Luxon and his goons are backing violent occupations overseas and in Aotearoa, but they’re not the only problem. The state of left politics in Aotearoa.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon refused to comment on the racist Treaty Principles Bill after it was presented to cabinet.
Starting a presser with “Kia ora, koutou” doesn’t cancel out the fact that he is giving a platform to white surpremacy.
“We have to honour our agreements,” including a bill set out to fearmonger, but not Te Tiriti o Waitangi?
Parliament, as it stands, represents the interests of landlords, the private sector, and US imperialism.
With the exception of some MPs from Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party, the majority sit to represent their back pockets and own interests.
While the right-wing coalition government dismantles the little progress made under centre-left, neoliberal Labour governments, the return of Labour to power does not solve the problem.
Even with bigger Green or Te Pāti Māori input.
The crisis is capitalism, and it’s in decay. This opens a gateway for fascism, which blames the issues caused by corporations and politicians on already marginalised communities.
Whether this be Māori, immigrants, women, or working (or not) people, it makes no difference to people like David Seymour, Nigel Farage, and the European right.
The problem is in the nature of the system, not who’s got the most seats in government.
Until there’s a party that’s explicitly socialist in nature and calling for the dismantling of the system as it stands, capitalism will continue to weasel its way into environmental advocacy and promise to lessen the impacts of colonisation.
This doesn’t mean a party with ‘worker’ in it’s name or the colour red: it means theory turned into practice with an appealing alternative to fascism which resonates with working Kiwis and their material conditions.
There is wisdom in the masses. Just because you’ve read Marx, it doesn’t mean you know more than a tradie.
Disagreements in theory are natural, but having the class conscious distinctly split between the ‘Maoists’, ‘Trots’, ‘Stalinists’, and ‘Anarchists’ doesn’t actually do anything.
It’s unnecessary division in the face of an unforgiving status quo. Capitalism doesn’t consider what kind of socialist you are.
It sounds really basic and it’s not a ground-breaking analysis, but it needs to be done.
Want an argument against socialism? Ask another socialist.
We need to work together to develop theory based on Aotearoa’s conditions and turn that into action.
We can’t afford to infight for any longer when there is already another fascist wave on the horizon. Uniting towards the common goal of liberation can not be prevented by minor ideological grievances at every turn.
Decolonisation, true environmentalism, and anti-imperialism are only possible under socialism.
Some organisations doing good mahi in this space:
Aotearoa Liberation League
Organise Aotearoa
Communist Refoundation Aotearoa
Federation of Socialist Societies
ActionStation Aotearoa
Unite Union
School Strike for Climate
The Prime Minister, before a week or so ago, owned seven properties, each worth over $2 million, a total of $21.145 million.
His property portfolios grew by $4.3 million in 2021, and he made $90,000 in capital gains every week in 2022, more money than he made as CEO of Air New Zealand.
He was the wealthiest MP as Leader of the Opposition, and once Prime Minister, he chose to give $3 billion in tax cuts to landlords.
This month, he sold one of his Auckland properties.
On that property, that he bought for $650,000 in 2015, it was listed at a set price of $945,000. That’s a capital gain of $295,000, which he paid no tax on.
Earlier this year, the government repealed the old bright line thresholds, opting instead for two-year period.
The bright line test has gone back to its initial two-year period, as was firt introduced in October 2018.
The new bright line test applies if you have sold a property on, or after, 1 July 2024.
That means any residential property sold within two years of it purchase date with be subject to tax on any profit made from the sale. Property owners buying after this date will only have to pay tax within in that two-year period.
That’s just under the amount of time that he’s owned the property, meaning he’ll pay no bright line and no capital gains tax.
New research from Victoria University has found that the richest people in Aotearoa are paying less tax than others in nine similar OECD nations.
We are one of only a few who have no tax on capital gains, no kind of wealth tax, and have the most pathetic income tax rate.
The Prime Minister and almost every other sitting member of Parliament own multiple properties and have investments in businesses, giving them all an interest in keeping the tax system stuffed and the housing market in favour of landlords.
They don't work for us. We work for them.
UPDATE (4 December, 2024):
The PM has sold his third house this year after changing the brightline test, meaning he made $300,000 tax-free on this sale - likely over $760,000 in profit on all properties sold this year.
Luxon just sold a two-bedroom unit in Onehunga for $930,000 - more than $309,500 than he paid for it in the first place ($620,500).
Had his latest property sale been the same as his asking price, he would have made total capital gains of $769,500 from the three sales. But he won’t actually tell us.
Original images sourced from NZME, RNZ, 1News, Three News, unless stated otherwise