Opinion by Charles Drake
As a swinging voters with no party ties, I am weighing up my options and each day or week for next year’s general election, and examining ideas emanating from the political parties. For instance subjects like foreign ownership whether by investment with capital or acquisition of resources such as farmland. Subjects like global warming, or rather the new title of climate change and the delusion of some extremists, to be world leaders in stopping climate change.
Kinda reminds you of the Peter Sellers’ film, “The Mouse That Roared”, doesn’t it?
Looking at the parties, both National and Labour are determined to increase the foreign ownership of New Zealand land and natural resources.
The Green Party in its ideological dreamy daze seems not to have an opinion on foreign ownership of resources.
Then there is ACT. What is ACT’s policy now? ACT founder Roger Douglas of Rogernomics notoriety was enthusiastically for foreign investment/ownership.
In essence, foreign ownership and control of a nation’s lands and resources is colonisation now just as it has always been in history.
Today this colonisation is by foreign owned corporations rather than governments but it is the same thing and has the same adverse consequences for the people of New Zealand.
Foreign Intrusion
Climate change is being used as an excuse by the political elites in the National and Labour parties to manipulate the people to accept this colonisation and ownership of our lands and natural resources by foreign entities.
There is climate change. But climate change is natural; it has always happened through ice ages and naturall warming periods.
The question is what is Man’s effect irrespective of natural cycles?
Perhaps the actions of our species might have some influence on climate? Either way there are severe environmental problems caused by humans. For example rivers, streams and aquifers and nitrates.
BUT on climate change there is no real crisis or emergency.
Simple Fact
The actions and activities of the people in New Zealand do not have any significant effect on the global climate.
In reality, if a proper accounting for the CO2 and methane produced versus the CO2 taken up by all the existing vegetation in New Zealand was done, we are probably already reducing rather than increasing the global “emissions”.
There is a very simple fact that people will soon have to confront.
The working people of New Zealand and our future generations cannot afford the costs of this foolish ambition to “be the world leaders in fighting climate change”.
The costs will not only be increased taxes, increased debt, increased costs of living, economic failure and poverty.
This foolish ambition is also going to cost us our lands and natural resources that will be taken by the “global corporate colonialists” such as the corporate carbon “farmers”, often foreign based, who will plant environmentally detrimental monocultures of pinus radiata.
History Repeats
The majority of people that are opposed to what is being forced on them will not be listened to by the elites in the National, Labour and Green parties that are enabling this colonisation and ought to know that by now.
Unfortunately the majority of people seem to also lack the intelligence and courage to stop voting for the same “popular” political parties and the political celebrities that represent and serve their elite members and funders.
Really the same thing that happened to the Maori in the 19th century, is happening all over again in the 21st century.
Monocultures of pines, Waihopai valley, Marlborough by a Malaysian-backed corporate, for “carbon farming”
Trouble is the hate speech that neo-liberals use. I recall at the time of the Crafar Farms controversy the Christchurch based paper “The Press” rubbishing critics of the Chinese takeover and using phrases such as “a whiff of xenophobia” in relation to opposition to the sale of the Crafar farms to Chinese buyers.
Transnational corporations who are usually the foreign based speculators are simultaneously stateless and a law unto themselves. The great majority of foreign “investment” is not investment at all, but takeovers, which don’t create any new assets.
As an example, overseas corporates have now an 80% ownership of NZ’s wine and forestry sectors.
Foreign investment can be summed up by the difference between owning or renting your house. A key myth is that “NZ needs their money”. Actually transnational corporations make massive profits out of NZ and they siphon back off-shore.
Transnational corporations are keen to be be accorded preferential treatment, such as by secret sweetheart highly discounted power price for the Bluff smelter. This foreign corporates are the biggest bludgers in the country.
I note reference to transnationals. NZ’s wine industry, after doing all the hard work to establish vineyards and wineries has been progressively bought out by transnational corporations. NZ is now a bulk grape grower for foreign liquor giants. They don’t care about monocultures and the environment because they switch focus to their more profitable operations in other countries – typical transnational corporation style.
The current carbon farming surely a major rip-off on NZ’s economy, has foreign corporations buying up productive sheep and beef farms.
Mr. Drake is absolutely right.
We are all being conned into allowing our commonly owned lands and resources to be taken from us and sold to private owners who will exploit them for their own benefit.
It is exactly COLNONIZATION and the influential eleits of the “major” political parties are complicit in the deception.
The state owned enterprises that past generations paid for and created were sold.
The foreshore and seabed resources are being privatized and sold.
The fresh water resources and infrastructure are about to be privatized and sold.
Our remaining communal lands and resources will be privatized and sold.
Then they will take and sell our private property as well.
RED, GREEEN AND BLUE
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO
WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU
WE WILL HIRE SOMEONE NEW.
Elections are our opportunity to fire the political parties and their celebrity politicians that have been taking away our privacy, lIberty and communal property and hire some new ones that will provide us with some value for all OUR MONEY they take, borrow, spend and waste.
We do not have to go on being governmend by and for the elite minority of people that control the “major” parties. We can rebel and hire new people from the “minor” parties that are not yet corrupted by their assumed entitlement to authority and power over us.
Voting for the same old parties that have failed us in the past will not imporive our futures. It is WASTING OUR VOTES.