Greens could lose Auckland MPs with new list

Sitting Green MP David Clendon is the only Auckland-based candidate in the party's top ten. Photo / supplied

The Green Party will have just one Auckland MP after the next election unless it can win two more seats.

The party released its list yesterday, which included three new faces in the top ten, but only one Auckland based candidate - sitting MP David Clendon.

There were three Wellington candidates, two Christchurch candidates and one Dunedin candidate in the top ten. However, the next Aucklander on the list after Mr Clendon is Waiheke local board member Denise Roche who is ranked at 11, meaning the Greens have to get about nine per cent for her to enter Parliament. After the 2008 election, two of the nine Green MPs were from Auckland.

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei acknowledged Auckland candidates were in short supply on the list, in part because of retirements of MPs. Sue Bradford left in 2009 - replaced by Clendon - and Keith Locke will retire at this election.

"It's difficult when you are a bit smaller to make sure everything is covered that needs to be covered every time there is a list round. Because we've got retirements from Auckland, there is a bit of gap." Ms Turei said it did not mean the party was neglecting Auckland, where about one third of the population was based and where the Greens traditionally poll fairly well.

She was hoping the party would poll well at this election, saying it was the most effective of the opposition parties and the only one to so far put up a strong alternative to what National was offering.

The party's rules require it to take account of several factors on its list, including gender balance, the balance of Maori candidates and geographical spread.

The biggest winner on the list is Canterbury-based first-time candidate Eugenie Sage who, on current polling, is almost certain to make it to Parliament at six on the list - ahead of current MPs Gareth Hughes and David Clendon. Jan Logie was rewarded with the ninth slot for her strong performance campaigning in the Mana by-election.

Ms Sage said her move to stand for Parliament was the logical next step given her background in conservation and environmental issues, including working for Forest and Bird and as a former Environment Canterbury councillor.

Although she has not previously run for Parliament, she rejects any suggestion she is a political rookie - Ms Sage was a Parliamentary researcher and press secretary for Helen Clark in the Lange government of the 1980s when Clark was minister of conservation and housing.

She is currently an environmental consultant and is involved in the discussions about water management. That issue would remain one of her focuses if she became an MP, as would the rebuild of Christchurch. She has already made her mark as a watchdog for potential abuse of the looser rules for the rebuild, by forcing a halt to the dumping of demolition rubble into Lyttelton Harbour. She said there was now an opportunity to build a more sustainable, environmentally friendly city.

She also worked for Forest and Bird, most notably during the time of the protests against Timberlands beech forestry on the West Coast. She left Forest and Bird to become a Environment Canterbury councillor from 2007 until 2010 when the National government sacked ECAN and replaced it with commissioners.

Ms Sage joined the Greens in 2007 and knew the party's founding co-leaders Jeanette Fitzsimons and the late Rod Donald well.

Greens' Top Twelve:

1. Metiria Turei - Dunedin

2. Russel Norman - Wellington

3. Kevin Hague - West Coast

4. Catherine Delahunty - Coromandel

5. Kennedy Graham - Christchurch

6. Eugenie Sage (new) - Christchurch

7. Gareth Hughes - Wellington

8. David Clendon - Auckland

9. Jan Logie - Wellington

10. Steffan Browning - Blenheim

11. Denise Roche - Auckland

12. Holly Walker - Wellington