Public meeting: After the New Zealand election—the socialist alternative to austerity and war By Tom Peters
29 September 2014
The September 20 election in New Zealand reflected the profound alienation of working people from the entire political
establishment. The result was a rout for the Labour Party which received less than 25 percent of the votes, its worst
defeat in 92 years. At the same time, the National government’s “landslide win” was completely hollow. Nearly as many
people did not vote at all, as cast a ballot for National.
Disgust and anger, however, are not enough. None of the pressing issues facing workers and youth were discussed during
the election campaign because all the major parties agree that the working class must pay for the deepening crisis of
capitalism. Workers can only defend their interests by building a party that fights for a socialist and internationalist
alternative.
A hundred years after World War I, the global geo-political situation is extraordinarily tense, with numerous
flashpoints that could erupt in a confrontation between nuclear-armed powers. New Zealand’s political establishment has
aligned itself with US imperialism and its reckless drive to war in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Labour and National have both declared their support for the US-led bombing of Iraq and Syria, while the Greens and the
Internet-Mana Party have remained silent—thereby tacitly endorsing the war. The opposition parties have also endorsed
the US-backed coup in Ukraine and Washington’s provocations against Russia.
Labour, the Greens and Mana all engaged in a xenophobic campaign against Chinese immigration and land purchases, while
Labour courted the viciously anti-Asian NZ First Party as a potential coalition partner. They want to align New Zealand
even more closely with the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia directed at encircling and preparing for war against
China.
At the same time, while shedding crocodile tears for children in poverty, the Greens made clear that they were just as
committed as National to running a “fiscally responsible” and pro-business government. Labour proposed to raise the
retirement age, while the Greens advocated corporate tax cuts.
Far from defending democratic rights, Labour and its allies support retaining the spy agency, the Government
Communications Security Bureau, which conducts mass surveillance on the population in collaboration with the US National
Security Agency.
The World Socialist Web Site urges workers and young people to attend our post-election meeting in Lower Hutt to discuss the alternative to the
drive to war, austerity and attacks on democratic rights: a socialist and internationalist perspective to unite workers
around the world in a common struggle to end the profit system.
Sunday, October 12, 1.30 p.m.
Room 1, Russell Keown House (formerly APEX House),
Cnr. Laings Road and Queens Drive, Lower Hutt