As a former Minister for Women, Associate Minister for Health and Associate Minister for Transport, Green MP Julie Anne Genter has cut a frustrated figure this term as she has watched the government build roads, roll back the clean car discount, legislate on pay equity and disestablish the health reforms.
"I think this coalition has been focused on culture-wars legislation that performs well on social media, but it really isn’t aligned with how we as New Zealanders want to see responsible governments legislate for our country and our communities," she said.
"We want to achieve holistic solutions but the coalition has walked away from those in favour of polarising and extremist policies."
If Ms Genter, a transportation planner before entering politics, had her way, the government would have prioritised low-cost and more effective public transport systems, introduced a mass transit to Christchurch, and increased public transport frequency — especially in Dunedin.
"That can be done for a relatively low cost and it would have a huge transformational effect for a community."
Particularly egregious for Ms Genter and the Greens are the government’s climate policies, which have slowed or in some cases reversed some long-standing, well-supported initiatives.
With mines being fast tracked and more petrol vehicles on the roads, does Ms Genter feel the climate change argument is being lost?
"National is undermining the consensus on climate change which has been long-established ... there is no credibility for them in that space now,’ she said.
"I think that people are more on board with climate action than this government thinks they are. I think they want to take the steps to reduce dangerous climate change and adapt, but they think other people aren’t. I think we need to change the government to give them the chance to take action.
"We can do a lot for affordability for ordinary New Zealanders by reducing emissions — we can talk about climate action and reducing the burden of fuel bills and electricity bills, building communities where it is safe to walk to school and making sure our agriculture and horticulture is sustainable and renewable — there are so many chances to build a better society by concentrating on climate change."
On whichever night is election night 2026, Ms Genter’s fortunes in the Wellington Bays electorate will be closely watched in the South. Dunedin and Taieri have a Green list MP apiece at present, and the success or otherwise of the party’s three MPs holding electorate seats will likely be decisive in whether they are re-elected or not.
As the party’s longest-serving MP, Ms Genter might in normal circumstances have been expected to be out and about on the campaign trail, but this election her mission will instead be to hold what she has — the seat of Rongotai, about to be renamed Wellington Bays.
"I have been really focused on getting out into the community, I’ve been focused on serving them this whole term, and nothing really changes for me. I have loved being the MP for Rongotai and I would love to do it again."
Unlike many recent elections, when crossing the 5% threshold has been the be all and end all for the Greens, having three seats — and a more than decent chance of holding on to them all — gives the party more security than it has ever had.
Recent polling has had the party oscillating above or below 10% — in 2023, in a bad year for the left, it secured a record 11.6% of the party vote.
Ms Genter is optimistic the Greens have not reached their ceiling and can continue to track upwards.
However, a good night for Labour, while positive for the chances of a centre-left government, might mean Ms Genter would be in danger of losing what used to be a safe Labour seat (former CTU chief economist Craig Renney will be Labour’s candidate in the seat in 2025).
"I don’t think that logically follows," she said.
"The Greens and Labour both did really well in Rongotai last time ... it is entirely possible that the Greens could do really well in Rongotai and we would still change the government. It’s all about how Labour does in areas where they didn’t do so well last time."
