Someone needs to save the planet, and they are our voice for it. It's a good cause. Unfortunately their party is struggling this election with its leadership crisis involving Metiria Turei. The rise of Jacinda Ardern in her new leadership role saw her spot the chink in their armour and therefore the opportunity to swoop in to announce new environmentally focused policies for the Labour Party.
Some may say this is simply the nature of politics - challenging each other and swooping in to steal each other's policies. My take, though, is that I believe the accountability each party holds the other parties to under MMP is at many times stronger than under other systems.
Could it truly be said, to take our example, that climate change would have been a major focus of the Labour Party this term had the opportunity to capitalise not presented itself from the controversy surrounding the Greens leadership? In my opinion, likely not.
On balance though, I'm glad we have a system that allows issues such as this to come through from the minorities and be pushed that otherwise likely would not have been if left only to two major rival political parties. Smaller more nimble minority party voices can swoop through the middle and have their voice echo through New Zealand quite strongly at times, that otherwise would have likely be silenced if they were held solely within members of the major parties.
I watched the minor parties' leaders debate over the weekend. Represented were the Greens, the Maori and Mana Party, Act and The Opportunities Party. Of notable value to me was that each party was represented by experienced and articulate leaders - they each could hold their own.
One example of note, which touches on a subject I spoke of in my column last week, was that of each minor party's views on the criminal justice system and their views and policies in relation to it.
It was actually inspiring to me to see Hone Harawira, leader of the Mana Party and Shaw, leader of the Greens agree that our prisoners should be out of prisons thus being restored and rehabilitated rather than rotting in cells becoming more hardened criminals, with Shaw propositioning and Harawira agreeing that these people could be contributing to the environment by planting trees thus restoring themselves therapeutically and the environment. Win-win.
Act then took the hard-line lock 'em up approach of which then Marama Fox of the Maori Party, supported by Gareth Morgan of The Opportunities Party fought back citing the high rates of Maori incarceration in New Zealand and our embarrassing incarceration record comparative to other OECD or developed countries.
It was a very good quality debate in my opinion, demonstrating the checks and balances MMP provides in our New Zealand political system.
In saying that I love MMP, my view comes from a background whereby I have had no formal education regarding politics, therefore any learning I have had has been informal and experiential in nature in that MMP has been the only system I have been exposed to as a voting adult.
Perhaps if I had been under, taught or exposed to other systems I would think differently. All I can say is that, with the increase in equity issues faced by minority demographics (women, children, seniors, Maori, environmentalists, etc) in New Zealand it's important that these voices have the opportunity to come through and I appreciate having a system that provides that.
