The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the more visible minor parties represented in the New Zealand Parliament. In this essay, I will outline the core ideologies and policies of the Green Party

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The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the more visible minor parties represented in the New Zealand Parliament. In this essay, I will outline the core ideologies and policies of the Green Party, outline which groups are most likely to vote for the Greens, and offer some possible reasons for these groups' support.

Ideology

The Green party focuses on environmentalism, combined with left-wing economics and liberal social ideals. The core Green ideologies are summed up in the Green Charter, the party's founding document. The charter contains four key principles: ecological wisdom, social responsibility, appropriate decision-making, and non-violence (Green Party 2005a). These four core principles are shared with most other Green parties worldwide (Miller 2006:157). In addition, the Green Charter specifies that the Treaty is the founding document of New Zealand, and that Maori are to be recognised as tangata whenua (Green Party 2005a).

What exactly is meant by these four key principles? Ecological wisdom refers to the fact that human beings are part of the natural world, and should therefore respect and care for the environment. According to the Greens, the fact that the natural world is finite means that unlimited material growth is impossible; therefore, the focus of economics should be on sustainability. The second principle, social responsibility, calls for a more egalitarian society, in which wealth is distributed justly, and calls for the end of discrimination based on factors such as race and gender. Appropriate decision-making means that political decisions should be made by those who are affected. This in part supports decentralization - decisions affecting only local communities should be made by those communities, rather than being imposed by a higher authority. Conversely, larger-scale issues, such as employment law or global warming, need to be made democratically by the appropriate national or international bodies. Lastly, non-violence is self-explanatory - the Greens reject war and embrace pacifism and peaceful conflict resolution (Green Party 2005a).
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Core Policies

So how do these broad ideologies translate into specific Green Party policy? In terms of ecology, the Greens have a wide range of policies designed to protect the environment and promote sustainability. A major focus is climate change, and measures that can be undertaken to reduce emissions. The Greens therefore propose ecological taxes, in which taxes are imposed according to the level of environmental impact; greater use of renewable sources of energy; and public transport instead of new roads. The Greens also advocate laws to encourage water conservation; improving animal welfare by phasing out sow ...

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