A vision for New Zealand: Part 2

In my previous article I wrote about how New Zealand has come unstuck over the last 40 years. In this article I deliver a vision on how New Zealand can look in the future.

New Zealand has a reputation around the world for being one of the “nice guys” on the global stage. It is known for its general emphasis on fair play, supporting the “little guy against the big guys”. It has long prided itself on being an egalitarian nation. In backing this up it has been a cheerleader for international law by way of human rights law, statutes such as the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sadly, in the last two decades, this idea of an egalitarian utopia has come under sustained and increasingly vicious attack from a range of elements. Some are simply poorly educated individuals who have little understanding of international law, the bodies that give effect to it and have been persuaded by disinformation sources that they are being exploited and will lose their civil rights. We saw these at Parliament in 2022 – many were looking for some kind of belonging, yet few could explain by whom or how they were disenfranchised. Some are organizations established by people predominantly on the right who believe that some kind of “great reset” is happening that is designed to “undermine/negate white people”, by giving brown people a more equitable playing field; that the L.G.B.T.Q. community, and in particular the trans section of the community are somehow an immoral threat to our children. Organizations such as Destiny Church, which has been in the news recently for vandalizing street crossings painted in the colours of the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

My vision is actually quite simple. For the very most part, there was nothing wrong with our egalitarian past:

• all New Zealanders could afford the basics
• there was a general social welfare net to help those who had fallen on hard times
• housing was relatively affordable
• electricity was cheap and generally reliable
• utilities such as water, roading, sewerage were not political footballs for politicians

With a bit of political willpower, much of this can be restored. New Zealand can go further with some forward thinking planning. We have the resources and the know how to become the best island nation in the world, one of the cleanest and most equitable. We can play to our strengths, which have been lauded by commentators both here and abroad:

• Our relatively clean environment
• Our indigenous Maori, tangata whenua and te ao Maori
• Our lack of corruption – for the past decade we have been consistently one of the least corrupt countries in the world according to Transparency International
• Our relative safety – whilst I think people are becoming more realistic about safety around hitch hiking, compared with Haiti, some cities in the United States or anywhere in the Middle East, we do have comparatively low crime and little gun violence

The blocks that stop us from going forward are driven largely by the greed of a small number of extremely influential lobby groups and individuals for whom the status quo works just fine. They don’t want the status quo to change because it would mean that they have to start paying their way. Groups like Taxpayers Union, Free Speech Union, Hobsons Pledge and others are all what are known as astroturf organizations, and possibly linked to Atlas Network. They are stopping or stalling for time several very important actions that New Zealand need to take, which I will describe in the next article.

This is why the Bill of Parliament that Golriz Ghahraman introduced before she resigned, which was going to improve the accountability of politicians and the transparency of the electoral system is so critical. It planned to reduce the 5% threshold to get into Parliament; lower the threshold at which donations have to be declared as well as the minimum age for voting.

To our clean environment, lack of corruption, relative safety and indigenous culture, I believe we can realistically add:

• Significantly improved public transport – right now we are about 20-25 years behind the curve
• At the minimum, decriminalize cannabis and treat addiction as a health issue
• More affordable housing
• Welfare net rebuilt and improved
• Better outcomes in health, education, crime and productivity
• Cleaner, more efficient infrastructure and waste disposal
• Immersion in te ao Maori, which will help end or significantly dilute the racial discrimination playing out against Maori
• Built up respect for international law and the organizations that give effect to it

For this vision to be achieved though, the political status quo must change. The provocateurs advocating for the downfall of New Zealand society need to be challenged outright. We can do this.