Siding with the Right Of the Right
ACT up the game on division politics
ACT’s announcement it is moving into local politics is a logical next step for a party that is waging its battle on picking up the aggrieved.
It’s a numbers game, and as long as the populist right gain enough support, it won’t matter to them how many are in opposition.
This is the clear lesson of the US Republicans. 47% versus 51% is a formidable force.
Essentially, it doesn’t matter what the exact proportion is.
As long as the alt-right can pick up enough support, the left can be effectively neutered by building up an ‘alternative facts’ force against it.
It doesn’t matter how strong, ‘right’, factual, passionate, reasoned etc. the centre to left is in such scenarios.
That’s the power of anti-vaccine, anti-fluoride, fear politics, white supremacy, road cones (2 second video below), male insecurity, or just cost of living pressures.
Essentially everything is fair game in the politics of grievances.
When the link between cause and effect can be minimised, damaged, and modified, everything can be manipulated for cause.
It’s easy politics; lazy because you never have to find a real solution - but effective.
Highly effective.
Unfortunately, National wage most of their politics in this manner as well.
The advantage of ACT is it’s backed by some of the biggest money both locally e.g Nick Mowbray, Graeme Hart, Chris Meehan, as well as globally (Atlas Network related figures).
Hobsons Pledge, Taxpayers Union, Free Speech Union - to me, these are all affiliate figures - used to build up mailing lists and forces of people who are most susceptible to this type of tactic.
As usual, ACT’s call for local politics representatives uses high minded language (similar to how Seymour sold his school lunch program, saying it would save $107m compared to Labour).
ACT claim they want to fight higher rates and get Councils back to basics.
But ultimately, Seymour wants a “clean-out” of Councils and anti-Māori sentiment and anger at increasing rates will be a lynch pin to this strategy.
Of course, the real reason rates have increased so much across the country relates to National and ACT’s demolition of 3 Waters.
That’s seen credit ratings in Councils across the country fall1 - another widely predicted result from abandoning 3 Waters where the credit ratings agencies told us this would be the almost inevitable result.
The issue of course is not with the facts, it’s that propaganda is too easy. And with Facebook/Meta and other social media engines driven at the behest of the new alt-right, and the sheer money and resources at their disposal, I can’t see it ending too well.
Tactically, there’s another reason -
Regular readers of Mountain Tūī will remember local councils gave a resounding nay to central government on the issue of Māori wards. Even National aligned Mayors recognised the immense value of Māori partnership.
Those referendums are going to come up this year along with local council elections, so they are positioning chess pieces to ready for that, as well as solidifying support and increasing their base for the 2026 national election.
I won’t say it’s not effective.
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