By Their Fruits Shall Ye Know Them: To the neoliberal political elite the victims of Pike River and the CTV Building Collapse are simply collateral damage in an unending struggle against those who attempt to restrict the free play of market forces.
TWO TRAGEDIES: a mine explosion and an engineering failure:
and neither needed to happen. That they did
happen is attributable, almost entirely, to the influence of neoliberalism –
the most pernicious political ideology to assail the modern world since
fascism.
In a sane country, Pike River and the collapse of the CTV
Building would already have brought the thirty-year-long reign of neoliberalism
to an end. But “sane” is no longer an adjective applicable to New Zealand
society. Sane societies learn from their mistakes. Have we? Do we still know
how?
I say “we”, but the
collective entity I’m actually referring to is the very thin layer of
politicians, business leaders, top civil servants and public relations experts
who “govern” the rest of us. For these people, neoliberalism has taken on the
unquestionable character of a religious faith and is, therefore, impervious to
evidential refutation.
And precisely because it is a faith, neither Pike River nor
the CTV Building Collapse will produce anything very much in the way of
meaningful change. The neoliberal elite fervently believe that “heavy-handed”
regulation is a more profound long-term threat to the public good than gassy mines
or badly designed buildings.
To this political class, the 29 Pike River miners and the
115 victims of the CTV Building Collapse are simply unfortunate casualties:
collateral damage in the never-ending war against those who would constrain the
free operation of market forces.
New Zealanders could take heart if there was even one major
political party that opposed without equivocation the neoliberal policies in
which their country is enmeshed. But, think about it: when was the last time
you heard a spokesperson for the Labour Party not only condemn the policies and
plans of the National-led Government, but also promise that, immediately upon
taking office, Labour will repeal the legislation giving effect to those plans
and policies?
Consider, for example, the formation of the Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment (MoBIE). This brain-dead bureaucratic
monstrosity is the brain-child of National Cabinet Minister, Steven Joyce, and
is the very last organisational model a government would adopt if it was
genuinely concerned about the health and safety of workers in dangerous
industries like mining and forestry. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the
Pike River Disaster, itself, specifically recommended the establishment of a
stand-alone health and safety agency. The Prime Minister demurred.
A Tragedy Waiting To Happen: The Pike River Coal Company failed comprehensively to ensure the safety of its workforce. Under neoliberalism it is always Money First - People Second.
Now it’s true that Labour opposed the formation of MoBIE and
voted against the legislation setting it up, but has anyone heard them promise
to instantly dismantle it upon taking office? Have they unequivocally endorsed
the Royal Commission’s recommendation of a stand-alone agency or, failing that,
pledged to rebuild the full regulatory capacity of the Department of Labour?
Come to think of it, has Labour ever honestly acknowledged
its responsibility for unleashing the fast-talking, hands-off, corner-cutting
wide-boys whose feverish appetite for quick and excessive profit-taking led
directly to jerry-built tragedies-in-waiting like the CTV building?
Now, to be fair, Labour’s organisational wing has attempted to acknowledge the party’s role
in unleashing the neoliberal ideology on an unsuspecting New Zealand. In the
first chapter of the initial draft of the party’s new policy “platform” its
authors state: “[T]he Fourth Labour Government’s programme of extensive
economic reform was in breach of Labour’s traditions and values. Without any
specific mandate this Labour government ….. gave up a large degree of
regulatory control in favour of unrestrained market forces.”
That draft has yet to be ratified, and I must confess to
being more than a little sceptical of ever hearing David Shearer or David
Parker deliver so unequivocal a repudiation of Labour’s neoliberal past. Not
while Mr Shearer’s predecessor, Phil Goff, continues to influence Labour’s
economic and social policy-making. It was, after all, Mr Goff who told Radio
New Zealand’s political editor, Brent Edwards, in July 2009: “a
well-functioning market system is the most effective and efficient way of
organising an economy.”
The tragedies of Pike River and Christchurch’s CTV Building
are judgements written in blood against neoliberalism. Grim testimonials to the
moral delinquency of a system that puts profit and convenience ahead of
human-beings and safety.
It’s now up to us, while democracy endures in this country,
to dig down to the roots of our national malaise. To wrench out the neoliberal
ivy that is relentlessly strangling our institutions – and killing our fellow
citizens.
This essay was
originally published in The Waikato Times, The Taranaki Daily News, The
Timaru Herald, The Otago Daily Times and The Greymouth Star.
