Is NZ politics having a MAGA moment?

The Spinoff

a day ago

American-style conflict and populism are taking root in parliament, and critics say respect for the democratic process is being eroded as a result, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin.
Welcome to the era of 'wrecking ball' politics
Andrea Vance is never one to mince words, and she was on form again this weekend in the Sunday Star Times (paywalled). NZ's political pendulum is now a 'wrecking ball', she wrote, smashing through 'the written and unwritten codes that once held together democracy'. Where once governments at least paid lip-service to the MMP ideals of consensus building and thoughtful, long-term change, 'now governing is a zero-sum game. Legislation is drafted to provoke, not to last.'
It's an argument that Massey political scientist Richard Shaw echoed – albeit with a little less fire than Vance – in the Conversation last month (republished in The Spinoff). He warned the coalition's approach was veering towards 'government by decree', its unprecedented use of parliamentary urgency allowing it to '[wield] its majority to avoid parliamentary and public scrutiny of contentious policies'. With so many controversial new laws on the books, the next Labour government is certain to undo many of them. And so on, and so on. The sheer pace of repeals, reversals and rushed lawmaking has created what Vance calls a 'cycle of legislative whiplash' – a wasteful churn that chips away at the public's trust in stable governance.
Small parties, big influence
MMP was supposed to encourage moderation; now it risks amplifying the extremes, writes Shaw, who notes that the most unpopular recent legislation – like the Treaty principles bill and tax breaks for tobacco – was pushed into parliament by the coalition's junior partners. 'Rightly or wrongly, this has created a perception of weakness on the part of the National Party and the prime minister,' Shaw adds.
In the NZ Herald (Premium paywalled), right-leaning columnist Bruce Cotterill argues that the minor parties on the opposite side are the real threat. Instead of focusing on 'mainstream' issues of the day, 'we are constantly distracted by the needs of, or the deeds of, those who are representing the minorities', he writes, pointing to Te Pāti Māori's 'increasingly extremist and separatist' agenda and the Greens' spate of MP-related scandals. 'These two parties alone hold 20 seats in the nation's Parliament. Can we really believe that over 16% of voters support their current antics?'
Parties lean into online conflict
Outrage and social media clicks are starting to shape the tone of politics as much online as in the parliamentary debating chamber. As Glenn McConnell reports in Stuff, NZ First and Act have turbocharged their presence on YouTube, leaning into American-style populism. Titles scream about David Seymour and Winston Peters 'DESTROYING', 'DEMOLISHING' and 'ROASTING' their opponents – including their enemies in the media.
This type of 'us versus the elite' politics has been around for a while, says political scientist Luke Oldfield, but now it's been repackaged for the 'New Zealand Joe Rogan vote'. The right-leaning parties' social media teams are drawing inspiration from mega popular US Youtuber Ben Shapiro and his ilk, Oldfield says, creating videos designed to bait the algorithm and draw in disenchanted young men who'd otherwise tune out.
'A revolving-door approach to representation'
Another warning about declining parliamentary standards comes from former United Future leader Peter Dunne in Newsroom. The sudden resignation of NZ First's Tanya Unkovich is the latest reminder that list MPs can vanish mid-term with zero electoral consequence, replaced overnight by the next name on the party list, he says. 'Already, in the current 54th Parliament, 7 list MPs – 5 of them from the Labour Party – have resigned … two MPs have died, and one has been expelled.'
This 'almost revolving-door approach to representation', Dunne warns, only deepens cynicism about parliament's dignity and purpose. After all, 'It is hard to respect an institution when some of its members by their own disregard for it show so little respect of their own.'