Trotter on Labour Auslanders

Chris Trotter blogs:

YOU JUST DON'T GET IT, do you Labour? You don't understand, even now, what National's done to you? Well, let me tell you. They have transformed you into auslander – foreigners, aliens, exiles in your own country. You've been excluded from the ranks of “the people”. You've been pushed outside the circle, beyond the Pale. You no longer belong among “us” – you belong with “them”.
And you've no one to blame but yourselves.
Labour will no doubt dismiss Chris' views as a member of the .
Key's message was simple: “It doesn't matter where you were born, or what you parents did: you can and should aspire to a better life. National has no intention of molly-coddling you. Unlike Labour, we don't regard you as suitable cases for treatment – but as sovereign individuals. What does that mean? It means you must take responsibility for your failures, but, equally, you have the right to enjoy the full fruits of your successes. National isn't offering to carry you – you're not children. But, we are offering to clear away all unnecessary obstacles from your path. Labour needs you as weak and pathetic victims; desperate for, and dependent on, the state's largesse. National says: ‘Stand up. Be strong. Make your own future!'”
It was a potent message. Because Key was offering working-class Kiwis nothing less than the opportunity to stand alongside National's rich and powerful supporters and be counted among the “real” New Zealanders. These are the New Zealanders don't rely on other people's taxes to pay their bills. The New Zealanders who try, fail, try again – and succeed. The New Zealanders who believe that with guts and determination they, and just about anybody, can and will – “make it”
If you believed in these things, then you could stand among John's people. If you didn't – you couldn't.
If you rejected the values of rugged individualism. If you placed your in the largesse of the state. If you looked upon the labour and laughter of ordinary people with “cold dead alien eyes”, and regarded them as “suitable cases for treatment”, then you weren't one of “us”, you were one of “them”. Something odd. Something foreign. Something unconnected. Something incapable of attracting more than 30 percent of the popular vote. Something from somewhere else.
Auslander.
can see that term catching on.

Comments (43)

Login to comment or vote

Add a Comment