Green Party to go head to head with Key/Goff debate

The Green Party is mounting a challenge to the John Key/Phil Goff election debate on TVNZ on Monday October 31 by holding at the same time an interactive online programme called The Green Room, the party announced today.

Viewers will have the choice to either watch the TVNZ debate and then go online at 8.30pm to watch Finlay Macdonald conducting an in-depth interview with Green Party Co-leaders Russel Norman and Metiria Turei, or they can tune into The Green Room at 7pm to watch an online panel discussion with David Slack, Irene Pink and Nandor Tanczos which will run at the same time as the TV1 debate.

The panel will be joined by a series of experts including business commentator Bernard Hickey, economist Raf Manji, Principal's Federation President Peter Simpson, environmentalist Steve Able and child policy specialist Anton Blank.

Comedian Michelle A'Court will be monitoring the Key/Goff debate, providing her own eclectic opinion of their performance to viewers.

Viewers will be able to post questions and comments using the latest Facebook streaming capabilities. The show will also be hosted on the Green Party website.

"New Zealanders deserve to hear a range of views on the big issues our country faces. Having an old fashioned National versus Labour debate means Kiwis are denied the full range of political opinions," said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

"The Green Room is a chance for New Zealanders to actually engage with politicians and opinion leaders in a modern way."

Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said, "TVNZ invited John Key to take part in a multi-party leader's debate and he declined and Phil Goff played along. It isn't democratic for National and Labour to shut down debates that reflect our MMP Parliament.

"At the last election over 21% of New Zealanders voted for a party other than National or Labour. On current polling 1 in 10 Kiwis say they would vote Green. The Green Room is for all those who are looking for an alternative.

"Our aim is to engage thousands of Kiwis in a broader discussion on politics and inform them of their voting choices in this election," said Dr Norman.

The Green Room will be screened on www.greens.org.nz/Greenroom and the Green Party Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/nzgreenparty. People can follow the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #GreenRoom.