State (capture) of the Nation: spin, lies and antimony

Anneleise Hall

The NZ government is moving fast to remake NZ's laws to enshrine corporate immunity as NZ sits on the biggest gold strike in a century and a stockpile of the most important mineral you've never heard of. Let's take a look at the way things are shaping up for 2025.

ACT Leader David Seymour was the Sultan of Spin, riffing on the adulation of party faithful in his State of the Nation Address in Õrākei on Friday.

His Canadian Atlas Network think tank apprenticeship, gifted Epsom electorate seat, and millions of dollars of corporate and private donations have finally paid off.

He's seized a heap of power, created his own ministry to remake NZ in a radical libertarian image and is poised to become Deputy Prime Minister.

The base was elated.

Seymour warmed up gushing about his great ACT MPs, after effusively thanking Brooke Van Velden for her introduction. She's his MVP, just a spring chicken and got "wait times down for new passports and Citizenships." Brooke is also a legend for tackling those woke workplace safety laws.

Former gun lobby head Nicole McKee got a hat tip for speeding up the court system, rewriting the entire Arms Act 'to make New Zealand safer', and reforming anti-money laundering laws...

Federated Farmers' former president now Minister Andrew Hoggard is apparently 'dealing to Significant Natural Areas that erode farmers’ property rights and correcting the naïve treatment of methane that punishes the whole country'.

Last June Hoggard told attendees at an ACT 'Change Makers' rally "Significant Natural Areas are parts of your land the council looks at and says “that looks pretty, you’re going to lose your property rights over that”.

"Somone once said you can fill a town hall to stop anything in this country, but you can’t fill a telephone box to get something started. In steps Simon Court who, with Chris Bishop, is designing new resource management laws based on property rights. That’s an ACT policy designed to unleash the latent wealth our country has by letting people develop and use the property they own." - David Seymour

Peppered in amongst 3000 odd words of mostly ideological mythology and propaganda were some stronger signals of the direction we can expect this year from the Government.

"We need to think carefully about three areas of government activity: spending, owning, and regulating. There is nothing the government does that doesn’t come down to one of those three things," Seymour said

Privatisations looming

Seymour, who is also an Associate Minister of Finance, signalled privatisations are coming and the government may seek to move assets off the books.

Seymour told the crowd the government should consider why it owns an asset, and whether the benefits to citizens outweigh the costs to taxpayers of owning it.

At the speech's conclusion Seymour summarised:

"We need to get past squeamishness about privatisation and ask a simple question: if we want to be a first world country, then are we making the best use of the government’s half a trillion dollars’ plus worth of assets?"

Talk of privatisation has set off alarm bells, with the Public Service Association publishing a missive Saturday calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to rule out privatisations, saying it would cause inequity and loss of services.

"This will result in only those who can pay being able to access adequate health care and other vital services," the PSA said.

Seymour's speech painted the picture of an economic doomscape, where ACT would be doing the country a big favour taking all the burgeoning future social and environmental debt off everyone's hands by selling everything off, never fixing or taking responsibility for anything and leaving people to fend for themselves; like they cease to exist in a libertarian world if you don't make policy for or measure them.

In Seymour's world there are 'two tribes'.

"ACT people are Change Makers; we carry the pioneering spirit in our hearts," he said.

"Then there’s the other tribe – people building a Majority for Mediocrity. They would love nothing more than to go into lockdown again, make some more sourdough, and worry about the billions in debt another day."

Defence spending could double

While Seymour wants to slash more public services he's indicating the government may be pressured into a much more generous attitude towards defence, sowing seeds for a sympathetic case to drop an additional $3.2 billion into the defence budget to align with US demands.

"Doubling defense would cost another $3.2 billion per year, effectively paying more for what we already have. We may face pressure to do just that thanks to US foreign policy," he said.

The focus of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's state-of-the-nation speech a day earlier had been on pursuing growth at all costs, drawing scepticism from critics.

Luxon wants to see mining "play a much bigger role in the New Zealand economy", eyeing the Australian mining industry. He also wants to see a renewed focus on tourism.

