NEW ZEALAND: A BROKEN COUNTRY

A new survey says that most New Zealanders think the country's political system is rigged in favour of the rich and powerful.   

IN CASE anyone has forgotten, New Zealand is officially in recession. That's defined as two successive quarters of negative growth. The National-led coalition government's answer to the country's economic woes though is to strangle the country of any significant public investment.  Austerity is this government's so called 'solution'. It's ordinary people who are being forced to carry the economic burden of an agenda designed to protest the interests of those who benefit from the economic status quo.

But this should not be read as a flag waving exercise for the Labour Party. For six years it too protected the interests of the economic status quo. It is equably culpable for the mess that we now find ourselves in.

With no meaningful difference existing between the country’s two main political parties, it is entirely predictable that there is widespread anger and frustration with a political system rightly seen as corrupt and unaccountable.

A new survey has revealed that New Zealanders have had enough: most of us think that the country is fundamentally broken and in a state of decline. The survey, conducted by Ipsos New Zealand in February, asked some 1000 New Zealanders for their views on the state of the nation. The survey found that 60% of Kiwis feel the country is in decline, with 58% stating that our society is broken. Interestingly, 79 percent of Maori, who are predominantly working class, think the system works in favour of the country's political elite. Over 70 percent of people aged 18-34 and people on low incomes also believe that our present system works in favour of the rich and powerful.
 

It will also be of concern to most of our politicians, the representatives of capital, that most New Zealanders think our parliamentary democracy is an empty charade. Ipsos New Zealand says that there is 'a significant consensus among New Zealanders that the system is rigged in favour of the rich and powerful, with 65% agreeing to this statement.'

Most New Zealanders actually don't believe our 'representative democracy' is either representative or democratic. This helps to explain why over three-quarter of a million people did not vote in the 2023 election. Kiwis have worked out that the economy is rigged to benefit the few at the expense of the many and our politicians are not only doing nothing about it, they are actively protecting the status quo.

With the country's political parties continually failing to deal with the challenges the country is facing, popular anger at our political class will only continue to rise. The survey has revealed that New Zealanders want a 'strong leader' who is 'willing to break the rules' and will 'take the country back from the rich and powerful'.

The political consequences of austerity could, thus, be potentially disastrous. The populist and authoritarian far right could well benefit from the growing discontent among New Zealanders seeking to give a good kicking to the political establishment.

Right now, the left, much of it still chained to the electoral interests of the Labour Party, still shows no signs that it is prepared to fight for the interests of a besieged working class. That will not have gone unnoticed, and the Labour Party and its supporters should not be surprised if people decide to seek their political champions elsewhere.

In 2017 the Labour Party won the general election promising economic transformation and then failed to deliver. But this survey reveals that New Zealanders still desire real change; they want an economic revolution, not just more of the same.