Labor Party of New Zealand

Party Founding

The Labor movement, which received the basis of the labor movement in Great Britain , which was widely developing at the beginning of the 20th century, originated in New Zealand in 1901 .

Already in 1916 in Wellington, at a conference of delegates from the Social Democratic Party (founded in 1913 on the basis of the Socialist Party), trade unions (Federation of United Workers of New Zealand), the Labor Representative Committee, and a number of small left-wing radical movements that split from the Liberal Party, was formed Labor Party. Thus, today it is the oldest of the existing political parties in the country.

Many prominent members of the new party during World War I were arrested by the government for their openly anti-war stance (including calls for the abolition of universal military duty ). However, participation in its first national elections in 1919 allowed the party to receive about a quarter of all votes and eight seats in the country's parliament.

At the beginning of the existence of the party, it included only collective members, primarily trade unions. Initially, the party program demanded the socialization of the means of production, the nationalization of land and natural wealth, the fight against universal military service and the expansion of social legislation. However, since the 1920s, it has been speaking out less and less against private ownership of the means of production , upholding a purely reformist political course.

Labor comes to power

In 1935, the party won its first election victory, and in the same year the first Labor government was formed, led by Michael Joseph Savage (he died in 1940 and was replaced by Peter Fraser ). The Labor Party was at the head of the country until 1949 , regularly receiving the majority of votes in parliamentary elections (the best result was 55.82% of the vote in 1938).

The success of the Labor Party was facilitated by measures aimed at combating the economic crisis , in particular, the elimination of mass unemployment. In addition, their government carried out a number of other socio-economic reforms that laid the foundation for the local welfare state : the introduction of a universal social insurance system and old-age pensions, the nationalization of the New Zealand Bank, the introduction of fixed social prices for milk and a number of other food products, and mass housing construction. Labor also supported the rights of the indigenous population, which allowed them to enjoy the support of the Maori ratan movement.

However, the party was torn by disagreements between different trends, which led to splits (for example, the creation of the Democratic Labor Party expelled from the LDP in 1940 by John A. Lee, whose program was a mixture of ideas of democratic socialism and social credit ) and to the electoral defeat in the 1949 elections.

Second half of the 20th century.

The next victory in the parliamentary elections was won in 1957 . As a result, the Laborites ruled in 1957-1960, 1972-1975 and 1984-1990.

The last of these prime ministers, David Longy , gained worldwide fame thanks to his international campaigns (among them - solidarity with the Kanak movement in New Caledonia and the Sandinista government of Nicaragua , a boycott of the apartheid regime in South Africa). The main one was directed against nuclear weapons, and the Labor-controlled parliament approved the New Zealand Proclamation of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act.

At the same time, it was under Longy that Treasury Secretary Roger Douglas began implementing neo-liberal , monetarist and free -market reforms (called “Rogeronomics” by analogy with “ Reaganomics ”), which include widespread privatization of state property and the abolition of tariffs and subsidies, contrary to social democratic party attitudes. This caused sharp criticism of the left wing - former party leader Jim Anderton left it and in 1989 created the New Labor Party of New Zealand, which, in turn, merged with three smaller forces (the Greens, the Social Credit Democratic Party and the Maori Party of Mana Motuhake) to the Alliance party .

Confrontation grew between Prime Minister Longy and Treasury Secretary Douglas, and although the latter was eventually removed from the government, he was soon followed by the turn of the prime minister himself, in violation of his promise to hold a referendum on the introduction of a mixed electoral system. In 1989, he was replaced by Jeffrey Palmer at the head of the Labor cabinet, but the damage caused by antisocial reforms destroyed the prospects for the party’s victory in the 1990 elections, although two months before them the next change in the Labor Government’s head took place with Mike Moore . The party’s attempt to save the situation was unsuccessful and ended in their largest defeat from the National Party .

In 1999 , 2002, and 2005 , the party successively won parliamentary elections, and the Labor government of Helen Clark remained in power. However, the configuration of parliamentary coalitions has changed. In 1999, the Labor Party formed a coalition with the Alliance party, which broke up three years later. After the new elections, the Labor Party entered into a coalition with the Progressive Party (a fraction of the old Alliance party) and formed a government with the support of the United Future and the Greens.

Clark's policies included the introduction of the KiwiSaver savings system, Working for Families tax credits for employees, a 5% increase in salaries per year, an improvement in the quality of education, an extension of parental leave of up to 14 weeks, and the introduction of a civil partnership institution for both heterosexual and same-sex couples. In 2003, Clark’s cabinet condemned the invasion of US troops in Iraq, and the prime minister announced the “inevitability” of turning New Zealand into a republic.

In 2004, the confrontation surrounding the coastal rights declared by the Maori communities led to a breakaway from the Labor Party of the people who founded the new Maori Party . After the 2005 elections, parliamentary support for the Labor and Progressive Party coalition was provided by the United Future and New Zealand Above All parties.

In the November 8, 2008 election, the party lost the victory to the New Zealand National Party and went into opposition. Helen Clark, losing the election, resigned. In the subsequent elections of 2011 and 2014, the party’s result only worsened. The successive party leaders - Phil Goff (2008–2011), David Shearer (2011–2013), David Canliff (2013–2014) and Andrew Little (2014–2017) - failed to turn the tide.

On August 1, 2017, Jacinda Ardern became the new Labor leader. In the parliamentary elections of September 23, 2017, the party significantly improved its result - up to 36.9% of the vote and 46 seats. Jacinda Ardern formed a new government in a coalition with the New Zealand Above All party and with the support of the Greens.

The Labor Party was a regular participant in the Socialist International , now it is only part of the Progressive Alliance .

• Party official website
• Denis Pilash . Left on the edge of the world. Part 1: New Zealand // Spilné , 12/15/2017.