Meanwhile the deep recession engineered by Nicola Willis using the Mont Pelerin playbook saw New Zealand take the biggest economic hit of the developed world in 2024.

The recent six-month downturn was the country's worst economic performance since 1991...

The Corporatocracy is here.

"I used to run an airline"

This is all part of an unfolding story.

On the back of the intensity of the pandemic, supply disruptions, global recession and high inflation, the public mood for change was evident in the 2023 general election in Aotearoa. The incumbent Labour Government was voted out after two turbulent terms and we saw the biggest influx of donor money into a New Zealand election in the country's history.

"In just the past three years, National has raised a total of $16.5m – not far off the $19m it raised in the previous nine years, showing it’s increasingly attracting more money. Meanwhile, the Act Party raised $4.26m and NZ First brought in $1.88m," a newsroom story reported.

National ultimately received 38.06% of the vote, setting its leader Christopher Luxon the task of having to negotiate an arrangement with both with ACT (8.64%) and NZ First (6.08%) to form a Government. Former Air NZ CEO Luxon, entered Parliament in 2020 after being parachuted into the safe seat of Botany. Fast tracked to leader just a year later, he was now a Prime Minister-in-waiting. ACT leader David Seymour and veteran NZ First leader Winston Peters, who had a feisty history, openly took digs at each other other during the campaign.

“David Seymour reminds me of a chihuahua at the front gate barking at every cat, human being or fellow dog that passes by.” – Winston Peters, August 2017

Luxon bragged about what a great negotiator he was going in to talks:

"I've done a lot mergers and acquisitions and I've done a lot of negotiations, and getting the chemistry, getting the relationship right is the platform and foundation for then being able to work your way through the transactional issues," he said.

The Coalition Agreement

After 40 days, and growing nationwide derision towards Luxon, the three Party leaders emerged from their lengthy and fractious haggling. The nation was presented with a "Coalition Agreement" in two parts, an agreement between National and Act and a separate agreement from New Zealand First.

"David Seymour spoke of a “reservoir of trust and belief” between the three leaders and managed to shoehorn his own party slogan, promising “a government of real change”. This prompted a pressed-lip smile/grimace from Luxon." Joel MacManus, Spinoff

Peters was feisty at the press conference, sparring with reporters, but Seymour was chipper. Seymour would job share the deputy prime ministership with Peters, had secured the ministerial and other roles for himself and key operatives he wanted and had secured the policy bottom lines for his donors.

It's becoming clearer that during that 40 days and 40 nights of neoliberal alchemy Seymour had the right chemistry and Luxon was acquired and merged with ACT. Seymour got a green light for his entire radical libertarian policy platform to remake NZ, and implement permanent legal and structural changes to Aotearoa's existing decision making and constitutional framework that were not put to the electorate.

Luxon also agreed to let libertarian think tank consultants rewrite the entire education system appointed the former head of the gun lobby as Minister to rewrite gun regulations, appointed a former farming head to rewrite environmental protections and, lets face it this was probably no stretch for National, agreed to sell off assets, dismantle the infrastructure of the welfare state and sacrifice public good services that don't make a profit.

A hidden agenda

A core piece underlying Seymour's agenda is the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill which aims to prevent future governments from regulating against the right of businesses to make a profit, even if their activity is adverse to iwi, wider human rights or the environment. Currently at the pre-bill consultation phase, which attracted 23,000 submissions, it would erase legal pathways for challenges to the types of things permitted by Seymour's Regulatory Authority. It eliminates any reference to Te Tiriti. Effectively the intention is to enshrine "freedom" for the biggest players to exercise their "property rights" to the exclusion of all other considerations with no avenue of recourse.

The passage of this bill is ensured under the Coalition Agreement. ACT has been trying to pass a version of this bill for two decades.

Seymour's Ministerial roles, and brand new made up Ministry of Regulation, have also been a blank cheque to seize unchecked power within the Government to rewrite the operating system of checks and balances and place ideologically sympathetic appointees to expert hatchet roles.

