Latest news with #ChlöeSwarbrick
RNZ News
an hour ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Greens 'here to lead the next government': Swarbrick
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says her party is "here to lead the next government", despite polling at about 10 per cent of the vote. Political reporter Anneke Smith has more. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Newsroom
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Newsroom
The Greens want to lead the next Govt. What does that mean?
Analysis: When Chlöe Swarbrick announced her run for co-leader last year, it was with a lofty goal: achieving 'our nation's first Green-led government'. More than a year on, the Greens are polling about where they sat at the last election – 11 percent. It's more than respectable, given the party's 2023 election result was its best, and given Labour has jumped 7 points in the polls over the same period without eating into the Green Party's constituency. But it's nowhere near where a party which is aiming to lead the next government needs to be. Labour, at 34 percent in recent polls, has more than triple the Greens' support. And yet, Swarbrick and co-leader Marama Davidson both reiterated the goal of a Green-led government at the party's AGM over the weekend and began sketching out a high-level path to get there. To start with, the co-leaders claimed the Greens are already leading the Opposition – not in number of MPs, but in setting the agenda and laying out a vision for an alternative government. 'We're not one of the two biggest parties, but if you take the Green MPs who were directly leading the interruption to this Government's Budget night legislative agenda, we stopped them from being able to get it through,' Davidson told Newsroom in an interview ahead of the AGM. 'We were the party who exposed the fiscal, massive, giant hole in the Government's Budget this year. Our Green MPs at the select committees have been the MPs responsible for the scrutiny, the surgical precision blowing apart what the ministers were reporting on.' And, as Swarbrick told reporters on Sunday: 'This very Government, on its own Budget day, spent the majority of its time talking about the Green budget.' Labour's slow policy processes and reluctance to commit to anything beyond a handful of planned moves for its next moment in power has left a vacuum the Greens have been more than willing to fill. While Chris Hipkins won't even say, for example, whether Labour would reinstate the oil and gas ban, the Greens have a fully fledged alternative emissions reduction plan and industrial policy to help workers transition to cleaner jobs. But a strong role in Opposition – even a leading one – does not necessarily transmit to a leading role in Government. If Swarbrick genuinely wants to lead the largest party in the next government, there's a long way to go for her and the Greens. It's something she readily acknowledges, telling reporters that 'this change is not going to happen overnight'. And yet, with little over a year until the next election, it can't wait much longer if the Greens think there's a genuine chance of changing the government in 2026. Building a base which can out-muscle Labour's is a daunting task, particularly for a party which has at times been accused of navel-gazing and insularity. Acknowledging this, too, is a sign of a changing focus for the party. In her speech on Sunday, Swarbrick urged members at the AGM to be open to uncomfortable conversations with people who are not the party's 'natural constituencies'. 'Where do you want to invest your valuable energy and focus? On winning debates or changing our world? On being right, or building relationships? On being comfortable, or growing?' she asked, rhetorically. 'How do we get a mass of exhausted regular people, fed up with politics, to engage and organise with a bunch of earnest nerds – that's us, guys – to win power against some of the most well-funded and unscrupulous industries and political actors?' While the party has at times in past elections focused more on boosting turnout from its core constituency, Swarbrick said she believes there is potential for the Greens to vastly expand their base by reaching beyond those traditional Green voters to people whose interests and values are aligned. As examples, she points to coal miners on the West Coast, who she met last year, the Kinleith Mill workers who the Greens worked with on their industrial policy and perhaps the party's least likely source of new voters: farmers. 'Sure, the conversation to begin with may be a little bit frosty…. But as soon as you get through all of those presumptions that we may make about each other and we come to the core, common good that we share, the common values, you find that those coal miners just want a decent income,' Swarbrick told reporters. 'They want to be able to stay in their community and to feel a sense of pride. Those are things that we can work together on…. That is the broadest possible coalition that we could possibly find across New Zealanders.' Of course, there's another way a future government could be labelled 'Green-led'. Davidson alluded to this on Sunday, without saying directly that it's what the Greens actually means when they talk about a Green government. 'Setting the agenda isn't just about numbers. We've got a Government right now whose tail is being wagged by two smaller parties,' she said. The Greens won't come out and say it, for fear of handing over effective ammunition to the Government, but a more realistic vision of a Green-led government is more closely modelled on the current coalition, with Chris Hipkins swapped in for Christopher Luxon and Swarbrick and Davidson (and potentially Te Pāti Māori's co-leaders) playing the roles of David Seymour and Winston Peters: A Green tail wagging the Labour dog.
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Politics
- 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
15 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Green Party's Chlöe Swarbrick calls to rally, get organised for 2026 election
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick addresses membership at the annual meeting in Wellington. Photo: RNZ/Anneke Smith 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. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Green Party's Chlöe Swarbrick calls to rally, get organised for 2026 elections
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick addresses membership at the annual meeting in Wellington. Photo: RNZ/Anneke Smith 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. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
