A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
In response to my column on degrowth, Simin Williams misquotes Mike Joy as saying he would vote for no political party. He said he would vote for whichever he disliked the least, which is quite different.
In his criticisms of parties he did not shy away from including theGreens. Central to his presentation was that green growth, and net zero, on their own are mistaken goals. I say on their own: they become valid if we also have degrowth. Degrowth is the only strategy that’s fast enough, but also requires the development of alternatives.
Pragmatically, the Green Party in Parliament has focused on areas where it can be influential, which, until they get a bigger vote, is extremely limiting.
However, outside Parliament, the members have stronger views, and continue to build the policy, which is entirely member-based, in the direction of degrowth. Dr Joy pointed out that the party has a degrowth network, and I may point out that he explicitly supports it.
Outside Parliament the leaders have adamantly expressed the same vision, longing to achieve much more for our survival, and much faster. Hence the slogan, The Time is Now.
It’s tedious to repeat rebuttals, but Simin still clings to the idea that the Greens have been in power for six years, as does Rolly Hay in reference to fighting, unsuccessfully so far, for rail. Parliament just ain’t that simple. For the first three years, we were thwarted by that celebrated non-cooperator, Winston Peters. For the second three we were not in government, and Labour could carry the field without our votes. We had two ministers outside cabinet, who managed amazing achievements under severe constraints, through building good arguments and good relationships.
There is a policy which can lead rapidly to good degrowth, and that is basic income, freeing people to get out of bad jobs, and ensuring that scaling down does not make the poor poorer, as it lifts them up. This too is Green Party policy, and the announcement this year of a guaranteed income is a major step in that direction.
