The Green Party is calling on all parties and political organisations to reject the tactics used by the Taxpayers’ Union, as documented in Nicky Hager’s book.
"New Zealanders don’t like politics precisely because of the shady behaviour of organisations like the Taxpayers Union. Differences of opinion are expected in a democracy, but underhanded, nasty tactics should not be. This is where the political leaders can and should draw the line," says Green Party Co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick.
"Dirty Work shows how the Taxpayers’ Union and their allies have intentionally deployed culture wars to divide our communities, inflaming and manipulating anti-Māori sentiment as a smokescreen for radical policies that support corporate greed, shred the public sector and destroy protections for nature."
"The Prime Minister and his coalition partners have benefitted from, if not just blatantly adopted, these tactics. Luxon and Seymour used to be able to feign ignorance. They can’t any longer. They must stand on the side of integrity and democracy."
"The Greens will not lend any legitimacy to the Taxpayers’ Union and their dirty politics. We draw the line here, and we ask other politicians to do the same."
"New Zealanders want honest politics. That means we need to minimise the influence of big money and corporations. The Greens announced this week our plan to do just that, through our Donations and Regulation of Lobbying bills, and we hope other political parties will stand with us – and the people of this country – to clean up politics," says Swarbrick.
