You can’t make this stuff up. Just as the Green Party seemed - at least in the polls - to have put its terrible start to the current three-year election cycle behind it, it pushes the self-destruct button again.
Being holier than thou can sometimes bite you hard in the backside, especially if you’re pointing the finger at others but behind closed doors your own house is a mess.
In 2022, a small number of party delegates tried to roll then co-leader James Shaw, but he was reappointed when they realised they had no plan to replace him. Last year, it was Golriz Ghahraman’s shoplifting, and her ultimate demise, followed by the painfully prolonged Darleen Tana saga that resulted in the messy end to her career.
There have been other comings and goings that have raised questions about the Greens’ ability to steer their ship. This week, they’ve been truly exposed by thinking out loud. Just listen, open your ears, and most people reveal themselves.
In July, during a debate on the gang patch ban – which has since become law and is working successfully – Green MP Kahurangi Carter said many New Zealanders would feel safer alone at night with a patched gang member than with a police officer.
Clearly, this foot-in-mouth disease is catching because this week it spread to her bench mate, Tamatha Paul, who said too many cops on the beat scare people. It’s a downright mad thing to say and could be seen to represent an MP, and by association a party, that is no longer in touch with anyone outside of the criminal fraternity.
Who was Paul’s target audience? I thought it was obvious the public overwhelmingly want police officers walking the streets. It seems commonsense has well and truly walked away from the Green Party.
Paul’s comment that police on the beat frighten people might make sense to crooks on the run who actively avoid officers in blue. But it shows a massive disconnect with ordinary folk. The mums and dads in leafy suburbs who vote Green might now be rethinking their support because they worry about crime, too, and want their kids safe. The Greens want to save the planet, but it might help if they avoid things that make them look like they are off the planet.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins moved quickly to distance himself and his party from Paul’s comments, but they will be causing him concern. After all, it’s the Greens and Te Pāti Māori who could well join Labour in a centre-left coalition after the 2026 election. (You can read here about my thoughts on Te Pāti Māori.)
It’s why Hipkins rushed to label the comments ill-informed, unwise and “stupid”. Sure, but the Greens are part of Labour’s wider family, and he knows it. If Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wants to maximise this guilty-by-association link and climb the polls because of it, there’s not a lot to save Hipkins and co.
Over to you Prime Minister, grab some instinct and a spine and go for it. Are you up for it?
