Opinion: Greens can learn from Maori Party

Greens leader James Shaw might want to come to Rotorua and have a cup of tea with the Maori Party's Te Ururoa Flavell to find out how his party can make a coalition with National work. Photo / Getty Images

While the country waits for Winston Peters to decide if her prefers blue or red, the idea that National should start talking to the Greens is gaining momentum.

It's against everything the Greens believe in to be aligned with a right-wing Government, but perhaps the idea isn't as silly as some might think.

Greens leader James Shaw might want to come to Rotorua and have a cup of tea with Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell to find out how his party can make it work.

You might think it odd for Shaw to learn from the Maori Party when on paper some might say it was a failure after not winning any of its seats at last weekend's election. Not so.

The Maori Party was in power making decisions and delivering some good initiatives for Maori for 12 years.

Flavell was a popular and busy MP since being elected in 2003 and becoming Maori Development Minister in 2006. He didn't put a foot wrong.

What ultimately led to his and his party's demise was a desire for "change" and the fact that Maori never felt comfortable with the Maori Party's relationship with National.

So if the Greens sided with National, would they lose all their supporters too? Possibly. But is it not worth the risk for the sake of getting things done? Doesn't the country and the environment need the Greens sitting around the table making decisions rather than throwing stones from the Opposition?

So whether the Maori Party feels like winners or losers, the reality is they had several years of power for Maori. What does Maori have now?

Perhaps Shaw should think about that before he rules out National.