Labour then announced these same policies in their campaign launch, having shown little interest in these issues previously. This stole some of the Greens' thunder. With all this,
Greens were mostly relieved that the party eventually polled 5.9 per cent (above the crucial 5 per cent threshold) giving them seven seats in preliminary results. Special votes announced on Saturday gave them an extra seat. There is still a good chance the Greens will form part of the next government.
Some commentators have suggested the Greens are wrong to focus on social and welfare issues such as poverty and should just keep to the issue of the environment - the Greens' supposed raison d'etre. I disagree.
As James Shaw said: "We're the first generation that will feel the effects of climate change and the last that can stop it. We have a responsibility to act."
As a result, we are increasingly seeing more frequent and intense weather events that are due to changes in our climate. These events tend to have a greater impact on the poorer citizens in our communities.
The August 2017 flooding in Bangladesh and India resulted in the loss of 1200 lives and almost a million homes. Several million predominantly poor people were impacted. The 2005 hurricane Katrina damage in the New Orleans area in the US caused proportionally more hardship to poorer communities.
There can be little doubt that recent hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria will have inflicted proportionately greater devastation on poorer communities in the US and the Caribbean. Even in New Zealand it is poorer people who are more likely to be affected by weather events and to be inadequately insured. These weather events are the new normal and we are going to have to get used to it.
Tackling poverty and inequality is fundamental to making our society more resilient to deal with the impacts of climate change.
Climate change and its impacts is the issue that is going to shape the next generation.
Up to now the Green Party has been the only political party in New Zealand really addressing climate change with it as a key issue in their policy platform. The other parties have tended to pay lip service and spout platitudes on the issue.
It was, therefore, heartening to hear Labour leader Jacinda Ardern when speaking about climate change during the campaign say: "This is my generation's nuclear-free moment, and I am determined that we will tackle it head-on."
This bodes well for Green/Labour coalition discussions with the prospect that environmental issues are to the fore in the next government.
The Greens' voice on the environment in Parliament is more important than ever.
They need our continued support in occupying this important space.
David Hughes moved to Whanganui after working for 35 years in England, Australia, New Caledonia, France and other countries. He works as a translator from French into English and is involved in a project growing heritage wheat varieties.
