Greens in category of their own

As the Green Party prepare for their annual conference this weekend, the Electoral Commission has for the first time formally recognised their status as NZ's official third largest party, in a 'medium size' class of their own, granting them more significance than the smaller parties.

"The Electoral Commission's decision on party broadcasts marks a milestone for the Greens as it acknowledges the Party's unique status", Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.

The Electoral Commission today confirmed for the Green Party a separate, second-tier category of funding and broadcast time, separate from National and Labour and distinct from other support parties like the Maori Party or ACT.

"This is a minor milestone for the Greens," Mrs Turei said. "Clearly National and Labour are the largest players, but we are significantly bigger than the other four parties in Parliament. We thank the Electoral Commission for recognising the distinction."

In its allocation decision released today the Commission stated that the Green Party was "clearly in a separate category in terms of the number of MPs and polling data compared with all other parties."

MMP systems internationally have often found a 3rd Party emerges, breaking the red-blue duopoly common in old-style first past the post politics and this is clearly the case in NZ with the Green Party consistently polling at twice the level of the next contenders.

Mrs Turei said the Greens were steadily pulling clear of the minor party pack: "We've been in Parliament for a decade now and our polling is trending up slowly but steadily over time. I think it's clear that we're here to stay and that we're driven by ideas rather than any one personality. The cult of personality means some of the other parties go in and out of fashion."

The Green Party aimed to crack the 10% barrier in the November election, Mrs Turei said, and would use the broadcast allocation to explain its goal of a clean green economy that worked for everyone in New Zealand.

"Politics in NZ is now officially a 3-horse race," said Green co-leader Metiria Turei.