David Cormack: Why the Greens need to start alienating people

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is congratulated by co-leader James Shaw after being elected to the position in April last year. Photo / Michael Craig

COMMENT:

Why are the Greens? They've had a battle for relevance since Jacinda Ardern took over the Labour Party.

For years the party's polling was boosted by an influx of would-be Labour voters who were sick of the seemingly endless chain of sub-par middle-aged men leading Labour, and so flocked to the other left-wing party.

Then Labour got its act together and found itself an inspirational leader and so large chunks of soft-Green voters returned home.

Barely dragged over the line at the last election, its worst result at the polls since 2005 ironically gave it the best result it's had in being part of a government.

There are Green Ministers! And Ministers in areas that are green bread and butter issues: Minister of Climate Change for co-leader James Shaw, Minister of Conservation and Associate Minister of Environment for Eugenie Sage, and Associate Minister of Transport for Julie Anne Genter.

All of these portfolios should have seen the Green Party thrive and constantly be in the spotlight for making great, positive, green change. Instead it's gone missing.

As school kids march all around the world for their governments to do something about climate change, the Green Party seems to have made little effort to emulate it here.

Where are the Green MPs demanding that it's time we did something to counter those 100 companies who are responsible for nearly three quarters of all harmful emissions?

It's always been tricky for the Green Party to get cut through. I know, I spent time as the head of communications and policy trying to do so.

Our primary focus was climate change and for a long time climate change was considered a pseudo-science, and then when it was acceptable to believe it was real it was too tricky or too grim to report on.

But now it's everywhere. It's in IPCC reports. It's in news articles, and on TV, and it's right outside our windows as Australia and New Zealand wither in heatwaves, and the US is smashed by cold fronts.

It was also hard getting media coverage for the Green Party because there was an internal belief that Green MPs didn't play politics.

They were above that, and so if the media didn't want to report on the Very Serious issues that the Green Party talked Very Seriously about then that wasn't the Green Party's fault. That was the media's fault for not taking those Very Serious issues Seriously enough.

And then along came Vernon Tava.

He ran for co-leader when Russel Norman stood down and his one platform was that the Green Party should be open to working with National.

Rightfully dismissed, he's cropped up again as a possible leader of a "blue-green" party. One that is environmentally friendly but would be open to working with National. Vernon doesn't seem to have a lot of tricks.

This ridiculous idea got a huge amount of coverage and was the perfect opportunity for the Green Party to leap into the conversation. To reassert themselves as the environmental party of New Zealand.

Green MPs should have been repeating en masse that National was in government for nine years and did nothing to try and help the environment.

In coalition, the Greens are part of the most environmentally focused Government that New Zealand has ever had. Photo / Greg Bowker

Every release, every statement on the issue should have said that National's singular pursuit of an economy that gave the appearance of a rockstar was at complete odds with an environmentally friendly policy platform.

Spokespeople should have been saying that National only even started to pretend it cared about climate change when it ended up in opposition.

Instead the Greens gave maybe two interviews over the whole issue and went to ground.

If they still think they're above petty politicking then they could have pointed out that National isn't.

Say that this "blue-green" party is actually an entirely cynical effort to gerrymander National a coalition partner because it can't play with its mates very well. That this National Party is so bereft of good ideas that they've had to release animations of its leader because people don't like the real-life version.

Or point out that as the Green Party of Aotearoa, they are part of the most environmentally focused Government that New Zealand has ever had. Even if it still hasn't done enough, it's sure as heck done a lot better than National did when it gave the Climate Change portfolio to Paula Bennett.

The Green Party needs to get comfortable alienating people that are never going to vote for it. The head of Todd Oil is unlikely to ever be a big evangelist of the Green Party, so it needs to get fiery against the fossil fuel industry. Just show us passion. Believe in something.

Besides, if people truly wanted a blue-green, they can always vote for James Shaw.