We reaped seeds of distrust say Greens

By FRANCESCA MOLD political reporter

The "corngate" scandal ruined the Greens chances of winning 10 per cent support at the election because it created the impression they were indulging in dirty politics, says campaign manager Cate Faehrmann.

Ms Faehrmann said the release of Nicky Hager's book Seeds of Distrust, about an alleged genetically modified corn crop, was a turning point for the Greens during the election campaign.

Two weeks before the election, the Greens were enjoying a dream run.

But when Seeds of Distrust hit the shelves, people became suspicious of the party because they believed the Greens had known about the book and were playing dirty politics.

"The GE issue was sullied and so were we," said Ms Faehrmann. "The GE issue was suddenly seen by some as simply a political tool instead of an issue that made people take principled stands and fight passionately."

She said the party had not known about the book, although its publisher Craig Potton was a Green list candidate.

She said that before the election the Greens were aiming to get 10 per cent of the party vote and keep the Coromandel seat.

Instead, they lost Coromandel and gained 7 per cent of the vote, sending nine party MPs to Parliament.

The corn scandal had damaged the party's chances of achieving its goals, she said.

Ms Faehrmann made her comments during a political science conference at the Beehive yesterday, where she and representatives from other political parties talked about their election tactics and strategies.

The only party not represented at the discussion was National.

Labour Party president Mike Williams told the conference the contaminated corn issue was a turning point in the election campaign.

"Corngate was half time in a game of two halves," he said.

During the campaign, Labour had emphasised the need for a majority Government to provide stable leadership.

But the corn issue made "majority government" dirty words, he said.

Mr Williams also talked about Labour's decision not to do a deal with the Alliance in the Waitakere seat.

The Alliance had pinned its hopes on winning the seat, contested by leader Laila Harre, as a way of getting back into Parliament.

It believed Labour should have stood aside in the seat because its candidate, Lynne Pillay, had a good chance of getting into Parliament on the list.

But Mr Williams said he warned Alliance president Matt McCarten before the election that Waitakere was the wrong electorate for the Alliance to focus on.

The Alliance was running against three powerful forces there, said Mr Williams - support from unions, the strength of the Auckland wing of the Labour Party and the women of the Labour Party.

Mr Williams said there was also some uncertainty at that time about whether Ms Pillay would get in on the party vote.

Act also detailed its campaign strategy yesterday.

Party manager Graham Watson said National might have been responsible for limiting Act's vote-catching ability by positioning itself too close to the party in terms of policy.

He said Bill English's leadership takeover was seen as a move by National towards the centre.

But a couple of months before the election, National had panicked and adopted policy that was "uncomfortably close" to that of Act.

Mr Watson said this gave Act's policy more credibility but might also have limited the party's ability to increase its vote.

"It didn't help their image and it may have hemmed us in a little."

National's move to the right had also allowed United Future and New Zealand First to pick up votes in the centre ground abandoned by National.

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