[pf] Top political commentary on The Greens - New Zealand

· This is for general interest, but specifically for US State Green Party
organisations.

Code: Winston, Richard, Jim and Peter :-
Winston Peters; leader of NZ First party, junior partner in Govt., 1990s
Richard Prebble; leader of ACT & supporter of conservative/Libertarian law 
Jim Anderton; leader of The Alliance, bitter at departure of Greens (wanted
them to submerge) and current junior partner in Helen Clark's Labour Govt.
Peter Dunne; leader of United NZ - its only member in Parliament.
   D.

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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&storyID=182715
  is:
Attention, you minor parties 

14.04.2001 By VERNON SMALL, deputy political editor, New Zealand Herald

Dear Winston, Richard, Jim and Peter. 

Just a short note to fill you in on the latest thinking on how to survive
and thrive as a minor party. 

Take a hard look at those supposedly soft and woolly Greens. 

I know these blasted polls can be volatile beasts, but in three of them
last week the Greens were the only ones among you going up - to 8 per cent
in one of them. 

Not a big leap, but a steady improvement when all your parties are going
nowhere or backwards. 

No one seems quite clear why the Greens are doing so well, but there are
some likely reasons. 

First, either by accident or design, they selected candidates wisely. Some
purists might think the best politicians are people who have already made
it in their professional lives, or those hand picked from the ranks of the
party faithful. 

But on the evidence of this Parliament the most effective minor party
operatives are likely to have had a lifetime as political activists and are
synonymous with certain issues. 

Either they will work the system to their benefit, like Sue Bradford, or
burn out in disillusionment like Pam Corkery. 

Sure, the Green Party itself has a clear brand, but so do its MPs. 
http://www.greens.org.nz/people/mps.htm

Think Nandor Tanczos and you think marijuana reform. 

Think Sue Bradford and you think unemployed rights and anti-free-trade demos. 

Think Sue Kedgley and you watch what you eat. 

Think Rod Donald and you think electoral reform and perk-busting. 

Think Jeanette Fitzsimons and you think recycling, public transport and
sustainability. 

Think Keith Locke and you think classic peacenik socialism; defence,
foreign aid and secrecy. 

Think Ian Ewen-Street and you might think organic farming ... or you might
ask: Ian who? 

But he is the only one without a high public profile and a heavy barrow to
push. 

Of course it can have its downside. 

Locke's zealotry can overcome political nous, and have him questioning why
New Zealand has any troops in Kuwait while the rest of the country is
mourning a soldier's death. 

Then there are the issues themselves. 

Always on the moral high-ground protecting children, animals and the
environment without the constraint of a costed Budget and therefore no
responsibility to justify the spending. Healthy food, transport in the
public good, appeal to youth, championing the public against vested
interests and the political establishment, protecting the environment.
Buying back Tranz Rail. 

Wacky, maybe, but by and large not threatening in most people's eyes. 

The mix of personalities and their appeal works too. 

Fitzsimons - the pathologically calm and reasonable elder stateswoman. 

Donald - the iconoclastic, headline-hungry self-publicist ... as noisy as
Fitzsimons is reserved. 

Bradford - the picket-line activist with the paint-stripper voice. 

Tanczos - the quietly spoken, dreadlocked, "moderate" dope smoker. 

Kedgley - the upper-crust, middle-aged, liberal feminist. 

Ewen-Street - the ruddy farmer and self-styled "boring old fart," who has
never touched the ganga. 

Locke - the beady-eyed socialist purist. 

The combination of an activist history, feel-good issues, and a media savvy
co-leader in Rod Donald make a potent force. 

A patchwork quilt of people and issues. Diverse but not divided. No
problems appealing to the conflicting interests of young Maori and
pension-age Pakehas as you faced last term, Winston. 

Look at your own team of backbenchers - not you, Peter Dunne. 

Do they have that level of diversity and that degree of profile? Well,
Richard Prebble? 

Of course, there are some other advantages for which no one can plan. 

Nightly television pictures of mad cows and burning pyres of foot-and-mouth
infected cows, bristling with hooves, is not a bad advertisement for food
safety. George "Dubya" Bush's head-in-the-sand stance over global warming
must have some of the Labour left looking greenwards as well. 

But the Greens' most telling weapon is their comfortable possie in those
crucial seats on the fulcrum of power. 

>From there they can support the popular moves, distance themselves from the
unpopular, and generally appear to keep the bastards honest without joining
the bastards. Over to you, Winston Peters. 

This cross-bench comfort zone must be making them - and you guys - wonder
if a seat at the cabinet table is really worth the aggro. What do you
reckon, Jim? 

Must be tempting not to, with the lessons from New Zealand First last term
and the Alliance this time. 

Of course, all care and no responsibility comes with a price. No
chauffeur-driven cars and a backbenchers' salary puts you a suburb or two
down from a cabinet minister's mansion. 

But the crossbenches seem to be a safer long-term prospect. 

Even St Helen of Sandringham seems to think they will be around for a while. 

At her press conference last Monday, she said they were here to stay and
would poll in the region of 4-8 per cent - although she quickly revised
that down to 4-6 per cent. See, she does still care about the Alliance, Jim. 

So let's see how they get on in the Budget this year. Last time they
scrambled in late and got a Green package to trumpet, which must have been
a real pest, eh Jim? 

They have been drawn much closer to the fire this time. Ministers have had
preliminary discussions about their spending plans and will take Green
wishes into account. I hear you were quite agreeable yourself, Jim. Are you
going soft or something? 

Then there will be a second round of "political" bidding to give the Greens
a few specific baubles to brandish. 

Come the May 24 Budget, more crowing will probably be heard from the
Greens' Bowen House office suite. 

All too good to be true, isn't it? 

So, what are you going to do about it? Cheers for now.


©Copyright 2001, NZ Herald       

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