James Shaw urges his supporters to vote for the Green Party to keep Jacinda Ardern as prime minister

This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.

Greens co-leader James Shaw has told his supporters that the best way to ensure that Jacinda Ardern remains prime minister is to “vote for the Green Party.”

Shaw was campaigning in Lower Hutt today and spoke to a crowd of around 30 supporters in Eastbourne this afternoon.

In an interesting campaign tactic, he opened his speech by admitting that he had not been to Eastbourne since he was a child.

“I know, it’s terrible to admit it in front of a microphone. I’m very Wellington Central,” Shaw said.

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Joining him was Greens Hutt-South candidate Richard McIntosh.

“Richard is a real arborist, which in the Green Party you’d think was cliché, but I think he’s the only one we have on our list. So a good counterpoint to Ginny. [Anderson] and Chris Bishop, who sort of occupy other parts of the political spectrum, let’s say. So a real tree hugger for the area, “he said.

McIntosh briefly addressed the small crowd, asking for his party’s vote and saying “from the outset, we do not expect Hutt-South to elect a green MP in 2020.”

Shaw said McIntosh was a “great guy” and that people should vote for him if they wanted to, but said the best way to ensure that Labor returned to government was to vote for the Green Party.

“Frankly, they are going to need us if they are going to be able to form a government because if they are voting below 50 percent, then they are going to need a partner to cross the line and we the partner they want to have,” he said.

Shaw said he understood that a lot of people wanted to make sure Ardern continued as prime minister.

“So do we. I know that’s counter-intuitive to some people, but in reality, a vote for the Greens is the most powerful vote that can be cast to ensure that Jacinda continues as prime minister and we have a strong Labor-Green government. “. , he said.

Shaw also told his supporters that the larger the Greens’ caucus, the more bargaining power they would have to push through bold policies, such as their wealth tax, in coalition negotiations.

He said they were hoping to get “some version of this” policy in line with Labor.

No results for the Greens

In subsequent remarks to reporters, Shaw reiterated why the Greens will not make the estate tax an end result.

“We do not do the final results. And we have done this in every election since I can remember, if we said that we will sit down in good faith after the elections, we will see the figures and say in which part of this program our party can register partner. And we will negotiate hard for that, we will, “he said.

Shaw said drawing lines in the sand before Election Day was “a zero-sum situation” where the other party is forced to discard things “and you can’t really negotiate anything after the election.”

Shaw also told supporters that the Greens were the only party that had a truly long-term vision of recovering from Covid-19.

He said that Covid-19 is “frankly a short-term crisis” and presents an opportunity to solve other challenges, such as climate change and inequality.

“We have a responsibility to do that because if we don’t, our children and grandchildren will pay twice. Once to pay off the debt associated with helping us overcome the pandemic crisis and again to face the other challenges that they inherited from us because We haven’t treated them enough, “he said.

Shaw said that while he saw “hints” of this attitude from Labor, the Greens were the only party that really “thought ahead.”

This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission