Greens gather for annual meeting focused on building voters' trust
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says there's "no point being right", if the party is not in a position to make change in parliament.
The caucus and party faithful are gathering for their annual meeting in Wellington central this weekend.
The party had a tumultuous start to the term. This time last year, Swarbrick led the party alone, with co-leader Marama Davidson out of action, fighting cancer.
She also fielded questions about former MP Darleen Tana's future, as the party mulled swallowing its pride and invoking the waka-jumping laws to get rid of her.
With Davidson back and Tana now gone, it's been relatively steady going for the party this year. It put out its own 'Green Budget' in May - a plan that promised free doctor visits, dental care and an income support scheme, funded by a suite of wealth taxes.
Swarbrick said she was "stoked" heading into this year's annual meeting.
"I'm feeling really, really good," she said. "We're in a position where we have released four sizable and substantive policy pieces.
"Being in this position now, with Marama back, and having a really strong, really capable, really focused team, it's just going to be awesome."
The co-leaders have been out and about this year, holding meetings through local branches, as part of a nationwide roadshow.
Swarbrick has been to Northland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne and Taranaki, where she said she met a lot of "Green-curious" voters.
"A lot of people have been turning up, who have felt very strongly that the status quo of politics is not working for them, and so they're interested in understanding what our proposals, what our solutions actually are."
The Green Party had no shortage of policy on the table, but Swarbrick said that wasn't enough.
"There's no point being right, if we are left clinging to our mountains of evidence, when the last tree is cut down.
"The Greens have long prided themselves on having the evidence and the facts, and the basis for the policies that we're putting out there, but clearly - unfortunately - that hasn't been enough to get us into a position of commanding a large enough portion of the vote to get those sizable, transformative policies across the line."
She said the Greens were focused on building the public's trust with the party in the coming year.
"Having those policies is critical, so that people know that we have a backbone, we actually know what it is that we're talking about, but the far more critical ingredient is building trust," Swarbrick said.
"That is the work that we've been doing on the ground, organising with people and having them understand that things can be so much better, if we all occupy our power and make it a reality."
Swarbrick said, no matter what Labour went on to announce, the electorate knew where the Green Party stood on a swathe of issues.
"We intend to be in a position to negotiate government, where we have been completely transparent about the things that we want to do."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
Greens Gather For Annual Meeting Focused On Building Voters' Trust
Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says there's "no point being right", if the party is not in a position to make change in parliament. The caucus and party faithful are gathering for their annual meeting in Wellington central this weekend. The party had a tumultuous start to the term. This time last year, Swarbrick led the party alone, with co-leader Marama Davidson out of action, fighting cancer. She also fielded questions about former MP Darleen Tana's future, as the party mulled swallowing its pride and invoking the waka-jumping laws to get rid of her. With Davidson back and Tana now gone, it's been relatively steady going for the party this year. It put out its own 'Green Budget' in May - a plan that promised free doctor visits, dental care and an income support scheme, funded by a suite of wealth taxes. Swarbrick said she was "stoked" heading into this year's annual meeting. "I'm feeling really, really good," she said. "We're in a position where we have released four sizable and substantive policy pieces. "Being in this position now, with Marama back, and having a really strong, really capable, really focused team, it's just going to be awesome." The co-leaders have been out and about this year, holding meetings through local branches, as part of a nationwide roadshow. Swarbrick has been to Northland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne and Taranaki, where she said she met a lot of "Green-curious" voters. "A lot of people have been turning up, who have felt very strongly that the status quo of politics is not working for them, and so they're interested in understanding what our proposals, what our solutions actually are." The Green Party had no shortage of policy on the table, but Swarbrick said that wasn't enough. "There's no point being right, if we are left clinging to our mountains of evidence, when the last tree is cut down. "The Greens have long prided themselves on having the evidence and the facts, and the basis for the policies that we're putting out there, but clearly - unfortunately - that hasn't been enough to get us into a position of commanding a large enough portion of the vote to get those sizable, transformative policies across the line." She said the Greens were focused on building the public's trust with the party in the coming year. "Having those policies is critical, so that people know that we have a backbone, we actually know what it is that we're talking about, but the far more critical ingredient is building trust," Swarbrick said. "That is the work that we've been doing on the ground, organising with people and having them understand that things can be so much better, if we all occupy our power and make it a reality." Swarbrick said, no matter what Labour went on to announce, the electorate knew where the Green Party stood on a swathe of issues. "We intend to be in a position to negotiate government, where we have been completely transparent about the things that we want to do."
