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Sunday, June 23, 2024

Professor Robert MacCulluch: Has the New Zealand Parliament and our MPs become Irrelevant to our Future?


Here are six reasons why our present National-ACT-NZ First government, although voted in by a majority of the Kiwis, has become irrelevant to the plans of the left:

1. Monetary Policy is set independently by the Reserve Bank. But increasingly, the RBNZ has re-interpreted its own mandate to allow it to venture into other areas, like environmental policy, all done regardless of what our Members of Parliament think. The way the Governor talks to the MPs at the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee, it appears he has little respect for them and their understanding of what he does.

2. The Courts increasingly don't give a fig about Parliament and have begun to consider themselves the paramount chiefs of law-making in the country. However, many of our judges are highly partisan, yet won't admit it, pretending they are unbiased arbitrators. If you believe that, you will believe anything.

3. The Mainstream Media, our Fourth Estate, has for many years now regarded parties like National, ACT and NZ First, as hostile to its interests and agenda. Our Mainstream Media has been waging a quiet coup on our present government ever since it was elected. It does not regard the new coalition as being NZ's legitimate government.

4. Our universities regard the new government as hostile to their agenda. Because it is. The reason is that universities have become agents of political change, and are presently altering their course prescriptions to indoctrinate, rather than teach the different sides to every issue, which is their job. Former Labour Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson, has more power than ever as Vice Chancellor of Otago University to push his own personal political agenda than he ever had in Parliament. He's the boss of Otago, whereas in Parliament he had to get the support of his colleagues & the House to pass laws.

5. The announcement by Te Pāti Māori to set up a rival Parliament was symbolic. Many of its supporters don't respect our existing one. At some level, our MPs are to blame. NZ is too centralized. Most decision-making goes through Wellington, a city in decline as folks leave, its streets become empty, its water supply leaks, its ferries run aground, its house prices fall, and its roads get clogged as it can't afford to build new tunnels. In nations like Switzerland, most decision-making is done at Canton level - they have different tax rates, varying from 22% to 45%. Competition is good, even for government institutions. It's not just Māori suffering from Wellington's centralization of power - it's all of us.

6. Our Members of Parliament are of declining ability & competency. MMP maybe to blame. You can get into parliament now without ever having won a seat and stood before the public to make your case. The people may not even like you. Your only talent can be to grease up the party hierarchy. Having worked in the office of an MP so you get to know everyone, then you can network your way onto the list. Ironically, our MMP was copied from Germany which at the time was the leading industrial nation in the world, after the US. Now Germany is in an awful state of economic and social decline. We copied a lemon.

Professor Robert MacCulloch holds the Matthew S. Abel Chair of Macroeconomics at Auckland University. He has previously worked at the Reserve Bank, Oxford University, and the London School of Economics. He runs the blog Down to Earth Kiwi from where this article was sourced.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

So ... what solutions are suggested? Quick fix or long term? Who carries them out?

Clearly the current government is part of the problem - if they can't stand up to Te pati maori who can they stand up to?

Suggests a dismal future for NZ.

Anonymous said...


Brilliant summary - all these key institutions have been infiltrated by woke, Left wing activists ( as per Critical Race Theory).

They are working to destroy NZ democracy and move towards an ethnocracy.

Parliament - i.e. the Coalition - is not asserting its supremacy - in so many domains. It is failing the people who voted for them.

DeeM said...

Hate to say it, but I agree with you.

NZ's problems run deep and a change of government will not fix them.
The population as a whole need to decide what they really want and do something about it, at all levels, not just sit back and expect the government to do it all.

Woke is still winning and I don't expect to see things substantially different in 3 years time.

Valid Point said...

To answer Anon at 423:

The current Government needs to make the following changes:
1. Disband the Supreme Court and return to the Privvy Council fold
2. Cut off all media funding and let them stand on their own commercial feet
3. Remove the Māori electorate roll and race based seats
4. Return our electoral system back to Electoral MPs only. Reduce MP numbers by at least a third.
5. Refocus spending on core activity only. Disestablish any government department that doesn’t contribute to core functions

In summary, get our government and the public servants back to serving the people. Not the other way around.

Fred H. said...

In response to Valid Point, I would also add: 1) repeal the 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act; 2) abolish the racist Waitangi Tribunal; 3) adopt the so-called Littlewood Treaty as the founding English language draft of the ToW instead of the Hugh Kawharu distorted translation whereby he used 1986 meaning of words instead of the meaning of those words in 1840.

Richard Treadgold said...

Now despair sets in as the scale of the problem and its penetration into the fabric of our nation become undeniable. But before defeat and failure overwhelm us, before the bright energy of our intellect drains away in endless despondency, let us join the resistance.

