NZ elections: What a weakened Luxon does with an empowered ACT and NZF

Let’s be honest.

The last three years has been a shit show for New Zealand.

While borrowing more than Labour did, this coalition government have instituted an austerity by stealth programme.

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They have borrowed billions for tax cuts, for landlord loopholes, tobacco subsides and gas and oil subsides.

We even found $6 million for wanky Michelin Stars for wanky food places.

This Government borrowed for all those things while hollowing out public service budgets.

Forty six percent of the entire health budget was spent on private health corporations.

So we got the worst of all worlds — higher debt, lesser services.

To gloss over the economic vandalism, this government have relied on culture war revenge fantasies masquerading as social policy to distract from the economic malaise.

This cut back in State spending into the economy worked in the 90s, 00s and 20teens because households could absorb the costs, but with private debt so high thanks to inflated property prices, households can’t take that extra cost on and hence the entire thing fails.

New Zealand has always been two giant sparsely populated islands that has always required the State to step up as the 40 percent foundation stone upon which all else is built.

The free market dynamics National and ACT champion don’t work well in low population density. They believe if you cut back the State, the market steps in and does it cheaper.

This is a doom loop.

Look. Last election I was warning voters that they were allowing their post-covid bitterness towards former prime minister Jacinda Ardern to vote in ACT, NZF and National without appreciating how extreme their policy for donors mentality would be.

You can’t pretend to not know how extreme their platform has been nor what they are planning if they win a second term.

If National + ACT + NZF are the majority — as projected — it will be an even weaker National Party gutted of half its cabinet by the overhang and a far more dominant ACT and NZF, so expect their second term to be far more dangerous and damaging than their first term.

You didn’t believe me about what a National/ACT/NZF government would do in 2023, here’s what they will do if they continue for a second term in 2026.

• MASS STATE ASSET SELL OFF: They are already lining up to sell everything that isn’t locked down. They underfund a public service until you scream about how poor the service is and then they suggest privatisation as the solution
• SIXTY PERCENT SELL OFF OF CONSERVATION LAND: They have kicked the current plans to sell off 60 percent of conservation land  to touch and will revise  it after the election.
• CORPORATE CAPITULATION OF OUR DEMOCRACY: The Regulatory Standards Bill will remain and not be scrapped, it will allow the Taxpayers’ Union inside Parliament to scrutinise all legislation to ensure corporate property rights are put above human rights. Watch for Atlas Network and TU adjacent appointments.
• TOUGH ON CRIME PRISON EXPLOSION: The prison population is set to jump built on arresting the Homeless, burglars and shoplifters.
• MORE MINING AT EXPENSE OF CLIMATE: Shane Jones already has made some secret deal with Trump over our rare earth minerals and his championing of the dirtiest, cheapest mining where we get hardly any royalties has been turned into a culture war where Shane Jones screams “woke” at any environmental protections. There will be nothing Shane doesn’t mine if National, ACT and NZF are returned. Let’s not forget he also wants the Fast Track power back!
• TOTAL CAPITULATION TO ISRAEL: ACT are the biggest Zionist apologists in the government, if National, ACT and NZF are returned expect open deals between the government and Israeli business plus more IDF war criminals holidaying here.
• MORE COWS AT EXPENSE OF CLIMATE: Whatever the climate change question is, National’s solution is always “More Cows”. Expect even MORE cows if National, ACT and NZF win a second term.
• LOWERING WATER STANDARDS: Because there will be more cows, they will need to lower the water standards again. 1 Cow = 14 people pissing and shitting into the water ways. We have 8.4 million cows in NZ, that’s the equivalence of 117 million people pissing and shitting into our water ways every single year.
• PRIVATE PRISONS: The only way the government will be able to cover the costs of the rapidly rising prison population is by Privatising Prisons. Expect ACT to make the argument.
• PULLING OUT OF WHO AND UN: Winston Peters has gone full cooker on the UN because the conspiracy swamp he fishes in for votes believe the WHO is a shadowy one world government run by a cabal of satanic child sex abusers. He will actually attempt it to keep his conspiracy theory nutters happy.
• TRUMP UBER ALLES: The total capitulation to Trump by this government shames all our collective mana. If National, ACT and NZF are reelected, it will be Trump uber Alles.
• MORE RACE FRICTION: ACT have promised to bring back the Treaty Principles Referendum and Winston Peters has announced a referendum on the Māori electorates.
• DOMESTIC HOUSING MARKET OPENED TO FOREIGN SPECULATORS: They have vandalised the economy so badly and are desperate for any economic activity that they will open the domestic real estate market to more foreign speculation. Currently they are allowing foreigners to buy $5 million mansions, but that will drop the moment they are re-elected to $2 million as they attempt to restart the property speculation market.
• FISHING AMENDMENTS BILL: Shane Jones will allow the Fishing Industry to screw the recreational fishing community.
• MORE HYPER TOURISM: They don’t care about the environment, they care about what their donors want to do to the environment  and they will open NZ to hordes of hyper tourism gridlocking our infrastructure again.
• VAST JUMP IN HOMELESSNESS, POVERTY + INEQUALITY: We are already seeing the ramifications of their brutality towards the homeless, beneficiaries and the poor. Expect these numbers to soar under a second term of National, ACT and NZF.
• BANNING 700 000 PERMANENT RESIDENTS FROM VOTIING:  NZ First want to strip permanent residents from voting which would set in motion huge levels of civil unrest.

I told you at the 2023 election National, ACT and NZF would create a toxic mix of policies, you didn’t believe me, well you are all being forced to drink it now.

Don’t pretend your having voted for them again in 2026 will achieve anything positive.

This election is Old Zealand vs New Zealand. If National, ACT and NZF get re-elected they will cement into place their 19th Century White Settler privilege.

Expect three times the crazy and five times the social carnage.

Martyn Bradbury is the editor and publisher of New Zealand’s independent The Daily Blog, and presenter of The Bradbury Group political podcasts. Republished with permission.