Armstrong on Greens and National
Having slammed the door shut to working with National a mere three months ago, the Greens now want to reopen it.
How else to interpret Russel Norman’s speech last Sunday other than as a plea to National to talk?
Better late than never some may say!
The Prime Minister’s response was immediate and positive, inviting the Greens’ leadership to a sit-down chat when Parliament resumes next month.
That nice John Key. He’d better be careful. If he develops a working relationship with the Greens, he next may have Jim Anderton knocking on his door 🙂
What was significant was that Norman sought to promote dialogue by listing Green initiatives which National could support. They ranged from the public service being required to buy the most fuel-efficient vehicles to having “smart” electricity meters which would allow consumers to run appliances at cheaper off-peak times, thus reducing the need for new power stations.
I’m actually quite interested in those “smart” meters. Need to do a formal cost vs benefit analysis but stuff like this is the future.
The Greens’ shift from emphasising the differences to stressing areas where National and the Greens could take “united action” comes a couple of weeks after Nandor Tanczos bluntly described the Greens’ pre-election backing of Labour as “fastening your lifeboat to a sinking ship” and a “stupid thing to do”.
A column that didn’t get noticed very much, until highlighted on the blogs!