Following reports in the mainstream media, you might think that the coming election is just about two major political Parties and several small parties.
That is no longer true.
The Green Party has grown to become a major force in New Zealand politics, with public support remaining stable at 12% (a recent poll showed that the support was 15%).
That would translate into 20 Members in Parliament, giving the Greens a strong influence over Government policy.
The Green Party has a proven record of leadership in Parliament.
In recent years, its influence has been used to secure policies such as home insulation that reduces costs and improves health, energy efficiency and the national cycleway.
These are policies for the ‘triple bottom line’ of sustainability – a clean environment, a fair and compassionate society and a smart economy.
Priority areas
The Party’s priorities for the forthcoming election have been announced.
Firstly, the Greens will protect the New Zealand environment with an initial focus on making our rivers clean enough to swim in again. This has become urgent, since around two thirds of New Zealand’s rivers are now too polluted for safe swimming and aquatic life. The clean green environment that we have inherited as New Zealanders must be conserved.
Secondly, the Greens will ensure that all of our children have enough to thrive.
In a rich country that has enough resources, enough technology and enough assets, one in four of our children lack the basics for decent health and education.
We need to step up to this challenge and give our children a decent start in life, ensuring that all children have access to affordable early childhood education.
It is a good investment for our society and it is the right thing to do.
Innovative ideas
The third priority for the Green Party is to build a smarter, greener economy that benefits every New Zealander.
The economy is currently too dependent on the export of a few commodities and an inflated housing market.
The Greens will put in place policies to transform the economy to build a fairer and more sustainable economic base, with an initial focus on boosting innovation.
Economies that innovate do better over the long term, creating good jobs that pay well.
Policies to support these priorities include the ‘Home for Life’ policy to tackle inflated house prices and support home ownership; power sector reform to reduce electricity prices; climate change policies that will reduce emissions and return funds to citizens and business from a tax on greenhouse gas emissions; and enough funding to provide more support and a warm welcome to refugees and migrants.
These are the policies that underpin sustainability – good for the environment, good for society and good for the economy. Win, win, win.
Community concerns
These are also key issues for Indian communities in New Zealand.
The Green Party was pleased to engage in the recent ‘Kiwi Indian Conclave 2014’ (Indian Newslink, July 1, 2014) and we look forward to building strong relationships for the future.
We believe that the Indian communities have a huge contribution to make in building a more inclusive, more sustainable and richer New Zealand society.
Barry Coates is the Green Party candidate for Mt Roskill in Auckland. He was previously Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand. With postgraduate (Masters) qualifications from Yale University, he has experience in international negotiations on trade and climate change.
