In New Zealand at present, a range of well funded think tanks and other groups fly the flag of freedom \u2013 free markets, freedom of speech, freedom of individual action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The links between these groups and right wing political parties are well attested, and those political parties are also well funded. Their links with international counterparts and their manifestos are also well known.<\/p>\n
The flows of funding to these groups, and to right wing political parties is telling. Overwhelmingly, they are funded by corporations and wealthy individuals. If one takes a look at the work of these \u2018freedom fighters,\u2019 both at home and abroad, the question\u00a0 soon arises, \u2018Freedom for whom?\u2019<\/p>\n
Is it freedom for ordinary people, or for the wealthy and privileged?\u00a0 Is it freedom for families and communities, or the extraction of corporate profits?\u00a0 When do the libertarians speak up, and when are they silent?<\/p>\n
Who is controlling the flow of ideas and opportunities in this country?\u00a0 Is it the majority of citizens, as in a healthy democracy, or an elite, self-interested few? Where are the restraints being removed, and where are they being tightened, and on whom?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across New Zealand at present, as family budgets are strained to breaking point, jobs are lost and the gap between the freedoms of the rich and the poor grows wider, increasing numbers of New Zealanders are asking these questions.<\/p>\n
According to the latest Acumen Adelman Trust barometer<\/a>, for instance, 67% of New Zealanders now believe that \u201cgovernment and business harm them and serve narrow interests, and ultimately the wealthy benefit while the regular people struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n When promises made during the last election are dismissed as irrelevant, select committees and expert advice are ignored, debate in Parliament cut short by the use of urgency, hundreds of thousands of submissions treated with contempt, critics derided and public opinion flouted, it is no wonder that faith in our democracy is declining.<\/p>\n On the international scene, the danger of narcissistic, bull-at-a-gate leaders is being played out in plain sight. In the US, a President who seeks unbridled power and wealth is demolishing democratic checks and balances, including those on the right to declare war, and unleashing a series of campaigns including \u2018Project Freedom\u2019 in Iran, backed by a promise to destroy \u2018an entire civilisation.\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n When self-interest and self-satisfaction are writ large, people and planet are written off as collateral damage. Wars over the control of oil and gas enrich the same companies that are putting life on earth at risk, impoverishing families and nations. Fighting, severe storms, rising seas and collapsing landscapes are wrecking the lives of ordinary people, while billionaires ride into space, and fantasise about colonising other planets.\u00a0<\/p>\n When a Pope speaks out, saying \u201cWhoever seeks domination turns the common good into prey for their own greed,\u201d those same parties line up to try and make sure he is silenced.<\/p>\n In New Zealand, too, political leaders who preach freedom of speech use their power and resources to try and silence those who think differently \u2013 \u00a0citizens who value a healthy environment, for instance, or think that taxation should be more fairly shared, or iwi and hap\u016b who plan for the freedom and prosperity of future generations.<\/p>\n Mining and oil exploration are graphic examples. Instead of serving the public interest and investing in alternative energy at scale, ministers seek to destroy unique landscapes and communities for the benefit of overseas corporations. Some mount vicious attacks on those who fight for these places, which says more about their lack of decency than those who are targeted.<\/p>\n Industrial forestry in New Zealand is another case in point. During Cyclone Gabrielle, huge rafts of logs and flows of sediment from industrial plantations surged down rivers across the east coast, destroying roads, bridges, paddocks, farm buildings and vehicles, family homes, orchards and sporting facilities, causing billions of dollars of damage. Lives and livelihoods were devastated.<\/p>\n After so much suffering and loss, it seems unbelievable that any government would favour the rights of forestry companies over the freedoms and rights of local people. Over this past week, however, that is precisely what has happened.<\/p>\n By ministerial fiat, the ability of local councils to set stricter conditions on forestry operations has been removed, except in the most extreme situations, alongside restrictions on planting pine trees on all but the most highly erodible land.<\/p>\n This flies in the face of the recommendations of a Ministerial inquiry, a citizens\u2019 assembly, and a business plan drafted by a representative advisory group, supported by the wider community, and presented by the council to the Government.<\/p>\n What have the advocates for localism in Parliament had to say about this trampling on the rights of local people, for the sake of short-term profit? Nothing. How about the public media? They are silent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, \u2018free speech\u2019 advocates are busy writing articles<\/a> in media owned by a local billionaire, deploring the idea of placing restraints on social media owned by global multi-billionaires \u2013 despite the extreme harm caused to many.<\/p>\n Again, the question arises, freedom for whom?\u00a0 For heart-broken parents, or the wealthy, wilful owners of media companies who use their outlets as megaphones, and want an unfettered right to profiteer at the expense of others?<\/p>\n