A NEW PARTY OF THE LEFT?

Over the years, there have been several attempts to establish a new political party to the left of Labour. In the face of a new neoliberal offensive from the present National-led coalition government, the idea is being discussed again.

THE FAILURE of the Labour Government to usher in the economic transformation that leader Jacinda Ardern promised during Labour's 2017 election campaign has left working people vulnerable to the renewed neoliberal offensive that we are witnessing today under the National-led coalition government. It's little wonder that there is little enthusiasm for Labour now, especially since it is increasingly evident that it has no intention of changing.

With little prospect of Labour ever being a vehicle for progressive change, its also not surprising that the thoughts of some activists should turn to the prospects of establishing a new party to the left of Labour.

Last week a meeting was held in Auckland to discuss such a party. The meeting was organised by System Change Aotearoa. Previous to the last election, it was campaigning for a wealth tax and seemed to think that the Labour Party would be receptive to such a policy. Its spokesperson, Eliot Crossan, wrote:

'The Labour government will need to be kicked into action if we are to see this transformative vision realised – and even the Greens and Te Pati Maori’s plans to tax the rich do not nearly go this far. A grassroots campaign to tax the rich and cut taxes for workers is needed, uniting unions and community organisations in a fight for a fairer society. It’s time for real action on Aotearoa’s crisis of inequality.'

What a difference an election can make. It seems that System Change Aotearoa has arrived at the conclusion that some of us came to many, many years ago: Labour is an obstacle in the way of real change. There is a dawning realisation that supporting Labour means allowing the left to be led down the road to nowhere. Again.

Joining Elliot Crossan on stage was former Green MP Sue Bradford. If anyone truly understands what will be involved in establishing a new left party then its Sue Bradford. In a 2017 essay, first published on the now closed website of the left think tank Economic and Social Research Aotearoa, Bradford did not sugar coat the difficulties that any new party would face. Her opening  paragraph reads:

'Those of us on the radical left of politics in Aotearoa/New Zealand find ourselves in the middle of 2017 facing yet another general election in which no parliamentary party seriously champions a future which will start to move us beyond capitalism and the legacies of colonisation. The glaring organisational gap on the left of New Zealand politics has never been greater or the need to fill it more urgent. When I undertook doctoral research between 2010 and 2013 looking at questions around the need for a major left think tank in New Zealand, the message came through loud and clear that our left activist world was changing. Drawing on analysis of interviews with 51 research participants from diverse parts of the left academic and activist worlds, my thesis concluded that more and more of us were keen to move past weaknesses perceived at the time of research. These included a depleted union movement, a colonised community sector often unable and unwilling to advocate politically for those it served, lack of financial resources, a rightward drift by the Green and Labour Parties and a history of factionalism on the radical left.'

Bradford's essay was published before the 2017 election and her concerns about both Labour and the Green's did ultimately come to pass. Labour had the historic opportunity to chart a new economic and political direction for the country but instead chose to defend the interests of capital. It was assisted by a Green Party that consistently failed to oppose Labour. While Green co-leader Chloe Swarbrick has talked of the need for fundamental change, it has yet to translate into concrete Green Party policy.

What should be encouraging to the proponents of a new party is that disillusionment with our present set of parliamentary parties is at an all-time high. Some three-quarter of a million New Zealanders no longer vote because they no longer believe, correctly, that any of the present parties are offering a new way forward that will tangibly improve their lives.

New Zealand might be a historically right-leaning country, and it has moved markedly further to the right over the course of several elections. But this does not mean it lacks a constituency that is prepared to support a new party of the left. But it must, first and foremost, be a party that addresses the issues that resonate with working people. Any new party of the left must put working class politics back on the agenda.