Luxon apparently did have one line in the sand, declining to pass ACT's Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill this time round. But it's really for show with the other concessions effectively doing the same legislative job, garnished with a big firehose of racism to appease the Hobson's Pledge donors, along with their former director Casey Costello getting a ministerial role.

By transferring the scrutiny of all new legislation from treasury to his Ministry of Regulation the Eye of Seymour will ensure other key laws enshrine free unaccountable capitalist access to 'our little gold mine of a country'. The Resource Management Act and the Foreign Investors Act are being rewritten now.

ACT got just 8.64% of the vote.

Meanwhile Peters would take the first turn at Deputy PM, pick up the Foreign Minister portfolio, get a wad of cash for a regional development fund, score a couple more ministers, and gain populist wins for tobacco companies and racists.

Under the terms of the Coalition Agreement deals, all three parties are obliged to support each others’ initiatives, which run into the hundreds.

"One day our new Government will be judged. It could be viewed as midwife to another reborn New Zealand, stronger and freer again. Or, it could turn out to be spectator to ongoing decline until another government takes us somewhere else entirely. As a wise man once said, you get one shot, one opportunity. New Zealanders are ready for change, and if we don’t take care of their concerns, someone else will." - David Seymour, State of the Nation 2024

Goodbye Freddy

While David Seymour was getting busy plotting the downfall of barriers to unfettered corporate ownership and exploitation it was business time for New Zealand First's Shane Jones.

Not his first rodeo as a minister, he was anointed Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Regional Development Minister, Resources Minister, Associate Minister of Finance, and Associate Minister for Energy.

It became clear very quickly through it's controversial Fast Track legislation and anti-democratic process, the new coalition government intended to ignore public, environmental and climate considerations - and their own experts - to reignite oil, gas and mining activity.

It didn't take long for Jones to give the appearance of impropriety with secret meetings and conflicts of interest. A newsroom story saw former West Coast Tasman electorate MP Damien O'Connor claim the mining companies had rigged the local election and basically bought the seat.

Public backlash to reviving and accelerating extractive industries saw Jones throwing insults at Greenpeace activists. As protests erupted the Government obfuscated conflicts of interests and ignored official advice.

Senior New Zealand First minister Shane Jones has referred to Greenpeace as “blood-sucking vermin”, while Act’s Simon Court has called the group “thugs” whose actions are “anti-humanity”. - NZH

Sitting on a goldmine

"New Zealand gold discoveries worth billions of dollars" announced a January 2024 headline in The Press.

Gold was first discovered in Coromandel in 1852, and, after taking off with the big Otago rush in 1861, Aotearoa's early economy was built on gold. Gold fever attracted people, investment and shipping. Institutions and infrastructure were quickly created to accommodate the mining and prospecting industry, which fast tracked the economy.

"[T]he main engine behind New Zealand’s economy by the early 1860s was gold. Dunedin in particular boomed on the back of the precious metal. Many trading banks were established or set up branches around the goldfields, and between 1861 and 1870 gold made up more than half New Zealand’s total exports." - Reserve Bank

Meanwhile in 2024 Minerals West Coast manager Patrick Phelps said the gold industry was working on multibillion-dollar projects that are many years in the making.

“I do think we are possibly on the precipice of quite a substantial amount of mining,” he says.

"Mining companies are now proceeding with plans and attracting investment with more certainty and confidence. One of the largest areas of uncertainty that’s been removed has been the prospect of the no new mines on conservation land - that’s gone now.”

The Government's first list of Fast Track projects for consideration, bypassing usual regulatory standards and scrutiny, included 11 mining projects.

“No-one should underestimate the appetite our Government has for seeing an increase of economic activity in mining,” Minister Shane Jones says.

On the geopolitical radar

Antimony. The biggest deal you've never heard about.

"An Australian mining company predicts that the Reefton area, on the West Coast, could have up to 5 percent of the world's supply of antimony," said a story from RNZ in May 2024.

Siren Gold had discovered large amounts of antimony at it's Reefton site and expects to be mining it within five years.

Antimony is one of the few elements classified as a “critical” or “strategic” mineral by countries including the United States, China, Australia, and Russia, as well as the EU, underscoring its geopolitical value. 

