Learned Nothing, Forgotten Nothing: Assembled across the parliamentary aisle is a collection of politicians who appear to have benefited not one iota from their rotation to the Opposition Benches. Indeed, the policies released by National Party Leader Simon Bridges so far contain nothing new, nothing imaginative, nothing inspiring. Confirmation, sadly, that the party has drawn precisely zero lessons from the nine years it spent in power.
“EVENTS, DEAR BOY, EVENTS.” That’s how the British Prime
Minister, Harold Macmillan, answered the young journalist who asked him what
might blow his government off-course. Macmillan’s response is remarkable not
only for its aristocratic brevity, but also for its weary fatalism. Compressed
into Macmillan’s bon mot is the political experience of a lifetime. It
speaks to the folly of trying to anticipate the future: the whole ridiculous
notion that the lives of individuals – and governments – are theirs to command.
Who would have thought an old Tory could be so wise?
Although our “youth adjacent” Prime Minister was a long way
off being born when Harold Macmillan (Britain’s PM from 1957 to 1963) made his
contribution to History’s Big Book of Memorable Political Quotations,
the last seven days have given her plenty of reasons to appreciate it. The last
time the world faced anything as serious as the present triple crisis of a
global pandemic, tanking sharemarkets, and a hugely destabilising energy price
war, was more than ten years ago when the entire world teetered on the brink of
financial catastrophe. It’s easy to see why the Prime Minister might think that
somebody ‘up there’ really has it in for her!
Not that she needs to look up to locate those ranged against
her. A quick glance across the parliamentary aisle in the direction of the
National Party Opposition will more than suffice. There she will find assembled
a collection of politicians who appear to have benefited not one iota from
their rotation to the Opposition Benches. Indeed, the policies National has
released so far contain nothing new, nothing imaginative, nothing inspiring.
Confirmation, sadly, that the party has drawn precisely zero lessons from the
nine years it spent in power.
Instead, we have witnessed the very worst of ‘tick-the-box’
conservative politics. Tax cuts for the rich. (Tick.) Crack-down on the gangs.
(Tick.) Make a “bonfire” of irksome regulations. (Tick.) Weaken the trade
unions. (Tick.) Build more roads. (Tick.) Pay lip-service to fighting Climate
Change – but make sure nothing gets done. (Tick.)
An intelligent Opposition would have analysed the causes of
voter dissatisfaction with the previous National government, and then asked
itself whether simply replicating its policies was a politically responsible
electoral strategy.
Further shrinking the fiscal resources of the state by
deliberately lowering the tax-take, for example, can only render it less
capable of meeting the needs of its citizens. It means leaving the country’s
crumbling infrastructure unrepaired. Similarly, the country’s rapidly ageing
population’s sky-rocketing health needs will go unmet. An intelligent
Opposition would have recognised these consequences and refrained from placing
tax cuts on the election-year table.
Especially irresponsible, is the National Party’s promise to
make a “bonfire” of irksome regulations. Reading the media releases of the
Opposition Leader, Simon Bridges, and his Finance Spokesperson, Paul Goldsmith,
one is left with the impression that they were out of the country at the time
of the Pike River Disaster and the CTV Building’s collapse during the
Christchurch Earthquake. How else to explain their complete inability to grasp
the role New Zealand’s notorious “light-handed” regulatory regime played in
those tragedies? Do they truly believe that the persons responsible considered
themselves to be exercising anything other than “common sense” in health and
safety matters?
As if these failures weren’t egregious enough, the National
Opposition has clearly decided that it would be an unforgiveable political
error to let a major health emergency go to waste.
In the very worst case scenario, the unfolding Covid-19
pandemic could kill millions and unhinge the global economy. As an open trading
economy, New Zealand would be especially hard hit. Of course, if the virus moves
aggressively into the community transmission phase, the crisis will be
compounded by several orders of magnitude. New Zealand could not be more at
risk if faced with an imminent military attack.
Historically, these are the circumstances in which political
parties set aside their differences and join together to meet the national crisis
with a united front – as happened with the all-party coalitions formed
spontaneously at the outset of the First and Second World Wars.
Sadly, this is not what we’re getting from Simon Bridges’
National Party. On the contrary, the Opposition seems hell-bent on undermining
public confidence in the Government’s handling of the crisis.
National’s response to “events” has, so far, been
disgraceful.
This essay was originally published in The Otago
Daily Times and The Greymouth Star of Friday, 13 March 2020.
