I am almost feeling sorry for the Greens. The
self-proclaimed party of principle has struggled with the reality of
Government, ever since it joined the unholy alliance with Labour and New
Zealand First last October. They are the awkward members at the family dinner-party
- the guest Labour really wanted to be in the box seat, but the one New Zealand
First wanted left at home altogether. So the ungainly compromise was reached,
where the Greens can join the feast, but have to eat in the kitchen, and not the
dining room where Labour and New Zealand First recline.
And, if that is not bad enough, they have to go along
with whatever is agreed in the dining room, before they get any food at all.
They have had to do an about-face on their hitherto principled opposition to
party-hopping legislation. Allegedly, according to the rumour mill, this was
because of a threat from New Zealand First to release more damaging material
about the background circumstances of Meteria Turei's benefit abuse hara kiri
last year. Whatever, the claims to be the party of principle have been left
looking more than a little tatty.
On the positive side, though, the Greens appear to have
made progress on their aim of moving the economy to a carbon neutral status,
although their proposals are at only discussion paper stage at present, and
could yet be derailed by New Zealand First, or even Labour, if the going gets
tough from here on.
Moreover, the Greens' position has been made more
difficult by the electoral mathematics. Labour cannot govern now or in the
future without the support of both New Zealand First and the Greens. If the
Greens were to walk away now, the Government would fall, and they would be
punished at the ensuing election. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that
one or other, or even both, New Zealand First and the Greens will make it back
at the next election, so the Government could fall anyway.
In many senses, the Greens are in no different a position
to every other support party over the years. Having made the decision to
support a major party in Government, they are virtually duty bound to see the
term through. Yet the consequence might be their defeat in the long term,
although if they were revert to being the party if principle and leave sooner,
they would assuredly be tossed out of Parliament. Successive support partners over
the years have faced the same dilemma, and have been derided by the Greens for
being without principle when they have stayed the distance. So there is rich
irony in the Greens' present plight.
What has complicated the Greens' position further is that
they boxed themselves into a corner. They made it clear they would countenance
working with Labour only, and, for reasons which are understandable if
politically inflexible, ruled out working with National under any
circumstances. So desperate were they to be finally part of Government, after
having being shut out at every election since they left the Alliance in the
late 1990s, they even failed to do basic due diligence on the Labour/New
Zealand First coalition agreement, before signing up, sight unseen. Now they
are left to reap the whirlwind.
Moreover, to make matters worse, they are facing internal
party wrath over their Conservation Minister's decision to expand a water
bottling operation, one more thing they railed so strongly against in Opposition.
For the record, the Minister made the correct decision, given the legislation,
but, as with so many other things this Government does, conveyed the decision
so poorly the party backlash was inevitable.
It has to be acknowledged that individually the Green
Ministers are very talented, certainly in comparison to their New Zealand First
counterparts, and most of Labour as well, but they are simply not functioning
well. Nor are things likely to improve as the going gets tougher over the next two
years. The Green Ministers add to the competence of the Government, but that
may not be enough to save them, either from themselves or the wider electorate.
Maybe it is time for the Greens to rediscover their
Green-ness. Maybe it is time to make it clear that while they will continue to
support the government on matters of confidence and supply, so that stability
is not threatened, they will approach every other issue on the basis of how it
impacts upon their Green agenda. With confidence and supply assured, neither
Labour nor New Zealand First, could credibly claim that the Government's
stability is threatened, so any retribution against the Greens would be of
their making, and not the fault of the Greens.
It is a difficult balancing act. In the last Parliament,
both the Maori Party and UnitedFuture played such a role, and were defeated.
ACT was a more uncritical supporter of the Government, but equally derived no
electoral benefit. Just as the Greens
see being part of this Government as critical to their ability to make policy
change - and they are right, they know full well parties can do nothing from
Opposition - they have to also see that for their changes to have any
meaningful impact, they have to get re-elected in 2020. After the initial flush
of at last getting into Government, the more mundane reality of how to stay
there should be starting to hit home. So far, there is no real sign it is.
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