Greens notch up historic ‘biggest win yet’
Analysis: For close to three decades, the Green Party has been talking the talk on climate change and the environment, without the power to do much walking.
Yesterday, the party received probably the biggest policy win in its history, with the announcement that new offshore oil and gas exploration permits will no longer be granted.
An email to supporters called it their ‘‘biggest victory yet’’, with Gareth Hughes admitting he had pinched himself.
‘‘For decades Greens have shone a spotlight on the perils of oil drilling and its threat to our very existence. And today we have won,’’ Hughes wrote.
The party, hovering at just above 5 per cent, will be hopeful that it is worth at least a few points in the polls. It should be worth more than another insulation scheme, at least.
Climate Change Minister and party co-leader James Shaw was clear yesterday morning that in a perfect world the Government would be moving faster.
Current exploration permits don’t run out for decades and scientists Shaw quoted say we need to leave 80 per cent of what has already been found in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change.
There will also be concern that Labour will get the lion’s share of the credit, given Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern keeps using that ‘‘climate change is the nuclear-free issue of my generation’’ line.
The Green MPs can quite rightly point to the fact that this move comes straight from their policy manifesto – while it definitely wasn’t in NZ First’s and Labour only promised a move away from fossil fuels.
Another thing they will be keen to point out is that this wasn’t in their confidence and supply agreement with Labour – which means they can still negotiate big wins outside of that fairly narrow contract.
It’s understood the work to get to this point has been under way since the Government was formed.
But all the ‘‘well actually’s’’ in the world can’t paper over the fact Ardern will be the one leading the charge on the 6pm news, even if the footage shows Shaw smiling behind her (and Shane Jones grimacing). And the most climate change conscious of Green Party voters will have been hoping for even more than this, for all oil exploration to end, not just new permits.
Greenpeace New Zealand head and former Green Party co-leader Russel Norman acknowledged it was a ‘‘historic step’’ in his press release but also took care to express disappointment.
‘‘We are disappointed that onshore Taranaki, where communities have to deal with ongoing fracking and exploration, is exempt from the ban, and that existing offshore exploration contracts will remain,’’ Norman said.
The win follows two smaller ones: the boost for public transport funding last week and the end of subsidies for farming irrigation.
It comes just days after Marama Davidson was elected to the coleadership of the party with a massive mandate from the 6500 Green Party members.
Davidson comes from the more activist economic wing of the party than the former consultant Shaw, and many have read her ascendancy as a swing away from the environment and to the radical Left.
Green Party MPs naturally argue that the two are intrinsically linked, and you can’t do one without the other.
But any anxiety that the party are leaving their environmental roots behind will be squashed by this oil announcement.
In fact, the three Green Party ministers are all more likely to deliver wins for the urban public transport-loving, environmentally-focused wing than anything economic. Davidson’s position as a non-minister means she can’t rack up these wins like Shaw can – but it also means she can talk a much bigger talk than he can.
The Green Party can’t afford their own internal polls, so are travelling somewhat blind on this. They’ll find out soon if their direction is strong.