"Don’t get me wrong. I am not nostalgic for the past. There were attitudes we thought once thought were acceptable that I am delighted to have seen the back of – strapping and caning children, imprisoning gay men, denying work, promotional and aspirational opportunities to women simply on the basis of gender."
"But I do think that since the introduction of the Neoliberal “economic reforms” of the 1980s and 90s, New Zealand has forgotten that the purpose of an economy is not to make a few people very wealthy at the expense of the many, but to create the greatest good, for the greatest number of its citizens over the longest period of time."
I note that the parties now in government differ in their takes on this. Winston First, for example, was created to condemn the neoliberal economic shift. But unlike Bryan, they've always been nostalgic for the backwards social attitudes we associate with the 1950s (although they continued to be dominant here well into the 1970s).
ACT, on the other hand, were created to celebrate and defend the neoliberal coup. At first they were mostly onboard with progressive social reform, claiming that economic and social 'liberalisation' were two faces of the same coin. But since about 2016, they too seem to have developed an enthusiasm for pushing back against progressive social reform.
Meanwhile, the Nats too have mostly sung from the neoliberal songbook on economics, and the current regime is certainly doubling down on that. But like Labour, they're more of a mixed bag on social policy. They seem happy to let their current coalition partners wag the dog, whether that leads to Whānau Ora or treaty principles referenda.
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