Targeting the young and the old

A doctor returning as Green candidate for Kaiko¯ura is upfront about his desire to steal voters from the Labour Party.

Dr Richard Mccubbin was once a Labour Party voter himself but at the start of his journey into politics he realised the Green Party was an essential check on the centre-left behemoth.

‘‘The stance the Labour Party has on social justice and welfare is something I feel very strongly about,’’ the rural general practitioner said.

‘‘We need a strong Green presence in a coalition government with Labour to help people and protect the planet and to keep the Green cause alive and to keep the fire under Labour, to make sure they respond to that,’’ he said.

But Mccubbin said his main goal in this year’s election campaign was to spread the awareness about the dire state of the planet, impending climate crisis and the need to share the resources ‘‘equitably’’.

‘‘It’s part of our [Green Party] charter, we have to care for our planet, we have to care for its resources, and we have to share its resources equitably,’’ he said.

In order to do so, he is vying for support from two opposite ends of the age group spectrum, the young and the old. ‘‘I think it’s my job to try to persuade the electorate to see that as a vital issue for our children, grandchildren and their children.’’

Mccubbin, 68, has three adult children and two small grandchildren.

‘‘Our target populations are young supporters from 18 to 35 [years old],’’ Mccubbin said.

‘‘I am a grandfather in my late 60s and I think there are lots of grandparents around who look at their grandchildren and say how can we ensure that our grandchildren have a viable future in New Zealand and on the planet.

‘‘And that’s the age group and a demographic I will be talking to,’’ he said.

‘‘So if you really love your grandchildren and value a future for them, you should think very carefully about voting for the Green Party, because this is the major issue apart from Covid-19 which is going to be facing the next few generations.

‘‘Covid-19 will come and go, but it is the climate emergency which is the real elephant in the room,’’ Mccubbin said.

‘‘Covid-19 in a way is an opportunity to look at how we run the country and how the economy works. I think business as usual is not going to work in the future.

‘‘We were faced with a real crisis with Covid-19 and we are faced with a climate crisis which, if it happens as it’s predicted... [will] make Covid-19 look like small change.

‘‘The amount of money we will have to spend on a climate emergency will be massive, so we need to do stuff now, and we need to work with business, with farmers to make those changes,’’ Mccubbin said.

‘‘Talking to some organic vineyard growers, I think there is growing trend for organic wine growing especially in Blenheim. That’s one of the things that will power a change to more environmentally sensitive agriculture market forces,’’ he said.

‘‘Farmers are not the enemies of the Greens, we want to work with them in developing sustainable agricultural models,’’ he said.

Kaiko¯ ura has been a National Party stronghold with only two wins by Labour since the 1930s.