ELECTION 2020 : WELCOME TO THE IDEOLOGICAL WASTELAND

Jacinda Ardern : Defending the status quo.

As New Zealand plunges into a major economic crisis, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declares her commitment to the economic status quo...

IN THE MIDST of a raging pandemic and an economy crashing into depression, she declared that 'The billionaire class need the working class, the working class don't need the billionaire class'. That was socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking over the weekend, expressing views that have been largely expunged from New Zealand mainstream politics. Socialism is a dirty word, still. That's what over three decades of neoliberal rule does. 

Here in New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern double-downed on her support for the status quo. At Labour's 2017 election campaign opening, amidst the whoops and cheers, Ardern presented herself and her party as a force for change. But there was no such call to arms at Labour's subdued 2020 campaign opening. Instead she repeatedly talked about work still to be done. But we all know 'rebuilding New Zealand' isn't about change, this is  simply about  ensuring that fragile corporate interests are protected and maintained. And guess who will be expected to pay for bailing out the business sector? Clue: It won't be the business sector.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez : Speaking out for change.

No one with a modicum of sanity could have realistically expected Ardern to suddenly declare her commitment to democratic socialism but at time when economic transformation is sorely needed, she can't even countenance mild-mannered Keynesianism. 

As Bernard Hickey of Newsroom has commented 'Why is NZ wasting the biggest crisis in living memory and not borrowing to try to solve our housing affordability, child poverty and climate change crises? Why not borrow NZ$100b (30% GDP) now at 0.7% to invest in housing, transport and water infrastructure?'

As it is, the 2020 election campaign will only serve to underline the continuing failure of our so-called representative democracy. When change is urgently needed, we've been abandoned to two market-led parties wrestling for the so-called centre ground, with the smaller parliamentary parties orbiting around them. This is indeed the extremism of centrism. 

There is something wrong when the  only significant policy announcement by Jacinda Ardern  was the re-hashing of a wage subsidy scheme that the National Party introduced in 2012. Welcome to the 2020 election campaign. Welcome to the ideological wasteland.