Green Party Coup: Winners, Losers & Predictions
Oh the wicked webs we weave!
With Chloe officially pulling out of the race, I’ve seen nuclear meltdowns that are less self mutilating than the current failed Green Party Leadership fiasco!
Is this the dumbest political coup since Todd Muller?
How did Hooton manage to get an entire faction of the Greens to attack their own leader?
If the solution to the Greens botched leadership challenge is Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, I don’t think the Greens have understood what the problem is – Chloe was the ONLY possible leader replacement and even then it was mad – Dr Elizabeth Kerekere as co-leader would be the shortest suicide note in NZ politics!
WINNERS:
Matthew Hooton – The manner in which Hooton from behind his paywall has managed to trick an entire faction of the Green Party to turn against their own leader is surely one of the great Jedi Mind tricks of all time! His entry point was knowing that Green Party delegates are middle class enough to be able to afford the Herald Paywall subscription! He breadcrumbed easily manipulated Green Party members into a minefield and then melted away like the CIA at the Bay of Pigs as the coup imploded. Why is he so good at instigating coups in other people’s parties but so shit at doing them inside National?
James Shaw – Came out fighting at his 10am press conferences yesterday in what was the best performance of his life – where has this James Shaw been in the last 5 years? Made a solid defence of his record.
Chloe Swarbrick – Was smart enough to see Hooton was setting her up and didn’t take the bait by removing herself from the race.
Labour – Just picked up whatever is left of the male Green vote.
NZ First – Isn’t the biggest winner here NZ First? Won’t his appeal as a hand brake to Green wokeness see him get over 5%? Wouldn’t it be funny if Hootons Green coup inadvertently brought Winston back?
LOSERS:
The Underground Left Green Faction – What the fuck were you doing listening to Hooton? He breadcrumbed you into a minefield and then vanished quicker than his job role in the new Todd Muller National Party! This is on you! You didn’t have Chloe on board at the start, you have no new policy, you hav no new messaging – yes James is a clown, yes Marama is a joke, sure Chloe is the future, but you should never have cut this meaningless deal with Labour in the first place and being so desperate to sacrifice Chloe for your lack of progress is cult level commitment. I shake my head at your poorly executed attempt.
Wellington Whare of Cards 20sided dice Green strategists – You refused to listen to me in 2020 when I said this stupid deal with Labour would harvest a resentment that will destroy your unity, yeah well, eat that bitter harvest up. You should never have signed that bauble driven deal and now you reap what you sow.
Dr Elizabeth Kerekere – Sweet Jesus on a bicycle, in what tortured dimension is Dr Elizabeth Kerekere the solution? The Underground Left Green Faction think she’s the answer? What the hell was the question? What Leadership team could immediately sink the Greens below the 5% threshold? I mean bless, but how arrogant must you be to think this is your time to shine?
Ricardo Menéndez March – He flinched first and fed the fire.
The Green Party – Too many clowns, not enough circus. This madness will drag on for 5 bloody weeks until the vote!
Heteronormative White Cis Males – Knifing the last remaining Heteronormative White Cis Male and casting him out for the non-binary co-leadership model is satire you can’t write.
Environment – James Shaw incrementalism has seen a programme that will tackle Climate Change in 28 years! If you think that’s a solution, you are part of the problem!
Inequality, Children in Poverty and Beneficiaries – Between January and March this year a record 363,888 food grants were handed out on top of a 500% spike in food bank demand. Over the last year 18.4% of children lived in poverty, $5.5 billion in profits were made by ANZ, BNZ, ASB and Westpac and the Top 1% own 25% of wealth while the Bottom 50% owns 2% of wealth. But yay, the Greens are squabbling over a poorly planned coup!
Homelessness – Marama is the Minister with all the responsibility and little of the actual power to change it. Great bauble, pity you can’t house kids in it.
The NZ Political Left – This incompetence reflects poorly on the entire Left and makes us look stupid.
The Painfully Serious Left – The rush to defend the incremental bullshit of Shaw by The Standard, the insufferable Neale Jones and tedious Clunt Shaw shows how badly Shaw needs to be purged when these dullards are his apologists. Remember, The Standard thinks this is a ‘win’.
PREDICTIONS:
I told these coup plotters that the time for this courage was last year, not 12months out from the next election!
This entire fiasco is on Marama, James and all the 20 sided dice strategist team!
