"DON'T VOTE - IT ONLY ENCOURAGES THEM"

 

The latest unemployment figures have again exposed the failure of neoliberalism, yet no alternative is being offered by Labour and supported by the Green Party. Young people have been hit hard by neoliberalism and its little wonder that only 53 percent of 18-24 year old have enrolled for the election. It's not apathy — it's a rational response to a political system that has failed them.


THE LATEST unemployment figures don’t just expose the failure of the government’s austerity agenda — they expose the bankruptcy of an entire political class still clinging to a model that has already immiserated a generation. An 11-year high jobless rate of 5.6 percent, 171,000 people out of work, nearly 100,000 young people unable to find employment, and more than 69,000 stuck in long-term unemployment: these are not abstract numbers. They are the human consequences of a government that insists debt is 'out of control' — a claim contradicted by every serious economic analysis — and that slashing public spending is the only responsible path forward. The result is predictable: rising unemployment, collapsing job security, and a labour market that is failing on every measure.

Underemployment has surged, with the number of people unable to secure enough hours ballooning to 440,000. For young workers, the picture is even bleaker. The unemployment rate for 15–24-year-olds has jumped to 13.8 percent, a brutal indictment of a government that has chosen austerity over investment.

Under conditions like these, one would reasonably expect the opposition parties to be surging. Yet Labour clings only to a marginal lead over National, and the Greens are stuck in the low-teens, struggling even to match their last election result. The problem is not that voters are apathetic — it’s that Labour offers no alternative to the very neoliberal framework that has driven the country into its current economic mire. Labour’s message amounts to little more than 'we’ll manage the same system slightly better,' a pitch that inspires precisely no one.

The Greens, who had the political space to articulate a genuine alternative, have instead tethered themselves to Labour’s fortunes. Their leadership appears unwilling to confront Labour’s commitment to austerity, unwilling to break with the orthodoxy, and unwilling to offer the kind of transformative programme that could speak to a working class now bearing the brunt of economic decline.

Young people see this clearly. They are being hammered by unemployment, insecure work, and rising living costs — and they do not believe the current parliamentary parties offer any way out. Their disillusionment is reflected in the enrolment figures. According to the Election Commission, only 53 percent of 18–24-year-olds are enrolled to vote, down from 70 percent in 2011. This is not apathy; it is a rational response to a political system that has stopped speaking to them.

Yet instead of asking why young people are turning away, Green co-leader Chloe Swarbrick says they simply need to 'get involved.' In one sentence, she dismisses the very idea that the Greens themselves should offer something worth getting involved in. It is a remarkable abdication of responsibility. Young people are not failing politics — politics is failing them.

Right now, the Greens offer little more than support for another Labour-led government and the continuation of the neoliberal status quo. It ain't much of a deal for young people — and they have rejected it.

The unemployment figures released this week are not just a warning about the economy. They are a warning about the political vacuum at the centre of New Zealand’s democracy. Austerity has failed. Neoliberalism has failed. And unless a political force emerges willing to break decisively with both, the country will continue down a path where rising unemployment, falling participation, and deepening disillusionment become the new normal.