Green Party co-leaders James Shaw, left, and Marama Davidson are urging Kiwis to "think ahead, act now". Photo / Michael Craig
Green Party co-leaders James Shaw, left, and Marama Davidson are urging Kiwis to "think ahead, act now". Photo / Michael Craig
The Green Party has taken a dig at its other governing parties which haven't released substantial policies by outlining its key battlefronts if returned to power.
It yesterday released a comprehensive 52-page document outlining the bedrock on which it will form its policies and hopes it will be the basis of negotiations to form part of the next Government.
The Greens also launched their campaign slogan and commercials which urge New Zealanders to "think ahead, act now" when they head into the voting booths on September 19.
There are no new commitments in the party manifesto but condenses all its pledges into three key areas - healthy nature, fairer communities and a clean economy - and under each pillar are the Greens' various pledges.
Among them are the promises to ban greyhound racing and establish an Animal Welfare Minister, introduce a $325 per week Guaranteed Minimum Income for the out-of-work and bring forward the 100 per cent renewable electricity target by five years to 2025.
Co-leader James Shaw said the decisions the next Parliament makes would affect New Zealand for generations.
"We made a deliberate choice to fill the policy void at this election.
"The country is currently facing the single biggest economic crisis in many generations and we think this election should be about ideas and about our vision for our future."
Green co-leader James Shaw says their policy vision will be the bedrock for coalition negotiations if re-elected. Photo / Mark Mitchell
At the launch of the manifesto yesterday, Shaw said the policy platform would "serve as a basis for negotiations as we seek to form a new Government after the election with the Labour Party" - specifically leaving out NZ First.
He said ideally the Greens would get back into Government "unencumbered".
This week NZ First leader Winston Peters said the Greens were "away with the fairies", with Shaw hitting back calling NZ First "an agent of chaos".
Yesterday Shaw said NZ First had been "more of a millstone than a handbrake".
Co-leader Marama Davidson said releasing the manifesto wasn't a direct shot at the Labour Party, which has signalled it won't release any policy statements until the final weeks of the campaign.
"It's what we stand for, it's what we have always stood for and it's what we will continue to fight for.
"We know that people want us to focus on the issues right now. We know that people want their politicians to be heads-down, doing the work and talking about how we are going to resolve some of the biggest issues that all of us are facing."
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says Covid-19 means Aotearoa could re-imagine itself. Photo / Dean Purcell
Davidson said Covid-19 meant Aotearoa had the chance to re-imagine itself in a way that didn't leave people behind. "Future generations will judge us by the decisions we make today. I want my grandchildren to know that we made smart decisions with their wellbeing in mind."
The Greens have already unveiled two of "about six" fully-costed policies, including their Green Energy Plan which would immediately ban new industrial coal boilers, end coal use by 2030 and upgrade all state homes with solar panels.
Its other policy was its Poverty Action Plan which would see a $325 guaranteed minimum income for students and the unemployed, a Universal Child Benefit of $100 for each child under 3 years old which would be paid for by new wealth taxes.
Davidson said the Greens had learned from their first-ever term in Government they could work with other parties to achieve wins while "maintaining our differentiation".
And Shaw said they weren't taking anything for granted, given the polls. The latest 1News Colmar Brunton poll put the Greens at 6 per cent - just above the threshold to get back into Parliament.
"The situation is very fluid and we're not just going to sit back on our laurels and assume we're going to get back into Government."
The Greens' policy vision includes:
Healthy nature
• Ban or phase out activities like live animal exports, animal rodeos, greyhound racing, factory farming, farrowing crates and inhumane breeding of pets.
• Establish a Minister for Animals and a Parliamentary Commissioner for Animal Welfare.
• Create a fairer system for water allocation by introducing fees for commercial users like bottling plants. Iwi and hapū would be involved in designing the framework.
• Protect kauri from dieback.
• Ban set netting and phase out the most destructive forms of commercial fishing.
• Make kerbside recycling more consistent and phase out low-grade plastics.
Fairer communities
• Create a single "Family Support Credit" of $190 a week for the first child and $120 for each younger child.
