Yes, we’re now in a fully fledged, open, brazen plutocracy, where the wealthy govern. Many of us are aware that this has long been the case, but the difference now, is that it’s becoming much more visible. That doesn’t mean we have no power. It means we have to get real about how power operates under a plutocracy, as opposed to a democracy – and resist accordingly.
It’s now common knowledge that global and domestic wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, corporations wield more power than nations, and have more democratic weight than citizens. In a world where profit often outweighs people and planet, resistance can at times seem overwhelming and futile. This week, George Monbiot released a scathing situation report of the matter, outlining what many of us have been discussing for years now in a succinct and powerful statement: The billionaires have stepped out of the shadows. They are no longer governing from the back rooms, but brazenly from the front, and the age of plutocracy – where the world is governed by the wealthy – is well and truly upon us.
Interestingly, what Monbiot outlines here as the solution, is pretty much tino rangatiratanga. Community level (hapū level) self-determination, and as I discussed in my previous post – hyper-localised economies, including non-monetary economies.
This is all important, dare I say crucial work right now. The Age of Capitalist Empire is fast spinning out of control, with new crises appearing more frequently. In the inevitable mega-crash, those who have practiced their self-determination and prepared their economic safety nets, will fare the best.
In addition to harm mitigation, however, we also have economic tools to fight back. Today we’re going to look at those tools, and then consider how that might work for New Zealand’s own plutocracy of business interests behind the current government.
Understanding Economic Resistance
History shows us that economic resistance—through boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS)—has been a powerful tool for oppressed groups to challenge the status quo and reclaim agency. These strategies disrupt the economic foundations of the wealthy elite who dominate political and social systems.
Economic resistance is not new. From the Montgomery Bus Boycott that ignited the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., to the international boycott of apartheid South Africa, communities have long understood the power of the dollar. By strategically withholding economic support, resistance movements have hit oppressive systems at their most vulnerable point: their profit margins.
The effectiveness of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions is evident in the fear they provoke among corporations and plutocrats. They understand that the collective power of consumers, investors, and communities can dismantle economic empires. Our choices—where we spend, where we invest, and who we support—shape the world we live in.
The most well known economic resistance movement today has to be the BDS movement against Israel, initiated in 2005, which aims to pressure Israel to comply with international law, end their genocide, deoccupy Palestine and respect Palestinian rights. Its impact has been multifaceted:
According to a UN report, BDS was a key factor behind a 46% drop in foreign direct investment into Israel in 2014 compared to 2013. The World Bank partially attributed a 24% drop in Palestinian imports from Israel to the boycott. Reports by the Israeli government and the Rand Corporation have predicted that BDS could cost the Israeli economy billions of dollars. It has caused Starbucks to close branches and although it is not on the official BDS list, voluntary BDS in Malaysia led to USD 15.1 million over the last six months of 2024. Globally, Starbucks sales have decreased for four consecutive quarters, with a worldwide profit loss of 23% in 2023.
McDonalds is on the official list and took the unusual step of admitting that the BDS movement has delivered a “meaningful hit to business”, having lost over $7billion dollars in revenue.
Standing Rock
The Standing Rock Lakota Dakota Nakota Nation’s resistance campaignagainst the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a poignant example of economic resistance.
Inspired by BDS strategies, the Standing Rock campaign launched divestment campaigns targeting banks, insurance agencies and corporations from funding and insuring the DAPL. These efforts led institutions like the City of Seattle to withdraw $3 billion in investments from banks financing the pipeline, with Los Angeles and Philadelphia soon following, showcasing the power of economic pressure in environmental and Indigenous rights advocacy.
Petrobras and Statoil
Here in Aotearoa, iwi and public opposition to oil and gas has resulted in widespread campaigns which have included procedural resistance (eg opposing and holding up every single consent application, derailing every public gathering, and disrupting every single step of the process possible – as our Apanui relations call it – the “mosquito strategy”), and approach which blew out project costs and contributed to the worst reported loss for 13 years for Petrobras. Eventually both Petrobras and Statoil handed back their exploration permits to opt for less troublesome sites.
It’s important to note that the New Zealand government makes significant money just out of the exploration permit process, charging per square kilometer, and while this government has lifted the offshore drilling ban, courting oil and gas back, both the Green Party and Te Paati Māori have recently pledged to reinstating the ban and placing every barrier possible in front of corporations both from the current opposition benches and in any potential future government.
