February 21st, 2022.
Observing from afar always allows one a certain measure of detachment but on the other hand, it means that I am not close enough to the “action” to obtain all the data and facts.
One thing that seems apparent is that there is a distinct lack of political leadership in New Zealand. Jacinda Ardern professes to lead New Zealanders to a land of milk and honey where kindness and compassion abounds. Having spent so much (frittered away) of the Covid reserve funds, the country is in dire economic straits and she could only bring one commandment down from the mountain instead of the usual ten. That is “You shall obey”.
Her leadership reminds me of commanders during the first world war who led from the rear and had platoons of soldiers with fixed bayonets to stop the front line soldiers from turning around and refusing orders to fight.
Where are the other leaders? Christopher Luxon fills me with a combination of apathy and despair. I look back on his command of Air New Zealand, where in contrast to his predecessor he abandoned the concept of customer care and instituted rigorous financial control. While this may have produced strong bottom line results it was at the cost of losing goodwill and support from staff and customers alike. His political leadership seems to be following this pattern and not understanding what his customers (us, the voters) are looking for.
The leadership of the Nordic countries has been in total contrast. Their Governments could hardly be called right-wing and they have all suffered far fewer excess deaths over the last two years than the UK. This has been achieved with fewer laws, curfews, huge fines, frightening adverts or masks on schoolchildren. In Denmark, 81% of adults are fully vaccinated with 61% having received boosters. The great majority of the population are opposed to mandated vaccinations.
The Nordic countries management of the Covid pandemic was on a more consensual and trusting basis.
Most of their populations trust the Government to make decisions and know that when the restrictions are lifted (as is true of Denmark) they trust the Government to reverse or change the restrictions if the situation so demands. They are therefore happy to accept the goevernment’s policies. Equally, the Governments have trust in their people to make grown-up decisions.
A recent paper in The Lancet found that moving every country up to the 75th percentile in trust in Government might have prevented 13% of global infections. And here is the kicker – especially relevant to New Zealand – pushing every country up to the 75th percentile of trust in their population could have prevented 40% of global infections.
The best way to protect citizens from the virus is to convince them to take the measures to protect themselves – not coerce them. In free societies, the success of that effort depends on the trust between the citizens and their government and between the citizens themselves.
The Labour Government and their satraps the Greens seem to have screwed up all round. I certainly would not put my trust in them and I have my doubts about trusting Luxon.
I have doubts about trusting the old warhorse Winston but at least he has more leadership qualities than the rest of them. This leadership vacuum can only lead to further divisions in New Zealand society.
