Politics and political commentary is a staple of the Listener. This collection brings together stories about the year in politics as well as our mid-year series New Dawn, about the rise of Rogernomics and how – 40 years on – it continues to shape our lives.
The Real Power List: NZ Prime Ministers Rated
Some New Zealand prime ministers have excelled. Others haven’t. The Listener asked three historians to rank the 23 who held office for any length of time since our first “official” PM. The results might surprise.
The Coalition, one year on: How the government has turned back time
Whenever a new government takes office, there’s inevitably a wave of change as it seeks to put its stamp on the country. But the changes made by the National-led coalition in its first 12 months go way beyond what any other administration has done for at least 40 years – you have to go back to Roger Douglas’s neoliberal revolution of the mid-1980s to find a precedent.
Article of faith: Whose treaty is it anyway?
In its short time in office, the government has set the scene for a fiery commemoration of New Zealand’s national day.
In December 2023, 12 people were arrested after members of the protest group Te Waka Houroa defaced the English version of the Treaty of Waitangi displayed at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The group argues that the English-language version of the document, signed between Māori chiefs and a representative of the British crown in 1840, has no legal validity, a view supported by many historians and legal academics.
The protest came two weeks after a series of treaty-based policy announcements in the coalition agreement for the newly formed National-Act-New Zealand First government. Act has drafted a bill calling for a binding public referendum reinterpreting the treaty and its principles, and New Zealand First has secured a review of all legislation – exempting treaty settlements – referring to the principles of the treaty. This review will replace any references to these principles “with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the treaty, or repeal the references”.
Throughout 2024, The Treaty Principles Bill has continued to provoke debate and dominate headlines, culminating in November’s Hīkoi mō te Tiriti.
Privilege & principles: Aaron Smale on what the Treaty Bill is really about
“Seymour’s bill is a piece of political theatre that distracts from the actual script of what not only the Act Party is doing, but also what the coalition government is carrying out in other ways. Through its fast-track consenting legislation and the unravelling of court decisions, the government is trying to limit the Māori voice in environmental decisions and overriding Māori property rights that would hamper the crown selling the country off to overseas interests.”
Shane Jones to our rare native frogs: “Goodbye, Freddie”
The Fast-track Approvals Bill allows science, and the public, to be bypassed.
A Mayor for Everyone: Moko Tepania - the young, charismatic mayor shaping NZ’s future
The Far North’s first Māori mayor is one of an emerging political generation bringing equity to the forefront. But a government reversal on Māori wards looms as a stumbling block.
The young politicians who are an emerging force in NZ
Young politicians are an emerging force, particularly at local level, but they must quickly learn to deal with the blowtorch of scrutiny.
Schnapps judgement: Revisiting the ‘84 election that changed NZ forever
Forty years ago, an inebriated prime minister announced what became known as the “schnapps election”. No one could have guessed that the result would lead to an economic revolution.
New dawn
1984 Revolution part I: The rise of Rogernomics and how it still shapes NZ lives
The 1984 election marked a momentous shift in direction for a country on the brink of bankruptcy. In the first of two articles, Danyl McLauchlan traces a political upheaval whose economic and social effects continue to define us 40 years on.
The 1984 Revolution part II: Crash and burn
The 1984 election marked a momentous shift in direction for a country on the brink of bankruptcy. Here, Danyl McLauchlan considers the sharemarket crash, the beginning of the end for the Lange-Douglas government but not the neoliberal economic path that would forever change New Zealand.
1984 Revolution part III: How Lange-Douglas govt ushered in the age of spin
In the final of a multi-part Listener series looking at the political upheaval and economic and social effects of Rogernomics that continue to define New Zealand, Mike Munro argues that we have the Lange-Douglas government to thank for introducing spinners and fixers into the political mix to “control the narrative”.
1984 Revolution: David Lange - the leader that was led?
Denis Welch considers the leadership of David Lange who, despite his charisma, was in many ways an unlikely prime minister who struggled to rein in Roger Douglas’s radical agenda.