JACINDA ARDERN : THE BUSINESS SECTOR SAYS SHE'S A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH

Jacinda Ardern and the Labour-led government may of thrown large amounts of dosh at the corporate sector, but it had precious little to give everyone else. In the aftermath of the general election we can expect the burden of the economic crisis to continue to be shifted on to those who can least afford it.

DURING A TWO HOUR interview with Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning, Jacinda Ardern acknowledged that the coronavirus has inflicted a massive amount of economic hardship. But she also managed to suggest that the policies of her Labour-led Government had not been responsible for any of it. In fact, she claimed, her Government had tried to soften the blow of Covid-19.

Which isn't true. While her Labour-led Government shovelled large amounts of money in the direction of the economic elite, there has been next nothing for everyone else. Even as the jobless figures have mounted and the queues outside the foodbanks have lengthened, Jacinda Ardern has refused to increase benefits to a level which will allow folk to live lives that are something other than subsistence.

When asked by Hosking what she planned to do about the widespread economic hardship, Ardern had little to offer but platitudes about 'growing the economy' and more 'training and apprenticeships'. Given that the jobless figures will continue to rise throughout 2021, one wonders where Ardern expects all the new jobs to come from.

While beneficiaries and the working poor have been left out in the cold by Jacinda Ardern, she has displayed a warm generosity to those at the top end of town.

We live in a country where houses are increasing in value of approximately $1800 a week, yet Jacinda Ardern has ruled out a capital gains tax.

And on the back of large wage subsidies, the corporate sector has been recording large profits.

Last week The Warehouse announced a $44. 5 million profit on the back of a $67 million wage subsidy. Without the wage subsidy The Warehouse says it would of made an annual loss of $4.2 million. But despite the healthy profit the company has announced that 600 workers will lose their jobs in the coming weeks.

Retailer Harvey Norman has reported a 20 percent increase in profit . It received approximately $13 million in wage subsidies.

In total, the Labour-led government paid out some $14 billion in wage subsidies to the business sector.

While those on the left have been hoping the coronavirus-induced economic crisis would lead to economic transformation, what we are instead witnessing is the further entrenching of New Zealand's chronic inequality and a level of poverty that should not be countenanced in a country such as New Zealand - but is.

What lies behind's Ardern's chummy friendliness is the further concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a tiny oligarchy, composed of senior politicians, bankers, financiers, corporate executives and property investors. This has occurred while a hopelessly inept Labour-aligned left has sat on its collective hands and done nothing.

The task, easier said than done, will be wrest economic and political control back from the plutocracy. But that won't be done via the Labour Party. That road leads to nowhere and has done so for decades. The only way we can make progress is by upending neoliberalism and beginning a process of radically democratising our national economic and political institutions, giving workers, consumers and communities a real say in the decision-making process. The alternative is to watch as democracy is finally consumed by capitalism.