The Green Party has released its list for the upcoming election:
1. TUREI, Metiria 2. NORMAN, Russel
When you have co-leaders one has to be number one on the list, but I’d be surprised if anyone outside the party would put Turei ahead of Norman.
3. HAGUE, Kevin 4. SAGE, Eugenie 5. HUGHES, Gareth 6. DELAHUNTY, Catherine 7. GRAHAM, Kennedy 8. GENTER, Julie Anne 9. MATHERS, Mojo 10. LOGIE, Jan 11. CLENDON, Dave 12. WALKER, Holly 13. SHAW, James 14. ROCHE, Denise 15. BROWNING, Steffan 16. DAVIDSON, Marama 17. COATES, Barry 18. HART, John 19. KENNEDY, Dave 20. ELLEY, Jeanette 21. McDONALD, Jack 22. MOORHOUSE, David 23. ROTMANN, Sea 24. BARLOW, Aaryn 25. LECKINGER, Richard 26. PERINPANAYAGAM, Umesh 27. RUTHVEN, Susanne 28. MOORE, Teresa 29. LANGSBURY, Dora 30. WOODLEY, Tane 31. PERLEY, Chris 32. GOLDSMITH, Rachael 33. KELCHER, John 34. ROGERS, Daniel 35. WESLEY, Richard 36. SMITHSON, Anne-Elise 37. McALL, Malcolm 38. FORD, Chris 39. HUNT, Reuben
Where a party spokesperson is on the list isn’t necessarily a reflection of the importance placed on the portfolios for which they are responsible.
However, farmers will take some comfort in seeing that the agriculture spokesman, Steffan Browning is the lowest ranked sitting MP.
Given how bad the policy is, the lower priority given to it the better.
The media releases says:
. . . “This is a diverse and balanced list. There are 10 women and 10 men in our top 20, six Aucklanders, four Maori and the first deaf candidate in the top 10 of any party’s list in MMP history. . . .
It’s so much easier to put a stronger emphasis on gender, ethnicity and other factors rather than ability when the chances are high that fewer than half are likely to make it into parliament.
Homepaddock 
I don’t see an Asian in the top 20, so how can they claim to be representative?
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You seem unable to write a decent headline for this post Homepaddock. No ex-tobacco company lobbyists in the Green line up.
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Nobody that has ever held a real job either, I’d guess
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What do you call a ‘real job’? Do you consider teaching, for example a ‘fake job’ Andrei?
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This meets the definition 🙂
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New Zealand lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs from 2007 to 2012. There used to be people building railway wagons down in Dunedin, but National wouldn’t support NZ jobs and encouraged Kiwirail to take the cheap option. The Greens need workers to insulate houses, build and install household and community renewable power generation and heaps more. Those would be real jobs. We wouldn’t want the country being led by some guy whose previous job was a middleman making a fortune clipping the ticket on other peoples financial dealings eh? That definitely wouldn’t be a ‘real job’.
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RBG there used to be stable boys shoveling barrow loads of horseshit out of stables on everyfarm large and small each morning but alas that is only at racing stables now.
Now most of the horse shit is tossed out of GP HQ in a random manner and it is equally passed its useby date yet the quantities have diminished little over the decades and the quality has reduced markedly
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“The Greens need workers to insulate houses, build and install household and community renewable power generation and heaps more.”
RBG- you make it sound like the Greens are an industry organisation short of labour to install insulation and generate power.
Perhaps they should pay more? Then again perhaps the industries can not afford to pay more?
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I note Dave has leap frogged from 28 to 19.
That is a big move.
Let me say first of all – Congratulations Dave.
The promotion coincided with his resignation from NZEI. It makes me wonder if the promotion is related to time commitment rather than merit? Or has Dave recently overcome something else?
I wonder.
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Yes RGB, the Hillside decision was typical of the air conditioned office technocrats who can’t see the wood from the trees in their EXCEL spreadsheets – its not really the cheap option, at all.
Be that as it may China’s economy will surpass that of the USA’s this year, the West is dying as the BRICs, (soon to be BRIICs, I’m told) arise.
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Thanks for your qualified congratulations, Mr E.
Here is a link to our candidate biogs: https://www.greens.org.nz/people/candidates
We have a wealth of talent standing for the first time who will be forces to reckoned with in the future (many have farming backgrounds and are very active behind the scenes). What the Greens can do is attract talented people from diverse backgrounds.
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Farming backgrounds – What does that mean Dave?
Maaaa grate Ganpappy had a faarrmmm?
Challenge for you. Add up the number of hectares owned by the Green candidates and post it.
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Mr E I was talking about those who had experience and knowledge of farming, the number of hectares owned seems an unusual criteria given that many who own land may not be involved with the day to day management. But going purely on their biogs on experience that is directly related to farming, this is what you will find:
Russel Norman: worked for two years as a farm hand
Mojo Mathers: Joint director of Forestry Management Services
Steffan Browning: Commercial glasshouse vegetable production
John Hart: Sheep and beef farmer
Aaryn Barlow: Market Gardener
Tane Woodley: Advisor Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Chris Perley: Manager, Land Management Hawke’s Bay RC (2008-11); Rural Policy Consultant and PhD student (2004-08); Rural Policy Consultant (1998-2004); Senior Policy Analyst, Ministry of Forestry (1992-98)
There are also a number like myself who have lived in rural communities and have an interest in rural issues. I was once the deputy chair and newsletter editor of a branch of Young Farmers.
