ContentsThe Regulatory Standards Bill: Neoliberal Shackles Disguised as “Good Law” Rebuke and Resistance: Te Pāti Māori’s Protest, Abstentionism, and the Path to Indigenous Sovereignty Pay Equity Protest Greenwashed Capitalism: The Limits of the Green Party’s 2025 Budget
The Cult of Kindness: The Reality of Jacinda Ardern’s Leadership
The Guardian’s recent celebration of Jacinda Ardern’s “kindness” reflects the liberal media’s obsession with style over substance, emotional affect over material analysis. Ardern’s global image as a compassionate leader—a sort of progressive antithesis to Trumpism—has become hegemonic in international discourse. She has been lauded for her empathy during the Christchurch mosque attacks, her cautious stewardship… Continue reading The Cult of Kindness: The Reality of Jacinda Ardern’s Leadership
The Regulatory Standards Bill: Neoliberal Shackles Disguised as “Good Law”
When the New Zealand Parliament debates “better law-making,” most people yawn. It sounds procedural, technocratic — even boring. But beneath the jargon of “clarity,” “predictability,” and “transparency,” lurks a political agenda. The Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), first introduced in 2011 by ACT Party founder Roger Douglas’s disciple Rodney Hide and continuously revived in various guises… Continue reading The Regulatory Standards Bill: Neoliberal Shackles Disguised as “Good Law”
Rebuke and Resistance: Te Pāti Māori’s Protest, Abstentionism, and the Path to Indigenous Sovereignty
In November 2024, New Zealand’s Parliament became the stage for a historic act of defiance when Te Pāti Māori MPs performed a haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill. This cultural protest, met with harsh suspensions, reignited debates about the legitimacy of colonial institutions and the efficacy of Indigenous participation within them.… Continue reading Rebuke and Resistance: Te Pāti Māori’s Protest, Abstentionism, and the Path to Indigenous Sovereignty
Pay Equity Protest
Today Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM) joined nation-wide protests against new legislation reversing pay equity in Aotearoa/New Zealand. AWSM participated in Rotorua for example, alongside approximately 50 others. The workers in the demonstration came from a range of organizations. There was an impressive variety of ages, ethnicities and genders represented. The protestors occupied the footpath… Continue reading Pay Equity Protest
Greenwashed Capitalism: The Limits of the Green Party’s 2025 Budget
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand recently released its alternative 2025 budget, a document that has been lauded by many on the liberal-left as bold, transformative, and progressive. With proposals including a wealth tax, inheritance tax, tax-free income brackets, and significant investments in healthcare, education, and climate infrastructure, the Greens have positioned themselves as… Continue reading Greenwashed Capitalism: The Limits of the Green Party’s 2025 Budget
The DEI Illusion: A Capitalist Smokescreen
Winston Peters recently made a speech attacking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programmes in Aotearoa. The speech, filled with reactionary bluster, predictably framed DEI as a tool of woke overreach. But what neither Peters nor his liberal opponents will admit is that DEI is not a radical challenge to oppression—it is a corporate mechanism designed… Continue reading The DEI Illusion: A Capitalist Smokescreen
The creeping mass surveillance NZ State via Supermarkets
In NZ, we like our fascism casual. We are so laid back as a culture we are horizontal. Less Goose-stepping boots, more marching crocs. The banality of evil that NZs mass surveillance represents is so twee it’s perfectly kiwi. The vast power of the Supermarkets not only give them economic manipulation, they also have mass… Continue reading The creeping mass surveillance NZ State via Supermarkets
Fundraising for deserters and war refugees
The war massacre in Ukraine continues, affecting populations on both sides of the war line. While Putin’s army bombs Ukrainian cities, the Ukrainian government has turned them into prisons for a significant portion of the local population. People are being maimed, imprisoned, raped and murdered as a result of the actions of the rulers in… Continue reading Fundraising for deserters and war refugees
Remembering The Communist Roots of International Working Women’s Day
Every year on March 8th, people across the world commemorate International Working Women’s Day (IWWD), often celebrated as a general day of appreciation for women’s achievements. In many places, it has been stripped of its radical and working-class origins, reduced to corporate slogans and social media posts. But the truth is that IWWD is deeply… Continue reading Remembering The Communist Roots of International Working Women’s Day