Who We Are
The green movement is driven by people who know that protecting our planet and supporting our communities go hand in hand.
We believe that Government must do more, faster, to protect our planet and make sure everyone is treated equally and has access to what they need to live a good life. We do this so that our kids and grandkids will inherit a fairer, more beautiful world.
We want to build on the connections and partnership between Māori and non-Māori to build strong rules which protect our planet and build fairer communities. We want to honour the thousands of years of traditional and local knowledge that have the answers to ensuring a safe climate and healthy communities.
Our History
We’ve been in politics since 1990 when the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand was formed. Before that, some of the founding members of the Green Party had been active members of the Values Party, the world's first national-level environmentalist party, at the outset of the Green movement in the 1970s.
The Greens won seats as Alliance candidates in the 1993 and 1996 elections. In the 1999 election, the Greens stood as Green candidates and gained 5.16% of the vote and seven seats in Parliament. We have continued to grow ever since securing record votes at future elections and growing into the largest consistent third party force in New Zealand politics.
Today
At the 2020 election, over 226,000 people put their faith in us. We made history by growing our vote and becoming the first Government support partner to be returned to Parliament at the next election.
Following the election we entered into a Co-operation Agreement with the Labour Party which builds on our constructive partnership with the New Zealand Labour Party. As a part of our partnership our co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson secured Ministerial posts and will continue our critical work for people and planet.
As a part of the Government after the 2017 election we made fantastic progress. We did more in one term of Government to address climate change than the previous 30 years and have set Aotearoa New Zealand up to be net-zero carbon pollution by 2050. We fought to make sure that no-one gets left behind and that everyone gets treated equally, regardless of your age, race, gender, or financial status. We have pushed to halt growing inequality by lifting benefits, increasing funding to our services, and honouring Te Tiriti.
But we know there is more to do, and we are committed to making sure this Government uses all the tools in the toolbox to tackle the housing crisis and put us on a path to a clean, green future.