Collaboration is the action of working with someone to produce something, it is the cooperation of people, an alliance and partnership that forms stronger bonds so more can be achieved than alone, writes Ruta Mave.

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide others to achieve a common goal. It is guidance and direction or authority and control. For some it as a step to supremacy. It should have traits of competence, commitment and character in equal measure. Leadership is both an art and a science, and requires practice to get it right. Not many have.

The leaders around the world are finding themselves in a position of stepping up to lead due to the commitment and charismatic characters who have taken the lead in Washington DC. Competence is not as evident to the outside world anymore, after all the pushes and placements of tariffs against them and their products entering the United States.

Strong friends and allies in their northern borders are speechless in the rhetoric that threatens their individuality, they are more than happy to share common ground but Canadians have never been one to accept the often-made mistake of “Are you American?” Or vice-versa. So, the idea of Canada being the fifty first state of America has been received and dropped like a ton of maple syrup bottles, of which they supply the majority to America.

Trump said he would put tariffs on Mexico and Canada his most physical closest neighbours saying by doing so if the American people have to pay more using products made overseas, they would be more encouraged to buy American made cars. The only problem is American cars are made in Mexico.

It is like our government buying 1.7 million dollars of electric cars to impress the leaders of the Pacific Forum to show our forward thinking into sustainability and climate change, whilst knowing all our electricity generated on the island is from diesel generators and not knowing what receptor plug they use, which happens to be a different one we had on the island.

What people are wanting is more accountability and all they are being offered is basically nothing or see-right-through-the-BS.

It was most evident in the ‘let me be clear’ speech by the Prime Minister five minutes before he left for China to sign the agreements. Mark Brown talks about there was no mention of security for New Zealand to worry about, there was in actuality no boundaries at all put on what the Chinese can now do. Mark called it a flexible document, we look at it and see he has drawn no lines, so they cannot possibly cross any boundaries. His flexibility means he has bent so far over backwards he is looking the other way. Any rhetoric from his mouth is glossed over with the fact that he asked for more money in the supplementary budget for him and his ministers to travel more.

A collaboration with the people is supposed to give us better livelihoods not bitter lies about water tariffs and still no additional police staff to ward off the growing juvenile crime. How long does it take for people to react and protest? Only when it starts hitting them in the butt pocket or is it when character becomes chaotic or cartoonish? Certainly, there is a thought

Someone should be committed for their commitment to upset the masses.

Well, the level was reached when 1400 ‘hands off’ mass-action protests were held at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, social security headquarters, parks and city halls throughout all 50 states of America as well as many worldwide in support of the people.

Chicken Little is running around saying the sky is falling but it is the stock market and although people think not using Starlink – if you ever thought you could be that brave or noble and not buying Tesla will hurt someone like Elon Musk then it is a delusional idea. If indeed they want to create a recession in America so that lots of businesses go out of business if you have $300 billion and lose $100 billion you still have your thirty Lamborghinis and multi-million-dollar houses and can still send your 14 children to private school. But for the many mum and dad investors, business owners, workers they will suffer and sell out at any price and be bought up for nothing by the oligarchs.

Will we suffer here? Probably, but we have food on the trees and some fish in the sea for now. But it won’t always be this way, our leader’s recent collaboration set aside our closest friends for the promise of false gold. We have an election next year, be careful what you ask for, you may be caught red-faced.