“THE FEAST OF FOOLS: A TANIWHA DECONSTRUCTS THE RIGHT’S CIVIL WAR” - 6 December 2025

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Good evening Aotearoa,

They are eating themselves alive—and New Zealand is paying the price.

This is not a battle between heroes and villains. This is a putrefaction. Nicola Willis is a neoliberal architect complicit in austerity and poverty. Fran O’Sullivan is the cheerleader of capital, shielding the powerful while feigning scrutiny. The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is a foreign-funded hit squad. And the right-wing factions—Willis, Seymour, Peters, Hooton’s various masters—are locked in a war for control that masks their shared contempt for ordinary people.

The Real Story:

They all want the same savage brutality. They differ only on the pace and the messenger.

This essay exposes the rot beneath the spectacle.

NICOLA WILLIS: THE SMILING AUSTERITY ARCHITECT

Fran O’Sullivan’s article reads as misdirection. Yes, the Taxpayers’ Union is bankrolled by tobacco and foreign ideologues. But Willis is not the victim here. She is their accomplice.

The Record of Cruelty

Willis promised to lift 80,000 children out of poverty by 2028, but as 1News reported, Treasury forecasts now show she will miss all three targets badly. After-housing-costs poverty is projected to hit 18.4% by 2029, nearly double the 10% target. Yet Willis sits with a $9.3 billion deficit and continues to slash.

The Ledger of Destruction:

• Public sector: Over 10,000 jobs have been slashed from the public service.
• Māori Development: The Ministry of Māori Development (Te Puni Kōkiri) was forced to axe 38 roles, directly erasing Māori employment.
• Housing: The PSA revealed that Kāinga Ora’s capacity was devastated, with teams dedicated to Māori housing halved.
• The Payout: While services burned, Willis delivered a $2.9 billion handout to landlords and a $6.6 billion “investment boost” for business.

The Lie: Willis claims the tax cuts “don’t add up”? Wrong. They add up perfectly—for the wealthy. Analysis by Jack Tame on Q+A exposed that three times as many households were made worse off by her 2024 Budget than received the maximum promised cut.

Willis’s Fiscal Fakery

O’Sullivan praises Willis for “fiscal discipline”—but the data shreds this narrative. As RNZ reported, the deficit remains stubbornly high. Willis:

• Broke her surplus promise: The return to surplus has been pushed out to 2029 or beyond, as confirmed by Treasury forecasts.
• Borrowed to fund tax cuts: She borrowed $12 billion to fund $10 billion in tax cuts, a move Labour accurately described as deficit financing masquerading as “fiscal responsibility.”
• Lied about numbers: Before the election, she dismissed economists who questioned her math, calling them “pessimistic,” yet RNZ confirmed those economists were right.

The Core Deception: Willis sells herself as the “adult in the room,” but she is a true believer in the 1991 austerity script. Her “tightness” is ideological, not mathematical. She chose to cut public services instead of raising capital gains tax—the very choice that puts children into poverty.

FRAN O’SULLIVAN: THE BOUGHT SCRIBE

O’Sullivan’s article is propaganda with a byline. She asks “Who is bankrolling the push?” while simultaneously being bankrolled by the same neoliberal ecosystem she claims to critique.

The Conflicts O’Sullivan Doesn’t Disclose

O’Sullivan lists her title as “Head of Business, NZME.” She omits her role as Managing Director of NZ Inc., a “business intelligence firm” helping corporates engage with China. She is the Co-chair of the China Business Summit and sits on the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council, a trade forum run by global elites.

The Cui Bono: O’Sullivan profits from business-friendly government. Austerity cuts regulation and labour standards—music to corporate ears. Her scam is dialectical misdirection: by critiquing the Taxpayers’ Union’s “dark money,” she positions herself as the referee rather than the player.

The Red Flag: O’Sullivan’s piece quotes Ruth Richardson with reverence, citing her “fiscal warrior” credentials. This is not critique. This is alignment.

THE TAXPAYERS’ UNION & ATLAS NETWORK: FOREIGN AGENTS WITH A CAUSE

O’Sullivan is correct on one point: the Taxpayers’ Union is bankrolled by opaque international sources. But this is not a scandal—it’s the entire business model of neoliberal capture.

The Verified Money Trail

The NZTU has received grants from British American Tobacco (BAT) and lobbies against tobacco tax increases, even as smoking drives disease among Māori. Jordan Williams, the NZTU’s executive director, admitted this connection in an interview with RNZ.

Furthermore, the PSA has documented that the NZTU is a member of the Atlas Network, a US-based ideological consortium bankrolled by right-wing foundations. Training, seed money, and policy templates flow from Washington through Atlas to the NZTU.

The Symptom: Casey Costello, a former NZTU board member, is now Associate Minister of Health—responsible for tobacco policy. The tobacco industry funds the NZTU; the NZTU funds politicians; politicians deregulate tobacco.

Why Is the Right “Eating Itself”?

Here lies the darkest truth: they’re not eating each other. They’re dividing the spoils.

The NZTU wants faster, deeper cuts. Willis wants measured austerity. Seymour (ACT) wants privatization. Peters wants economic nationalism. But all of them agree on one thing: the state must shrink, the market must expand, and the poor must pay.

Ruth Richardson, the architect of 1991’s “Mother of All Budgets,” which doubled child poverty, is now chair of the NZTU. She is publicly pushing Willis to go further. Willis resists—not on principle, but on political optics.

MATTHEW HOOTON: THE MERCENARY WORDSMITH

O’Sullivan doesn’t mention Hooton by name—she quotes him obliquely—but Hooton is the choreographer of this putrefaction. As The Pāepae investigated, Hooton is a PR consultant who leverages his media platforms to amplify his clients’ interests.

The Question: Is Hooton working for ACT (Seymour), for Willis/Bishop factions within National, or for the Taxpayers’ Union? The answer: Yes. Hooton is a political mercenary. His commentary always serves a paying client. He launders dark money through “opinion” columns, and his financial backers remain undisclosed.

THE HUMAN COST: QUANTIFYING THE MĀORI DEVASTATION

While O’Sullivan writes columns, and Willis balances spreadsheets, and Hooton sharpens his rhetorical knives—whānau are dying.

• Unemployment: As Labour highlighted, Māori unemployment has surged to 9.7%.
• Public Sector: Waatea News confirmed that public sector cuts have reached 10,000, disproportionately affecting Māori roles.
• Poverty: Child poverty targets are being missed, with 1News reporting that material hardship is rising for Māori and Pasifika children.

This is not collateral damage. This is the intended outcome. Austerity is a choice. Every deficit cut is a choice to fund it through welfare cuts, public sector cuts, and reduced services—rather than through capital gains tax or wealth tax.

The Conclusion: The question is not: Who is bankrolling the push to dump Willis?

The question is: Why does every faction agree that children should go hungry to pay for business tax breaks?

The answer: Because they all serve the same master—capital. And capital has no conscience.

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Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern Fighting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right