The Greens just stepped up their election campaign. This is a bold move and suddenly I’m excited about the election again.
Jason Walls covered a range of things in the NZ Herald yesterday. On what a post-election deal between the Greens and Labour might look like with regards to power sharing,
The Greens are prepared to forego a coalition or confidence and supply arrangement and sit on the crossbenches if post-election talks do not go their way.
Shaw made the statements while visiting the Wellington City Mission, some of the poorest people in the country, and talked about the GP’s Progressive Tax Reform policy in its Poverty Action Plan.
More from Shaw on what could happen in government formation,
Co-leader James Shaw made the comments on Thursday, saying the only post-election deal that was off the table completely was one which would give National power.
(My emphasis so I don’t have to spend the next 5 weeks rolling my eyes every time someone trots out the right wing hand grenade meme that the Greens will/should support National)
However, he said if the Greens held the balance of power it was “always a possibility” that it would walk away from negotiations with Labour if they could not get the gains they wanted.
If there was no coalition or confidence and supply agreement, that would force a minority Labour government to seek the Greens’ support for legislation on a case-by-case basis.
That presents a few options (leaving aside NZ First for the moment):
It’s worth adding here that in that last scenario it’s extremely unlikely that the Greens would refuse to support Labour to the extent of an election being needed. I’m sure the Greens have bottom lines, but they also have a high commitment to relationship and working things through. Likewise Labour aren’t stupid and aren’t going to want to force an election either. There is significant overlap in policy and values between the Greens and Labour, enough to make such a fall out unlikely.
Also worth noting is that the Greens will want to be in government, with Ministerial portfolios and seats at the Cabinet table.
What I’m seeing here is Shaw saying that the Greens aren’t a pushover, and if Labour are ruling out certain policies and positions with regards coalition partners, ahead of the election, then the Greens are signalling to Labour and the electorate that they can’t be taken for granted.
Shaw said a new Labour-led government would need to be in partnership with the Greens for it to be truly transformational.
“I think, in the next Parliament if Labour and the Greens are able to form a government together, then you will see a truly progressive government for New Zealand.”
Great signalling. The lefties, including Labour voters, who are upset about Labour’s steady as she goes instead of transformation approach now have a choice.
The ball’s in our court, lefties. We have a rare chance at an election almost certainly to lead to a Labour-led second term, so what kind of Labour-led government do we want?
He wouldn’t say what the Greens’ bottom lines in those talks were, but said a “wealth tax” was a “top priority”.
He would also be pushing for co-leader Marama Davidson to be a minister and suggested a Green MP hold the agriculture portfolio.
Perfect. Davidson should be a Minister, and the Shaw-doubters should take note of Shaw fronting the Greens’ social justice platform and advancing his wahine Māori co-leader in an environment that too often focuses on the business suited co-leader. There’s a reason why the Greens have co-leaders.
On working with NZ First,
But Shaw said the Greens would struggle to work with NZ First, adding that the Greens’ preference was “clearly” a government without that party.
Shaw renewed his criticism of New Zealand First, saying the party has been “extremely difficult, quite chaotic and not a force for moderation inside the Government,” during this term.
One of the biggest problems of the current government has been the degree to which we, the voting public, are not allowed to see what is really going on. The Greens being honest about the relationship with NZ First is useful, would still love to know how much NZ First has had power in vetoing Labour and Green policy and development., and really hope we can see some reform of how coalition governments are done.
It’s important to note here that the kind of relationship that the Greens have with Labour post-election is in the end decided by the members. It’s the members who get to say whether to go into coalition or C/S or cross benches.
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