Nicky Hager’s new book is that, once and for all, the days of egalitarian politics in New Zealand have gone. They have been replaced with big business and hidden agendas of power and control. They have been replaced with cynicism, cronyism, manipulation and abuse. This isn’t about a blogger, some reptilian oaf desperate to create a reputation by shock and attack. It’s not even about John Key’s arrogant dismissal of Nicky Hager’s claims. It’s about the system and it is symptomatic of a specific kind of political decay that is caused by neo-liberalism. The problem is not whether the claims Hager is making are true or massively exaggerated half-truths (though experience causes me to believe them more than doubt them). The problem is that they are plausible. The moment the professional political lobbyists and image makers cross the threshold of any political party, that party has lost its legitimacy and its right to govern. It now exists solely to perpetuate the power of its own (shrinking) elite. This is as true of the UK Labour Party as it is of the New Zealand National Party. Of course, some will argue that this is just politics. It’s a dirty game and what one party does, the other must follow. The same argument was used during the cold war and it led to escalation, stalemate and vast profits for the defence sector. In politics it leads you away from the people and ensures that control is retained by a powerful few. Once upon a time New Zealand stood up against the nuclear proliferators and sabre rattlers, maybe the time has come to stand up against the people who would deprive us of our democracy (because that is their intention). And isn’t that what’s really at the heart of this issue? Us, the voter! We have been lied to. We have been manipulated. We have had scandals manufactured and played out in public like we sell toilet roll. Politics as the slick perpetual campaign of lies and deceit. We have been sold a pup! It surprises me that a One News/Colmar Brunton poll suggests only 28% of the electorate believe Hagar’s claims. It worries me considerably more that only 9% feel they will be influenced by them. This says more about apathy and ignorance than anything else (though it perhaps also says a lot about the poor standard of critical journalism in New Zealand). Wake up New Zealand, you’ve sleep-walked into an era of shabby, manipulative politics. And this is what those behind all of this want you to do. What you really must understand – even (especially?) if you support National – is that this kind of politics isn’t working for you. Disengagement or blind partisan loyalty, both perpetuate hidden, negative power. Here in Europe voters are angry. They showed this in the recent European Parliamentary elections. They are turning away from the people on both sides of politics who many believe have orchestrated the failed systems of governance where power is used, not for the good of the many, but for the benefit of the few. Politics is about economics, more about protecting power and growing private wealth than it is about building a democratic, inclusive or fair society. The New Zealand electorate needs to wake up to what is really happening. Wake up and say “enough is enough”. It’s time to demand a new contract with our politicians and their parties. Time to limit political lobbying and ensure that all forms of briefing and lobbying (of or by Ministers and Shadow Ministers) is recorded and published. Time to open up all political campaigning to ensure full transparency and accountability, no hiding behind shadowy trusts or third-parties. Most of all it’s time to limit the amount of funding that can be used for political campaigns, not just during the immediate election period but recognise the perpetual campaign too. Government and politics should be open by default and as a right of public record. Every candidate standing for parliament should sign a pledge to play fair and their parties must sign up to this too. Not just claim it’s going to be a clean election then brief in secret or exploit the scandals and conflict: live it, demonstrate it, believe it. I’m sure Nicky Hager would be the first to welcome his own redundancy! Though still far better than the UK, our politics and political parties are rapidly becoming unfit for purpose. We have to overhaul the system, use open primaries to choose candidates that the public want, not reward favour, privilege and shrinking party membership. We have to reject the kind of negative underhand politics that Hager describes and we have to do this on both sides of the political spectrum – there is little reason for Labour to be smug about this latest scandal… there but for the grace of God, etc. And, of course, we can now sit back and watch the reactions to Hager’s book fall in line with their pre-determined ideological camps, thereby proving the point I’m making here. The public needs to send a strong statement to our politicians that their behaviour isn’t acceptable and won’t be tolerated. Sadly, the evidence is people don’t really care. I don’t know if this is because they have so little faith in politics or because they don’t feel they can make a difference but they are wrong – they can make a difference and they can take a stand. This is the right moment to create truly progressive and inclusive politics in New Zealand. It starts now… [i] Disclosure: I’m a member of the New Zealand Labour Party. Of course, some people already know this, either because they know me or because they hacked Labour’s web-server and stole membership details. That said, these views are not party-political, I write about democracy and these comments are aimed at those who would try and corrupt our democracy for personal gain. ]]>
Rotten politics is breaking our democracy