None of this is inevitable. By God, I'm willing. I will never give in. Neither will Julian Batchelor.

Richard Treadgold
Free New Zealand

Anonymous said...

how about remove the concept of list MPs as unelected individuals sitting in parliament. have each party send one representative who can propose bills and vote as a bloc for their allocated seats. after all, people gave them a party vote, not an person vote!

Phil & Lynne said...

#7 - Government Departments that quite openly thumb their noses at the Minister in Charge and carry on as usual as if there had been no change of Government. AS an example I give you :-
"Safer speed areas for Waimate have been given the green light and will soon be in place.

The changes are a result of Waimate District Council’s Speed Management Plan, which was approved by the Council last year and now by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi."
These changes were put forward on the same day that Simeon Brown announced the cancellation of the whole Road to Zero program. The Government Department is obviously ignoring this fact and that the minister has said he will be putting all speeds back pre 2020 levels.

CXH said...

The first two could be dealt with reasonably easily. Yet there is no indication that National see any problem with the relationship. This is clearly demonstrated by the re-appointmeny of Mr Quigley as chair of the RBNZ. A new face, with the backing to put Mr Orr back in his box would have made sense.

National, along with its leader, is falling because, despite election promises, is turning out to be centre-left and yet to prove they are even better managers. Indications so far is that they are not.

Anonymous said...

Professor Robert MacCullach’s 6 points are right on the money and very appropriately made. The problem is that Government appears to have no clear vision of how WE want and expect New Zealand to be and no desire to dismantle Maorification as they undertook and promised to do , to totally re-establish our democracy and the ‘equality of citizenship’ MANDATED under the Treaty of Waitangi and signed up to “ in good faith “ by the signatories to the Treaty . We are being undermined at all levels of authority by ideologically , ego-driven activists’ , operating with apparent immunity, in Maori-ONLY interests —- as outlined by Professor MacCullach . We cannot and must not let this seditious and anarchical situation continue . C’mon Government and start exercising your authority as you were elected to do , to set things right .
Hugh Perrett

Anonymous said...

HEY MOD,YOU ARE CONTROLLED OPPOSITION.

Anonymous said...

I agree with , strongly support and endorse the constructive corrective comments / recommendations of both ‘Valid Point’ and ‘Fred H’ , above . The actions they are recommending are important to implement if we are to recover our democracy , our direction and our unity as a society going forward .
Hugh Perrett

Anonymous said...

I strongly support and endorse the corrective actions recommended above by ‘Valid Point’ and ‘Fred H’.
Prompt action is required by Government to correct our direction and fully reinstate our Democratic system in its entirety and to head off those ego-driven , ideologically-obsessed activists seditiously involved in challenging Government’s authority and seeking to impose their own ideological obsessions on our society .
Hugh Perrett

Anonymous said...

I strongly support and endorse the corrective actions recommended above by ‘Valid Point’ and ‘Fred H’.
Prompt action is required by Government to correct our direction and fully reinstate our Democratic system in its entirety and to head off those ego-driven , ideologically-obsessed activists seditiously involved in challenging Government’s authority and seeking to impose their own ideological obsessions on our society .
Hugh Perrett

Anonymous said...

Please consider:
Concern about National's reluctance to tackle Maorification is fully understandable.

But, if Luxon were to attack this issue right now, there would be a very aggressive reaction ( civil unrest) from Maori activists. Moreover, he would be doing this while trying to steady the damaged economy as the same time. This double problem would deter any international investment interest in NZ.

However, time will soon run out for National/Luxon when Seymour's Treaty Bill is on the table for debate.. and will lead to a referendum which becomes more essential every day. It is already ,long overdue.

It is unthinkable that the Prime Minister of a democratic state would block this step for citizens ... should this ever happen, Luxon /National will lose all credibility. They will simply be " blue Labour".

Luxon should take great care how he handles this moment which is fast
approaching.

Anonymous said...

Professor, you have struck a very sensitive nerve with your very astute criticisms. But necessary corrections to our downhill slide can not be made under the existing arrangements. All our political parties are unfit for purpose. Perhaps a better description would be, profoundly corrupt. I have suggested a new approach, which I term The Athenian Option. It would operate in a similar manner to the selection process for National service. But we would not need thousands, only about 25. A strong filtering system would ensure only mature, capable, intelligent and honest men (oh alright, people) would be selected to complete a 6 year period of governance. Intakes would be every 3 years to achieve a senior/junior overlap. There is much more to this but space is limited here. I challenge you to develop this concept into a workable thesis.