KEY POINTS:
If celebrity endorsements were the election barometer, the Green Party would be polling twice as high as the other parties.
No policies were revealed at the party's campaign launch yesterday - but there was another "surprise celebrity" to add to its ever-growing list of celebrity endorsements.
The MC
for the launch at Wellington's Te Papa Museum was Robyn Malcolm, aka Sheryl the Westie from Outrageous Fortune.
Malcolm admitted her screen alter ego Sheryl was not the typical "PC" Green voter and she wasn't perfect - she owned a hybrid car but had plastic toys from China for her children.
However, she was voting Green.
The Greens' celebrity backers are not quite in the same giddying heights of stardom as US presidential candidate Barack Obama - who managed to snare Oprah, Robert de Niro, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Stevie Wonder, as well as have a song made from one of his speeches by the Black-Eyed Peas' Will.i.am and Scarlett Johansson.
But Robyn Malcolm's declaration of support follows that of Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene, who is campaigning for the party as an electorate candidate, although he does not want to actually get into Parliament. Earlier this year, it also put up billboards of its leaders with long distance rower Rob Hamill and actress Miranda Harcourt.
The Green co-leaders Jeanette Fitzsimons and Russel Norman used the opportunity to push home their campaign theme - only the Greens can be trusted with the state of the planet.
The co-leaders were also quick to use Helen Clark's declaration that the election was about "trust" - questioning whether either of the two major parties could be trusted.
Dr Norman said the Government had stayed quiet too long after it was initially briefed on the melamine baby formula scandal in China.
"If you can't trust Labour and National to go public about poisoned baby milk, then what on earth can you trust them on? Surely staying quiet about poisoned baby milk is some kind of moral boundary which we would never expect a new Zealand government to cross - and then they did."
Ms Fitzsimons emphasised the party's record in Parliament, including its success with private members' bills, and initiatives such as the $1 billion fund for energy efficiency in homes. The party's efforts have not resulted in a major lift in the polls since last election, when it only just made it over the 5 per cent threshold. It is still hovering around that mark.
