Candidate Kōrero: James Shaw and Marama Davidson (The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand)

Words by Ethan Manera (he/him)

The Green Party have hit the ground running this election, being the first party to release their full suite of policies, which they say are unapologetically student focused. The Party’s policies include a free universal student allowance, reforming student accommodation, and working towards a student debt write-off.

Salient went along to Parliament to sit down with the Green Party co-leaders, Marama Davidson and James Shaw, who managed to squeeze in a hectic and fast-paced 20-minute chat about their top priorities this election.

Cost of Living:

The Greens want to reform the current student allowance and living cost policy by introducing an “Income Guarantee”, which would see students receive $385 per week to help with the cost of living. The Income Guarantee would not need to be paid back, and would be available to anyone who is unemployed, with an additional top up for those with dependent children. Shaw said, “We just want to be able to say to everybody, regardless of your circumstances, whether [...] you've lost your job, or if you're studying or retraining or anything like that, this support will be available to you. Guaranteed. If you need it, when you need it, whenever you need it.”

Housing:

Davidson, who is the only party leader in Parliament who is a renter, said housing and renters rights are a top priority for the Greens: “it really is our focus”.

The party is campaigning to restrict rent increases to only 3% per year. Despite this proposal facing strong criticism by economists, Davidson says critics aren't considering the full picture. “They've been looking at rent control in isolation of housing supply, and that's why we have included the increase of housing supply alongside rent controls. So automatically we've just shoved their argument back out the gate.”

They also want to implement a rental warrant of fitness, as a mechanism to enforce the Healthy Homes Standards. “At the moment, the Healthy Home Standard is entirely voluntary.” Under their policy, the standards will be extended to include other basic features that “all homes should have”, such as safe electrical wiring, smoke alarms, and secure locks on doors and windows.

Shaw said that the Labour Government hasn't done enough to fix housing issues faced by students in Aotearoa. “These are some really big challenges that we have in our country, and basically every other party, as far as we're concerned, is only prepared to go part of the way to solve the problem. What that means is that they're making a deliberate choice to actually keep the problem in existence.”

Climate:

Shaw says he’s proud of the work he's done as Minister for Climate Change, and reckons the Green Party is “the only party that is putting forward solutions to the climate crisis with the scale and the urgency [necessary]”. He wants to continue work on emissions reduction by setting up a Climate Change Ministry to oversee the transition to carbon zero, introduce a price on agricultural emissions to charge polluters, ensure we meet our Paris Agreements, and focus on “nature based solutions” to climate change.

He acknowledges that “the climate has changed, and it's going to keep changing”, so wants to also focus on adaptation and building Aotearoa’s resilience by creating a fund for central and local government to implement climate resilient infrastructure, and pass a Climate Change Adaptation Bill that includes “targets to drive a long-term policy response”.

Transport:

Shaw reckons the Greens’ track record on transport speaks for itself. “We are the party that has led on public transport. [...] We need to make it affordable, we also need more of it.”

“Wellington has had a ^half decent public transport system, but it needs to be a decent public transport system,” he said. They support the Let’s Get Wellington Moving plans, which include light rail throughout the city, increased pedestrianisation, and more bus and cycle lanes “to give people more choices about how they get around”.

The Greens want to offer free public transport for students and under 18s, and invest in rapid nationwide regional rail for passengers and freight. They support the clean car discount and ute tax. “The time is now to create affordable, inclusive, and climate-friendly transport options that work for everyone,” they said.

Tax

Their proposed tax package would see no tax paid on your first $10,000 earned, the introduction of a 2.5% wealth tax on an individual's assets over $2 million, and changes to Working for Families by creating a Family Tax Credit of $215 a week for the first child and $135 a week for subsequent children.

Despite all the Greens’ policies being fully costed, their radical plans cannot be paid for without the implementation of their proposed wealth tax, which their likely coalition partner, Labour, have repeatedly ruled out. So where does that leave their policy? Marama says it's still on the table. “No politician can rule anything out. That power is for voters, that power is for students.”

Pitch to Students

As we wrap up our quickfire interview and before they rush into Parliament's debating chamber, the co-leaders offer their pitch to students, cheekily throwing in their campaign slogan.

Marama said, “We know students care about ending homelessness, protecting our environment, we know students are leading the charge and calling for more climate action. It is only the Green Party that has the plan and the experience to resolve those issues. [...] The time is now.”

James added, “Look, students are dealing with a lot right now, you know, when it comes to their own cost of living, and we are putting forward policies that are going to help to do something about that. [...] We're out of time here, you know, we've been arguing about this for three decades. The time is now.”