By Cybèle Locke. Published by Bridget Williams Books, 2022. (NZD 50). Reviewed by Susan Smith

Comrade tells the story of Bill Andersen, Communist powerhouse in New Zealand’s trade union movement from 1941 through to his death in 2005. His early experiences as a seaman, and his horror at British colonial cruelty towards young Yemeni boys in Aden in the 1940s awakened in him a passion to ensure justice for working class peoples. Leninism provided him with a philosophy in which to ground his actions. By the 1970s, he recognised that Māori and working-class women, among the economically and politically disenfranchised, should also be partnered in their struggle against colonialism, capitalist-friendly governments and big business. While different National governments had always sought, and still do, to discredit trade unions, from the 1980s onwards so, too, did Labour governments with their commitment to Rogernomics — a practice that continues today though in a more subtle and covert manner. Though social media may enjoy describing Jacinda Ardern as communist, the handouts during Covid to big business demonstrate the mixed allegiances of the sixth Labour government.

Comrade is packed with detail that can overwhelm sometimes but it succeeds it demonstrating the enormous challenges faced by Māori, Pākehā and Pasifika working-class communities yesterday, today and tomorrow. 

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 281 May 2023: 27