The Greens capitulated their mana for the vacant baubles of Office in a Government they has no power in and what have they to show for that strategic blunder?
Woke bullshit.
I warned the Greens in 2020 that unless they went in hard and demanded transformative change and threatened a civil war with Labour, they would get sweet FA, and they’ve managed to get even less than that!
Greta is right, the real power is protesting outside the conference, not selling out inside the conference!
The Green strategy team are Checkers players trying to play Chess.
Marama’s and James negotiating tactic with Labour after the 2020 election was to get on their knees and beg!
You don’t get nuthin by begging, and they got nuthin..
No policy gains, just a couple of vacant baubles of office.
The Greens repeatedly get screwed over by Labour in a never ending cycle of abuse that started with Helen Clark and you kind of feel like someone should step in and intervene now.
Labour gain the inoculation and political camouflage they want and the Greens get nothin.
Jacinda’s tepid incrementalism will not be challenged by the Greens, it will be supported by them.
As the climate crisis events explode, as welfare reform goes no where, as housing stagnates, as poverty spreads, the Greens will sit alongside Labour like a parasitic twin unable to think for itself let alone change things.
It is rapidly becoming apparent that Labour and the Greens are not the political vehicle for transformative change. With Labour too focused on preventing Covid from exploding in NZ and the Greens now gagged, no forward thinking vision on how to transform things will be articulated.
It’s a Labour + Green supported Government, that gives them 75 seats in a 120 seat Parliament and yet they STILL CAN’T be transformative?
All the Greens have gained for their hollow Ministerships is collusion with mediocrity plus some identity politics wins.
The Greens don’t know if they are Arthur or Martha and if they did they would need a 6month hui to discuss pronoun use.
Watching Climate Strike For Students Auckland cancel itself recently because of heteronormative cis male privilege sums up the Greens perfectly. A middle class aesthetic for social justice virtue signals tied into woke dogma that believes all white people are cross burning racists, B-E-L-I-E-V-E all women because all men rapists and anyone supporting free speech is a uniform wearing Nazi who hates the Trans community.
The Greens are as alienating as a Spin-off dinner party where everyone is arguing over who hates white men the most.
The Greens are perfect for free the nipple rallies with cycling militant Trans ally mommy bloggers, not so good on the economic neoliberal hegemony.
They’ve spent 5 years harvesting the low hanging fruit of identity politics while doing nothing meaningful on poverty, homelessness or climate change.
Their only hope is Chloe.
Chloe is a unique talent. She speaks with the energy of the new voting generation in a language that empowers and challenges. She is an incredible communicator and if she had the Leadership, she could dominate political debate.
What could be more radical than the youngest Political Leader in NZ History?
Chloe as Leader is a 15% Party. Imagine Jacinda as Prime Minister with Chloe as Deputy.
To be politically relevant, the Greens need to be needed by Labour. To do that they need to take Labour voters.
Chloe can do that. Marama and James can’t, but this was all decisions that needed to be made and implemented 12 months ago, not attempted with no new policy, no new vision and no new mandate!
Chloe is the future but the manner in which Hooton has tricked the factions to attempt a coup now would have sabotaged her before she was ready! Why allow her to burn her political capital and bleed out at the ballot box with a risky coup now?
Meanwhile the planet burns, inequality gets worse, poverty deepens, an entire generation is locked out of home ownership!
The last chance for Left progressive policy is a list of bottom line first 100 day laws in the 2023 election to force Labour into being more Bernie Sanders than cautious Grant and Jacinda are confident to attempt.
Here’s what a Labour/Green/Maori Party Government should be committed to passing in the first 100 days of the 2023 election…
1: Feed every kid in NZ a free nutritious and healthy breakfast and lunch at every school using local product and school gardens with parents paid to come in and help. The slow incrementalism touted by favourite public sector for dragger apologist Max Rashbrooke isn’t good enough because the lower middle classes are feeling the same pinch thanks to mortgage rises and universal school lunches and breakfasts would help them as well.
2: 50 000 State Homes for life built using the best environmental and social architecture standards using the public works act to seize land and immediately start building satellite towns using upgraded public transport hubs plus Renter Rights – (rent freezes, end accomodation payments, long term tenancy arrangements)
3: Free public transport plus vast infrastructure upgrade for climate crisis.
4: 30% stake holder in a new Government backed supermarket operation run to provide lower food prices for kiwism better prices for supplies and better conditions for workers.
