The Alliance Strikes Back
What does the Alliance have to offer the modern-day voter?
It’s not often I write about pure politics.
A while back I wrote about the need for a return to working class politics in this country, and expressed frustration at the lack of attention from the current parties towards key issues.
A Return to Working Class Politics
This one is more of an expression of frustration about the state of politics in our country. If that’s not your cup of tea, no worries.
So it was with a sense of trepidation that I approached the Alliance’s Meet the Candidates event at the Canterbury WEA last night. Could a renascent Alliance group disrupt the status quo in favour of the working class?
They certainly seem to think so.
Who are Alliance?
Alliance’s website brands itself as “a democratic socialist party building a fairer Aotearoa New Zealand — a society where every person can live with dignity and reach their full potential.”
On the ground, it’s a mix of old school trade unionists, socialists, and community-oriented advocates.
And, while it derives its mandate and history from the Jim Anderton-led Alliance of the 1990s, this iteration feels much more modern - and importantly in-touch with current issues.
Its platform feels comfortably at home alongside those of other key democratic socialists like Zohran Mamdani and Zack Polanski’s UK Greens. It’s unwilling to shy away from socialist worker-led policies that are targeted to benefit the working class.
That’s a very good start.
The People
In politics, it’s often as much the people involved as the policy that makes up the voters mind.
The Alliance is currently led by Victor Billot - a long-time party leadership figure and Maritime Union of New Zealand employee.
I would characterize Victor as if you mixed your fun uncle with Zohran Mamdani. That drive for change and experience is interwoven with powerful anecdotes about how good we used to have it here in Aotearoa New Zealand when things were more equal. He seems well liked amongst the members, and comfortable with the role he inhabits.
Most of all, he seems confident about the future of both the working class movement and the Alliance in New Zealand politics.
He is supported by local Librarian-turned City Council candidate Tom Roud as the Party President. Roud was the first of the new generation of Alliance candidates when he stood in Christchurch Central last year under their banner.
And amongst their full swathe of candidates in Ōtautahi Christchurch it seems to be a trend - former local government aspirationals who are now seeking higher office. Included in that are former Environment Canterbury Councillor Greg Byrnes (Christchurch Central) and former Linwood Ward City Council candidate Ethan Gullery (Christchurch East).
Alongside these are:
Kyle Turnbull - Banks Peninsula
Courtney Fraser - Ilam
Jesse Luke - Selwyn
Nicholas Pegg - Wigram
It represents a diverse background of lived experiences, but importantly means that for the first time in a long time, Alliance is contesting the vast majority of seats in Ōtautahi Christchurch.
Do I think their intention is to take a clean sweep? No.
But if you were looking to build a profile, having a face in every electorate certainly helps.
The Platform
While people front the crowds, in my opinion they can only be as good as their platform.
This is where I think Alliance pulls ahead of other parties. Even with only a handful of core policy points, it already has a one up on Labour (who seem dead-set on never announcing any significant policies) and the Greens (who are yet to release their full election manifesto). Simple as they may be, they are rooted in a core sense of politics for the working class.
Tax Justice,
Secure and well-paid work,
Free Education and Healthcare,
Affordable Housing and Power, and
Public Ownership and Renationalization of Key Infrastructure.
All of these are policies that I think are not only beneficial for our country, but also long overdue. In the face of rising corporate profiteering and the cost of living squeezing more and more Kiwis, these kinds of promises are a breath of fresh air - and absolutely necessary if we want to have the kind of society where everyone thrives.
There are hints that more concrete policy positions regarding housing, banking, and their flagship infrastructure plan (KiwiWorks) will be coming, so it’s good to see that this isn’t the extent of the plan.
The universalistic nature is part of the policy platform by design. Billot speaks to the idea that dividing society up on the merits of means-testing and haves and have-nots is not only discriminatory but keeps the working class separated (specifically calling Chris Hipkins out on means-testing superannuation) and under the thumb of those who have. That the only way to truly heal this divide is by giving a universal base of income, health, education, and housing to all, regardless of their income.
It ticks a lot of boxes that other parties seem keen to avoid like the plague.
There certainly was an air of confidence around the room last night. Perhaps not that Alliance will make it across the line in November, but more that it intended to be here for the long-term.
To do that, it will need to meet the 500 person threshold to re-register for the party vote and for Electoral Commission funding. And while that goal might be a way off yet, it isn’t holding anyone back.
I think it’s very worthwhile having a look into them, and if you’re like me and want to see more policies like this from your own parties, maybe this is the push that we’ve needed.
Happy May Day everybody.
Perhaps a guaranteed minimum income is a better bet than the UBI, especially now we have the IT infrastructure that knows to within a day what wage and salary earners bring in, also superannuitants. Dismantling the 1950s welfare structure in favour of citizen support is vital