Green’s Co-leader Metiria Turei has kicked off the Party’s AGM in Auckland with a speech celebrating the achievements of the past year and claiming credit for some recent political wins.
Green’s Co-leader Metiria Turei has kicked off the Party’s AGM in Auckland with a speech celebrating the achievements of the past year and claiming credit for some recent political wins.
“After six years of denying that raising the income of our poorest families mattered, National was forced to move on child poverty in the budget,” said Mrs Turei.
“Because of the Green Party, and all those who’ve worked alongside us, we have generated such a groundswell of concern for our nation’s children that the Government was left with no option but to act.
“For forty years we have been told that raising benefits is the political bogeyman. This budget slayed that bogeyman with barely a whimper of opposition.
“That shows the public mood to address poverty has moved, and that a future Green government can win political support to do more.
“The budget was a start, but not a solution to child poverty. We need to do much more; like extending Working for Families to the poorest children who are currently excluded, introduce a nationwide food in schools programme and reducing the costs of childcare.”
“The Government has also adopted Green Party ideas to address the Auckland housing crisis, like introducing a capital gain tax on investment properties.
“After six years of rejecting the Green Party’s calls for a capital gains tax to cool the Auckland housing market, surprise surprise, National whipped a partial capital gains tax out of its hat, in the days before the budget.
“As much as I love the Green Party being a political catalyst, I would much rather be in Government, enacting our ideas properly, in full and in our own right.”
The Greens are also celebrating their 25th anniversary as a political party this year.
“This weekend we celebrate both our 25th anniversary as a party and cap off our most successful political year to date,” said Mrs Turei.
“Not one single party other than National and Labour that stood in the 1990 election is still around, let alone doing better than ever.
“A quarter of a century after that first attempt at parliamentary representation, we are firmly established as the third party in New Zealand politics and one of the most successful Green parties in the world.
“In the last year we won more votes, recruited more members and raised more money than ever before. We also are seeing movement on the issues we have campaigned on, like child poverty.
“The Greens are the movement of the moment. If orange is the new black, then green must be the new mainstream.”
