Hello everyone and Happy New Year (if I can still say this in late January!)
After a lovely break with family, I am returning to writing as well as preparing some new podcasts. This first commentary of the year is a chance to provide a quick update to all those asking what Rachel and I are doing currently, and then some comments on where things are at in New Zealand, notably the economy and our seeming inability to condemn bad actors overseas.
A lovely few weeks
Lots of people have been kindly messaging and asking how I and the family are doing. Short answer is really well; in fact, having more time together has been a real blessing. Rachel and I are looking to new opportunities this year as both of us have had the chance to reset (mine not so much planned but prepared for, and Rachel’s situation intended and anticipated). We have had our foster daughter with us the first few weeks of January, and this was great. We do respite care, so not full time at this stage until we sort our plans for the year. We have also had loads of family coming to stay, or us travelling to them. So as for many of you - lots of bbqs, drinks, chats, and laughs. I have got back into my running with gusto, so ‘recovering’ somewhat from all the seasonal feasts!!
A big focus for me beyond the holiday has been jobs at home. With a big family has come a big home, and a rather large garden. So many a day has been spent felling trees, re-landscaping, and planting. All this rain has been quite welcome I have to admit. There has also been lots of repairs and upgrades inside, with every door handle replaced, bathrooms painted, wooden surfaces re-oiled, and the list goes on!
When will NZ stand up?
This may appear an odd topic from which to start the year, but New Zealand’s ongoing and seeming inability to call our terrorist groups and bad actors has been very much on my mind. The issue has arisen again since the absolutely horrific attacks in Israel on October 7th last year, but has frequently been on my mind over the years as those who have followed my speeches will know.
These recent barbaric attacks in Israel were undertaken by the radical Islamist group Hamas and in my mind there is absolutely no ambiguity as to their terrorist designation. Despite this, governments over the years seem unable to make this designation official. The same is true with the likes of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). When in Parliament, I made the call several times for these three groups to be designated terror groups. But there was just silence. I should add, this is not a partisan issue insofar as successive governments have failed to take this clear and obvious step.
There are some, in New Zealand and beyond, who try and make a distinction between these groups’ military and political wings. This is a fabricated nonsense and a distinction not observed by these groups when one looks at their actions and proclamations. Calls for such a distinction only seeks to encourage the naive while allowing a continuation of their insidious violent agenda within Western societies in particular.
Most of our allies have designated the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah. Put simply, if they have, then why not New Zealand when faced with such overwhelming evidence? It is a nonsense to suggest New Zealand knows more than these countries. Much of our intelligence is from our allies in the first place! Sadly, the IRGC - responsible for the ongoing violence against women and others in Iran - have proven a harder group to designate in many countries. That they are currently directly involved with supply the likes of the Houthi, who New Zealand is now actively fighting, should make things easier. I am not holding my breath!
A key reason for such a designation is for security here in New Zealand. It is not simply a symbolic gesture for the world stage. A designation makes it clear to those in New Zealand that supporting such a group, in any way, is unacceptable.
Headwinds
Only a short comment, and one most will know or be feeling already - but we are heading into some very tough economic headwinds. Talking to various people in the trades, it is clear demand is slowing, with many noting that there is no new work after their current jobs. Suppliers are seeing a marked slow down, as too those in logistics and transport. When you consider the state of the economy left by the outgoing government, the list of promises such as tax cuts by in the incoming, and then global factors such as a dramatic slowdown in China - including a increasingly fragile banking sector - there is reason for alarm and caution.
I look forward to writing again soon. As always, let me know your own thoughts and feedback. Feel free to let me know topics or issues you want me to address as well.
Cheers, Simon
Great to read a post from you again. So agree with your disappointment at nz reluctance to call out Hamas et al for who and what they are. Nz seems to have lost its moral compass and embraced a victim oppressor mindset in so many ways and this is clearly not conducive to building a healthy, united society. The Christchurch call is empty rhetoric when we can't bring ourselves to condemn the evil that took place on Oct 7th and those with a clearly stated intent to do it again and again! Who was it who said that the greater evil is when good men stand by and say nothing in the face of evil.
Thanks Simon.
Incredible to think that those in the peaceful protest outside the beehive were called terrorists by Ardern and her followers, and freedom of speech was described as ‘a weapon of war’ by Ardern during a speech to the UN, and yet the HAMAS attack on unarmed civilians, raping, torturing and murdering them simply because of their ethnicity and religion, seems to be acceptable to those same politicians rather than something that can be described as an act of terrorism. How they can sleep at night with views that beggar belief is beyond my comprehension.