5: GST off fresh fruit and vegetables and essentials like tampons, toilet paper, condoms, oral health plus a sugar tax.
6: Free Dental services for everyone through public health.
7: Fair Pay Agreements that allow unionisation and real collective bargaining power for workers outside the tiny public service clique they currently cover.
8: Taxation focused on corporations and banks like financial transaction taxand first $20 000.
9: Offer nurses, teachers and Drs free education and living allowances in return for bonded time in our health and eduction systems.
10: Properly funded public broadcasting with TVNZ advert free and merged with RNZ alongside properly funded journalism through NZ on Air with more money for the Arts and Science. If you can’t have good public journalism, the right wing media will destroy these other 9 advances.
…Kiwis have to see a progressive Government ACTUALLY doing shit in the first 100 days or they won’t believe any change is coming and when you consider the economic maelstrom we are entering, the most vulnerable amongst us will be screaming for real change.
If we on the Left don’t offer voters real solutions to their material problems and instead prefer to micro aggression police the latest middle class virtue signals of hate speech, cancelling Comedians and screaming everyone is racist, we are fucked politically in 2023.
We need more real economic solutions on the Left and far less pronoun policing.
We need to be kinder to individuals and crueller to Corporations.
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Why would anyone vote for a party that hates?
Hates men
Hates white people
Hates heterosexual
They are the Ku Klux Klan in green pointy hats who think they’re more pure than the driven snow except thats white too and getting rarer. What a joke of a political party!
X-ray. Thank you for referencing the snow. In Europe the magnificent glaciers are receding, the Arctic tundra is melting, and the metaphysical poets who connect it all seem to have vanished too. Here a bunch of crummy plebs have hijacked climate change to spread their own mean prejudices as socially irresponsibly as the manufacturers of nicotine and sugar, and they have let us down abominably.
All this the greens are this and that, they are racist, sexist, blah blah blah. Have you actually meet them they’re all five foot nothing weighing in at couldn’t hurt a fly. No man ever freaked out over some harsh words. I mean of the woke are going to reject me for being a cis male I’d rather know soon as so I don’t waste donations on them. Still like Shaw, Marama to me is like my own feminist aunties, sickly sweet. I’m not trying to slide in or out I just prefer Climate stuff.
Try living in a body corporate with a chairman who is an insane compulsive liar, a thievery corporation management firm with no moral or ethical code of conduct. And a committee/community consisting of dunces.
Talk about bread crumbs, think Gollum and Sam and the elvish bread crumbs scene stitch up. People fall for this shit every time.
No hopeium for this species, it’s totally insane and stupid.
Excellent article Martyn, you summed it up well.
Thank you.
As far as the Green Party is concerned, the damage is already done. Marama and her pals’ wackiness has been continuously counterproductive. They are bizarrely gender obsessive, and their leadership shenanigans render the LP looking like the most stable party in Parliament, even tho’ ineffectual.
Whether you like The Greens or hate them or you’re just a cunt. The Greens are here to stay and now with James Shaw’s inclusion into New Zealands Climate Change response the portfolio can go to another party but Shaw wrote it and well, James is far more important to the Laws of the land than some softer, weaker version.
Upon first glance these woke radical greens seem intimidating but when they come up against a Sith assassin (one down from a Sith apprentice and far below a Sith Lord), Hooton, the woke greens just seem like their bark is louder than there bite.
When radical woke greens actually go up against a Sith Lord like John Key it is clear that woke Greens are far more weaker.
I always thought that on life that if the fish isn’t fresh and smelled then no matter how you prepare the fish it’s still trash. The same thing could be applied to training a political party.
The Original Greens are an interesting bunch because most of the original Greens came from previous Parties the Alliance/Values party ect. Many Green members today do not come from other parties otherwise they would have escaped to labour like the communications team or escaped the other way like Tariana Turei or Winston Peters and are a lot less skilled these wokies.
We have to be more realistic about Sith knowledge. Only the brightest and strongest can throw off Sith pursuers. Bright and strong the woke are not.
A lot of Jedi Masters often aid the woke sometimes giving there careers for there younger chargers like Andrew Little did for Jacinda bit after this initial bit of help it is upto the younglings to keep there heads low and survive (I’m mixing in Green lore with star wars lore) and if skilled they can do it easy.