Antimony is a critical component for producing batteries, high-tech and defence products; including armour piercing bullets, night vision goggles, infrared sensors, precision optics, laser sighting, nuclear weapons and production, flame-retardant materials and superhard materials. It is also a toxic, carcinogenic heavy metal that can contaminate soil, water, and air. 

Up to 70% of global antimony comes from China and Russia. The U.S. is wholly reliant on other countries for its critical antimony needs. In September of 2024 China announced restrictions on antimony export sending prices skyrocketing and setting off a scramble to secure supplies.

Yet amid the scramble for these well-known resources, another metal – antimony – has quietly emerged as another keenly contested resource. With China’s recent announcement of export restrictions on this metal, the challenges of balancing supply and demand are intensifying, raising concerns over supply chain vulnerabilities and fuelling a new form of competition among great powers. Lowy Institute (Sep 2024)

According to the RNZ story Siren Gold former managing director Victor Rajasooriar, the Reefton operation could end up being 25 percent of what the Western countries are producing, from just the one site.

"The mine would directly employ about 250 people in the Reefton area, and the antimony alone would generate between $150 million and $200 million per year in revenue, he said."

RNZ reported that the company had a good relationship with the government and had benefited from the coalition's pro-mining approach, reducing red tape.

"They've fast-tracked a few of the projects for us. We are ethical operators, we've run mines before, we do everything right." -Victor Rajasooriar.

The Government however, are not so forthcoming on their relationship with Siren Gold, withholding details of the application under the Official Information Act.

Reefton is not the only place Siren Gold hope to mine antimony.

Siren Gold released a document in September 2024 announcing it had applied for a exploration permit over the historic Endeavour Antimony Mine, located in Marlborough, 120km east of Sam's Creek.

The value of the Reefton assets has already attracted investment.

In November 2024 Siren Gold announced the completed sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Reefton Resources, to Canadian listed company Rua Gold's wholly owned subsidiary, Reefton Acquisition, NASDAQ reported.

According to former Siren CEO Rajasooriar, the vision is to 'consolidate the historical Reefton belt to give it the best chance of bringing the multiple high-grade projects into a central processing hub model.'

The power grab

Over the recent Christmas break the public were dismayed to discover that the Government had surreptitiously pushed through a heap of very consequential bills with very short submission periods, including the pre-consultation for the drafting of Seymour's Regulatory Standards bill.

Public campaigns in response saw record submissions but the government's penchant for ignoring process - and the public - is becoming a feature not a bug.

Among other bills put forward, two were notable for potential impacts on civil liberties that also happen to align with the same programme of authoritarian power aggregation we are seeing from other right wing governments.

Dame Anne Salmond has been doing some holiday reading looking at how global neoliberal power plays are merging with populist attacks on democracy, civil rights, feminism, the environment and climate change. The same patterns are clear in Aotearoa, she says:

"In New Zealand, signs that this convergence is under way include attacks on the judiciary, seeking to undermine the Treaty of Waitangi, hurling abuse at climate protestors and trying to claim the unfettered right for a handful of ministers to sign off mining projects and gas and oil exploration." - Dame Anne Salmond

Alarm bells are being rung about our democracy, about the government making wide ranging, deep and permanent changes to our laws and what we prioritise, with calls from constitutional experts for the government to curb increasingly anti-democratic excesses.

The world power balance is changing fast and we can no longer take our democracy here for granted.

If we want Aotearoa to remain a Te Tiriti based democracy, that has public services and protects human and environmental rights, this is the year we have to fight for it.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Note: Following reader feedback I have amended copy to clarify that the Regulatory Standards Bill is still in the pre-Bill consultation phase. I added an intro on Mon 27 (and have tweaked a couple of typos) as this analysis piece has become a bit more newsworthy with the cycle, and in that context I'd 'buried the lede'. However when I first published that was intentional as I think it's really important to see the planning behind what we are watching with this government. It's too easy to lose the big picture of moving parts with the scattergun barrage of distractions. In this context, in my opinion the Treaty Principles Bill is serving a purpose to distract HUGE amounts of attention and energy so we are firing at the wrong target.

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