Economic Resistance to the Current New Zealand Government
As has been noted, numerous times, New Zealand is now thoroughly in the grasp of the global far-right. Corporate interests both here and overseas bankrolled the most far-right government in living history, and their orders were clear: remove the barriers to extraction, and entrench neoliberal, corporate power. Their pup David Seymour has wasted no time, and the coalition agreement upon which this government was formed, was pretty much a shopping list of deregulation.
It bears restating: donors do not just donate money then sit back and let parties do what they want. Donations come with access. They come with private meetings, dinner parties, and MPs on quickdial who will pick up the phone.
So who are the corporations that are behind this government? Well thankfully this information is very easy to find out. The New Zealand elections site lists the donors for each political party.
And what can these sheets tell us about the major donors to this government. Well we can look at that a number of ways, but probably the simplest way is to look at who has donated the most. Unsurprisingly, the top of that list are associated to each other, and the Atlas Network. Property developers dominate the top 10 list, including separated wife of property developer Alan Gibbs, Dame Jenny Gibbs. The Gibbs family (who include chair of the Atlas Network Debbi Gibbs) have long been ACT supporters and donors. Alan Gibbs is a major stakeholder in the Auckland Viaduct, along with Mark Wyborn and Trevor Farmer, who also feature highly on the list.
The Huljich family feature quite highly as well, donating $100k each to National and ACT.
We have Nick Mowbray, owner of Zuru Toys, donating $150k to ACT alone. Seeing children as a profit source might be why he’s ok with how David Seymour has downgraded school lunches:
Nick is also quite vocal about his opposition to wealth tax and welfare expenditure, but of course it’s the healthy school lunch advocates who are whiny losers with their hands out.
The top two donors though, are of particular interest.
The largest single party donor is Warren Lewis, who donated $500k to the National Party. Warren is in the building solutions company, owning FMI building innovations, who produce materials (glass and prefab) and accessories for the building industry.
The largest cross-party donor for this coalition is billionaire Graeme Hart. Graeme owns Walter and Wild, a holding company specialising in New Zealand food brands including Alfa One, Aunties, Aunt Betty’s, Greggs, Hansells, Hubbards, I Love, Thriftee, Teza, F. Whitlock & Sons and Vitafresh.
Now, of course, given that Graeme Hart has underwritten the coalition of chaos you could understand not wanting to chow down on a bowl of Hubbards muesli, and I certainly don’t want to give them even one penny – but an impactful consumer boycott strategy needs to be coordinated, strategic and at scale in order to be effective. Certainly a coordinated boycott movement deserves a discussion – but let’s not forget the power of the Māori economy. By that, I don’t mean the Māori economy of every day workers – I mean the Māori corporate economy. Graeme Hart also owns Carter Holt Harvey, and it’s subsidiaries Carters Building Supplies, Futurebuild, Shadowclad, Ecoply, Laserframe, Pinex, and Handiply. Iwi holdings companies, and corporations are major players in the New Zealand economy, and in particular, in the housing and building sectors. The Māori economy is estimated to be in the region of $70billionNZD, and is growing faster than the New Zealand economy. While construction growth in New Zealand has slowed since mid-2022 due to cost pressures and economic constraints – the share of Māori owned construction businesses, along with Māori housing initiatives and projects, have increased.
Arguably the most powerful economic message we could send, may well be through our hapū, to our iwi corporates, to step up and protect Te Tiriti through our economic portfolios and partnerships. It simply wasn’t good enough that the Māori corporate sector stood by and conducted business as usual while working class Māori, up and down the nation, marched in support of te Tiriti. Maybe its time our own corporates stop hiding in the shadows, picked up the damn teatowel, and got with the kaupapa.
Economic resistance has two faces, preparing anti-capitalist safety nets for your community with alternative economies, and consciously using your dollar to strike back at the system. This week (28Feb) another wave will take place…
and as Steven King puts it:
The plutocrats do not care about tikanga. They don’t even care about fairness or democracy. They don’t care about the non-wealthy and frankly we should not care for the plutocrats either. But if you want to send them a message, then that is the language they understand.
