I am not shy about saying that this coalition government has to go at the next election. You would not expect anything less.
But that will require the Labour Party getting its positioning right as soon as possible. Listening to Chris Hipkins in his speech to the Labour Party conference say ‘‘we have to get back to basics’’ was depressing.
For a start, that phrase is usually politician-speak for targeting some imaginary version of a Pākehā middle-class ‘‘mainstream’’ and dismissing Māori or gender or diversity issues.
In fact, Māori are not referred to once in his speech but for a short mihi at the beginning and end. So on top of the concerning ‘‘back to basics’’ dog-whistle, is that I do not want just the basics for our country. I want much more for us, well beyond the basics.
I hoped he would say that a Labour-led government would roll-out extensive primary healthcare services in communities and in schools and increase funding for people with disabilities and their families and more funding for elders to be cared for in their own homes and in rest-homes.
I hoped he would announce lots more money for Pharmac and for the roll-out of universal public dental care across Aotearoa.
I wanted him to proudly, angrily even, announce the return of Te Aka Whai Ora to govern the delivery of healthcare to whānau Māori, who still have less access to health services, suffer life threatening treatment in emergency rooms and still die earlier than Pākehā families.
I wanted him to say that it would cost us all a lot and we would have to sacrifice some important things and other things would have to wait to be funded. And that it would be worth it.
Because our families, children and elders would be stronger, healthier and live longer, more fulfilling lives. Because our health is what enables excellent educational achievement.
Because our health is what drives a productive economy. Because our health makes us a vibrant, engaged and creative community that can work together to solve the climate and inequality crises.
Perhaps this all sounds a bit like a Green’s speech, but that is what I was hoping for from Labour this year, as the terrible impacts of the first year of the coalition government kick in hard for Christmas.
Too many families will do it tougher now than before because of the job losses, industry closures and deep economic uncertainty created by this government.
We need the political left to offer more than the basics, more than shallow critiques of the other guys in power and more than the tired cliches.
Visionary leadership is really difficult because it requires the person to stake out new paths. It requires the leadership to take risks which is a big ask because politicians are normally very risk averse.
But we are not in normal times. The most radical government since the 1990s is in power creating havoc all over the place. Now is the time for the political left to re-envision what our country is capable of as a Tiriti-based, equitable and healthy nation.
Which leads me to congratulate the Dunedin City Council on their submission opposing the Treaty Principles Bill.
It is really important that public bodies, like public authorities, tell the justice select committee about the effect of the Bill on their relationships with Māori living in the city and with mana whenua on whose land we all reside.
The impact of the Bill on us all as a community is exactly what the select committee needs to hear. I have talked with people who are worried about making a submission because they fear they don’t know enough about it or they feel like they cannot speak ‘‘law’’ well enough.
Select committees are not courts; you don’t need to be a legal specialist. Select committees are an important way for you to tell the Parliament how their parliamentary decisions will affect you, your family and your community.
Leave it to the lawyers to talk about clauses and subclauses. Your right, and your role, is to tell the politicians what the issues mean to you and how they concern you and the people you care about.
Submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill are still open, so head to that parliamentary website and make yourself heard. For Christmas.
■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
