Leaders to give Green members hard sell
Green Party co-leader James Shaw is using his hands to count the list of achievements the party can tick off, when he realises he has run out of fingers.
Not a bad complaint for a party in its first term of Government – yet there is more to be done and the party has not gone far enough, particularly around climate change, he says.
This will be his message to about 200 party faithful at the Greens annual meeting this weekend in Dunedin.
It’s a sentiment shared by coleader Marama Davidson, who will be speaking about inequality and welfare reforms, at what could be seen as a what next-themed conference.
Both co-leaders are set to make announcements about investments in their keynote speeches but remained tight lipped this week.
The conference will be a chance for members to let the party leadership know how they feel about the direction they’re going.
Last year’s conference was
widely seen as a success as the leadership and caucus managed to bring members around to the idea of being in government, and justify the sacrifices the party had made (particularly the waka-jumping bill) to be in power.
No doubt the leaders will face similar questioning this time.
One thing members will want to hear about is what is really going on with Government negotiations and what work is being done to achieve the commitments in the Confidence and Supply Agreement.
As of Budget 2019, about 16 of the agreement goals are seeing a combined boost of $4.9 billion over the next four years.
The sinking of the Government’s flagship KiwiBuild policy may also hold a silver lining for the Greens and its housing goal.
The agreement lists a rent-to-own scheme or similar progressive ownership model to be developed. Now KiwiBuild is being ‘‘reset’’, this could be a good opportunity.
It is understood the Greens and Housing Minister Megan Woods are talking about this.
Leaders will use the annual meeting platform to remind members of big wins such as the Zero Carbon Bill, ETS reforms, the oil and gas ban, indexing benefits to wages, work in conservation and policies around preventing family and sexual violence.
Members will want leaders to show they are holding the line and making progress and will want to know if and how the Greens can sway more influence. The leaders will take this opportunity to show that, now they are in Government, they have a track record and are making traction.
They will be at pains to signal their role in the Government’s policy announcements but also that they want to go further and faster – particularly in the areas of climate change, housing and welfare reform.
‘‘I want to go further and I want to go faster but I understand there are limits to this and that’s a source of frustration to everybody. But I don’t think that diminished people’s sense that we are actually starting to make some progress where no Government has actually done it before and we have done it in 18 months,’’ Shaw said.
Members needed to hear that, otherwise they would get dispirited when looking at the scale of things they were up against, he said.
‘‘I anticipate there will be a frustration that we have not fixed everything yet.’’
Sometimes it felt like baby steps and members felt like they would not get there, so the leaders had to demonstrate they were making progress, he said.
Davidson was keen to push the message about what they had done and their plans for what more needs to happen. ‘‘We need to show we are effective and we are the champions for progressive, stronger, faster change.’’
With the 2020 election creeping closer, the survival of the party will be front of mind for members.
They will have gained some confidence in recent polling that sees the Greens steady at 6 per cent.
It’s unusual because the Greens have never had that consistency before. They will take this as showing they have a loyal base and that getting into Government has been worth it.
However, with no easy electorate wins in sight and knowing no minor party has made it through a stint in Government to cross the 5 per cent threshold at the next election, they cannot afford to be complacent.
The polls were unbelievable but members and caucus were not comfortable, Davidson said.
‘‘It’s a good sign but still too close to the 5 per cent threshold.’’
To get past that, the Greens needed to show how it has been working in Government and getting things done working with partners, Davidson said.
As well as that, it would have to show members it was staying focused on its core environment and climate goals.
‘‘People also need to know we understand the social and economic issues that need to change as well. Our next reach is telling people we get social and economic justice in areas like welfare and housing and that’s why we will be speaking to those issues [at conference].’’
The co-leaders say the conference will be less about election strategy, which has yet to be decided, and more about achievements.