"We won't be talking about [coalition options] until after the election, but the reality is, you know, Winston has shown in the past he can form a coalition with anyone..."
#WillieJackson, 2026
So there you have it folks, from the horse's mouth. Labour have learned nothing from 2017. They'd form a coalition with the ghost of Hitler's cock if it got them back on the govt benches. They deserve to lose in Nov.
(1/?)
A Labour-led govt is *not* what most of us care about. We want a govt of parties who are not either accomplices or appeasers of technofascists and white supremacists. That means, very specifically, a govt that does *not* include Winston First and Shame Jones, just as it means 1 that excludes Rimmer and crew.
Labour needs to be told, consistently and clearly, that Hipkins and his milquetoast, do-nothing, self-serving centrism is not what we want from the party of Micky Savage.
(2/?)
If Nov was a FPP election, I'd be tempted to campaign strategically for the Nats. Just so Labour gets the fucking message.
Luckily, this is *not* an FPP election and we have other options. Not just protest votes either, like Cannabis Party, Animal Justice, or TPM (at this point a party vote for them is a protest vote too, although not in the Māori electorates of course).
Given that the CoC parties are obviously off the table, and so is Labour now, that leaves Greens and Opportunities.
(3/?)
I went pretty dark on Opportunities after Raj Manji tried to get an Epsom-style cup of tea in Ilam, in exchange for backing CLuxon's Nats. But recent events have made me reconsider.
Since I'm now just as keen to see Labour lose as the Nats, there's never been a better time to take a punt on Opportunities. Also, getting them in might be the best way to keep Winston First out of govt - whichever way Opportunities swing - so it could be the only way I get anything out of this election.
(4/?)
I've heard the new Opportunities leader Qiulae Wong on a couple of podcasts. They seems to have their head screwed on, and some fresh analyses I often find myself nodding along to.
It doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things, but if a party enters Parliament and keeps Winston First out of govt, and its led by a woman of *asian descent*, that would whip Grandpa Winston into an apoplectic state. This could be very satisfying, and very entertaining to watch.
(5/?)
Policy-wise, Opportunities have plenty to recommend them. I've scoffed about them being the Nat-friendly Greens. But that does mean a lot of their policy - on energy, climate, conservation, Citizens Assemblies, etc - is just as sound.
But they they have a stronger focus on economic policy than the Greens, things like UBI, funded by a proper CGT, and taxes designed to discourage landbanking. Wonder if they support my policy idea on divvying WINZ function between IRD and a Labour Service?
(6/?)
Also, Opportunities don't come with the baggage of being known as the party that spent the last decade or so kowtowing to identi-Moonies, leading to a series of embarrassing debacles, culminating in Darleen Tana being parachuted into the Greens caucus, then just as rapidly tossed out of the waka;
https://strypey.dreamwidth.org/6069.html
Chlöe Swarbrick seems to be a much more effective party leader than James Shaw. So progress is being made here. Replacing Marama Davidson with Teana Tuiono might help.
(7/?)
Fair warning, this gets long. Very long. That's why I've broken it into sections, so you can skip the boring bits:<br /><br /><b>Prologue:</b> Who am I and why do I care enough to write this, carefully edit it over weeks, and then make it public? Not a Green member, but a Green ally.<br /><br /><b>P
But Opportunities don't carry all the associations that come with that identitarian history. Nor the perception of being ineffectual hippies. Even though all the ineffectual hippies left a couple of decades ago or more (political campaigning is not for the flaky).
Nor do Opportunities come with the perception of being "watermelons". Something I'm quite happy to be - black, red and green all the way! - but there's a niche in NZ electoral political for a non-bigot party that isn't that.
(8/?)
Anyway, that's just a bunch of points to factor in, as we radical leftists nut out whether and how to engage usefully with the upcoming election campaign. In summary, I hope Labour manage to find their spine and their principles between now and Nov (maybe they're down the back of the couch, did you look there?). But I'm not holding my breath, and their almost total policy vacuum thus far has got me considering strange political bedfellows ...
(9/9)
Strypey