Can the NZ Greens win? Yes they can!

Greens gather for annual meeting focused on building voters’ trust

The Green Party are vowing to build the most progressive government New Zealand has ever seen.

The caucus and party faithful are gathering for their annual general meeting in Wellington central this weekend.

Speaking on Saturday, co-leader Marama Davidson accused Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of betraying his own words when he said at Waitangi last year that the treaty is our past, present and future.

She also said he was pouring oil and gas over the climate crisis, while fast-tracking the destruction of the natural world.

The Greens were not just leading the opposition but want to lead the next government, Davidson said.

Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick told attendees there is “no point being right”, if the party is not in a position to make change in Parliament.

The Greens have had a tumultuous start to the term. This time last year, Swarbrick led the party alone, with co-leader Marama Davidson out of action, fighting cancer.

She also fielded questions about former MP Darleen Tana’s future, as the party mulled swallowing its pride and invoking the waka-jumping laws to get rid of her.

With Davidson back and Tana now gone, it’s been relatively steady going for the party this year. It put out its own ‘Green Budget’ in May – a plan that promised free doctor visits, dental care and an income support scheme, funded by a suite of wealth taxes.

I think the extremes of the Identity Politic wars have subsided inside the Greens.

The Uber woke factions that empowered Kerekere and Tana have been a bitter lesson for the Green Party to live through. While the wider Woke will never publicly admit they went too far during the cancel culture purges of 2014-2020, privately they all appreciate their pure temple politics alienation of male voters caused the backlash that is Trump and no one wants to get blamed for that again.

Chloe’s speech asking members to move away from outrage to winning over imperfect allies is recognition of the cultural backlash the woke purges generated.

These are Greens focused on promoting Economic Justice as opposed to Social Justice and I’ll swallow a glass of their woke if it means getting rid of this anti-Māori, anti-Treaty, anti-worker, anti-renter, anti-beneficiary, anti-disabled, anti-environment hard right Government.

To those ends, the Greens have lifted their game.

Gone is the handing the Opposition their question time question, gone is the Cis Male terminology, gone is the not barracking rules in Question time – this is a Greens who are focused on the environment and on the economy.

I don’t think they can gain more traction than they have in the Polls (suggesting over taking Labour seems a bit arseholey and a tad eager)  because that would require winning over males and the culture war divisions are too deep there, it will be up to Labour to pick up the male vote.

If the Greens mean to actually transform our capitalism in a way that brings real material change to peoples lives in an economically sustainable way, they need to be strategic.

Right now there are 3 outcomes to a change in Government.

The first is a Labour/Green Government, which is not likely.

The second is a Labour/NZF arrangement with the Greens providing support which is possible.

The third is a Labour/Green/Māori Party Government which is most likely.

The first would be great for the Greens but is unlikely.

The second would be the worst outcome for the Greens and they would get used by Winston. The threat would be accept NZF and Labour or enable the next National, ACT, NZF Government.

The third has the greatest likelihood of implementing the real change the Greens want and it is this third scenario the Greens need to focus on and cement into place.

The way they do that is the Greens and Māori Party meet now and plan a united front in negotiations with Labour.

If Labour wants Green support, it has to include the Māori Party at the negotiating table and include them in any Government.

That way the Greens and Māori Party seal off any deal with NZ First and they get to negotiate a policy platform that is as genuinely transformative as both the Greens and Māori Party want.

The status quo can not stand.

 

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