The Labour-led government’s focus on the Pike River campaign, to retrieve the bodies of the 29 miners, has become an issue of increasing political significant in New Zealand. In this guest blog, John Moore argues that the appropriation of the #standwithpike campaign by both the Labour and New Zealand First governing parties is an example of an increasing trend of mainstream political leaders embracing the new anti-Establishment zeitgeist. New Zealand politicians are very aware of how the Pike River mining disaster has taken on a symbolic value of representing the ugly face of “peak capitalism”, and of the general failures of “neo-liberalism”.
Pike River and “peak capitalism”
The Pike River mining disaster has taken on significant political symbolic value. Increasingly the deaths of the Pike 29 are linked to the unfettered nature of deregulated capitalism in New Zealand, as well as the sense that governments of both the centre-left and centre-right have capitulated to “one percent” corporate interests over the interest of the “99 percent” general working population.
The efforts to recover the bodies of the miners at Pike River has taken on added significance due to the concerted efforts by the previous government to prevent the bringing to justice of any of the individuals seen as responsible for the mining disaster. A sense of powerlessness by the families of the victims of the mining disaster has been transformed into a dignified and relentless campaign to exhume the bodies of their loved ones. And the political nature of this campaign has become heightened, with the public perception that the previous government, along with government bureaucrats, company bosses and perhaps even the main unions involved, have left the families and community of Pike River high and dry.
Appropriating the anti-Establishment zeitgeist
Whereas the previous National-led regime dug its heals in with its intransigent position on the recovery of the bodies of the 29 Pike River miners, the new government has astutely aligned itself with the recovery campaign in the hope of maximizing political capital by being seen to side with working families against perceived vested interests.
The large levels of support for the efforts to recover the Pike River bodies is an expression of growing anti-Establishment sentiments in New Zealand. These anti-Establishment sentiments link an economic and political elite with the failures of New Zealand’s capitalist system to deliver prosperity for all. It is no surprise then that the #standwithpike campaign has taken on a greater significance than that of just heartfelt empathy from the wider population for the Pike River families and community. And the fact that both Labour and New Zealand First have aligned themselves with this campaign is symptomatic of mainstream parties and political leaders seeing the need to channel the anti-establishment zeitgeist.
Justice for the Pike 29
The efforts to recover the bodies of the Pike 29 has been framed by the families and their supporters as a campaign for justice for the miners killed in this tragic event. And with Labour and New Zealand First championing this campaign for justice, we can expect heightened and renewed levels of interest in the circumstances and events that led to this human-made disaster.
The danger for the new government is that their alignment with, as well as attempts at managing, the Pike 29 campaign could spiral out of their control. So far, the anger and grieve felt by the families and wider community over the Pike River deaths has been confined within a focussed campaign on re-entry into the mine. However, the Pike River campaign could take on added symbolic value, with calls for greater systemic and structural change in light of a perceived link between “peak capitalism” and the lack of concerns for the lives and material conditions of working people in New Zealand.
Politicians, the media and political commentators are increasingly highlighting and articulating the growing levels of public discontent with New Zealand’s capitalist system. The risk for the new government, with its cautious embrace of anti-Establishment feelings, is that a certain synergy could occur where the anger and grieve of the Pike River disaster could further align with heightened levels of political discontent. Could we therefore see a future campaign for jailing the bosses, bureaucrats and politicians who are seen as responsible for this disaster? And could a wider anti-Establishment campaign that calls for widespread structural and systemic change, take-off?
