Entry 213, on 2005-08-29 at 16:22:40 (Rating 3, Politics)
Allegations appeared here recently that the leader of the National opposition party is receiving advice and significant funding from leading proponents of the extreme economic right wing in New Zealand. The emails were leaked from within the party itself - if people inside the party are concerned, the rest of us should be beginning to panic!
Of course, its no real surprise to many of us that Brash is ideologically driven. He strives to make himself seem reasonable and fair, because winning an election here means appealing to the center, but in reality he is neither. Is he a puppet to the ominous figures from the past?
Just mention the names Business Roundtable, Sir Roger Douglas, and Ruth Richardson, and alarm bells should be ringing. These people have extreme views on economics, and have no place whatsoever in any moderate, sensible government. Except for those who already make lots of money, or run very large businesses, this should be a good sign to keep well away from National when voting.
I agree that new right economics, free markets, and other reforms have some good points, but these policies need to be tightly controlled, and not left to run wild as these people would suggest. I think Labour is closer to getting the right balance than National, and Act are so far from having anything reasonable in their policy mix that they aren't even worth considering.
Comment 1 (83) by SBFL on 2005-09-04 at 20:32:10:
Isn't it so ironic that the media takes a "shock, horror" approach when the centre-right National communicates with those to the further right....but it is perfectly okay for the centre-left Labour to be dealing with the radical Greens. Hypocrisy? Or just further evidence of a left-leaning media?
Comment 2 (88) by OJB on 2005-09-05 at 10:22:40:
The "radical Greens"? What's so radical about the Greens? They are part of a perfectly reasonable international political force. One which should have more influence, in my opinion. There's a big difference between having an open agreement with a publicly accountable political party, and a secretive deal with shadowy figures from New Zealand's unfortunate past!
Comment 3 (96) by SBFL on 2005-09-05 at 19:17:41:
Ahhh, you mentioned you might vote Green in an earlier post so I may have touched a nerve! By definition those on the far left (Green, Alliance) are radical, those on the far right (Act) are reactionary.
BTW, I agree with the principle of caring with the environment. Sustainable development is very important for our future, and it is good some companies are adopting this as a core principle. I hope this grows. Unfortunately the Green party's economic policies (amongst others) are what are radically crazy!!
Comment 4 (105) by OJB on 2005-09-05 at 22:44:14:
Those labels are very general and rather debatable. The nice thing about MMP is we can get a wide range of opinions represented. If we get more pro-environment politics as a result of a Labour-Green coalition it won't do any harm. I don't necessarily vote for the party I want to win, I vote for the one I want to have more influence on our direction. By the way, which particular Green economic policy do you object to?
Comment 5 (581) by OJB on 2007-03-28 at 15:52:09:
Hmmm, so I never found out what the crazy policies actually were. A common problem. Its easy to make statements like that, but harder to back them up with specific examples!
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