater control over commercial forestry, including clear rules on harvesting practices and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago

  • New Zealand resumes peacekeeping force leadership
    New Zealand will again contribute to the leadership of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, with a senior New Zealand Defence Force officer returning as Interim Force Commander. Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta have announced the deployment of New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New national direction provides clarity for development and the environment
    The Government has taken an important step in implementing the new resource management system, by issuing a draft National Planning Framework (NPF) document under the new legislation, Environment Minister David Parker said today. “The NPF consolidates existing national direction, bringing together around 20 existing instruments including policy statements, standards, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government shows further commitment to pay equity for healthcare workers
    The Government welcomes the proposed pay equity settlement that will see significant pay increases for around 18,000 Te Whatu Ora Allied, Scientific, and Technical employees, if accepted said Health Minister Ayesha Verrall. The proposal reached between Te Whatu Ora, the New Zealand Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • 100 new public EV chargers to be added to national network
    The public EV charging network has received a significant boost with government co-funding announced today for over 100 EV chargers – with over 200 charging ports altogether – across New Zealand, and many planned to be up and running on key holiday routes by Christmas this year. Minister of Energy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Safeguarding Tuvalu language and identity
    Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
    40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Appointment of District Court Judge
    Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today.  Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
    The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
    Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
    The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
    The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
    The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today.   “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
    Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
    An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
    The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
    The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
    Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
    The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.  A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

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