New Zealand Labour-aligned Daily Blog posts pro-war, anti-China tirade
By
John Braddock
20 July 2018
The Daily Blog, an on-line commentary site funded by several New Zealand trade unions, has posted a reactionary article fomenting anti-Chinese xenophobia and endorsing stepped-up preparations for a US-led war.
The self-styled “left-wing” blog is a support base for the Labour-NZ First-Green Party government. Edited by Martyn Bradbury, a former student newspaper editor and “alternative” media figure, it provides a forum for a layer of commentators, academics, trade union officials and pseudo-left activists. Bradbury has had affiliations with the Maori nationalist Mana Party and tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom’s Internet Party.
On July 8, Bradbury posted a commentary following Defence Minister Ron Mark’s appearance on TV1’s “Q+A” program. Mark, a leader of the anti-immigrant NZ First Party and former soldier, was interviewed about the Labour-led government’s Strategic Defence Policy Statement, released two days earlier.
The statement explicitly targets China and Russia as principal global “threats.” It represents a sharp shift by the ruling elite, echoing the Trump administration’s demand for increased military preparations for looming inter-imperialist conflicts.
The document demands expanded measures to protect New Zealand’s “national security.” These include, externally, “engaging in targeted interventions offshore to protect New Zealand’s interests,” particularly in the Pacific, and internally, preventing “activities aimed at undermining or overturning Government institutions, principles and values”—a clear warning to the increasingly restive working class.
Mark used his television appearance to confirm a $NZ2.3 billion purchase…