And the Future?

Muldoon is running scared that working class protest against his slashing of their living standards will go beyond the straight jacket of the FoL and combine with the liberal protest at his reactionary social policies, thus causing an internal crisis.

To forestall this he is passing legislation giving the police greater powers and dragging out of the closet the old fascist tactic of the red bogey, both internal and external.

And he has not yet called Parliament.

Economically New Zealand, trapped by Labour and National Governments refusing to institute import licensing becomes indebted to overseas finance. Through foreign control, manufacturing export increases mean little increase in our trade balance. Our reserves of minerals, forestry and power are plundered.

Militarily we become more subordinate to the US. Five years of protest against US bases seems to have been wasted.

Socially, the number of police rise, but welfare and education services are cut. Meanwhile the rich get richer and poor get poorer and Muldoon sits on top of the heap and mouths on about freedom and democracy.