Analysis: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton’s third law may only truly apply to physics, but its allegorical value cannot be entirely dismissed, particularly in the political world.
The growing popularity of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani – far beyond the city he governs – can be in part viewed as a response to Donald Trump’s strongman politics, while in the UK, the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform has been mirrored by a similar surge in support for the Greens.
It is a reaction that NZ’s Green Party wants to see on our own shores, as was evident at the party’s pre-election AGM in Auckland yesterday.
“Every day, powerful men are making decisions to increase the profits of a few at the top, and you pay the price,” Chlöe Swarbrick declared in condemning what she deemed “an extractive economy”, while fellow co-leader Marama Davidson accused the Government of “spitting on communities like those in South Auckland while they cheerlead for the super rich and big corporates”.
The party’s official campaign slogan, ‘For All Of Us’, seems designed to further emphasise the idea that the coalition is governing in the interests of the 1 percent, while pitching the Greens as a welcoming home for voters who feel their parties have abandoned them.
“What we believe very fundamentally is that we’re not just here to fight for the basic human rights to access food and healthcare and shelter and education and job opportunities for the people that we know and like, but also for the people we don’t know – and even those we don’t like,” as Swarbrick put it to media.
The party’s flagship policy from the conference weekend, a one-year moratorium on new AI data centres until proper rules and regulations can be put in place, offers a window into how the party could merge its traditional values with contemporary anxiety about the age we live in.
While the debate over such centres is in a relatively nascent stage here, the backlash is more well developed in the US where critics seize on concerns about their environmental impact – a core Green issue – as well as unease about what the broader AI movement will mean for job security and wealth inequality.
“Only once we have secured an affordable power supply for New Zealanders and the workers building things in towns all across this beautiful country, maybe then we could consider entertaining the expansion of Silicon Valley,” Swarbrick told party members, questioning the Govt for, on the one hand, wringing its hands about the country’s ‘dry year’ problem while simultaneously trying to woo energy-guzzling data centres.
While Christopher Luxon has brushed off calls for a moratorium as “alarmist”, US polling shows concern about the impact of these centres spanning the political divide, suggesting there may be fertile territory for the Greens to explore.
But while the party is showing signs of a slight uptick in support this year, it is having to fight for position with a newcomer eager to break into Parliament – the Opportunity Party.
While the parties are keen to play up their differences, there is clearly some overlap in terms of their potential voter base, so it was unsurprising to see Davidson talking up her party’s long history as an implicit contrast to Opportunity.
“Knowing about our history as the Green Party in Parliament, and the Alliance, and the Values Party before that is crucial to knowing who we are now. The Green Party was forged from social justice and peace movements, environmental movements and climate movements.”
Davidson doubled down in comments to media afterwards, emphasising the Greens’ “longstanding consistency”, before taking a more explicit shot at Opportunity.
“This is a party who have said that they will put this Government – who have spat on the very communities I am accountable to, including South Auckland – they will put that Govt back in power. That is their pathway to power.
“We are focused on being able to say that we can not just kick this Government out, but put in place one that can ensure affordable lives, healthy nature, and honest decisions for all of us.”
Will the Greens’ track record in Parliament, and its willingness to nail its flag to Labour’s mast, prove an asset – or will voters keen for a new approach to politics continue to look Opportunity’s way?
The party won’t have to wait long to see whether Newton’s principles work in its favour.
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