An interesting read, Dame Anne Salmond expressing opinions on the current state of politics, making some salient points including,
"Faced with these challenges, our leaders often seem adrift, grasping at strategies that are both ideological & self defeating - tax cuts, a small state & free markets that are supposed to deliver personal liberty, but in fact generate collapsing infrastructure, precarious employment & financial insecurity for all but small elites, or top down managerial bureaucracies that are supposed to deliver social services but sometimes seem self serving instead."
"....the new coalition Govt has laid out a 100 day manifesto that also exceeds its mandate on a range of ideological issues - flirting with climate denial & ....Treaty of Waitangi for example while decentralising health, water services, polytech education & repealing environmental legislation without providing workable alternatives ....."
"In the process of building a coalition under MMP, those at the political margins won concessions unwarranted by their level of electoral support......also places the new PM, a relatively inexperienced politician in a difficult position."
"When a global pandemic delivered the last Labour govt an absolute majority, however they exceeded their mandate on a range of issues....."
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/30/an...middle-ground/