About more than what you’re against

As we face a general election this year in New Zealand, several challenge remain for the Labour party to overcome.

Labour’s policy challenge relates primarily to being able to adequately differentiate itself from the National party to its right and the Greens to its left. Six years in opposition has naturally led to Labour being defined by a defence of status quo when opposing government reform in most areas, rather than a proposer of an exciting centre-left agenda.

Instead of better confronting the policy reasons for the 10 percentage points by which it trails National, Labour has focused in on the nearly one million eligible voters who didn’t vote in the 2011 election. There is a creeping worry amongst many in the party that this is a poor choice of resource use and is a diversion from confronting the policy reasons that have led to trailing the National party for so long.

In joining anti-mining causes, and opposing roading and motorway developments driven by the government, it appears Labour has been pulled to the left by its Green party associates. But there is clear majority support in the wider electorate for both a pursuit of strategic mining and a far greater investment in motorways.

The party risks making the mistake of being clearer about what it is against than what it is for.

The recalibration required to develop modern social democratic policies still driven by traditional values that could appeal to a 2014 electorate does not appear to have occurred.

While tantalising prospects were visible in the 2011 election manifesto, specifically Goff’s announcement that a Labour government would introduce a capital gains tax on investment property and would also gradually increase the retirement age from 65 to 67, such definitive gems have largely been watered down or dropped. The real question is: what does a modern social democratic party in New Zealand stand for?

In terms of new ideas, proposals such as compulsory superannuation, building on the previous Labour government’s superb ‘Kiwisaver’ scheme could assist in capturing the public’s imagination. Falling rates of home-ownership and general access to affordable housing in a country that once regarded such things as a fundamental for most working families, is only going to be solved by the kind of economic structural change a Labour government will lead.

Similarly a shortage in apprenticeship places and workers for jobs in the trades such as plumbing and electrical work are key areas that need public attention drawn to them, as well as the policy solutions of a strong and focused Labour party.

The Labour party in New Zealand, like Labour in the UK, faces an incumbent rightwing government which will want to claim a natural upturn in the business cycle as an economic recovery. This will be tough for Labour. Some will feel times really are getting better, and the National government will run a campaign around a slogan like ‘Don’t put it all at risk.’

Labour’s biggest challenge this year will be to convince voters that the recovery is a good story happening to someone else, and that Labour has a credible vision for the future, not just a list of things that it’s against.