I travelled into Wellington from the Hutt Valley on the train today. The view along the water was delightful. The passengers provided an eclectic mix of people and races – roughly 50% Europeans and 50% Asians – mostly heading into the capital for work. At the station, I took a taxi to my destination, driven by a delightful driver of probably Somali origin. In the waiting room at my appointment, there were 2 Asians and 4 Europeans. I went to a pharmacy and was served by a stunningly beautiful lady of Middle Eastern origins. Afterwards, we went for coffee at a delightful cafe called Floriditas, which played a mix of Bossa Nova type music and Samba tunes. Again, the customers were an eclectic mix. Asians, Europeans and various other people were all sipping coffee together in the same establishment. Several of the staff appeared to be South American, the atmosphere was vibrant and the coffee and service were great.
Why am I telling you this? Because it is quite clear that New Zealand has become a very cosmopolitan place, and overall, it seems to be a good thing. People from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds seem to rub along together quite happily, and personally, I am very proud of it.
What makes me really angry though is the fact that, if anything is likely to spoil this happy melee, it is the racist policies of this government. The government is pitching us all against one another, when, at the moment anyway, everyone seems, for the most part, to just get along quite well.
I wonder how my Somali taxi driver copes with all the Maori phrases being spoken on TV when his English is still quite limited? Filling the news with Maori phrases must be very confusing for those still building their knowledge of English. I also wonder how the South Americans working in the cafe, probably on minimum wage, feel about paying taxes when the government has given $2.75 million to the Mongrel Mob? South America is a place often blighted by drugs, and I’m sure their governments don’t give money to the dealers. How would the Korean optometrist feel about the Human Rights Commissioner of NZ giving money to gangs? People who came to New Zealand for a better life must be shaking their heads in confusion and disbelief at the antics of the current government.
These days, I find myself feeling angry all the time. I feel angry for the small business owner on Talkback who has had to close his business because he cannot get staff while the government increases benefits. I feel angry that the government is going to pander to a few North Shore cyclists and build a new cycle-only bridge while nurses are leaving the country in droves because they need better pay and conditions.
Every time a nurse flies to Australia, the pressure on those left behind becomes greater. I feel angry that the government allocated $1.9 billion to improving mental health and has only funded 5 new beds. I am furious that the government, having lost the bulk of its tourism income, is determined to punish farmers, driving them off the land so that they can turn it into Chinese-owned pine forests, thus damaging our (now) biggest export earner. What about the food supply? Or are these government ministers so stupid that they think you can just go to the supermarket to buy food, so we don’t need farmers?
Why are we importing coal from Indonesia when the West Coast of the South Island has millions of tonnes of the stuff that we could mine safely and under proper conditions, but we are not allowed to touch it? Why is the government telling us what cars we are allowed to buy while punishing farmers and tradespeople who need utes for business? Above all, why is the government of ‘kindness’ funding organised crime, with money confiscated from criminals, intended to be used for the benefit of victims?
In a mere nine months, we have gone from a great place to live to a basket case, and we all know where this divisive approach is going to take us. As you read stories about mothers throwing babies from burning buildings in South Africa, don’t think for one minute that it couldn’t happen here.
Any government that fosters any form of apartheid – it doesn’t matter which is the favoured race – is going down a path of instability and destruction, and we are on that path right now.
I also feel incredible anger when people tell me they won’t vote National because they ‘don’t like Judith Collins’. People who make such stupid statements fail to understand the first thing about New Zealand politics. We do not have a presidential system. We operate under the Westminster system, where the leader of the party that wins the most votes becomes the Prime Minister. That didn’t happen in 2017, of course, which was the start of the sorry mess we are in now, but it did happen in 2020 when a grateful nation that had mostly kept out COVID thanked the government by giving it an overall majority. That government has, in turn, rewarded us all by wrecking the economy, spending small fortunes on pet projects and dividing the nation along racial lines.
To all those people who won’t vote National because they don’t like Judith, I have one very simple question. Do you really want another 3 years of the haters and wreckers that form our current government? If you do, simply because you don’t ‘like’ a politician that you have never actually met, then frankly, you are insane, but remember to tell your children that you were partly responsible for the destruction of a country that was once recognised as the best place in the world to live because of your own petty and misplaced biases.
Remember that song from decades ago by Blue Mink – Melting Pot?
What we need is a great big melting pot
Big enough big enough big enough to take
The world and all its gotKeep it stirring for a hundred years or more
And turn out coffee coloured people by the score
It seems to me that we are most of the way there. We live in a very cosmopolitan society. And the only thing likely to ruin it for us all is the racist, divisive government of Jacinda Ardern.
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