Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 9. 1ts May 1973

Labour In Power: "Dynamic Caution"

Labour In Power: "Dynamic Caution"

"We shall emancipate
the humble from the great
But nasty men
who ask us when
make us expectorate".

—Student Extravaganza Song of the first

Labour Government.

The first Labour Government came to power in 1935 with promises to back the worker in everything and to socialise the means of production, distribution and exchange.

In fact, it attacked and deregistered militant unions and greatly developed monopoly—some monopolists such as Fletchers were virtually created by the Labour Government.

Peter Fraser, who started his career fighting militarism and conscription in World War I ended it by imposing conscription on N.Z. youth in 1949.

Already the Kirk Labour Government shows signs of going the same way—of selling out on the promises it made in gaining power because these promises are incompatible with the needs of capitalism in New Zealand.

Stabilising the Economy

No Labour promises were repeated more frequently than the pledges to stop the rising cost of living, to freeze prices, stabilise the cost of living, etc. Already, after they have been in power three months, there are many signs of failing to achieve these undertakings. Food prices went up 4% in January and February alone. Electric Power Boards have been given the green light to make 5% increases in charges. Prices of meat and woollen goods are not fully insulated from the huge rises overseas in raw wool and meat prices. A survey of 200 large companies shows that they intend to boost activities by raising prices. Trying to administer capitalism the Labour Government is powerless to stop these rises despite some good intentions. As the weeks slip by the promised "action on prices" has still not eventuated. We forecast that the "action" will comprise minor subsidies, income equalisation schemes for wool and meat, and some legal mumbo-jumbo of "price orders"—none of which will stabilise prices as they promised in the election campaign.

Rent Freeze

Excellent promises were made regarding "stopping profiteering by landlords", "freezing rents", "providing rent relief before Christmas" etc. In fact, the action taken has been so pitiful and the legal net has such large meshes that scarcely one of the landlord sharks has been caught. The specific promises of a rent freeze have been broken. Most landlords probably get a lot of wealth increases from capital gains but Labour won't even introduce full rent control based on normal costings, let alone take capital gains into account in fixing rents.

Regional Development

Labour was probably helped into power more by its promises on regional development than any other promise. But as our capitalist system concentrates industry in the profitable metropolitan areas and empties the countryside and lesser towns, Labour can do little effectively to implement these promises (unless it ceases to be a Government of capitalism, which is impossible).

We find that Labour has already committed 100 times more money on further developing Auckland (by an underground railway) than it will ever spend fostering under-developed areas. Its own capitalist-minded public servants don't even believe in regional development (which conflicts with their capitalist economic theory) and so will quietly strangle it anyway. Thus all these promises were just so much election bait.

Of course, despite this general position, there may be some specific cases of progress on this issue. On the West Coast the Government proposes to assist the development of a toy manufacturing industry and promises other enterprises. This is in response to strong pressure from rank and file Labour Party elements, business interests and others. These proposals illustrate the contradictory forces within the ranks of the Labour Party which will be a fertile seed bed for disillusionment.

Military Conscription

This is one promise the Labour Government has carried out. And it is an instructive case to study. Over the last decade our youth has seen the frightful spectacle of imperialist aggression in Vietnam. The result has been the growth of a profound anti-war movement among them. This did not stop at pacifism or 18 year olds registering as objectors. It developed to widespread anti-war activity—petitions, demonstrations, reaching even to active disruption of the ballot, and the first youth entering jail.

No Government could have countered this, short of imposing fascism. In the United States also—which certainly has no Labour Government the first opportunity has been seized to abolish the draft.

But Labour has replaced conscription with a free hand for the brass hats to bribe and trick youth into exactly the same set-up. Thousands of dollars are spent on inducing youth to enrol. Apart from high pay, the lures of adventure, action, travel, education in trade and other skills are used. Never is the purpose extolled. Because the purpose is the same as before—not defence of New Zealand but suppression in Asia. The "enemy" is presented as an Asian operating among his own people, not an invader with superior air power. Thus there has been no change in the aim to militarise our youth for imperialist war. OHMS should continue the fight to halt military service completely.

Withdrawal from Singapore and Malaysia

Perhaps the most blatant breach of election promises so far has been the reversal of the promise to withdraw all military forces from Singapore and Malaysia. New Zealanders had the galling experience of learning this not direct from the Prime Minister but from the citizen of a foreign country—Lord Carrington, the British Foreign Secretary. After secret talks with Mr Kirk he announced on TV with great satisfaction that New Zealand was retaining membership of ANZUK and keeping forces there. The fear of British imperialists that a N.Z. Labour Government might honour its promise to the N.Z. people and withdraw from intervention there were set at rest. The BBC was boasting about it for a week afterwards.

