What could the Greens get if they went with National not Winston?
I’ve had a look through the Greens policies. Here’s what I reckon they could get National to agree to in exchange for merely abstaining on supply and confidence.
- $1 billion over ten years for cycleways
- A levy on nitrate pollution
- A South Taranaki Whale Sanctuary
- A levy on plastic bags
- Accelerated timetable for rail to Auckland Airport
- Doubling the funding for DOC
- $65 million a year more for predator-free NZ
- Stricter water quality standards to increase the number of water bodies rated excellent from 42% to 70%.
- A commitment to double the reduction of children in poverty from 50,000 to 100,000
- Double the reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 11% to 22%
A smart Green Party could probably get all that out of National in return for a simple abstain on supply and confidence. It would be more than they have achieved in the last 18 years. But of course they’d rather deal with NZ First than National despite the fact they have no negotiating leverage with them.