We also have Greens like Golriz who comes from a harsh immigrant background and even harsher discipline of Law but when you mix in this harsh upbringing with parliamentary Sith knowledge so what it is essentially is an average skilled Golriz being placed in command positions against veteran Sith Lords no wonder they’re getting flexed on.
Not so Metiria. Powerful yes, a bench warmer of her own design clearly.
No mater how powerful an idea or leadership is Metiria clearly shows that party backing is what drives policy change.
We also have to remember that John Key was a product of the rule of two era I mean first past the post. He wasn’t like us but he at least pretended like he was maintaining the status quo because it’s important for balance and cohesion amongst country folk.
The reality is though that if there is a bunch of Sith Lords operating in one area it gets ridiculous very quickly even worse large groups of talentless individuals like the woke could easily band together and take out someone for your car for like James Shaw which is just another reason to make sure the woke stay weak.
Of course that won’t stop weaklings from taking on more powerful foe just out of curiosity.
Sam when you say “here to stay” are you talking about NZ or the place where you live with higher wages, better standard of living and no insane racist, perverse NZ Green Party?
Just clarifying for the readers.
It really grates me that I of all people have to defend the greens much less the woke but here we are. all this hysteria and you Jibronies can’t even calculate inflation let alone value.
No I lnod of talk in general macro trends.
Walmart CEO says food inflation “affecting how customers spend,” likely cut back on buying clothing & discretionary downgraded its Q2 & 2023 forecast. >Pressure in 2nd half & mart will have to slash clothing prices to clear inventory.
The writing is on the wall. I will defend to the death the Greens. God help us National and Act will not get a second bite at the inflation cherry.
I am disappointed Dr Kerekere (? she/her) isn’t standing.
If she was leader, NZ would get to see the lunacy of this party. I say bring it on.
Latest story about wokedom via the FSU is that a mortician is in trouble with his employer for misgendering a cadaver! Yes you heard that right. Wake up people. Greens are the party that peddle this shit.
Everyone is tired of liars, self entitlement and cheats.
Green MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere will not be charged for breaking Covid-19 rules, after she took a flight to Wellington while a close contact of a confirmed case.
Christopher Luxon’s social media suggested he was in Te Puke – he was actually overseas on holiday.
While I think Shaw has dropped the ball on climate change and is very naive, he is the best that the current Greens have (and probably Labour from am equally bad field and Natz, worse field), at least he has some honesty and understands his own identity, unlike many other politicians operating in NZ as leaders or potential leaders of political parties. Likewise Jacinda is popular because she seems to have got past being a pakeha woman and not stuck on personal therapy outcomes on a national level.
Domestic violence, transitional housing and crime seems to be increasing and does rapid climate change, but the Green focus is still on self identity for the 5% (and obviously breaking the rules, because they deserve it! Sarc.).
Whose often behind bizarre identity politics, social media trolls originating from Russian, China and other countries to destabilise democracies with these bizarre obsessions and divisive cancellation culture. https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ira-target-black-americans/
‘Declared insolvent 3 times’: Protest donations go to account of man with debt
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/crime/parliament-protest-donations-went-into-bank-account-of-man-with-history-of-unpaid-debt/
The Green youth are looking forward to their 50 hour plus week on minimum wages while requiring their own transport in Auckland to get to work (getting up at 4 – 5 am, means that there is no public transport).
Are you looking for a career in the meat/butchery industry?
Are you wanting over a solid 50 hours of work per week?
Are you hardworking and reliable?
I have the job for you!
Otahuhu based
$21.20PH + 8% Holiday pay
ASAP start
Full training provided
6am starts everyday with approx 10 hour days
You will learn a variety of new skills such as making skilled meats, how to prep beef and lamb for market consumption and how to process live stock from start to finish.
You will need to pass a drug test
Must have own transport
Must have the right to work in NZ
This add is aimed to get low skilled, often non English speaking, migrants into NZ by being ‘unable to fill the job’ with the existing ‘lazy’ NZ residents who apparently don’t want to work.
Many migrants are duped into paying large fees to come here and then the reality of the above life, sets in.
As soon as they can, like Kiwis, migrants either leave these types of jobs, thus the low wage employers with unreasonably hard, long jobs will never, ever fill the endless low end vacancies, turn to crime here, which pays better working in NZ such as bringing in drugs, go on ACC or other benefits.
