Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says her party is "not here to play silly buggers" and would eye portfolios if its record 16% poll result is repeated at November's election and it's in a position to form the next government.
The Greens climbed three points in the latest 1News Verian poll released yesterday, a result that would give them 19 MPs.
Meanwhile, National and Labour both dropped to 28%. With Opportunity on 6%, a potential bloc of Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Opportunity could govern with 65 seats, compared to 59 for the right bloc of National, NZ First and ACT. ACT recorded 11%, and NZ First were on 9%.
Swarbrick told Breakfast the party wanted "to actually do the things that we were put in Parliament to do".
"We will be negotiating hard to get the best possible outcomes for New Zealanders," she said. "I'm not being silly about this.
"We are in a very privileged position right now, and I want to be completely clear with New Zealanders: We're not here to play silly buggers."
The Greens rose to 16%, recording support that would give them 19 MPs if repeated in November’s election. (Source: 1News)
Asked how many Green ministers she'd like to see in a potential coalition arrangement, Swarbrick said she wanted portfolios that delivered the party's election priorities – "affordable lives, healthy nature, and honest politics".
Yesterday, Swarbrick said finance, energy, state-owned enterprises, and climate change were on her wish list.
Today, she specifically named finance as the job she wanted.
"Where the power exists to actually transform this economy into something that works for people and planet, instead of extracting from and exploiting both.
"We'll deal with the cards as they are dealt on election day and negotiate from that point to get the biggest possible bang for buck to change this economy into something that works for all of us."
The party climbed three points to 16%, beating their previous high of 15% in July 2017. (Source: 1News)
She said the result showed that "narrative matters", and believed the polls were catching up to what she was hearing on the ground.
"[New Zealanders] want a government that actually puts its hands back on the wheel of the economy.
"That takes responsibility for ensuring that New Zealanders have good, well-paying jobs, that we're tackling climate change and emissions, and that we are reducing the cost of living while investing in the infrastructure that is currently crumbling around our ears.
"We can absolutely acknowledge the mess that this campaign has got us in, but let's talk about the vision and the plan for the future. How are we going to bring New Zealanders together and actually tackle these big issues?"
Follow 1News' election live updates here
Discussing National and Labour, Swarbrick said: "I think that what we've seen is that what we call centrism has really failed to deliver.
"We need a different plan, and that's exactly what the Greens are proud to be putting forward as something that genuinely, obviously, is transformational. We can no longer afford tinkering."
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told Breakfast he wasn't too alarmed by the result, saying the campaign was still in its early days.
The Labour Party leader spoke to Breakfast about last night’s 1News Verian poll and the first few days of the campaign. (Source: Breakfast)
"Shows the challenge we’ve got ahead of us for the next six weeks."
Asked about Swarbrick's desire for the finance portfolio, he said Barbara Edmonds would be Finance Minister under his leadership.
"End of story," he said.
SHARE ME