John MacDonald: Shaw not wanted, but the Greens are still needed

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

I feel very sorry for Green Party MP James Shaw. I almost called him Green Party "co-leader" but, of course, as of the weekend he's not after the party voted to kick him out and put it to the vote to find out whether members want him to continue or want someone else.

He has already confirmed today that he is going to put his hat back in the ring and try and get re-elected back into the job. Which is a bit like someone being made redundant and having to reapply for the same role, isn't it?

So I'm feeling sorry for him but I'm not in the least bit surprised. Sorry for him because, as Climate Change Minister, he was always going to be on a hiding to nothing when it came to keeping the Green Party faithful happy and not looking like he'd sold his soul for politics.

But, not surprised, given there will always be an element within the Greens who aren't prepared to compromise.

If you think back to May 17 - the day after the Government's Emissions Reduction Plan came out - I could see what happened at the weekend was coming.

As I said at the time, I thought the emissions plan was a dog's breakfast and that James Shaw was toast.

It was the first plan of its kind here in New Zealand, with the goal of us getting to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

But it was a mish-mash of nothing. I remember the day it came out talking with someone who'd had a minor involvement in putting it together, and they said part of the problem was that there'd been too many cooks in the kitchen.

The main issue being Treasury's over-the-top involvement which, inevitably meant, that economics won out over the environment. And, because that happened, I was convinced that James Shaw was on shaky ground as far as co-leadership of the Green Party was concerned.

I thought the rabid greenies within the party would be very dark on Shaw - especially because the emissions plan doesn't really crack down on the agriculture sector and is probably seen by some as a "get out of jail" card" for farmers.

And, as it turns out, they were very dark on Shaw and we saw it come to some form of fruition at the weekend with them voting to toss him out of his co-leadership role and see if someone else wants to take it on.

That "someone else" hasn't shown their hand yet, although there's a bit of talk about Chloe Swarbrick being a contender. But we will see what happens on that front over the next wee while. The party has up to five weeks to hold a vote on the co-leadership role - but I imagine it won't want to muck around.

Whatever happens, the Prime Minister has already told Shaw that his job as Climate Change Minister is safe - which makes sense, doesn't it? Why would she want to bring someone else from the Greens into the tent when she seems to have Shaw under control?

But it does raise the question as to whether we still need a Green Party in New Zealand.

Because, when you think about it, awareness of climate change and its impact on the environment is not a niche market anymore.

Back in the day when Rod Donald and Jeanette Fitzsimons were co-leaders, I think New Zealand was a very different place and the Green Party was probably seen broadly as not much more than an off-shoot of the Values Party. And green politics were certainly on the fringe.

Fast-forward to today, and the green movement's fingerprints are everywhere. A lot of it has to do with the increased global awareness of the challenges facing our natural environments - some of it probably has to do also with the way we are so much more interconnected with each other through the internet and social media.

In Donald's day, there were no Green Party websites or Facebook pages.

Also these days, we now have the likes of the Climate Change Minister role in Cabinet. So the politics of the environment are now well and truly in the mainstream.

So does it really matter if the Greens self-implode over the next few weeks? Brought down by the likes within the party who're probably quite happy to be agitators on the fringe, and not sell-outs like they think Shaw has become?

And more, generally, do we still actually need a green party here in New Zealand?

I would say that when there's a centre-left government in power - the role for the Greens is much less. But as soon as you get the likes of National and/or ACT in government, the Greens come into their own.

Because when was the last time you heard Christopher Luxon or David Seymour speak passionately about the environment?

I've never heard them. Maybe a bit of lip service here and there but not in a way that tells me that the likes of the Green Party wouldn't be needed - at least on the sidelines - making sure a centre-right government didn't let the economy win over the environment every day.

So, even though we are all much more environmentally aware these days, I think there is definitely still a need and still a role for the Green Party to play in New Zealand politics.

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