Chris Hipkins has conceded that he cannot form a government. And after the special votes are counted, maybe Christopher Luxon won’t be able to form a government capable of addressing the formidable issues facing New Zealand.
The moment National takes office, it owns the problems: the cost of livingcrisis, the housing shortage, pupils not at school, the time it takes to see a GP, ram raids, our failing infrastructure, and the climate crisis. Borrow, spend and hope remains unsustainable.
If New Zealand First insists on sitting around the Cabinet table pushing for unsustainable spending and vetoing tough decisions, the new Government will fail.
New Zealand First needs to ask itself not why it has come into Parliament again, but why was it ejected twice. How does that party avoid being dumped out a third time?
The Greens showed how a minor party can increase its vote. The Greens were not in Cabinet. The Greens had the portfolio they wanted, climate change. The Greens advanced their agenda without being responsible for Labour’s actions.
New Zealand First should ask for the portfolios they want. Senior citizens, to deliver on a better SuperGold card. Their donors want New Zealand First to hold the fishing and racing portfolios. Winston Peters can also claim to have been a successful Foreign Minister.
National’s manifesto policy of asking the bureaucracy to spend less and be more efficient is as effective as asking an alcoholic to drink responsibly. The only way to reduce Government spending is to stop doing things that have a marginal benefit, if any.
Funding tax cuts by taxing problem gamblers on the internet and taxing the sale of houses to foreigners is not good policy.
The electorate sent a message when Nicola Willis failed to win the Ōhāriu electorate.
Pollsters report that David Seymour is the most trusted MP in the potential new Government. No reputable economist questioned the figures in Act’s alternative budget.
It would send a powerful signal to the markets that National is determined to get back on track if Luxon were to ask Seymour to be Finance Minister.
Take Seymour at his word. He says he is more interested in good policy than popularity. So let Act ministers take the unpopular but necessary tough decisions.
And if National wants to win back Tāmaki, ask Brooke van Velden to be Education Minister.
Act leader David Seymour and deputy Brooke Van Velden celebrate their showing in the 2023 general election. Photo / Alex Burton
The big savings are in social welfare. Despite high employment, there are about 60,000 more people on the Jobseeker benefit than when Labour took office. The Government needs a work-for-the-dole scheme. There is no better investment. The left will go nuts and vilify the minister, so give the job to Act.
A policy that costs little but will unleash the economy is Act’s policy of deregulation and cutting red tape. There are thousands of regulations that do not meet any cost-benefit test. The coalition needs a minister whose job is to repeal red tape.
After all, a growing economy makes every problem easier to solve.
Act’s policy of having Parliament legislate the principles of the Treaty and then put it to a referendum could be a deal-breaker.
In Australia, politicians now realise the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament was a mistake. Australia is more divided than it was before the idea was suggested. In a multi-racial country, referendums can make divisions deeper.
One of the reasons Labour failed, as Three Waters showed, is that co-governance with an unelected tribal elite is unworkable.
The radical reinterpretation of the Treaty, adopted by Labour, that says such an elite is entitled to co-govern the country, is not compatible with being a liberal democracy. Parliament does need to reaffirm that all citizens have equal rights, regardless of ancestry or where they were born.
There is another way to assert liberal democratic principles: amend the Bill of Rights to assert that the people, Māori and non-Māori, represented by the Crown, have sovereignty. Affirm that the state must protect not just Māori property rights, but the property rights of all citizens. Declare that all citizens, Māori, and non-Māori, are equal before the law.
The courts, tribunals and the bureaucracy must adhere to the Bill of Rights.
Instead of holding a referendum, challenge Labour and its coalition partners to campaign to remove these rights from New Zealanders.
Before the new Government is sworn in, its fate will be determined by the coalition that is formed.
If Luxon cannot form a coalition capable of solving the problems we face, it would be better to ask us to vote again.
Richard Prebble is a former leader of the Act Party and a former member of the Labour Party.
