Bennett says Greens should talk to Nats
"We'd quite like to talk to them, in some respects."
National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett
A coalition between the Green Party and National is not off the table, as far as Paula Bennett is concerned.
National’s deputy leader told the her party had not ruled out a deal with the Greens.
‘‘We’d quite like to talk to them, in some respects,’’ she said, adding that the party would like to talk to all potential coalition partners.
The two parties had similarities in some areas.
‘‘You’ve gotta say that there are definitely some areas that we could work on, and some places where they can make gains on, actually...
‘‘It’s always worth the conversation.’’ Bennett’s comments to the
come after both National leader Bill English and Greens leader James Shaw said they would not rule out the possibility of a deal, but both signalled the other would have to make the first move.
If National picked up the phone, the Greens would have a responsibility to listen, but English would have to make a pretty special offer for a coalition to work, Shaw said.
A Green Party staffer said while the two could work together on social issues, National’s environmental policies were not currently aligned with the Greens.
National would have to make significant moves in that area for a deal to happen.
When speaking about parties’ inaction on climate change, during the campaign, new Green MP Chloe Swarbrick said: ‘‘Saying you want action on climate change and still allowing new consents for oil drilling and coal mining is the same as saying you’re going to be faithful in a relationship and keeping the Tinder app on your phone.’’
Last year, Labour and the Greens signed a memorandum of understanding MoU - acknowledging they had similar goals. Part of that MoU was that Labour would give the Greens the first phone call following the election. That call has taken place but it did not include any formal discussions about policy or forming a coalition.
Jacinda Ardern said she and Shaw discussed the election, and the process going forward. At this stage, no formal coalition negotiations had begun.
Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis told the
neither Ardern or himself had spoken to NZ First leader Winston Peters. ’’I’m sure that there’s phone calls being made in the back offices of all the parties - Labour, National, Greens.’’
Davis said he had ‘‘immense respect’’ for Peters but it wasn’t his place to make a call to the kingmaker.
Both parties were giving him the ‘‘time and space’’ he needed, while they waited for the special vote results to come in on October 7.
Bennett echoed Davis, saying now was a time to step back, ignore the opinion pieces and speculative columns about who would go with who, and wait.
The waiting could be frustrating, especially given the long, exhausting campaign, Bennett said. It was hard to be in a state of limbo at the moment.
‘‘But that’s MMP,’’ Davis added.