#media bashing

the voices won

It’s been fascinating watching the right-wing, neoliberal media in Australia trying to wrap their collective heads around the fall of the National Party, especially ‘The Australian’, who proclaimed “NZ Election losers form government” and “Vanilla election leaves bitter taste”.

Except that no party won a mandate, which means no party actually won on election day. Even the National Party only achieved 45% of the vote (they needed over 50%). In our proportional system any party, or parties, that can form a government that meets that threshold becomes the government. This what happened yesterday.

Our new government, headed by Jacinda Ardern, our youngest Prime Minister since 1856 comprises of the political parties (Labour, New Zealand First & th NZ Greens) that 55% of the voting public chose to vote for, ie: those who did not vote for National or the neoliberal ACT party.

They also accuse Jacinda Ardern of being a ‘rookie’, too inexperienced and a puppet of Winston Peters. They obviously have never met her. She may be young, but she his at least as experienced in politics as the previous National PM, John Key, who was a rookie himself when he took power in 2008. Then again, it may be because she is a woman, something few Kiwis (Mark Richardson notwithstanding) have issue with.

The right-wing Aussie media, after nearly 30 years, still does not understand our electoral system, Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), referring to it as weird & wacky (despite the Germans having a similar system) compared to First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) or their own Single Transferable Vote (STV). Mind you, our own media struggles to understand it as well. They like the simple ‘winners vs. loser’ formula whereas MMP tends to deliver coalition governments, not the single party landslides common under FPTP or STV.

This is a major reason we, the voting public, selected MMP all those years ago. The politicians wanted to keep the status quo of FPTP or, failing that, adopt STV. Ergo, we the people chose the system they campaigned the hardest against: MMP. Works pretty well, for the most part. Coalitions tend to follow a middle ground with no radical ideological swings. Although the National Party’s dominance over its one-or two-seat allies over the last nine years has resulted in just such an ideological shift to neoliberal policies.

Right-wing media also confuses neoliberal policies with good government.

They aren’t.

Neoliberal policies enrich the few at the expense of the many and result in the destruction of the ecosystems on which life itself depends.

Too many people have been left behind and, as New Zealand tends to be socialist in nature, the sight of people getting left behind, and of small centrist parties (Maori party & United Future) repeatedly siding with a large centre-right party with neoliberal policies has resulted in the destruction of those parties at the polls. Even New Zealand First, traditionally a centrist party with right leaning views, has veered to the left as they have seen the less fortunate being ground under. They still believe in capitalism, but demand that it have a heart and properly reward those whose efforts are ignored by the 1%.

Last night’s formation, after only a month of negotiations, is the result of nine years of neoliberal lies, betrayals, incompetence (see earthquake response) dirty politcs and callous neglect.

It is not, as the right-wing, neoliberal media believe, a rejection of good government.

It is rejection of toxic neoliberalism.