I think we would fail if we used your criteria but there is a good mix of business, technical/advisory and practical experience. I also know that in education some of our best education ministers weren’t teachers but were able to collaborate well with the profession.
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That is indeed impressive Dave, now how much did Russel borrow for the steel capped boots and swandri?
Have any of those listed above signed up for the ten million dollar mortgages to launch their career so closely aligned to primary production that those who are constantly under attack from you and your associated drones are obliged to to enter the big gamble.
Borrowing eyewatering amounts of money tends to either concentrate the commitment of the successful entrepreneurs who day in day out create the wealth that almost all those on your impressive list consume at their troughs or drown them without notice when they go under.
‘Those that can,do, those that cannot, teach’ or in this case preach. In no way intended as a slur on your teaching career but much too appropriate a sumary here to ignore.
Living in or working around those with every waking hour carrying the enormous responsibility and sheer pressure of primary production, wrestling with bureaucracy, absorbing the sometimes devastating weather, battling markets and fickle exchange rates, animal health issues is not able to be shared or understood unless you have serious skin in the game. Witnessing the guillotine must be somewhat lessor terror than being strapped to the Board
Going home or to a comfy if impersonal motel to ruminate on the theory or practise is so simple, take it from me I am now merely an interested observer who still cares more than I sometimes admit, that said looking out at the snow, hail, freezing polar blast while contemplating my dwindling financial reserves is a hell of a lot less stressful than my previous life.
Oh and btw a bit more info on the motivation and scale of Mr Hart’s farming enterprise along with some additional info as to his exposure as a proportion of his total income could be enlightening.
Is he what I advised my two very intelligent daughters as they went out into the world, someone who has enough money to farm it down till penury intersects with remaining resources or has he borrowed millions and succeeded.
While I live on the 16 acres bureaucracy dictates I must own to enable me to live here, many still suggest I am farming. Farming my posterior, my neighbor grazes the surplus land in return for maintaining the boundary and after the three recent storms I am going to assist him with that cost of reinstatement as it is far greater than any financial return from the 15 acres of hill country grazing.
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Challenge – Failed (or avoided – I cant decide)
So you have John, Steffan and Aaryn as farm land holders?
I understand John has a ‘lifestyle block’
I wonder how much skin Aaryn has in the game?
I’d be willing to consider Steffan as a Farmer.
As for the others with farming claims. I once went to the womens toilet. Can I claim to be a woman?
I feel a name change is coming. Then again I wouldn’t be the only one.
Miss E
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Mr E, you regard Prof. Rowarth highly and would probably be happy to have her as a Minister of Agriculture, however if I hadn’t mentioned her name and simply described her as an academic you would probably have dismissed her as not having the necessary credentials.
If I were to place the same lens on National, the first MP to have a direct farming connection is Amy Adams at number 15 and the MP with the most farming credibility is Nathan Guy at 16, one behind Steffan in party ranking.
Ele attempted to imply that farming was a low priority for the Greens but it seems that it is even lower for National based on background and ranking.
You may say that Bill English has a farming background, but that will only open up things again for those MPs who were brought up on a farm…
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Dave the loss of direct connection with the Primary sector even among National is a fact to be significant to a point of concern to many, as although many meetings and much reading might increase the total knowledge sum in the academic mind some things do not advance by over analysis and study, Number eight wire might provide a more practical solution with greater resilience and at a much reduced cost.
To suggest English has a different level of understanding from a bunch of people whose overwhelming connection to primary industry is via academia is drawing a much longer bow.
I know zero about Browning’s connection to the sector but judged on his pronouncements, policy stances and efforts in the Parliament it is revealed as rather less than ideal or even complete. Maybe he is hiding his light under a bushell but that measure has disappeared into the mists of time and current polling indicates that is where Steffan’s future may lie.
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Steve Wyn-Harris had it about right in his last column….we are a ruminant based economy. Not that many would be brave enough to endorse that. It is a pity that we don’t accept it and move to make the most of our comparative advantages in this area. We seem to run around looking for a magic bullet in other areas and fail.
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Dave @ 12:03 I deliberately said: “Where a party spokesperson is on the list isn’t necessarily a reflection of the importance placed on the portfolios for which they are responsible.”
It doesn’t matter in National which values agriculture and its contribution to the economic, environmental and social fabric on NZ.
I also meant what I said about the lower the Greens rank it the better given how damaging most of their ag policies would be.
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Ele, I acknowledge what you said regarding the ranking of agricultural spokespeople, I was really responding to Mr E who appeared to imply a different view.
“I also meant what I said about the lower the Greens rank it the better given how damaging most of their ag policies would be.”
I believe this is highly subjective and probably doesn’t take into account wider policies supporting SMEs, greater investment in research and development, the growth of markets due to a reliable clean green brand and stronger bio-security measures than currently exists.
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