pn565. The Greens in Government: In, Out or In-between — and the New Parliamentary Mix

 Opinions vary on how the Greens may be —and should be—  involved in the new government line up. 

Tova O'Brien (Newshub) says there will be no formal Labour-Greens alliance; Labour doesn't need them, and the Greens have no bargaining power.

Former Green MP Keith Locke (Daily Blog) warns the Greens could be muzzled by inclusion. They need to be able to apply pressure for an independent foreign policy, especially about leaving the US-led Five Eyes military-intelligence alliance, and on climate change issues far beyond where Labour is likely to go.

David Williams (Newsroom) thinks a confidence and supply agreement would be best for the Greens because it would enable them to put some pressure on government and have a distinct voice on climate change, social justice and tax reform.

Derek Cheng (NZ Herald) says Jacinda is looking for "areas of co-operation" while Greens co-leader Marama Davidson doubts Labour will push hard or fast enough to effect significant change on key issues.

1News commentator and former National Party press secretary Ben Thomas says Labour has a "talent deficiency" and can't afford to lose the skills and experience the Greens contributed to the last government. Further, “Labour’s chief political driver will be trying to co-opt these parties, essentially, to reduce attacks on it from its left flank in the Greens’ case, or on Māori issues where it is looking vulnerable,” Thomas said.

The most demographically diverse parliament ever

Whatever the political mix, the next parliament will be the most demographically diverse ever, with more young MPs, more females, more Maori, more Pasifika, more Asian MPs and more "rainbow" MPs than ever before. The table is based on @David Farrar in Kiwiblog. He did not include the Maori Party.

Percentage	Labour	Greens	National	ACT	Total
Female	55	70	31	40	48
Aged 2-30s	22	30	20	30	24
Aged 60+	8	0	14	0	9
European	52	50	91	70	64
Maori	23	30	6	30	20
Pasifika	6	10	3	0	5
Asian	6	10	3	0	5

The main party party differences are highlighted in BOLD.   

In addition, the new parliament,  as ever before, is heavily weighted with lawyers, and a new world record has been set with "rainbow" (LGBTQ) representation: 12 MPs, 9.9% of parliament, of whom 8 were Labour and 4 Greens. No National and ACT MP was "openly gay."  

This comes with the world's first transgender former MP, Georgina Beyer, being awarded a NZOM.

E pur si Muove (and yet it moves). What Galileo said, nearly 400 years ago, to his prosecutors when forced to recant his claims that the Earth moves around the Sun, and not the other way round.

 -- ACW

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