Catherine Delahunty and Stefan Browning stepping down from the Greens at the next election is a mixed blessing and speaks to the new shifting power blocs in the Green Party conclave.
Stefan is a lovely chap, but the anti-GE, Monsanto is Satan, anti-vaxxer environmental activists who he represented are increasingly isolated and alienated by things like facts and science and have lost a lot of say inside the Party.
That said, Monsanto is still satan.
Delahunty leaving is a far more sadder event. She is easily one of the Greens best MPs whose sense of social justice and basic fairness has gone into much of their policy.
Delahunty is also one of their best communicators, and when actually given a platform has some beautifully insightful critiques of what’s going on in NZ. I hope that she has time to blog and become a regular commentator in NZ Politics once she leaves because her voice and wisdom would be a huge loss to progressives if she had no platform post Parliament.
These two stepping down frees up space on the all important Party list. With some of the best next generation political voices lining up for selection, the membership has a real obligation to push many of these new millennials up the ranks into a position that is winnable so as to offer millennial voters a real reason to give the Greens their party vote on election day.
If Hayley Holt and Chloe Swarbrick aren’t 12th and 13th on the Party list, then the Greens will have missed an opportunity and are only paying lip service to their largest voting bloc.
… the anti-GE, Monsanto is Satan, anti-vaxxer environmental activists who he represented are increasingly isolated and alienated by things like facts and science and have lost a lot of say inside the Party.
Well put, but of those examples I fail to see how most environmental activists and concerns are isolated or repudiated by science or facts.
Catherine Delahunty was a real asset to the Green Party. But one can understand her feelings that Parliament’s atmosphere is toxic – probably more so than that on Mars.
At least with the martian atmosphere you know not to remove your helmet to “sniff the air”.(There ain’t any. )
But try sniffing what passes for air in Parliament. At first it seems perfectly fine; but the toxicity is there nevertheless and in the end it will “get” you…
Best wishes to her and Stefan Browning.
Yeah, the Greens really suck now. It’s a populist plastic party pretending to be something that they’re not!
A cling-on party to whoever is in government.
Steffan Browning was one of the most effective of the old school Greens imo… his priorities:
… environmentalism, organics , soil health, food health , pesticides , bee deaths, bio-security and big corporate business profit control of the health of the planet and humans
… Monsanto multi-billion dollar industry corporate control over pesticides and genetic engineering is something to be sceptical and concerned about
…Big Pharma corporate monopoly control on human medicine… validity of safety research, reporting of side effects, efficacy of health products, increasing multiple child vaccinations safety and an epidemic of addictive painkillers… (this is something to be very sceptical and concerned about if you are not naive and ignorant of the realities!)
Steffan Browning was very hard working , intelligent , well researched Green MP…. concerned about the BIG ISSUES of the GREEN environmental movement. His leaving will be a loss to the Green Party
( forget about recent Greens idiots advocating ridiculous Red Peak NZ flag change and political correctness over not naming those overseas investors in Auckland and NZ housing)
…Browning saw the BIG PICTURE for the Greens !
Another hippy exits stage left with an MPs pension in her pocket.
What a stupid comment by a person matching the quality of the comment. You really do not get it, Andrew.
Arguing with inflammatory narcissists like @ ANDREW is like punching the wind for the way it buggers up your hair style.
It may be best to just let the annoying little human sound off like a three year old in mid tantrum.
The value here is that we can deflect his/her nonsense with opposing points of view. Something, pre internet, we couldn’t do and in the early days, before the Net, bitter little people like @ ANDREW could actually weasel their way into positions of power.
In NZ, certainly, that’s clearly the case, otherwise we wouldn’t have this awful tangle of liars spreading misinformation by spouting out logical fallacies to sway those deliberately kept in the dark.
I would, in fact, invite more from @ ANDREW. He/she’s hilarious once you change the way you interpret him/her.
agree stupid comment by Andrew
….Catherine Delahunty was always prepared to speak out clearly and succinctly on the important issues for the Greens and New Zealand
…She was one of the most effective MPs this country has at present. Her leaving Parliament will be a loss to New Zealand and New Zealanders
Really, Andrew; I’ve been studying that very subject and National mps that have screwed taxpayers for years to get assets and tax cuts for their backers and themselves have gained the most from their resignations this year/next year – pensions, flights, cushy govt jobs, irrigation project donations for themselves, their farmer mates/relatives.
Delahunty is better than any of them, with massive integrity and in my experience of seeing her in education circles, real caring.
But then, Andrew, integrity has a nil value when it comes to political ducking and diving in the case of nat mps and your thinking,
Simple question:
What has she achieved in Parliament?
Nobody votes for these list MPs. They’re just placed there because they have mates in the Party. Do three terms and they get the pension – here she is ending her third term…
Steffan Browning has an Electorate in which he does very well, considering it has always been hard core farmer National…he has a lot of electoral support and is very well regarded by some farmers….Steffan Browning was an organic farmer himself.
I wonder how much she exits with compared to your former messiah the great Donkey?
If there was fairness in MPs leaving severance pay, your idol would leave owing money, not receiving it .
But then fairness never was a part of your ideological outlook was it Andrew?
Life isn’t fair: Get used to it
In fact John Key gave his entire salary to charity and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did that with his pension too.
