The most selfish electorate in the country
In the leafiest streets of our wealthiest electorate lurks the darkest side of the New Zealand character. Here reside
the white male voters of Epsom who have supported and sustained the Act Party through thick and thin these past two
decades. Through their dogged support a minority of hard-right politicians have had influence far beyond their numerical
support.
Their self-interest has pushed policies which have seen their prospects blossom while the rest of us have stood still or
gone backwards.
Epsom couldn't believe its luck when Roger Douglas and Labour unleashed the new right juggernaut in 1984 to start the
fastest growing gap between rich and poor ever seen in the developed world. It enabled the good citizens of Epsom to
bask in the warm glow of their rapidly increasing incomes. Taxes on high incomes plummeted while the poor made up the
difference through GST. There were no death duties or capital gains taxes to bother their property investments and great
opportunities to increase their wealth through the purchase of state assets at fire-sale prices.
Epsom voters have never had it so good. While third-world diseases blight the children of the poor and kids go hungry
because parents are unemployed or under-employed the government has doubled taxpayer subsidies for Epsom voters sending
their kids to elite private schools.
Voters elsewhere may consider wider national issues but Epsomites have been sneeringly dismissive of the enormous
problems created for others through the policies by which they have been enriched. Blame the victim is their answer for
every social ill as they eagerly point the finger of guilt elsewhere.
They believe the Treaty of Waitangi is just an agreement about property rights and equal citizenship for all. But
despite this they are fiercely opposed to serious redress for the land stolen from Maori through crooked dealings,
outright theft and confiscation. They believe Maori are somehow privileged and chant "one law for all" in an effort to
negate Maori rights to tino rangatiratanga. "Partnership" with Maori is as foreign to them as concepts like "community"
or "the common good".
Epsom offspring make up the bright, brash, Act-Party acolytes, filled with the spirit of free enterprise with their path
to the trough smoothed by their parents.
These are the people who will take ownership of the privatised power companies. The government intends taking shares
from low and middle income mums and dads so Epsom mums and dads can increase their unearned income every time a light
switch goes on in South Auckland. They will make a nice little earner on the side.
Epsom believes the sole role of government is to run the police and armed forces to protect and enforce their property
rights at home and their access to resources and markets abroad.
They fight for policies to restrict union rights and make collective bargaining more difficult for workers because as
employers and investors they want an even bigger share of the pie. Nothing personal of course - it's just the market
stupid.
Some of these voters actually believe they deserve the riches bestowed upon them by successive Labour and National
governments. They rejoiced with the sale of state assets and the cutting of public services announced in the budget.
Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of other New Zealanders are already mere tenants in their own country. These hard
workers typically rent their accommodation and own nothing more than an old car and a few home appliances. They are
tenants to the wealthy of the Epsom electorate.
When it looked like their local Act MP Rodney Hide might not succeed in Epsom the white male leaders (the women gave up
on Act under Hide) saw the need to change horses. No problem. Alan Gibbs lined up the money men and went with Don Brash
to give Hide and the Act leadership an offer they couldn't refuse. The Act party was purchased to ensure the policies
which have enriched the electorate continue and extend under an Act/National government after the election.
And so wealthy voters of Epsom can breath easy again. John Banks will be their man to promote every far right policy he
can get his hands on. The drive to keep the wealth gap increasing is a never-ending struggle for the people of Epsom -
like raking the leaves in autumn.
There can be no doubt Epsom is the most selfish electorate in the country.