Happy Birthday NZ Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is 99 years old today. It’s the oldest political party in New Zealand. The short video above was posted by the party, and gives its history from its own perspective. Even so, there’s nothing in the video that’s not true.

The video talks about some of the highlights of Labour’s terms in government, and deals head on with the excesses of Roger Douglas, who the modern Labour Party rejects, along with his neo-conservative ideology. It was probably the lowest point for any Labour Government.

I imagine our friends on the other side may quibble over how some matters are presented, but they wouldn’t be much use as political adversaries if they agreed on everything—including on how bad they’ve been in the past.

Still, there are plenty of New Zealanders—and not just Labour supporters—who think that the current National/Act government is pretty bad. I’m one of them, of course. In some ways, though, National these days absolutely is better than in the past (like not being as divisive as they were in Muldoon’s years).

There are no guarantees in politics, and today’s hero can be tomorrow’s zero. Labour will lead government again, and, in time, they’ll be replaced. It’s a never-ending cycle. The video above also shows that.

So, Happy Birthday, New Zealand Labour Party—and here’s to your 100th next year.