Labour , Greens Power Play a Warning to National

The Labour and Greens announcement they will reform the New Zealand electricity market if elected is a warning shot to National and the New Zealand public.

Leaving aside the merits of their communist plans for the moment, the bigger issue is what their announcement says about both National policy and strategy overall, and the potential two-headed (possibly more) monster which would be inflicted upon New Zealand should National fail to win back power in 2014.

The National party has long been a shadow of it's own policies. It pretends to be the champion of the free market, an upholder of individual rights and freedoms - and I am sure there are may of its members who think that way too. However, when push comes to shove the National party tries to be too many things to too many people. Its policies are watered down versions of what their party stands for, or in some cases diametrically opposed to them. This of course is what happens when pursuit of power is your main objective and your principles are left in tatters.

So the warning I'm speaking of is that this electricity reform signals a new strategy for Labour. And its not just cozying up to the Greens. Labour knows it may not win the next election if it campaign solely on the policies it put forward last time. Aligning itself with the Greens gives it extra power. But that's still not it.

Labour has decided to attack National where it is weakest, and that's where National doesn't completely ( or doesn't at all) live up to its own principals. Because the National hierarchy is too afraid espouse their party's true philosophy of individual freedom.

The electricity market is an area where National has been lazy. Like so many areas of the New Zealand economy and society it has never been a truly free market. Socialists see the electricity market in New Zealand as being a free market failure. But it has never been totally deregulated.

So Labour and the Greens saw an opportunity to be totally socialist where National was only partly upholding state control. Labour and Greens do state control and anti freedom better so they are going to attack those areas National isn't prepared to apply its own philosophy. This was a test case for the Labour Greens coalition. They will now use the same tactic in Education, Health, Technology, racism,liquor laws, drug laws, and anywhere else can wipe the floor with National over National's socialist part socialist policies.