imnofox went on The Project to speak to the gang about why fascism ain’t gucci

Jesse: “Welcome back to The Project, where we’re joined by Green MP imnofox. Yesterday, the leader of New Zealand First gave an extremely controversial speech, describing Chinese immigrants as ‘parasites’ and agents of the Chinese government, and extensively quoting Adolf Hitler, leader of the German Nazi Party, if you recall. Most parties have described this speech as deplorable and disgusting, while United Future instead has excused the speech, saying they ‘believe that all politicians are working in good faith to forge a better New Zealand for all’. What’s your reaction, imnofox?”

imnofox: “Like most New Zealanders, I was disgusted to hear this speech, straight out of Adolf Hitler’s mouth, just targeting Chinese New Zealanders instead of Jews. That speech not only plagiarized the architect of the Holocaust, but dehumanised and denigrated Chinese immigrants, calling them parasites, agents of the Chinese government, snakes and criminals. It was absolutely disgusting, absolutely racist, and absolutely outdated. I really do condemn this speech, and apologise that a member of our parliament would say such deplorable things about valued New Zealanders.”

Kanoa: “What do you think about the reaction of other political parties?”

imnofox: “Well, kudos to National, Labour, and TOP for standing up against this outright bigotry, who immediately joined me in condemning that disgraceful speech. On the other hand, as you mentioned, United Future have totally excused the speech, endorsing Winston_Wilhelmus in the Aoraki race against all reason. That's a party that claims to believe in liberalism, tolerance, and open immigration. And yet here they are endorsing a man who has called for closed border, described Chinese immigrants as parasites. United Future have some explaining to do.”

Jesse: “You've also criticised the ACT Party in this vein.”

imnofox: “Yup, against all rhyme and reason, the libertarian neoliberal party ACT, supposedly one of the most immigrant friendly parties (until they enter the workforce, that is) has endorsed candidates from New Zealand First, a national-conservative crypto-fascist populist party. How can you claim to be a liberal party after endorsing New Zealand First, especially after that literal Nazi speech. I've called on ACT to withdraw their endorsements of these New Zealand First candidates, and they've ignored me. Prioritising political games over the human rights of immigrants. Unprincipled and unworthy of our parliament.”

Kanoa: “You’ve described Winston Wilhelmus as a crypto-fascist.”

imnofox: “Well that’s what he is, a crypto-fascist, except his admiration for fascist leaders and dictators is little secret. He couldn’t stop himself from jumping to Jair Bolsonaro’s defence in the house, and now we have him enthusiastically reciting one of Adolf Hitler’s more famous speeches, one entirely about ‘the Jewish question’. And so here we have a well-known politician reciting and plagiarising Adolf Hitler’s speech about ‘the Jewish question’, but talking about Chinese New Zealanders instead. That should scare everyone. We know what the cost of Hitler’s ‘solution’ to this ‘question’ was, and I hate to see where New Zealand First will take this next. Facism is a dangerous ideology, that threatens our human rights, the lives of New Zealanders, strives on warfare and misery, and strives to stamp out any and all dissent. No wonder they wanted to entrench offences restricting desecration to the flag. We must stand united against the scourge that is fascism and totalitarianism, at any and all costs. Because the costs otherwise are far too great.”

Mark: “You say all this, but what have you actually done on immigration? National and New Zealand First both say you’ve achieved nothing, and I’m inclined to believe them given you Greens are just welfare bums.”

imnofox: “Well, that doesn’t make much sense, but it’s still perhaps one of the smartest things you’ve said. The last government was the most open government we’ve had in decades. After National and New Zealand First cut immigration by 28%, the Green government reversed those xenophobic cuts. We became a humanitarian leader by doubling the refugee quota to 3,000, settling more refugees than ever before, becoming responsible global citizens in this time of crisis. We made Pacific people displaced by climate change eligible for refugee status, aiding our Pacific neighbours and recognising the impact of climate change on Pacific islands. We supported our regional economies with the new Regional Workers Visa, to get more and more skilled workers into the regions. On top of that, the icing on the cake, we liberalised our sex work laws to end the restrictions on foreign sex workers from working in New Zealand. That’s a mouthful, but it’s our strong record.”

Mark looked at the table, red with embarrassment

Jesse: “Haha, wow, you really know your stuff. It’s a shame the opposition don’t realise how successful you were.”

imnofox: “Well, we had an ambitious programme, and while we didn’t achieve everything, we got more done than any government prior. That’s because we had a strong team of ministers working together in the interests of the country, not politics- and that’s where I give credit to Labour and TOP for sharing our vision for a cohesive collaborative government, which really helped us deliver on so much good progress for Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Kanoa: “Who do you want to work with next term?”

imnofox: “Well, naturally we will work with Labour, and I’d really like to work with TOP again, as well as United Future. While we disagree on some policy points, we’ve formed such a strong working relationship that really, in government, it’s like being in one big party.