Robson-On-Politics - 18 July 2007

July 18
Europe full of interesting lessons

I thought I would outline some of the things that I observed over the past month in Europe.

Some things, like the deep cynicism and distrust that very many Dutch people feel toward politics in general because of their (National/Labour coalition) government's terrible error in contributing to the illegal, disastrous Iraq war. This really highlighted to me how wise and brave our own Labour-Progressive coalition was in 2003 when it said NO! to the U.S./U.K./Aussie war on Iraq which was built on a pack of lies.

I cannot get out of my head the scenes in our Parliament in 2003 when I had to sit and listen to table-thumping National and ACT M.P.s get up and scream at us in government because we weren't standing with our "allies" and contributing to the obscenity which is the Iraq War.

The reason the Iraqi War is not a big issue in New Zealand, as it is in the Netherlands and the U.K., is precisely because the National Party was not in government in 2003 but in Opposition. The election campaign next year is to keep it that way and to keep New Zealanders safe from a government that would risk young Kiwi lives in pointless, criminal overseas wars.

http://www.progressive.org.nz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=64_

Someone needs to tell the U.S. that al-Qaeda is a serious threat

It gives me no pleasure to re-read what we in the Progressive Party were saying in 2003 ahead of the U.S./U.K. plans to invade Iraq.

In an article printed in the NZ Herald (above link), Jim Anderton for example said: "It is vital that the unity of the global coalition against terrorism is strengthened and not derailed, because all the evidence confirms that Al Qaeda represents a threat to our way of life and our values every bit as real as the European fascist movement in the first half of last century.

"We must learn from the mistakes of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe as we face this new fascist threat. We (the Progressives) are afraid that talk of, let alone execution of, a war in Iraq could pose just such a threat to the unity of the international campaign against the modern fascist threat..."

A very big issue everywhere I went in Europe this past month is the realisation that the Iraq war has been a great recruiting tool and weapon by the religious fanatics inspired by Al-Qaeda not just in Iraq, but all over Asia and in parts of Africa.

Incredibly, even in Afghanistan itself Al-Qaeda has benefited from the world being diverted by the war in Iraq. This is a huge indictment not just of the U.S., U.K., Australian and Dutch governments - but also of the stance of the National and ACT parties in our own country as well.

This is an issue I will raise again and again in next year's election because National cannot be trusted to protect our real security interests and its blind pro-U.S. stance would make New Zealanders less safe in the world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2126816,00.html

Climate Change is a huge issue in Europe, Greens not relevant

Other than Iraq, an issue which is huge everywhere that I went - Holland, Germany, France and Belgium - is global climate change.

My wife and I read and speak Dutch. Petronella's family is from the Netherlands, and, as some Progressive members know I also read in French and German and something that I didn't expect was to find that climate change has completely entered into the "mainstream" of big party politics.

The surprising thing is the extent to which the Greens there have faded in popularity and in relevance - I think their mistake, in Holland, France and in Belgium, was to develop a reputation for being elitist and out-of-touch with real peoples' needs and fears and expectations.

Most people can't afford to live a "green lifestyle" as some kind of fashion statement.

They aren't interested in the theoretical reasons why, for example, dangerous mind-altering drugs should be legal for teenagers to use at the local cafe.

What they want are parties offering solutions in jobs, in work/life balance like more paid holidays so they can both work and have families, and governments that build more supply in renewable energy sources and much more social housing - in order to lower cripplingly high house and electricity prices.

And the competition for solutions in this sphere is where the political debate is: Conservatives, Labour-type parties and Progressive or Left parties ("Socialists" in the Netherlands, the Left Party in Germany) are competing for votes and relevance, and the Greens are at risk of being marginalised as elitist and irrelevant ideologues - the Greens' challenge in Western Europe I learned is to stop shouting at people about how to live a "moral" life, and get into government and deliver real solutions. The Dutch Socialist Party, with policies very close to that of the Progressive Party, now has a bigger membership than the Dutch Labour Party and only one seat less in the Parliament. Readers can visit the Socialist Party on www.sp.nl

In the Netherlands and in Germany, especially, I thought that the most exciting progressive alternative to the two big parties was coming from the Left/Socialist parties because they are making real connections with real people in the real world.

Conservative Party in France is triumphant

But in one country at least the Conservative Party is proving itself incredibly successful at staying in power - in France. The Conservatives' trick appears to be to adopt all of the socialist reforms of previous centre-left governments (including in education, health and foreign policy). I suspect that, in rhetoric at least, that is National's plan in New Zealand in 2008 as well.

Vote National? Get an instant rise in your business loan costs

I do not want to sound like a broken record, endlessly repeating a theme that I've been banging on about since 2005, but I will any way!

It is good for New Zealand that in 2007 the National Party now says it will not change the policies introduced by the Progressive Party: Four Weeks' Annual Leave For Workers; Kiwibank, NZ Trade & Enterprise and Regional Economic Development; lower doctors' fees for seniors; No Strategic Asset Sales etc. etc.

But National is a threat to New Zealand and it is a serious threat to New Zealand because it continues to very dangerously promise to significantly loosen the government's purse strings if it gets into government.

It would significantly cut taxes across the board in its first Budget - and that would be absolutely disastrous for New Zealand at this time as it would add to the woes of exporters, fuel the domestic side of the economy and add fuel to the fire of the high interest rates/ high inflation/ high Kiwi dollar.

I have only been back in the country since Monday and I noticed that the media have again failed to really report the meaning of a statement by a ratings agency on Monday: “If a government elected in New Zealand were to significantly loosen the purse strings then that would get a response from Standard &Poor's”. We would be downgraded, meaning instantly that our interest rates would go higher, just like that.

This should be the number one item on the Six O'Clock News.

Instead, it will be the subject of Progressive Party pamphlets in letterboxes in Auckland in Election 2008.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4129780a13.html

ENDS

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