I have a lot of respect for the Alliance. At least here is political party that, in its own way, is articulating consistent economic policies that stand in opposition to the cosy neoliberal consensus that exists within Parliament.
The Alliance makes a good point that Phil Goff's sudden enthusiasm for a capital gains tax has been an Alliance policy for many years.
Co-leader Kay Murray asks the pertinent question - how come Labour never introduced such a tax while it was in government?
Murray says: '“Perhaps it could be because their leadership has a long history of abandoning their working class voters while in Government, then conveniently ‘coming home’ when they are outside Government.”
Too true.
Similarly Goff's sudden pledge to do something about price gouging by the electricity industry also smacks of opportunism, since Labour failed to do anything about the shambolic state of the power industry when it was in power.
“Is Mr Goff going to commit Labour to the public control of electricity for affordable power for New Zealanders, or is this just another throwaway promise?” asks Murray.
Given its dismal track record and its conspicuous failure to reject neoliberalism, I'd say this is just another throwaway promise from Goff - desperately trying to fool the public into believing that Labour really is different from National.
I am a member of the Labour party and I count myself as left wing in the socialist more than the liberal sense. And while a great many critics call Labour to account for not opposing neoliberalism, the big question is "How?" It is now entrenched, and it is difficult to see how it would be dislodged without leading to worse problems - equally dividing a non-existent cake is a meaningless exercise. While I too admire the Alliance for maintaining the ideal, if they were in the position to actually do anything they too would find themselves faced with this problem.
ReplyDeleteSo Olwyn says: "There Is No Alternative".
ReplyDeleteIn the Labour party, the more things change, the more they stay the same...
I did not say there is no alternative: what I said was, neoliberalism is now entrenched, to which I am sure you would agree. What to do in the face of this is a very real problem facing the left, and will remain a problem while the majority of the population remain under its thrall.
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