It’s funny cos I remember following the whole Britpop brouhaha through two month old copies (one month if you were willing to pay three times the face price for ‘Airfreighted’) in the nineties. I am told (as in, much much later because at the time I was none the wiser) that it was past it’s prime by the 90s and they were even accused of drumming up the whole ‘Oasis vs Blur’ thing. I also heard that they’d missed the Madchester and acid house until it was well and truly happening.
Like I say, it was not something i was aware of in 1997 when I bought the self-proclaimed ‘biggest edition’ celebrating the launch of Oasis’ Be Here Now (on the subject of things being passed their prime) which i still have somewhere.

'Danarati' - people in my crew who are rad as shit

Well said James, well said. You hit on the key issue too - the party needs rejuvination. The best hope for that is Grant Robertson. He represents the new generation of progressive politics in New Zealand and the best hope of uniting the Labour Party.

As well as being time for Grant (and you) it is also time for Jacinda Adern in my opinion too.

I think there is always a lot made of the left being split by ‘old left’ type issues (workers rights, welfare activism etc) and the ‘new left’, and usually framed as more fashionable ‘identity politics’ and environmental activism. I am not sure how they break along class lines, though I have my theories, I find the split unusual.

Caring about identity politics (or ‘civil rights’ as I prefer to call it, because at its core it is what it is) and the rights of workers and the poorest should be part of the same impulse – the desire to live as part of a fair and equitable community.

It is a bit concerning, as you point out, how few activists of New Zealand’s progressive political wings were there because I think there’s a huge amount of importance in both.

In my opinion, the fence shouldn't be between civil rights and workers welfare, but between how you answer the question: Does society serve the economy or does the economy serve society and which do you live in?