Save the time – outcome is pre-determined
The outcome of the Green’s decision making on who to support in Government is as pre-determined as their stance on whether to support the Government’s ETS Bill despite failign to gain any major concessions.
The Greens have got very good at these charades of consultation and deliberation. They’ve learnt the political game well.
I mean it is ludicrous to think they are really going to take several weeks to decide. Of course they are backing Labour, no matter what. Even if Winston is is Cabinet, they’ll still be happy to be with Labour.
So the choice is between a Labour-Greens-NZ First Government and and a National-led Government, probably with ACT and United Future. The Maori Party is the only genuinely undecided.
I must also give the Greens a black mark for hypocrisy, How dare the party that voted for the ELectoral Finance Act (condemned by the Law Society and even the Electoral Commission for its chilling effects of democracry) says one of their criteria is “Protect democracy and civil rights”.
What is also interesting in the Green’s list of 12 policies they will judge against, is none even one of them is to do with economic growth. They have these great wish lists of spending, and don’t value at all whether a party has policies to produce the wealth to pay for these wish lists. A balanced list might be four policies on generating wealth, four on social spending issues and four on environmental issues. But instead their 12 policy areas are designed to guarantee the outcome. Their 12 areas for the record are:
- Reduce New Zealand’s oil dependence and climate change emissions
- Improve the public transport and the rail system
- Clean up waterways
- Increase protection of threatened species and ecosystems
- Improve local food security, keep the country genetic-engineering free and support organic growing
- Reduce child poverty and violence against children
- Form a genuine partnership with Maori under the Treaty
- Make education free and accessible
- Protect our national sovereignty from overseas ownership and keep New Zealand out of foreign wars
- Protect public healthcare, and invest in preventative health
- Protect workers’ rights and raise the minimum wage
- Protect democracy and civil rights
Again, not a single one focused on how to generate the income to pay for the Government’s spending. It’s a sham, with the outcome pre-ordained.