This is edition 2025/84 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Welcome back. It's 2025 and 20 years since I started writing about politics and anything else that took my fancy. Thank to my VIP members for making this site what it is today. In July we will be having a 20th birthday celebration. Stay tuned for more announcements.
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. You had me, until …
Chris Trotter
- 💡 Greens' Bold Move: The Greens' 2025 Alternative Budget presents a fiscal plan in line with a break from neoliberalism, earning praise for its boldness.
- 🦠 Winston Peters' Mockery: Peters resorts to red-baiting with a snide remark about the Greens, exposing the Coalition’s lack of solutions to the growing 'Crisis of Legitimacy'.
- 🤡 Luxon's Empty Critique: Luxon’s dismissal of the Greens’ budget as "clown-car economics" lacks substance, especially as the Coalition struggles with infrastructure and welfare issues.
- 🌱 Chloe Swarbrick’s Courage: Chloe refuses to shy away from the "socialism" label, advocating for free primary health care, dental care, and childcare.
- 🌍 Greens’ Environmental Stance: The Greens maintain their strong position on climate change and environmental protection, holding the moral high ground.
- 🔴 Shift Toward Eco-Socialism: The combination of redistributive economic policy and radical environmentalism recalls eco-socialism, once the driving force behind the party’s appeal.
- ⚡ Unsettling Changes in the Greens: The party’s shift toward divisive issues like decolonisation, TERF-baiting, and international alliances with radical groups alienated many supporters.
- 🕊️ Palestine and the Greens: The Greens' pro-Palestine stance during a crisis in Israel caused a rift with New Zealand voters, aligning them with a controversial cause.
- 👥 Electoral Consequences: The Greens’ new direction makes them unacceptable to many Kiwis, undermining support for their economic and environmental proposals.
- 🚫 The 'Untils': The Greens’ controversial stances on various social issues overshadow the otherwise strong appeal of their Alternative Budget, risking their future political prospects.
