Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

At the time of New Zealand's first MMP election in 1996, the country had 3 "Green" political parties... The Green Party (then part of the left-wing Alliance grouping), the free-market Progressive Green Party (Stephen Rainbow, Guy Salmon, Gary Taylor), and the Green Society.

Today there is just one party remaining that bears the "Green" brand, and unfortunately for anyone who cares about environmental issues, it is the far-left Green Party now headed by Aussie import Russell Norman (former activist with the Socialist Workers Party).

While many of the original Green Party members came out of the "Values" movement, the more moderate environmentalists like Mike Ward have been replaced by the likes of beneficiaries activist Sue Bradford.

As the documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle (which screened on Prime NZ over the weekend) pointed out, the "Green" movement has been taken over by radical socialists and neo-marxists, who use it as a populist front to promote their failed policies, and campaign against Capatalism.

Even the mild-mannered Jeanette Fitzsimons is a closet communist, telling a Green publication in 1994... "If socialism is to survive as a relevant political movement in the 21st century, it must develop a response to the ecological crisis and a socialist strategy to build a sustainable future."
Now the Green Party is trying to persuade New Zealanders (or at least the media) that they are "keeping their options open" on Coalition Preferences, and won't reveal which party they prefer until closer to the election.

Admittedly Norman has reason to describe National and Labour as "Father Coke and Mother Pepsi", because they are "so similar" (since John Key forced National to take a hard left turn), voters know the current Greens lineup would never agree to form a coalition with the National Party.

The Greens are deserving of their old "watermelon" tag, with many "red" policies and beliefs hidden behind the populist "green" exterior.
There's also a weird and dodgy spiritual Gaianism element to the grouping (a neopagan religion), no better evidenced than by the candle lighting ceremony that began the party's conference, calling in the guiding spirits of the sun and the earth, and of fallen comrades.

The Greens do not have the security of an electorate seat, and are dependent on staying above the crucial 5% threshold to remain in Parliament. The party's election support has never matched its previous heights in political polls, and it will be careful to ensure it doesn't scare any potential voters back to Labour.

* NZ Herald: John Armstrong: Hello spirits ... woops, goodbye National

* Dominion Post: Greens' fears of old enemy colour views

* New Zeal: Was the Green's "Mr Clean", a Marxist-Leninist?

* New Zeal: Jeanette Fitzsimons and the Communists