Green Co-leader James Shaw, speaks at the Green Party Candidates Conference.
Welcome to election year!
Today we can boast more party members than ever before, and also that we will likely field more candidates in the election than ever before.
This is a real vote of confidence in the future of the Green Party. And, actually, in the future!
We build on the best ever result for the Green Party in last year’s local body elections. There are now more Greens sitting around Council tables all over the country, than ever before.
For many New Zealanders, that will have been their first time voting Green.
And as we all know the first time is always the hardest.
By the end of this year, we will have new Members of Parliament elected from a list of people who are farmers, scientists, lawyers, teachers, local councillors, sports people, musicians, climate change negotiators, landmine campaigners, small business owners, Maori, Asians, Pasifika, young people, and many, many more.
We are, though, all out of former tobacco lobbyists.
Look around you. You are more diverse. You look more and more like the faces of modern New Zealand.
And we need that if we’re going to grow our vote and build a bigger, broader, deeper Green Party and Caucus – one that can exert real influence at the heart of a progressive Government.
So let’s look after one another and let’s stay focused on the goal ahead.
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Now, have I mentioned the mountain we have to climb?
National is a political machine: well financed, disciplined, and sensitive enough to the polls to know when the tide is turning against them and when to adopt another one of our Green policies.
Shaw then outlines his assessment of English and where National have been dropping the ball (all the usual things).
On the Greens and Labour,
Today, I want Kiwis everywhere to know what you can rely on us for in Government and how we intend to govern.
Our Memorandum of Understanding with Labour was a strong first step for us.
The MoU is not just a commitment to work together to change the government, it is the foundation stone on which we are building a solid, long-term, relationship with Labour.
One that is going to last the distance.
We all know that Government involves compromise. It is, in fact, a defining feature of MMP.
And if we are to govern responsibly and for more than one term, we’re going to have to work together with Labour.
And we won’t always get our own way.
And neither will they.
I believe most New Zealanders want to see their elected representatives rise above petty partisanship to work together for the good of the country.
Coalitions are, of course, worked out after Election Day, when we know what the numbers are.
But our MOU with Labour shows Kiwis that there is a steady, alternative government-in-waiting.
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I have to tell you that my experience of working with Andrew Little over the last few months, has given me a lot of faith that we will be a great team in Government.
Not in spite of our differences, but because of them. A creative tension between two progressive parties, with different heritages and different ways of seeing the world.
In a few weeks, Grant Robertson and I will announce our shared principles for how we manage the country’s finances when we’re in government.
He reiterates the Greens’ policies on transparency and their commitment to this.
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I want families to know that we’re using all the resources of Government on the things that are going to most improve their lot in life.
I want them to know that a Green Government will invest in the basics so that all our families, including those who are hardest up, have what they need to provide for their children.
Central to this is income.
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Climate change is not just the greatest challenge of our time.
It is the greatest challenge of all time, the most far-reaching consequence of the industrial revolution.
It is the greatest challenge of all time, the most far-reaching consequence of the industrial revolution.
In New Zealand, the three sectors with the highest emissions are agriculture, transport and energy.
And in all three– in fact right across the economy – there is a new industrial revolution taking place.
This high-value, low-carbon, clean-tech, green economic revolution, is not just the solution to climate change.
It is also the greatest economic opportunity in at least a generation, rich in well-paid jobs, investment, and industry.
Our greatest risk is that we are twiddling our thumbs and letting this opportunity pass us by, and at the same time missing our emissions reduction target by a country mile.
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Today, I’d like to announce a new initiative to keep our rivers and lakes alive and to protect the quality of the water that comes out of our taps.
New Zealanders shouldn’t have to question their access to – or the safety of – fresh water.
A Green Party in Government is going to set a crystal clear bottom line on drinking water.
We intend to strengthen the law around how aquifers are protected under the Resource Management Act.
Our aquifers are water bodies of national importance, so we will update the Act to ensure that future development does not put them at risk from contamination and overuse.
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A small tweak to the Resource Management Act will require that all those responsible for administering the Act recognise the importance of our aquifers to our health and to the health of rivers, lakes and streams.
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So that is what you can count on a Green Government for.
We will be a stable Government that you can depend on to go the distance.
We will be held to the highest standards of transparency, responsibility and accountability.
We will work for decent incomes, housing, and education for all New Zealanders.
We will invest in clean energy, clean transport, and clean agriculture for a sustainable economy.
And we will protect and restore our forests, our birds and our rivers.
That is our commitment to you and to Aotearoa. That’s what you can depend on us for.
And yes, I know Bill English will say his Government is committed to those things too, and we should all just keep voting for them.
Well, let me tell you, National make announcement after grand, sweeping announcement: Swimmable rivers. Predator-Free. Electric cars. Housing. Climate change.
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National are a whirlwind of activity and announcements, but devoid of results.
A Green Government will measure our success, not by mere activity, but by our results.
The former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said, “We are the first generation that can put an end to poverty and we are the last generation that can put an end to climate change.”
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