Surely it's time for Greens co-leader James Shaw to pull his escape parachute and leave Parliament, writes Fran O'Sullivan. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Surely it's time for Greens co-leader James Shaw to pull his escape parachute and leave Parliament, writes Fran O'Sullivan. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION
It must be getting time, surely, for Greens co-leader James Shaw to pull his escape parachute and leave Parliament.
Why would he want to stay on when a large number of party activists don’t support him and the party now presents as a shambles?
He appears completely lost amongthe sea of activists who are fast running the Greens’ brand into the ground as they resort to performative theatre, particularly on Palestine. You won’t see Shaw among other Green MPs wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, the distinctive black-and-white scarf, in Parliament. Or shouting anti-Israel slogans, some of which verge on anti-Semitism.
The Golriz Ghahraman scandal just adds to the party’s brand damage.
Shaw’s year started on a bum note. It was bad enough to lose an election and be reduced to being a mere observer while the incoming Government ducks and dives on just what it will achieve on climate change. That goes with the political territory. Then, having to personally support Ghahraman as she came to her decision to resign from Parliament after shoplifting allegations surfaced, yet in no way defend her actions.
Yet Shaw has talents which ought to be kept in play, preferably on a playground some distance from his party.
The Prime Minister could do worse than consider Shaw for the top job at the Climate Change Commission when Dr Rod Carr steps down as commissioner this year.
Principled, particularly when it comes to climate change issues, reflecting the fact he was the portfolio minister in the Labour-led Government from 2017 to 2023, during which time he was responsible for guiding the landmark Zero Carbon Act through Parliament.
This required him to build support across Parliament, which meant forging pragmatic links with National.
He is also highly relatable to business, where he led support for the introduction of the climate-related disclosures legislation which required directors to report their companies’ exposures to climate-related risks. This covers large listed issuers with a market capitalisation exceeding $60 million, as well as large financial entities, including banks, insurers and managers of investment schemes with total assets exceeding $1 billion.
This has been a complex process. But Shaw built widespread support among senior business leaders.
Shaw has also been a fixture at various COP meetings, including last year’s in Dubai where he accompanied National’s Simon Watts, who was appointed to the portfolio by Christopher Luxon last year.
Now he’s stuck as co-leader of a party which has long left behind its roots in favour of mere activism. A party which despite a lengthy period in Parliament, has never had an MP sitting in Cabinet.
Dr Rod Carr will step down as commissioner at the Climate Change Commission this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It is a party which is not fully behind him. That was obvious when he was ejected as co-leader via a party vote in mid-2022. He said then it was hard when there was a group organising against him. He had been so focused on his job as Minister for Climate Change, “doing what we need to do to fight the climate crisis”, that he really didn’t have a lot of time for factional organising. No one stood against him in the subsequent election. But the damage was done.
These days the Greens are more known for their stands on issues totally unrelated to climate or sustainability. For instance:
Māori independence: remember co-leader Marama Davidson high-fiving Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer in a TV3 political debate during the election campaign?
Gender: Davidson (again) hitting out at white men during the Albert Park-Posie Parker episode. “I am a violence prevention minister and I know who causes violence in the world, it is white CIS men,” she roared. Totally sexist too, given that on a pro rata basis white men are not the main perpetrators of family violence.
The current cause du jour is Palestine. Chloe Swarbrick and Davidson have been in the forefront of protests against the mounting humanitarian disaster in Palestine. But there has been precious little recognition of the slaughter waged on Israelis in the first place.
Shaw could return to consultancy. Or take a role leading sustainability within a large corporate.
But his six years as Climate Minister boost his cachet, making him worthy of a more significant role.
When Shaw appointed Carr as the inaugural Climate Change Commissioner in late 2019, the appointment was to be for a maximum of five years.
That’s nearly up.
The Cabinet will have a range of potential appointees in mind. There may be some resistance in political quarters, but the mere fact Shaw has not put on the keffiyehsuggests it won’t be long before he makes the final decision to leave a tribe that long ago left him.
