This is a climate election. Most of the media don’t want you to think that, big political donors don’t want you to think that, and National, ACT, and NZ First most certainly don’t want you to think that. Neither, I fear, does Chris Hipkins, with the Labour leader often throwing his own party’s climate policies under the bus. But with the climate emergency spiralling out of control, voting for a party that doesn’t take climate change seriously is voting for extinction – soon.
Where do the parties stand on climate? Here are their policies, where available:
- ACT: https://www.act.org.nz/climate
- Green Party: https://www.greens.org.nz/climate_emissions_reduction_2023, https://www.greens.org.nz/climate_resilience_adaptation_2023, https://www.greens.org.nz/climate_communities
- Labour Party: https://www.labour.org.nz/release_labour_releases_new_zealand_s_first_climate_manifesto and https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nzlabour/pages/21157/attachments/original/1695601487/Manifesto_Climate_web.pdf?1695601487
- Te Pātī Maōri: https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/climate_change
- National Party: I couldn’t find a climate policy, but see: https://www.national.org.nz/electrifynz
- NZ First: https://www.nzfirst.nz/2023_policies
- TOP: https://www.top.org.nz/climate-opportunities
My short analysis plus climate voting recommendations:
Strong parties on climate action: The Green Party and Te Pātī Māori.
Pretty good: TOP.
Not great, but way better than National: Labour.
Very bad: National, NZ First.
Atrocious: ACT.
If you’re on the left or centre-left, I recommend voting for the Green Party or Te Pātī Māori, using both your votes strategically.
If you’re on the centre or right, and take climate change seriously, I suggest voting for those parties too – but if you can’t bring yourself to do that, vote Labour or TOP.
Talk to friends – Action Station has a great triple the vote campaign on this. The momentum of the right has stalled in the last couple of weeks – a Government that focuses on climate justice and climate action is not out of reach.