Group accused of involvement in Colombia-linked drug ring deny charges
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300467886/group-accused-of-involvement-in-colombialinked-drug-ring-deny-charges
Man who ran NZ end of meth importation ring wants refugee status
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300554159/man-who-ran-nz-end-of-meth-importation-ring-wants-refugee-status
The Greens/some unions, determination to feed the Ponzi of migration is similar to the fire bugs and arsonists who actually get a thrill by starting the fires before they ‘heroically’ try to save people.
‘It’s all fake’: Chinese migrant builders sold a dream, left exploited and hungry
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/124279195/its-all-fake-chinese-migrant-builders-sold-a-dream-left-exploited-and-hungry
Nearly 50 Chinese construction workers are asking the government to hold to account a man they believe has conned them of tens of thousands of dollars.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/377614/chinese-construction-workers-brought-to-nz-believe-they-ve-been-conned
Illegally working overstayer dies on the job – ACC payment made to widow in China
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/illegally-working-overstayer-dies-on-the-job-acc-payment-made-to-widow-in-china/OWADEJMGCUYM36WLF6YNKUA2SE/
This explains why Labeen have increase poverty so much, their policy is driven to actually create poverty in NZ by bringing in more and more people for the neoliberal machine which is endless and can never be satisfied on subsistence wages and conditions, often without English, who then try to ‘save’ people afterwards.
Let’s look at how Oz attracts people to work hard, long, boring, jobs. High wages!!!!
Mining industry pays highest wages
https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/mining-industry-pays-highest-wages/
Lollipop workers on building sites could soon be taking home a whopping $180,000 pay packet a year.
https://www.novafm.com.au/news/national/queensland-mother-accused-of-leaving-her-daughters-for-dead-in-a-hot-car/
“Cost of living crisis: New Zealand voted second worst country to move to
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/cost-of-living-crisis-new-zealand-voted-second-worst-country-to-move-to/A6QHYJL343H4HM7UVA5FLV6AVA/
While Aotearoa ranked 51 out of 52, our transtasman neighbours received a very decent ninth place, with people living there feeling that, overall, they receive fair compensation for their work, among other positive factors.”
Only way to save NZ from turning into a third world nation, filled with crime, is to actually make industry pay more in line with the job conditions so that working here becomes more desirable than crime or being un/under employed.
Your lollipop workers reference there has a link to a story about two children 2 and 3 who died in hot car. Nothing I could see about wages. But a lot about awful heat in 2019. Sad about all those who suffered. Maybe they have to promise high wages in Oz. Pity that we couldn’t have kept our amenities and good name but it wasn’t on the Finance minister’s list and right wing money men’s agendas before inflation.
Good spot Greywarbler – here is the correct link.
Sydney traffic controller reveals she earns almost $3000 a week
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/sydney-traffic-controller-reveals-she-earns-almost-3000-a-week/VEV7N3MUCQ7HOWSHKNYUNG3WT4/
OZ Lollipop Workers Set To Make $180,000 Salary Under New Laws
https://www.novafm.com.au/news/national/lollipop-workers-set-to-make-180000-salary-under-new-laws/
NZ – Lolipop worker $23.95 p/h
https://www.payscale.com/research/NZ/Employer=Lollipop/Hourly_Rate
Problem in NZ is not just the headline wages which are generally much lower in NZ, but the lack of controls on long work conditions, like double time, extended hours, etc.
That is why NZ employers are becoming some of the worst rated in the world – with high expectations, poor work conditions and lack of salary to meet the roles.
They are so entitled when their ex employees try to let other know that they are burn out jobs, with poor management they then start sueing the US job sites like Glass Door to force them to reveal the ex employees to sue them for defamation. (Not sure how you can sue for defamation if it your opinion on your own experience, but NZ employers are getting very rich off others and seem to be more exploitative and controlling than many other countries and our freedom of speech laws in NZ are also poorly written and exploitative).
They should just rebrand as the old Values Party or heaven forbid, become a right wing conservative environmental party – or both. Being Green is going to be very right wing in the future – it will have to be.
I don’t want to live in a world where woman don’t get to decide what’s good for them. Niether do I want to live in a world where trans people can not decide for themselves. I’ve got my own children, I work 60 hour weeks thanks to corona. No one not only me can take care of other people’s rights they’ve got to do it themselves. This is like the 3rs or 4th Greens leadership. Minor parties don’t last that long in NZ should be focused on far more.
One of the winners is likely Te Party Maori