In the 2020 election, first term MP Chlöe Swarbrick will be one of just two Greens explicitly running to win an electorate. She spoke to Alex Braae about how she rates her chances of taking down National’s deputy leader. After four frantic years in politics, Chlöe Swarbrick has finally been forced to slow down. Since … Read more
The Auckland that Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman found herself in as a nine-year-old was starkly Pākehā – to the point that she assumed Māori must be refugees, too. Ghahraman’s memoir, Know Your Place, is out this week and opens with a tense recounting of her family’s flight from Iran in 1990. Parts of this … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Criticism over new ‘two-tier’ welfare payments, National announces reshuffle, and a day of differing fortunes in the media world. The government has announced a brand new income support scheme for those who have lost work – but in many ways, it immediately became notable more … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Muller settles into National leadership after brutal coup, government issues concern over Hong Kong, and parties reveal election candidates. National has rolled the dice on changing their leader several months out from an election. Our political editor Justin Giovannetti arrived in Wellington just in time to see it … Read more
Will the door be open to a new National leadership, and does the party need to flex its muscle to get noticed in the coming months? Suddenly it’s election year again. The National Party has jettisoned Simon Bridges in favour of Todd Muller, a sensible man with a firm handshake. Over the weekend Jacinda Ardern … Read more
We need an overhaul of our social safety net, with more of us needing help than ever before, writes Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. A genuinely transformational overhaul of our social safety net would mean supporting everyone to live the life they want with dignity. A fit-for-purpose set-up means prompt, kind, understanding support when you … Read more
Last year environmental campaigner Neil Miller wrote a comprehensive conservation policy setting out in detail a ‘billion-dollar boost’. Yet however many might agree that it is common sense, no mainstream political party has picked up the idea and run with it, he writes. My mistake was writing the policy for the wrong party. I was … Read more
For the decade Sue Bradford spent in parliament as a Green MP, party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons led by example, bringing a quiet but steely determination to everything she did. The news of the sudden death of Jeanette Fitzsimons has been a shock. My heart goes out to her dear partner of many decades, Harry Parkes, … Read more
Given the escalating climate crisis and other looming environmental issues, has capitalism proven antithetical to the survival of the planet? Opportunities Party leader Geoff Simmons says no. There is no doubt: we need to change the way we live to save the environment. And we need to save the environment to have a chance of … Read more
The Green Party transport spokesperson writes on the good, the bad and the ugly of the big infrastructure announcement. It is election year and it is time to decide where we are heading. The Green Party will be laying out bold plans this year for reducing our climate pollution, ensuring people have enough to thrive, … Read more
We need Māori voices in parliament who aren’t beholden to the major parties, writes former Green Party policy co-convenor and candidate Jack McDonald (Taranaki, Ngāti Haupoto). I was one of those kids that was always interested in politics. I have early blurry memories of excitedly watched election night results. In our primary school leaving book, … Read more
Critics call it a rightwing conspiracy, or attempt to attack the messenger, but they overlook what a new Sustainable NZ Party can offer, writes its leader. Politics is a contest of ideas and the promise of MMP was that we’d have a greater diversity of ideas leading to increased quality of solutions and decision making. … Read more
Vernon Tava, the leader of the Sustainable NZ party, used to be part of the Greens. So how did he fit in there? Former MP Catherine Delahunty shares her impressions of him from then, and analyses where his new party will fit in. I first met Vernon Tava when he joined the Greens in Auckland. … Read more
Vernon Tava’s Sustainable NZ Party launched over the weekend, to media fanfare. But has their pitch for centrist environmentalist voters lost touch with the changes in political reality? For a party that he criticises constantly, Vernon Tava will have a tough time escaping the shadow of the Greens. It’s a curious position for the leader … Read more
In withdrawing from the Paris agreement, Donald Trump is breaking with a tradition of political leadership and the best of humanity. But others are surging forward, writes Green Party co-leader James Shaw. At the height of the Cold War, President John F Kennedy proclaimed that all of us should have “the right to live out … Read more
An open letter signed by more than 150 New Zealanders under 30 who specialise in biological or environmental science says the current law hinders efforts to tackle the climate crisis, and urges the Greens to change their position and take a lead on reform. A group of more than 150 young New Zealand scientists has … Read more
More than 150 New Zealand scientists under 30 have signed a letter to the Green Party urging a rethink of its stance on the regulation of genetic modification. The full text of the letter follows. To the members and supporters of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and their representatives in government Climate change … Read more
Andrew Little’s terrorism suppression bill is facing two very different forms of resistance, from National and from the Greens. What is the legislation, and why is it controversial? What this then? The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill, introduced to parliament by the justice minister, Andrew Little, last Wednesday, seeks to introduce “a civil regime of … Read more
Covering Climate Now: Carys Goodwin reflects on giving up, and what convinced her to take up the fight again. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here! Four years ago, while working for the Green Party in parliament, I did a brief stint as the climate … Read more
In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Josie Adams assesses the bastion of progressive virtue that is Dunedin/Ōtepoti. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Where? Dunedin, or Ōtepoti, is also known as “the Edinburgh of … Read more
The three governing parties are turning their attention to next year’s general election. RNZ‘s Jo Moir surveys the field. The night New Zealand First formed a government with Labour and the Greens, its leader Winston Peters quoted the song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. Almost two years later all three parties still have … Read more
At the last election, Metiria Turei stood down as Greens co-leader amid the controversy that followed a personal and polarising speech, the reverberations of which are felt to this day in the party. She has since stayed out of the public spotlight and immersed herself in art and performance. In a rare interview, she sits … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens push policy at restive annual conference, police alarm Ihumātao protectors by showing rifles, and two major stories about dodgy historic rubbish dumps. The Green Party have held their annual conference over the weekend, and it heralded both policy drives, and organisational blows. We’ll start with … Read more
The president of the Vic Uni students association is leading a ‘youthquake’ as five leaders under 25 try to follow Chlöe Swarbrick into the halls of power, writes Peter McKenzie. It wasn’t a conventional campaign launch. Someone’s laptop cycled through a Spotify playlist of grungy music. The oldest person present looked to be in their … Read more
Scientists say that gene editing is the same as selective breeding, and could make a big difference in combating our environmental challenges. But the government refuses to listen, argues Opportunities Party leader Geoff Simmons. We are facing some enormous environmental challenges over the coming decades, in particular climate change, waste, and water quality. Meanwhile, we … Read more
Environmentalism occupies a place outside the conventional left-right political axis. But for the kind of party envisaged by Vernon Tava to work, it would have to win its place by courting voters from the left, writes Danyl Mclauclan This was the week aspiring centre-green politician Vernon Tava learned a vital but probably terminal lesson in … Read more
As National searches for a support partner, there is fresh talk of a new centrist environmental party. But is it something voters are looking for, asks RNZ’s Chris Bramwell It is no surprise talk of a new environmentally-focussed centrist political party is being welcomed by National, because under MMP it will need a support partner if it … Read more
In this edited version of her speech at the Hamilton Press Club last Friday, Green MP Golriz Ghahraman recounts her journey from a childhood in Iran to becoming the first refugee elected to the NZ parliament, and why identity is at the heart of democracy Being a Middle Eastern woman is a strangely over-burdened birth … Read more
Self-confessed fan Morgan Godfery talks Māori politics with Green Party co-leader, Marama Davidson. Marama Davidson is your best friend. If she’s isn’t, you just haven’t met her yet. The Green Party co-leader, an ex-theatre girl – the daughter of Whale Rider koro Rawiri Paratene – former human rights advocate, and multitasking mother of six, wants … Read more