Kerre Woodham: Will we soon see the Greens leading the government?

I asked on Friday how anyone could vote for Labour given the latest Treasury report into their irresponsible spending of taxpayer money that came out last week. That irresponsible spending that contributed greatly to the recession, the high mortgage interest rates to unemployment - when so many of the same people, those people who made so many stupid decisions are still there, how could anyone, I asked, think that Labour should get another crack at government?  

The answer is quite a few of you think they should. The latest Taxpayers Union Curia poll that came out yesterday shows that if an election were held on Sunday, the result would be a hung parliament with the centre right bloc gaining 61 seats and the centre left block getting exactly the same - 61 for National, for ACT, for NZ First, 61 for Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori.  

Labour’s up two points, National’s down 2 points. It's only a poll - and we all know the Winston Peters dictum, the only poll that counts is the one that counts on election day. But it is a clear indication that when you campaign on fixing the economy, ‘hang on, help is on the way, we're here now, the grown-ups are in charge,’ then you have to actually fix it. 

Things have to change. Cost of living remains voters’ most important issue. Closely followed by the economy, then health and employment. All of those hang around the economy, hang around pulling the right levers to get things cracking again. Your average hard-working Kiwi is exhausted and tired of being told that things are coming right, that the ship is slowly turning around and heading in the right direction.  

So, this latest poll may be an expression of exhaustion and dissatisfaction. It may just be an indication that more people are starting to agree with Greens Co-leader Chloe Swarbrick that capitalism’s cooked. The Greens held their AGM over the weekend and Swarbrick urged the party faithful to build the parties fan base. She wants them to be talking to miners and factory workers and farmers to people who are fed up with politics and the two main parties and who are looking for alternatives, alternatives to the main parties and alternatives to capitalism. She also says she wants to have more say in the next government, she and Marama Davidson want to be the ones calling the shots, forming the government and deciding the policies.  

Chloe's put herself up as finance minister in the next coalition government. And if you want to see what that looks like the Greens, unlike Labour, have put up their economic policies to be scrutinised. They have put up an alternate budget. What this latest poll says is that Green supporters should take heart.  

People are tired, they are fed up, they can't see the status quo helping them. National, Labour, whatever, they're interchangeable. They're hard workers, they're good citizens, and they're still not getting ahead. The only way they can see a future for themselves and their families is by leaving the country. Does that mean they're ready to put the Greens in the driver's seat? Well, according to this latest poll, they're willing to put Labour there, so surely it's not such a great stretch of the imagination to see the Greens getting the votes they need to call the shots in 2026. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Morning's podcast from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be I asked on Friday how anyone could vote
for Labor given the latest Treasury report are into their
irresponsible spending of taxpayer money that came out last week,
That irresponsible spending that contributed greatly to the recession, the

(00:32):
high mortgage interest rates, to unemployment. When so many of
the same people, those people who made so many stupid decisions,
are still there. How could anyone, i asked, think that
Labour should get another crack at government. The answer is
quite a few of you think they should. The latest

(00:52):
Taxpayer's Union Curier poll that came out yesterday shows that
if an election were held on Sunday, the result would
be a hung Parliament, with the center right block gaining
sixty one seats and the center left block getting exactly
the same sixty one for National for Act for New
Zealand first, sixty one for Labor, the Greens and Tapatimari.

(01:17):
Labour's up two points, Nationals down two points. It's only
a Paul and we all know altogether now Winston pieces dictum.
Only pole that accounts is the one that counts on
election day. But it is a clear indication that when
you campaign on fixing the economy, hang on help us

(01:40):
on the way where here now the grown ups are
in charge, then you actually have to fix it. Things
have to change. Cost of living remains voter's most important issue,
closely followed by the economy, then health, then employment. All
of those hang around the economy, hang around pulling the

(02:03):
right levers to get things cracking again. Your average hard
working Kiwi is exhausted and tired of being told that
things are coming right, that the ship is slowly turning
around and heading in the right direction. So this latest
poll may be an expression of exhaustion and dissatisfaction, may

(02:26):
just be an indication that more people are starting to
agree with Green's co leader Chloe Swarbrick that capitalism's cooked.
The Greens held their agm over the weekend and Swarbrick
urged the Party Faithful to build the party's fan base.
She wants them to be talking to miners and factory

(02:46):
workers and farmers, to people who are fed up with
politics and the two main parties, and who are looking
for alternatives, alternatives to the main parties and alternatives to capitalism.
She also says she wants to have more say in
the next government. She and Madam d Davidson want to
be the ones calling the shots, forming the government and

(03:10):
deciding the policies. Chloe's put herself up as finance minister
in the next coalition government. And if you want to
see what that looks like, well, the Greens, unlike Labor,
have put up their economic policies to be scrutinized. They
have put up an alternate budget. What this latest pole

(03:31):
says is that Green supporters should take heart. People are tired,
they are fed up. They can't see the status quo
helping them, National labor whatever. They're interchangeable, they're hard workers,
they're good citizens, and they're still not getting ahead. The

(03:53):
only way they can see a future for themselves and
their families is by leaving the country. Does that mean
they're ready to put the Greens in the driver's seat. Well,
according to this Lake poll, they're willing to put Labor there.
So surely it's not such a great stretch of the
imagination to see the Greens getting the votes they need

(04:13):
to call the shots in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
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