Recognise China

This is the second promise the Labour Government has kept. Indeed, Kirk rushed it with a flourish to try and build an image of his Government's difference from National. In fact, it followed Nixon's "new look" towards China and Mr Marshall admitted he also would have recognised China—though he would have bumbled about making the decision. It reflects the fact that the capitalist world has decided they now have to face the facts of the existence of the People's Republic of China. Recognition was a progressive (though not a socialist) move. However Mr Kirk is a lot less speedy giving effect to the decision, as compared with announcing it.

Springboks and Apartheid

Kirk played an apparently strange game of capitalist "politics" over the Springbok Tour question. While expressing in a very good fashion why an all-white South African tour would be gravely detrimental to New Zealand's interests, he merely postponed the tour and refused to ban it. For months he manoeuvred in the hope that the Rugby Union would ban the tour without the necessity for him coming out in open conflict against the more reactionary elements in the Labour Party.

What this reveals is the thinking of bourgeois politics. On an issue like this, which is not fundamental to capitalism and which Kirk appears to support (for the reasons given in his letter to the Rugby Union), the leaders of the Labour Party prefer to maintain a progressive stance, rather than have a head on collision with the progressive forces in New Zealand.

However, they are not prepared to mobilise the people, especially the workers, in opposition to apartheid. Instead they engage in manoeuvering in order to defeat the right wing. This is not surprising. All bourgeois Labour-type politicians fear people's movements because in the course of such movements the people learn they can organise themselves and run things for their own benefit—instead of the benefit of the capitalist class.

Inflation cartoon

Despite the despicable "politics" involved in the Tour issue, we can at least be grateful that we have a Prime Minister who expresses moral indignation and repugnance at any racist tour, instead of the smug justification for the tour that came from his predecessor. Mr Kirk must be pressed to take further steps against apartheid, including the banning of trade with South Africa and investment there by New Zealand companies and citizens.

Protect the Environment

Labour had the political astuteness to cash in on the tremendous campaign of conservation interests to save Lake Manapouri and it appears it will not have to honour its specific pledge on this. However, its praiseworthy generalities on ecology and the quality of life are daily being more submerged by the profit-making drive of capitalist industry. As a capitalist Government, Labour will not stand up against this. For example, the Forest Service step by step is taking action to sacrifice the West Coast beech forests to Japanese paper interests;

State Shipping Line

The brave promises of a state shipping line to prevent the shipping monopolies from bleeding New Zealand are already evaporating. The Minister of Transport now says it would be foolish to compete with private shipping but a state line could open up new unprofitable trade routes until they are profitable enough for the Union Steam Ship Company! Thus has an anti-monopoly promise been stood on its head to actually assist monopoly!

Assistance for Sport

The fine election promise of a quarter of 1% of Gross National Product to be spent on sport and recreation is also disappearing into vague talk of "exploring the ground". Local Authorities in New Zealand could really provide worthwhile youth clubs, recreation and sports facilities with the $15 million this represents but in our view little will come of it.

Labour Relations

The promises here, though cautiously guarded were clearly that Labour was closer to the workers and would favour them in disputes, and not the bosses as the National Government did. But the experience so far has been the opposite—rather the Government has pressured the workers to give up their demands and used the Federation of Labour's right wing to this end. This has been the case with the airport crash firemen, the paper factories engineers, and a number of others.

We could deal with other promises—unemployment, the supply of doctors, taxation, women's rights—but the picture is already clear.

The writing is already on the wall. Labour's pretence that it can alter the quality of life for the working people without ending monopoly capitalism, without organising the people for a socialist transformation of New Zealand, and without breaking with American imperialism is already being exposed for what it is—a pipe dream. The final cold awakening from this dream will come with the first cold douche of economic adversity for New Zealand, now riding the waves of bumper overseas prices. Then the working class and youth of New Zealand will really need to draw the correct economic system and the measure necessary to solve their pressing problems.

As that well known professor, John Roberts, concludes; "Truly a Government of dynamic caution".

(Reprinted from "M L", a broadsheet of Communist views, published by the Wellington Marxist-Leninist Group, P.O. Box 6069, Wellington.)