Oh? Pray tell, Andrew, which charity was that?
Aside from being an often-parroted myth, there’s precious little to confirm that as a “fact”.
@ ANDREW … prior to National being elected in 2008, John Key said if he became PM, he would give PART of his first year’s salary to charity (not named).
You are making Key out to be a saint, something he will never be. I’d take a bet on pigs flying first before he ever achieved that status!
So Andrew, are you able to name the recipient charity of John Key’s “generosity” yet? That charity seems to be quite elusive, just as telling the truth is to Key.
Clearly Andrew is unaware of the wonderful contributions both Nandor and Catherine and others made to our country. And whats wrong with being a long haired hippy anyway ? They are some of the brightest and most caring folks around so don’t knock them until you get a few more brain cells between the ears and become a bit more educated.
My concern is the core membership of the Green Party tends to vote for the more dreary if worthy list candidates. Hayley Holt would be great for getting the Greens out of the stereotype box they are lumped in but being quite glamorous may work against her. Every member of the party having a vote is great for democracy but tends to stop the party from expanding its range of MP types.
I am saddened by Catherine’s departure, she did some great work as MP for the Greens, her knowledge, experience, insight and determination will be missed.
But perhaps some fresh blood can offer similar or new skills, I wait to be surprised.
Than you Catherine, you did a great job, as for Stefan, I was not quite as enthused about his work, at times seeming a bit unprofessional.
Conflating anti-GE with anti-vax:
Do you do it just to alienate some of your more wavering readers?
+1 Roy
I’m sorry, Anti-GE is repudiated by facts?
Do some research.
Loss of Catherine Delahunty is very sad. Don’t know much about Stefan Browning but the Greens used to be about the environment – so getting rid of environmental activists is lowering the Greens appeal. Saying that I’m all for vaccination.
Don’t agree with Bomber about putting Hayley Holt and Chloe Swarbrick in just because they are millennials. Neither of them come across to me as being Green activists and the identity politics are not working for both Green or Labour or even National in the Mt Roskill byelection. People go for the whole package, you can be old, white and male and still attract and activate the millennial voter aka Bernie Sanders. It is what you are staying and your history of career that is important.
I’m not writing either Chloe or Hayley off, because they are both young in politics, but surely there are Green candidates who have more ‘Green’ history than being caught failing a drugs test or living in a studio apartment and not owning a car. Although the media might be all excited for 2 seconds I just don’t think the voters are so easily bought.
In short, the Greens need to set their bar a lot higher to gain credibility and voters and maybe they should tap a few shoulders for candidates, not just rely on candidates coming to them.
I don’t know their political leanings but
John Campbell and Dita de Boni, types that are high profile but also have a long and clear sense of social justice and business and ‘life’ acumen and credibility could be a start as well as being excellent communicators.
Who doesn’t love and respect John Campbell? If Greens want to go mainstream that is they type of candidate they should be looking for.
Luring back Sue Bradford as well would be a great for them.
Interesting points,though it would be a huge waste if John or Dita ever became politicians. John has way more influence, and achieves much more for fairness and justice as a broadcaster than he would ever as a politician.
And, just as an aside, Hayley Holt is not a millennial.
@Leah
If worst case scenario, National get in again, will John Campbell even have a job at RNZ, or will checkpoint and Mark Weldon the Natz go to guy be resurrected for the Bravo equivalent?
Anyway JC he achieves a lot as a broadcaster, if we can get more ethical and effective politicians into parliament that is really what is needed for legislative change and to communicate through all the bulls**t of government to change it.
Greens headhunted Russel Norman – maybe they should look around for people of that caliber and experience.
A Christmas Paragraph.
Humans are vile things. They shit where they eat and then they eat that. They swarm over beautiful Earth like lice ( No disrespect to actual lice ) and burn , destroy , warp and mutilate. They entrance each other with their own sickly sweet, poisonous gasses while they gape at party baubles then they drug their minds to try to find God as they burn down trees and pour toxins on the grasses that dare to invade their dirty nests. They have worthless ‘jobs’ to which they commute daily yet without purpose or value simply to make others, better at the job of being monstrously $-richer. We infest our spaceship we call Earth as She speeds through the Vast Vacuum to which we cling, like draggled rats on a log in a flooded river as we fight and hate and breed and waste.
Who wrote that ?
I like it.
Humans are generally toxic to other living systems and each other
Some are more toxic than others.
Some try to deal with their toxicity while others revel in it.
Ignorance is no excuse or license Andrew.
The Earth is finite and we have over shot.
I think you’ve been a bit unfairly hard on Stefan. Food issues, food security, corporate control on farming especially in 3rd world countries, industrial agriculture’s effect on climate are still issues that should be of concern.
Also, you should have pointed out that Stefan has always gone to the Waihopai protests. He is a good man who looks at the big issues even when they aren’t flavour of the month.
+1 Lois – did some research and Stefan seems to be a great Green MP – pity that the MSM only bothered to talk about him over the homeopathic scandal. Typical!
Thank you ! ! Catherine and Stefan for your wonderful contributions to our country. You will be missed and nothing but the best and most joyful wishes we send to you both.
Parliament and NZ Dirty Politics have become so toxic that it is a wonder the good and ethical and intelligent folks stay as long as they do.
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