Invest in public good for a sustainable future
The Green Party is unapologetic about our commitment to the long-term benefit of our people and planet. We have a clear vision that is outlined by the action plans we have released in the past months, including our Green Emissions Reduction Plan, He Ara Anamata, as well as our Green Budget 2025 and Fiscal Strategy.
We know that the status quo is not working, the truth is that it hasn't worked for a long time. In the 1980s and 1990s, many reforms saw public assets that had been built up over generations sold into private hands, like our rail network, some social housing, and some electricity generation. There was a mistaken belief that cutting public investment and jobs would make us better off as a country.
Thirty-five years on, we can clearly say that approach has not worked for most of the country.
Cutting down the responsibility of the state has increased inequality, which may suit the super-rich, but certainly doesn't benefit the rest of our society. Housing scarcity and unaffordability allow a gentry of landlords to exploit desperate renters without a foot to stand on. Handing the reins of our economy over to the private sector and moulding our laws around their preference makes it easy for corporates to exploit underpaid workers and our natural resources.
Our people, and the planet we depend upon, pay the price. The 'privatise the benefits, socialise the cost' approach isn't fair, and it isn't working.
It's time to be bold and brave. We can invest in the public infrastructure we need ourselves, rather than making ourselves dependent on the goodwill of private international financiers, who will be looking for returns.
New Zealanders can be in control of our economy, our jobs and our future. We can take control of our destiny and build what we need while creating thousands of good jobs.
Our people, and the planet we depend upon, pay the price. The 'privatise the benefits, socialise the cost' approach isn't fair, and it isn't working. Julie Anna Genter
Over the past months, we have been across the country and have seen the harm private companies have done to communities by coming in, promising the world, and then upping sticks once the profits have dried up, leaving people without livelihoods and much hope.
In the last year alone, we have seen this from the West Coast of the South Island, to Ohakune, to Tokoroa.
It was the stories we heard from these communities that encouraged our Green Jobs Guarantee. This plan will create at least 40,000 jobs across Aotearoa to rebuild our infrastructure, restore nature and build the homes we so desperately need. These jobs will form the foundations of an economy that works for all of us and a society that leaves nobody behind.
Before politicians took their hands off the wheel of the economy 40 years ago and sold off the assets we all used to own, we had a Ministry of Works. Our plan for a Ministry of Green Works builds on that proud tradition but is future-fit for the climate transition.
With our future-focused workforce agency, Mahi Anamata, we will be able to plan for the skills we need. This will allow us to prioritise resources to the areas we need rather than allowing the private sector to dictate our job market on their terms.
We have so many opportunities at our fingertips. Energy efficiency is a boon for productivity. The steps we need to take in transportation and urban development to reduce congestion will also reduce emissions, deaths and serious injuries, and petrol bills – by reducing the need to use private vehicles. We can take pressure off our hospitals and people's power bills with healthy homes, wind and solar, and walkable communities.
A better world is possible. The only thing holding us back is this Government, which is firmly stuck in the past and beholden to the interests of a wealthy few.
Julie Anne Genter is MP for Rongotai and Green Party spokesperson for Infrastructure, Transport, Urban Development and Building and Construction.
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