"...we backtracked on our election pledge to remove the surtax on superannuation. Because morally I couldn't justify to myself that we would give a tax concession to the wealthy retirees - which removing the surtax would do - while we were taking some off those who were in much poorer circumstances."
#JimBolger, 2017
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-9th-floor/story/201840999/the-negotiator-jim-bolger
This quote from Bolger epitomises the way everyone is the hero of their own story. He could morally justify cutting social welfare benefits to the bone in Richardson's infamous 1990 budget, throwing thousands of kiwis into avoidable poverty, but not cutting a tax on retirees.
Elsewhere in the interview he decries the total failure of neoliberal policy. But they cut benefits to bail out a bank, instead of raising taxes. Eg targeting those engaged in dodgy financial game . Classic neoliberalism.
"[Mike Moore] would eventually rise to lead the WTO - the highest international position ever held by a NZer - and a respected champion of globalisation."
#GuyonEspiner, 2017
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-9th-floor/story/201840181/the-trader-mike-moore
Even in 2017, "respected champion of globalisation" was an oxymoron. I'd argue that even then, Helen Clark's tenure as head of the United Nations Development Programme was a more respectable position.
Arguably, the neoliberal era in NZ electoral politics began with the Wall St crash of 1987, and ended 2 decades later, with the property crash of 2008. Key's govt reacted out of habit, with bailouts for the owning classes, and austerity for the working classes. But the 2017 Labour govt won on the promise of "transformational" change, and in the context of Ardern and Hipkins condemning neoliberalism. Although policy didn't always reflect this;
I believe the 2023 NZ election outcome was a result of Labour's failure to escape the gravity of a collapsing neoliberal policy paradigm, due to a rump of panicking senior MPs and apparatchiks trying desperately to pull the party back to the centre-right. Evidence? The increase in Greens and TPM seats, and in the non-vote.
The Luxon govt only won because Labour lost. If there was mass support for its austerity policies, it wouldn't have needed the anti-neoliberal Winston First for a majority.
Strypey