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Alcohol sale hours need to be reduced after reform u-turn
Proposed changes would have reduced off-licence sale hours from 16 hours to 12 a day. Photo: ABC News / Mitchell Woolnough The Salvation Army says it sees the harm caused by alcohol every day, and wants the government to revisit plans to tighten the hours bottle stores and supermarkets can sell alcohol. A leaked cabinet paper showed the government scrapped plans to reduce the hours alcohol could be sold to focus instead on making business easier for the alcohol industry. Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee planned to reduce off-licence sale hours - which are now 7am-11pm - to only 12 hours, from 9am, in reforms to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. She said that could have prevented 2400 violent crimes a year, but later versions of the paper showed the reform would now focus on reducing the regulatory burden. Salvation Army social policy and parliamentary unit director Dr Bonnie Robinson said that came as a surprise. "We don't know why we've ended up with a draft cabinet paper, which looks quite different to what we were expecting," she said. "Certainly, the alcohol industry lobbies the government and the alcohol industry does have a lot of resources behind it." Robinson said the u-turn was concerning, given alcohol-related harm currently costs the country $9.1 billion a year. "We're really concerned, if we're not going to take this opportunity to reduce harm from alcohol," she said. "We see the harm from alcohol every single day at our services. "We know that we need to do more to reduce the harm from alcohol, so it will be disappointing, if we miss this opportunity to really take some steps that can do that." The organisation planned to urge government to reconsider. "We'll certainly be writing to the minister and urging her to make the reforms focused on alcohol harm reduction, in particular, if we can get back to that reduction of sales hours," Robinson said. "We'll be talking to other ministers, because this is a public health issue. It's also a crime and family violence issue, it goes across a lot of issues that government is concerned about." More than 20 councils across the country were working on their own local alcohol policies and, so far, three had come into force in Auckland, Christchurch and Hastings, where 9pm closing applied to off-licence sales. Other councils had abandoned plans to embark on their own local alcohol policies, including Grey District, which cited the cost involved and threat of industry challenge. Hamilton City Council ditched plans to change the hours alcohol could be sold, after receiving three appeals, including from Progressive Enterprises. At the time, council said negotiations failed to resolve the issues and it abandoned its policy, after spending more than $200,000 on staff and legal time. In 2022, Hamilton councillors unanimously voted in support of a private members bill, which aimed to put more controls around the sale of liquor. Robinson said a law change reforming the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to tighten alcohol sales would take the burden off councils. "It strengthens the arm of councils, when they also want to make adjustments in their communities," she said. "Without that, each council does have to do that policy themselves. "It's very inefficient in terms of lawmaking and, for smaller councils particularly, it can be very expensive for them to do it." She said Rotorua was one example of a city affected by alcohol-related harm, because 60 percent of bottle shops were in the highest deprivation suburbs. Those suburbs represented 11 percent of Rotorua's population, but accounted for one-third of hospital admissions attributable to alcohol. "Behind those stats are real people, who are suffering, because they are being harmed by alcohol and addiction to alcohol," Robinson said. "We do have the opportunity to reduce that harm. It's not going to eliminate it, but we can at least make some dents in that harm, if we do some really good reform, especially around trading hours." She said evidence internationally showed reducing trading hours helped reduce harm, by reducing the availability of alcohol, particularly in vulnerable communities. "The less alcohol is available, the less harmful drinking we have and the less harm from alcohol we have - the research is very clear on this. "That's why we do need to protect these vulnerable communities. We need to make sure there isn't a proliferation of off-licences in them and we need to reduce the hours that the existing off-licences can operate, and that will reduce harm." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Greens call to rally, get organised for 2026 election
By Anneke Smith of RNZ Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has urged the membership to rally and get organised for next year's election. MPs and party faithful gathered for their annual meeting at creative campus Te Auaha in central Wellington this weekend. Swarbrick received a standing ovation, after her speech that asked members to "take a deep breath" and action their opposition to the coalition's policy agenda. "I don't really want to just talk about the bad guys and the bad things today, because I know we're angry," she said. "We've got a lot to be angry about, but that anger, while righteous, won't get us anywhere, if we do not channel it into organised action." Swarbrick and co-leader Marama Davidson have visited communities throughout the country this year, as part of a nationwide roadshow. She told membership the Greens' ideas were "immensely popular" and the party's work in the coming year was to "grow" the party's movement. "New Zealanders are hungry for solutions, because - clearly - the current system, it ain't working for them. "That means that there is a country full of people ready to join our movement. We've seen in Auckland Central, in Rongotai and here in Wellington Central that, when we get curious about our neighbours and find our shared values, when we show up for our communities and build our movement beyond traditional circles, we win, the people win." The Green Party has had a relatively steady year, after a tumultuous start to the term that saw several controversial resignations, the sudden death of MP Efeso Collins and Davidson taking time out to fight cancer. Since then, both co-leaders have talked about leading the opposition and setting the agenda, as the party released a swathe of policy, including its own 'Green Budget'. This rhetoric hasn't translated into a boost in support in the polls, with the Greens consistently polling about 10 percent of the general vote. Swarbrick told membership many New Zealanders were "exhausted" and "fed up with politics", but they should still fight to create "the most progressive government Aotearoa has ever seen". "We need to connect the dots on these acts of humanity, building something so big it overtakes and replaces the system of extraction and exhaustion and exploitation. "Now, those making bank from the climate crisis and profiting from deep inequality will invest everything that they have got into telling you that it's impossible, because they need you to believe that they need you fighting your fellow New Zealander," Swarbrick said.
